The Dark Knight--Spoiler FREE

[K]

Can any of you comics fans just say, without revealing anything specific:

Was the movie true to the comic books? I don't know enough about Batman comics and the origin of some of the villains to know.

Also, I did catch the "cat" reference, so maybe Catwoman's on the horizon?

[Earth 2 Chris]

It's the immersive quality of TDK that works so well for me. You feel like you've been transported to this alternate, and very real-seeming, world for 2 1/2 hours. The complex crime-thriller plot is totally engaging, rather than so much time-filler as it is in so many gangster movies or cops-and-robbers action films. You actually care about what's going on, and, even more amazingly, about what is happening to these people. That is a very rare accomplishment in any movie, let alone a so-called "superhero" movie, where the "GOSH/WOW!" factor tends to supercede all other concerns.

Do you actually care about Vicki Vale in the original Batman? If she died, for example, would you shed a tear, perhaps hang your head in sorrow, or would you just shrug and keep munching your popcorn? She's just another plug-in, like most characters in most comic-book movies. The characters in this film, on the other hand, live and breathe. They seem like real people that we're glimpsing through some kind of documentary footage. There has never been such a realistic superhero movie; even Batman Begins seems like a fantasy film in restrospect. That is the achievement that makes TDK so unique, so powerful, and part of what makes it a "great" film rather thasn just a "very good" film.

We're on the same page again. VERY well said.

Was the movie true to the comic books? I don't know enough about Batman comics and the origin of some of the villains to know.

It is true to the spirit of the comics, without being exactly like any one incarnation. The Batman/Gordon/Dent team is similar to The Long Halloween mini-series. Some of the Joker's actions are actually very reminiscent of his earlierst appearances, and the classic "Laughing Fish" two-parter. Again, there are elements of Batman: Year One, which Begins mined quite a bit.

The Nolans and Goyer really distilled the best of Batman into a cohesive new reality. Much like Timm and co. did in BTAS all those years ago.

Chris

[K]

^ Ah...thanks, Chris! I appreciate your help!