|
I avoided this thread until I'd seen the movie, which I've just done. I'm not doing spoiler tags--anyone who doesn't want to be spoiled shouldn't be in here. If you don't want to be spoiled, quit reading this post NOW.
Regarding the "did Joker set up Dent's fall" question: I think that's answered for us by Joker himself at Harvey's bedside. He's not a schemer. He'll set up scenarios like the ferries, but big, elaborate setups aren't his gig. The most complex we got in the movie was allowing himself to get caught so he could get into police HQ. The simultaneous triple-murder of the comissioner, the judge, and the DA took planning for sure, but it was a one-step deal. Anything longer than that, and he's an improviser, highly skilled at turning the current circumstances to his own advantage. He's a few steps ahead of everyone else, but he hasn't usually set things up, which is what lets Batman get him every time. And he certainly couldn't have foreseen Dent's injury, which is a critical part of turning him. In Two-Face cannon, he's burned by acid thrown by Sal Maroni after a decisive win against him in the courtroom, and it's the pain of his injury and the torment of his disfigurement that turns him into a villain. They motivated it a bit better than simple vanity in the film, but the pain from his burns is certainly part of his descent.
The "Bat Voice" bothered me. He needed to get Lucius to work up some Bat Cough Drops or some Bat Lemon Tea or something.
I'll differ from the popular position and say I thought the sonar thing was super cool. Also, if I ever wreck my car, I want it to dump me out of it in a motorcycle version of itself. Bad ass.
Here's what broke my brain the whole movie: Gotham is Chicago. Looks like Chicago. Feels like Chicago. Scattered with Chicago landmarks. The buildings from the cover of the Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are visible in the background out Wayne's penthouse windows. Hell, the hotel I stayed at last weekend was just barely out of frame in a couple shots. Yet every street address they spoke was a Manhattan address. Dent was hidden way up on the upper West side, and Rachel was out in Brooklyn. But, you know, Brooklyn, Chicago.
Where IS Gotham supposed to be? I always assumed it was meant to be NYC. Also, Gotham got reset back to current times, after the last movie. Gotham was all steampunk-futuristic last time around, and although we have story continuity, the city itself has regressed.
|