The Dark Knight

[hedwig]

walrus and i were discussing bale's batman voice the other day, and i liked his rationale: aside from needing to sound tough to criminals and other people he saves, the voice is used by Wayne to discourage people from making a link between Wayne and Batman.

That much should be generally obvious and i suppose whether it's overdone is more of the issue than why it is the way it is... but note as the article above did that prior actors have not made much if any vocal distinction between wayne/batman.

yeah but he should have gone the other way and used a really high, girly voice for batman. NOBODY would be able to figure that shit out.

[Gold Trumpet]

walrus and i were discussing bale's batman voice the other day, and i liked his rationale: aside from needing to sound tough to criminals and other people he saves, the voice is used by Wayne to discourage people from making a link between Wayne and Batman.

That much should be generally obvious and i suppose whether it's overdone is more of the issue than why it is the way it is... but note as the article above did that prior actors have not made much if any vocal distinction between wayne/batman.

Ehh, I'm not convinced. The voice is still embarassing. It's not like the idea of changing your voice hasn't been done before for similar reasons. Keaton also changed his voice to suplant an idea that Batman and Bruce Wayne were two different people, but Keaton only alters the tone slightly. He deepens it a little so he still room to manuever some acting under the mask. Bale's Batman has two tones and one sounds forced (normal serious tone) and the other sounds ridiculous (tough guy act).

On another note, I watched Dark Knight again. The second viewing was better for certain aspects of the film. I am now convinced the Joker is a great character and has an exellence presence within the film. He uplifts the story to make it better and more interesting.

The film could have still been more detailed and vivid about Joker, but for what it is, it is a great creation of a decent idea to create the sense of anarchy within a system of order. The quasi realistic approach to the filmmaking helps the Joker because he doesn't come off as a cartoon figure in a cartoon world, but a criminal who really does look like the sideshow among common criminal types. The audience never gets comfortable to his presence but they are able to be attracted to it because he is so mysterious and unpredictable. The major success of the Dark Knight (for me) is the existence of Joker and how he operates within the world. It's a idea of plot and little depth, but it's a great rendering nonetheless.

The plot problems elsewhere were still there and as this film is called the Dark Knight and is about Batman's descent into darker avenues of himself, I still don't believe the portrait was very good. A lot of the drama was spoken by other actors and a lot of the dramatics involving Two Face and Rachel are still way too melodramatic and half ass for what it could have been.

As far as Alexandro saying the themes were spoken too much, I agree. It has nothing to do with plot points when after the first bank heist the bank manager (while dying from being shot by the Joker) says exactly what the Joker represents to society and order. That character makes points that are relevant to dramatic ideas later on by other characters. All this shouldn't be so nicely summed up in the first major scene. That's ridiculous. The fact Joker would go after a mob bank should be enough explanation about who he is early in the movie.

[Kal]

Article about Batman's voice on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/04/mondaymoviebuzz.darkknight.ap/index.html

[Reinhold]

Article about Batman's voice on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/04/mondaymoviebuzz.darkknight.ap/index.html

Monday Movie Buzz: Bale's Batman voice too much?

Though "The Dark Knight" has been a bona fide cultural event, boasting rave reviews and boffo box office, it hasn't been immune to criticism. Some have quibbled with its political undercurrents, and others have criticized a muddled theme.

But here's the critique most widely held: Why does Batman talk like the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear?

Donning the costume for the second time, Christian Bale has delved deeper into the lower registers. As Bruce Wayne, his voice is as smooth as his finely pressed suits. But once he puts the cape on, the transformation of his vocal chords is just as dramatic as his costume change.

Particularly when his rage boils over, Bale's Batman growls in an almost beastly fashion, reflecting how close he teeters between do-gooder and vengeance-crazed crusader.

"The Dark Knight" hauled in $43.8 million to rank as Hollywood's top movie for the third straight weekend, fending off "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," which opened a close second with $42.5 million. It has earned $394.9 million in just 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Though much of the voice effect is Bale's own doing, under the guidance of director Christopher Nolan and supervising sound editor Richard King, the frequency of his Batman voice was modulated to exaggerate the effect.

Critics and fans have noticed.

"His Batman rasps his lines in a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever," said NPR's David Edelstein.

The New Yorker's David Denby praised the urgency of Bale's Batman, but lamented that he "delivers his lines in a hoarse voice with an unvarying inflection."

Reviewing the film for MSNBC, Alonso Duralde wrote that Bale's Batman in "Batman Begins" "sounded absurdly deep, like a 10-year-old putting on an `adult' voice to make prank phone calls. This time, Bale affects an eerie rasp, somewhat akin to Brenda Vaccaro doing a Miles Davis impression."

Before the similes run too far afield, it's worth considering where the concept of a throaty Batman comes from.

In his portrayal on the `60s "Batman" TV series, Adam West didn't alter his voice between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Decades later when Tim Burton brought "Batman" to the big screen in a much darker incarnation, Michael Keaton's inflection was notably but not considerably different from one to the other.

But it was a lesser-known actor who, a few years after Burton's film, made perhaps the most distinct imprint on Batman's voice. Kevin Conroy, as the voice of the animated Batman in various projects from 1992's "Batman: The Animated Series" right up until this year's "Batman: Gotham Knight," brought a darker, raspier vocalization to Batman.

Conroy has inhabit the role longer than anyone else and though animated voice-over work doesn't have the same cachet as feature film acting, there are quarters where Conroy is viewed as the best Batman of them all certainly superior to Val Kilmer or George Clooney.

The animated series are notable because they drew on the DC Comics of Batman as envisioned by Frank Miller, whose work heavily informs "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." (Bale and Nolan were unavailable to comment for this story.)

As Batman has gotten darker, his voice has gotten deeper. As some critics suggest, Bale and "The Dark Knight" may have reached a threshold, at least audibly.

[cinemanarchist]

[jtm]

that was dumb.

thanks for wasting my time cinemanlicsak. (pronounce it "Cinnamon Lick Sack")

[cinemanarchist]

that was dumb.

thanks for wasting my time cinemanlicsak. (pronounce it "Cinnamon Lick Sack")

I'm sure that those were the two minutes in your life that you were really going to make a difference and change the world. My bad.

[Stefen]

He was probably scratching his balls and eating a bowl of fruity pebbles while watching it, so I don't understand why he considers it wasting his time.

[cinemanarchist]

It's not a jewel or anything but if you think of it in the context of the Liam Lynch/ Dan Deacon lizard video I think it passes for amusing. I won't post that video for fear or stealing 3 more minutes of anyone's valuable time.

I don't lick sack. There. That's out there.

[jtm]

sorry cine. i was in a pissy mood last night. i shouldn't have taken it out on you.

and for the record, it was lucky charms.

[RegularKarate]

Yeah probably definitely fake. But looks pretty goodfake!

also, fake

[cinemanarchist]

sorry cine. i was in a pissy mood last night. i shouldn't have taken it out on you.

and for the record, it was lucky charms.

No worries, everyone has off days. And for the record I was a little high when I found that .gif so amusing.

[Sleepless]

I'm seeing this tonight at IMAX. I've only seen it once before. Not on IMAX.

I'm worried it's not going to be as good as I remember it.

[Alexandro]

trust me, it can only improve on imax. i loved the way in which, on the imax showing i went to, every member in that packed audience shut the fuck up at the same time on the very first shot of the film.

[Convael]

http://io9.com/5037573/dark-knight-inspires-copycat-crimes-over+reactions