Try not to tear it to shreds

Em, so Rock when he was on a working trip last week had nothing to do in rural tiny-town #499 but watch the free cable of an evening, so he watched The Dark Knight and liked it. It’s not the kind of film either of us are into or would rush out to see, so he only stumbled on it by virtue of being bored and nothing else being on. He did enjoy it though, enough to buy it and try and convince me to watch it.

At this point I will remark that the other night, Mr. and Mrs. Smith was on the telly. Free to air. I still haven’t seen it. Usually one way or another I end up seeing these blockbusters in theatres, as was the case with Batman Begins, but I’ve finally stopped going out with hundreds of people when they all universally say ‘Hey I’ve got a good idea, lets all go and see a movie!’ – ‘Sure! What movie shall we see?’ – ‘How about Action-Blockbuster Guns Titty-McExplosion Extravaganza #6974?’ – me:’groan’ – everyone else ‘Yay! That sounds fantastic!’
After the film.
‘THAT WAS THE BEST FILM EVAR – nav did you like it?’
‘I liked my Maltesers.’

Look, I’m not totally against Action-Blockbuster Guns Titty-McExplosion Extravaganzas. Sometimes they’re entertaining the same way repeatedly banging two uniquely shaped blocks of wood together is, it’s just fun. However when they take themselves seriously I tend to take issue, mostly because by and large what they try to achieve has been done so much better by countless other works.

Sorry – The Dark Knight.
Um.
Yeah it was alright.
I really liked the Joker, just like everyone else. He didn’t have anywhere near enough screen-time but we’re probably just wanting to over-indulge, his screen-time is most likely just right.
Other than that, the film seems to do some fairly good things, some of them only to be unsubtly torn down with extraneous explanation. This happens to a frustrating degree, but Rocke had to keep reminding me of the audience which to be honest, is a fair-enough point.
I don’t like superheroes, I don’t like traditional good vs evil themes, I don’t like irrational gadgets – yes, even if they are just a bit of fun, I know these films use really silly contrivances just to move towards the climax and you just have to let them slide. So there was already quite a bit working against the film before I even saw it, but I honestly was expecting it to be much worse, and on that account, I don’t count the time as wasted.

He also showed me a trailer for some film called The Nines with Ryan Reynolds in it, and how some people were saying it seemed David Lynch-like. That made us laugh. That made us laugh for a long long time.