by benji on Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:11 pm
Finished it in about half an hour, it's only 165 pages, and depending on who plays what and how they play it, it's easily better than the either of the first two. It's real by the way, it's getting take down threats for quotes or links of it on sites. And it's blatantly written by the Nolan team, it reads exactly like The Dark Knight script does in terms of story design, scene setup and design, and the dialog is so blatantly from them. (The early pages don't seem as much, but once you hit about page 35 it's beyond obvious. But I imagine trying to recognize the first 35 pages of The Dark Knight with its heist and China parts would similarly be awkward.)
Also, this script is from last November, they have yet to submit the final script. I'd hate to see the leak change the script too much or delay the production though, it's worth making this film despite it. (If you really want to see my criticism and spoil it, I oblige below!)
Except for some absolutely groan worthy dialog but the first two had that as well. There's also like two British word usages that should be changed for Americans but at least it's Alfred doing it. There's also instances in the draft where the character is still referred to as what they are and not what final name will randomly be picked. To remove the character I'll use this example, it's like if we were talking TO Andrew and we all know his name but kept calling him "Admin" not even "The Admin" and it's not in instances where it's a one-off for the audience where it's better to just refer to the person by their role. (And it's clearly not written by a Phillapino because nobody is called Sir Admin in it.)
I'll spoiler every aspect of the rest of this as I'm going to talk about the plot details and characters and I know lots of people will want the complete surprise of the film. But if there are those who like me can still enjoy things despite knowing the story especially regarding acting and such, and love to read stories often more than watch them, and since I've read enough of the material that Nolan's team is culling these from the "twists" are obvious. I will say this though for those who want to wait on a more specific point, the plot is way more coherent than The Dark Knight and the "twists" (if you want to call them that) are far better scripted than they were in the first two but will of course rely mostly on you NOT knowing the actors in the film and who they play.
Actually for those who want minor spoilers on who the villains are, and if it's a story adaption or not, I'll simply list them in a separate spoiler container for everyone:
Deadshot, Black Mask and The Riddler. There is absolutely no Hugo Strange. It's not based off "Prey" either though it does grab from a bunch of other stories like the first two.
And now for the rest which are significant spoilers if you want to ignore any aspect of the plot or further details on the villains. I don't think I actually relayed significant amounts of the script itself in terms of what happens, but may have made hints, if anyone else reads the script (which yes, I can provide to you) and wants to discuss it I suggest a permanent spoiler policy along with designations where the discussion actually does describe the script in detail.
That said, for those willing to jump in (which is apparently no one), both of you can read this:
The involvement of Deadshot is not perfectly thought out in this draft he is given way too much dialog on his irrelevant thoughts in comparison to Black Mask. I sorta wish they had flipped the motivations of the two characters as I hate the idea of Black Mask being a sympathetic character. He's a great Batman villain because he's one of the few with absolutely zero sympathetic background. He's insane and sadistic but not for any reason other than that. There is no logic and rational to him unlike say The Joker who is also insane but has a twisted logic instead of pure malice. On the other hand, Deadshot is more of an anti-hero mercenary than a villain especially with what's been done to him in Secret Six. They got some of that but the base motivation of the character makes him more like Black Mask, although it's entirely possible that the way he's acted it'll change him to be more of the egotistical dick I expect.
The absolute BEST part of the script is regarding Bruce Wayne/Batman himself. Seriously. A ongoing plot point and key to much of it is regarding how his being Batman is fucking over Wayne Enterprises and through some other crap involving the villains Gotham. It's pretty much a great idea, the comics have basically never dealt with someone using his company to buy all this shit Batman does and Lucius Fox's pissed off after the last film with the sonar crap carries over, which is great. There's a great scene early on with Fox being fucking pissed at Wayne for buying a Bat-Plane.
He's never called The Riddler, but he IS the fucking Riddler 100% full stop. And he's better than The Joker was. (Let me note, AS WRITTEN, The Joker in TDK is not that great as written but Ledger takes what he is handed and makes it epic.) More subtle villains with clear motivations will always win the day. Not that Nolan's team apparently knows how to write a villain who has a sensible political theory. (To be fair, they almost had to write The Riddler this way and depending on how it's acted it may be more of a ruse to toy with Batman. I can see that pretty easily.) It's still shitty theory writing.
There's a lot of stuff that needs to be polished up, but is minimal in the long run and Nolan's standard storytelling really. The entire ending does NOT need to be a flashback either, but I can see why they did it the way they did it. It's stupid, but lots of people will love it because of the way they did it. I'm not insulting those people, just being skeptical they can pull it off in a way where it works. Never hurts to err on the side of chronological order for the audience. (Amusing I say this despite thinking Nolan's best film is Memento.)
Also, don't introduce characters who will seem important and then bury them for (what in movie time would be) an hour plus and then make them suddenly the most relevant one around.
There is also a serious poison pill involved with one character, that depending on how it's done IN FILM, can be a great twist for a lot of people or the worst idea ever. I don't know if I should say more on this but it requires the credits to be done right either way.
Regarding Gordon, he's useless. I get what they're doing, but really? They've got a great actor to use as Gordon and they never give him shit worthwhile, make him look like a complete fool and ditch him? (Not just this one but the first two movies.) Although I did admittingly like what they did in a handful of scenes with him better than any before. How they do this in the film could change this easily though there's lots of potential there.
Lastly, I hate that someone made a Batman film involving Black Mask and The Riddler. I was so fucking bored in a class once I plotted out one once and I still like it. Although you probably can't make a R rated Batman film. (Then again, I assume the studio paid for its PG-13 since The Dark Knight would have probably gotten a R in the 1980s.) And you probably can't make a Batman film where he fails, tons of people die, Gotham falls into anarchy and the villain gets away with it either. So there's that.
Did this take longer to write than it took to read it? God, I hope not. But it seems so.
FINAL POINT? If this translates to the screen at least as well as the first two does, it's the best film of the trilogy. And I'm going to admit, I want to see this more than the rest after having read the script. And if you loved The Dark Knight and considered it the best movie ever, this is going to blow your mind.
