Ugh. I am not looking forward to this movie. I'll see it, of course, but mainly out of a sense of duty. And that 165 min runtime is not helping matters. Nolan is such an interesting case study - now that he's got carte blanche, his movies are, I think, far less satisfying. The Dark Knight was overlong (and, really, saved by Ledger's brilliant performance), and Inception was almost completely unsatisfying. Memento and The Prestige are still terrific movies - I hope Nolan can dial things down again, now that his Batman trilogy is done.
See I am looking forward to this movie and am going tomorrow night at the sold out six pm screening. But I agree with you that Nolan is a great film-maker and concept builder but not a great story-teller. When his movies really fly is when his actors are strong enough (Gyllenhall, Hardy, Caine, Pearce, Ledger and Norton) to infuse the canvas with a personality that his scripts lack. Nolan is to Scott as Whedon is to early Spielberg
I still maintain that The Dark Knight should have been two two-hour movies--the first one centered on Batman/Joker and the Dent/Wayne relationship, ending with Batman defeating the Joker and the Joker creating Two-Face, and the second one being about Batman and Two-Face. The Two-Face material was really rushed and felt incomplete, and the Joker stuff somewhat lacked a climax (perhaps because they didn't want to kill the character and have option to bring him back, an option sadly prevented by Ledger's untimely demise).
<span>40. Before </span><span>Batman Begins</span><span> was even complete, Goyer had written treatments for two more Batman movies. The second was to have Batman, Harvey Dent, and Sergeant James Gordon working to take down the Joker. Then, in the third, the Joker would turn Dent into Two-Face during his trial. Instead, those stories were combined in the script for </span><span>The Dark Knight</span><span>, which Nolan wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan.</span>
Who ever said Batman was supposed to be FUN?
ReplyDeleteUgh. I am not looking forward to this movie. I'll see it, of course, but mainly out of a sense of duty. And that 165 min runtime is not helping matters. Nolan is such an interesting case study - now that he's got carte blanche, his movies are, I think, far less satisfying. The Dark Knight was overlong (and, really, saved by Ledger's brilliant performance), and Inception was almost completely unsatisfying. Memento and The Prestige are still terrific movies - I hope Nolan can dial things down again, now that his Batman trilogy is done.
ReplyDeleteSee I am looking forward to this movie and am going tomorrow night at the sold out six pm screening. But I agree with you that Nolan is a great film-maker and concept builder but not a great story-teller.
ReplyDeleteWhen his movies really fly is when his actors are strong enough (Gyllenhall, Hardy, Caine, Pearce, Ledger and Norton) to infuse the canvas with a personality that his scripts lack.
Nolan is to Scott as Whedon is to early Spielberg
If I could edit that comment I would as that last sentence is really weak. Analogies are flawed when you're comparing artists.
ReplyDeleteThis was not spoiler free.
ReplyDeleteI still maintain that The Dark Knight should have been two two-hour movies--the first one centered on Batman/Joker and the Dent/Wayne relationship, ending with Batman defeating the Joker and the Joker creating Two-Face, and the second one being about Batman and Two-Face. The Two-Face material was really rushed and felt incomplete, and the Joker stuff somewhat lacked a climax (perhaps because they didn't want to kill the character and have option to bring him back, an option sadly prevented by Ledger's untimely demise).
ReplyDeleteInception was better than Memento.
ReplyDeleteI have always agreed with you, Matt, and then I saw this today:
ReplyDelete<span>40. Before </span><span>Batman Begins</span><span> was even complete, Goyer had written treatments for two more Batman movies. The second was to have Batman, Harvey Dent, and Sergeant James Gordon working to take down the Joker. Then, in the third, the Joker would turn Dent into Two-Face during his trial. Instead, those stories were combined in the script for </span><span>The Dark Knight</span><span>, which Nolan wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan.</span>
I loved Inception, but that's a bold statement right there. Must disagree.
ReplyDeleteBenner, that's not how I remember it.
ReplyDelete