This past weekend I got together with all my good friends and went to see The Dark Knight. As I sat there alone in the theater waiting for the movie to start I realized that the last movie I saw in the theater was Batman Begins. Can you tell I don’t get out much?
As I did with the Kindle I’ll spare you a detailed review because everyone and his sister has already covered it. Besides, all the reviews have the same talking points:
- The movie is great.
- How far do you have to go to stop evil? What are the limits?
- Heath Ledger’s performance is terrific.
- Maggie Gyllenhaal is goofy-looking but somehow still mighty sexy.
Ok, that last talking point is just mine.
But they’re all right.
I’m disappointed that Aaron Eckhart is not getting more praise for his performance, which is equally as good as Ledger’s. I supposed Eckhart’s mistake was not dying after filming concluded.
The theater experience overall was shockingly pleasant. For the most part.
It was about an hour into the film when I noticed the absence of obnoxious behavior. No talking, no seat-kicking, no loud chewing, and no cell phones. I couldn’t believe it.
My one beef with the show was the audio volume. As I mentioned earlier I’m not a big theater goer, so would someone please tell me at what point the theaters decided that movies had to be played at rock concert volumes? Did I miss that announcement in Variety? Or has it been a gradual process?
Seriously, I’m no stranger to loudness (or Loudness, for that matter). I’m a drummer. I had a garage band whose motto was “Play it loud enough and no one will care that it sucks.” I’ve been to more concerts than I can count. I enjoy turning up the sound on my home theater system to get the full effect of the surround sound and the subwoofer.
But the volume in the theater that day was ri-bloody-diculous. It was flat out uncomfortable at times.
Maybe it’s a plot to foil cell phone usage in theaters.
Or maybe given what Hollywood has produced for the most part in the last few years theater owners have adopted my old band’s motto.
The Dark Knight would have been fine slightly quieter.
Ok, that last talking point is just mine.
No, I’m with you on that one! Much improved over Katie Holmes.
A saying that my childhood friend once taught me was:
“If it’s too loud, you’re too old” :-p
I have noticed that some films do seem to be obscenely loud. I don’t know whether it’s the fault of the movie, though, or the cinema itself. Where did you see this at?
Allclick, I used to have a KISS concert shirt with that phrase written on the back! Guess I’m officially too old.
I saw DK at Marquee in Chas.
I won tickets to the “Glam Slam Metal Jam” a few years back–Enuff Znuff, Quiet Riot, Warrant, & Poison. After the first act, I went to the concessions and bought earplugs. Add me to the “too old” list.
I damaged my ears pretty bad playing drums in small venues with loud amps and monitors. I remember one time the monitor I had sitting next to me experienced extreme feedback and the noise was so loud I almost blacked out! I’m not exaggerating either. Crazy loud.
Thankfully now my ears are much better. I barely ever hear the constant ringing. Usually it’s intense bass that gets me though. Right in the gut.
I saw Hellboy II at the Marquee there and didn’t notice a problem. I’ll keep my ears peeled next time.
I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think it came anywhere close to the praise it’s been getting.
Of course, the sound may just have been too quiet in the theatre.
Yep, your old when you find yourself yelling at the kids to “turn down that damn AC/DC!” only to suddenly realize that is exactly what your dad said to you….same song too…Yep, I’m old….
I totally agree with you on the volume of the movie. I don’t mind loud, but I had to put myself back together after my wife and I saw it in Imax. I wrote a whole post just on that.