In our continuing efforts to OD on Batman, DH and I watched Dark Knight last night. It holds up better the third time around than it did the second, but I still thought we'd reached the end of the movie right after Maggie Gylenhal exploded when there was a whole nother HOUR left to go. The movie is going like gangbusters up to that point and then just stops dead in its tracks. It eventually picks up again, but I was left with the distinct feeling I'd just watched 2 movies instead of 1.
I think if you dropped the Hong Kong trip and the thing with the hospital, you would have an absolutely killer 2-hour film. The only thing of any importance you would lose is the scene between Dent and Joker, which, honestly, is basically the same speech the Joker's already given to Batman ten minutes earlier. Agent of chaos rules are stupid blah blah gogetBatmancakes.
(You might also have to lose the cell-phone sonar thing, in which case, hey, bonus!)
So on the one hand, I am incredibly stoked to see DKR tomorrow night (IMAX, whee!). On the other hand I can't get out of my head that this movie is going to be 20 minutes longer than TDK. Oof.