Iron Man was probably my fav. Dark Night was pretty good but I didn't like it as much as a lot of other people I know did. I guess Frost/Nixon and Valkyrie would get honorable mentions as well as I liked them too. Other then that I cant even think of other movies I saw this year other then Speed Racer for which the only reason I do remember seeing as I hated it so much.
Didn't see many films from last year but the Dark Knight easily won out. Bale's Batman is a little over the top, but Heath Ledger was absolutely mindblowing as the Joker. Ironman was also great. Step Brothers was really funny to me. Tropic Thunder was good, but not what I was expecting. Wall-E was cute but I almost fell asleep during the first 10 minutes...then the next 10 minutes...and so on.
The only downside of Rambo is that it makes me weep at how the action genre lost its way at the start of this decade, imagine how much more enjoyabe it would have been if there was more of this and less of the pussy 12A yawnfests.
The Dark Knight's a good movie, but not that great. Why? Ledger and Eckhart both do an amazing job as the villains in this film. But they went and killed the best on-screen Two-Face, and well... we won't be seeing another Joker, sad to say. Also, I think it's pretty ridiculous that in a Batman film, I like the villains and hate Batman. Bale and Nolan's interpretation is just not Batman. And I've said this since Begins, if you threw Punisher in there instead, it would be no different. And that's a farce. Everyone know's Batman doesn't use guns. And yet there are guns on his car and bike? Wow... And then Nolan just about outright implies that Batman isn't worth crap without all his gadgets. And that's just the worst misconception. Without the suit, without the car, without the jet, without the gadgets... he is still Batman. Because Batman's strongest weapon is his mind. He's a detective, and a genius one at that. Nolan seemed to have missed that one, or just read nothing but God-awful Frank Miller "Batman" stories. Is Dark Knight a good movie? Yeah, but because of everyone else but Batman. And that's pretty sad. Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda are my favorite movies of the year. Likely as well with some that I just can't think of at the moment.
You're kidding right? In the comics, the cartoon and even in burton's films Batman's vehicles ALWAYS have weapons onboard. Missiles, guns, rockets what have you... His vehicles are always heavily armed. The entire point of Batman Begins was that Bats was all about the man and not the gadgets I think you are a little confused about the message they put out there...
Say wha? Have you ever watched the Burton Batman? In the first film, Batman has a kill count in the upper 50s. He blows people up, sets them on fire, and shoots them with rockets from the Batwing. Hell, he tries to outright gun down the Joker. Thats NOT Batman. Nolan's Batman is the closest we've ever gotten to what Batman as a character is. Batman DOESN'T willingly kill. I agree about the Detective part, but remember this is still Batman in the beginning. He's learning how to become the Dark Knight Detective. If anything, I look at the Nolanverse as the transitional phase of Gotham from a city run by the mob to a city over run with Supervillians, and Batman is the catalyst. Also, Two-Face can return for thats was a pretty vague "death" easily explained by a cover-up, and just because Ledger gave us the best Joker so far, doesn't mean that role is now sacred or untouchable. Maybe not the next movie, but definitely the one after that.
Speed Racer was crazy fun though! Not good, but fun, like Indiana 5 and, to a lesser extent, Iron Man. Ok. We're gonna have fun with this thing. You're angry with the movie because Ledger died? How dare Nolan not be a god and physically prevent Ledger's death(may he R.I.P.)! So the fact that at several points in the film he makes a point of not killing anyone and the fact that he isn't part of the League of Shadows is because he didn't kill anyone must have just happened in my head? Yup. Real interchangeable. Okay, first off, he is nothing without his suit. His suit is his symbol and it protects Bruce and those he loves. And as for the guns, he doesn't physically hold a gun, again as a symbol, but he does use weapons for practicality and intimidation. And he is a detective. Did you miss him: a)Tracking down the drugs? b)Giving Gordon irradiated bills? c)Checking for fingerprints on the bullet? No. I becomes a great movie because of everyone except Batman. Kung-Fu Panda. The movie who's message is 'Stay fat America, and if you want to achieve something, you don't actually have do any real work to reach that point!' Fin.
Wow. You guys are either putting words in my mouth, or just not reading what I'm saying. Tim Burton's Batman is just any other Tim Burton movie, but with Batman instead of Johnny Depp. It's awful. It's not Batman either. Quite frankly, the best Batman movie ever is Mask of The Phantasm. I'm not mad that Ledger died, I'm just saying that that was two fantastic villains that we won't see on screen again. And yeah, I was thinking about the cover-up idea about Dent as well. "Harvey Dent" died. "Two-Face" is in Arkham. But they seemed to make it pretty clear that the character died at the end of the movie. Nolan and Bale's Batman just doesn't have that suave and guile that I think Batman should have. Their portrayal doesn't have him carry that Batman attitude. Instead, they went for a joke of a "badass" Batman with the ******ed voice (which for some unknown reason, he uses with Lucius Fox... who knows he's Bruce... why?). I really do wish Kevin Conroy were younger to play a live action Bruce. He actually gets it. But yeah, the mask keeps the secret, I get it. That wasn't my point though with the comment I made. Edit: About the Kung Fu Panda crack, yeah, it's a pretty awful message. But that clearly isn't the message they sent.
Eh. I saw what you were saying, and that's the conclusion I reached. What you go on to post about Batman himself has little to do with what you said in the other post. Have you seen that movie? The only other message I saw was 'Be the best you can!', and even then, you shouldn't undertake any real effort to improve yourself and become the best you could.
I think you're comparing oranges to tangerines Everyone raves for animated (and they should), but its...well animated, so it obviously has many advantages over live action comic adaptations. Which is why when you mention Nolan's version not being Batman, the only obvious comparison is Burton's Batman. Frankly, the comparison to animated is rather silly. And again, you're comparing the animated Batman, a character that is established as Batman for a number of years when the series began to Nolan's Batman who by TDK has only been Batman for a year. Its not about "getting" the voice, its about learning how to use the voice. And on topic, saw Pineapple Express last night. Number 6 on my list for the year now.
Best movie? I have to say Wall-E. No other film tugged my heart string quite like that one this year. Best overall. Although I'd have to say Iron Man was the most awesome.
Tie between Wall-E and Burn After Reading. Kung fu Panda was a pleasent surprise, and far, far better than I was expecting. The people who made it specifically wanted to avoid the typical pop culture references that sully most other modern animated films, so that may be a big part of my appreciation for it. Plus David Cross was in it, which gives anything an edge. I enjoyed Hulk, Iron Man, Batman and Hellboy, but Hellboy was the only one I'd care to see again, mostly for the Troll Market. Batman really didn't do much for me outside of Ledger's performance. Without that I would have probably fallen asleep. And I HATE Bale's "Batman voice".
Despite the great comic films, 2008 was a much weaker year for movies than 2007 (based on what I saw, anyway, which admittedly wasn't a whole heck of a lot). Dark Knight was the best I saw, though I didn't see movies that I know I will enjoy such as Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, or the Wrestler yet. No Cronenberg movie makes me a sad monkey