Quote of the Day: Iron Man Kinda Trashes 'The Dark Knight'
Filed under: Action, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
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Since it's shaping up that the two largest fan favorites of the summer will be Iron Man and The Dark Knight, it's only right to hear what one superhero has to say about the other. And when you're talking about Robert Downey Jr., it means you're guaranteed a tremendous quote. Our friends over at Moviehole sat down with the Tropic Thunder/Iron Man star to shoot the sh*t and came away with one helluva quote from Downey Jr. on The Dark Knight. So, did Iron Man like the Bat Man?
"My whole thing is that that I saw 'The Dark Knight'. I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight'. Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f--king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F-ck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."
God Bless that man. Sure, I get that TDK was a tad confusing and complex at times, but so is the character and so is his universe. Personally, I enjoyed both films very much for different reasons, and think Downey Jr. is being a tad rough on his competition. Then again, maybe that's the point.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-13-2008 @ 12:13PM
Riley Freeman said...
i know who i am !
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8-13-2008 @ 12:26PM
Mark A. said...
I understand where Downey is coming from. It took 2 viewings of TDK to fully understand the story and yet there were stuff I couldn't figure out like who were the 5 people killed that Batman will be blamed for.
After the first viewing of TDK, I thought Iron Man was slightly better than TDK.
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8-13-2008 @ 12:41PM
Wayne said...
1. The old cop at the bar.
2. Maroni.
3. Maroni's driver.
4. Maroni's goon riding shotgun.
5. ???
I could never figure out the five, either. I don't know why they had to mention a number at all.
8-13-2008 @ 12:44PM
eugene said...
5. cop at the hospital Joker kills getting to Dent
8-13-2008 @ 1:29PM
Kevin said...
I agree with Luke. It sounds to me more like he's kidding and saying that its a really intelligent, thought provoking movie that kind of blew him away a little. He wasn't expecting the movie to be so smart and complex, and I actually take him to mean he was really impressed with it. But thats just me.
8-14-2008 @ 12:49PM
Tunneler said...
I got the movie the first time through and it was great.
BTW the 5th person Batman is taking the blame for is Dent.
He said the world can never find out about this side of him. He then turned Dents face to the Harvey side and said I killed him.
8-13-2008 @ 12:42PM
Mel said...
YESSS! I liked both movies, but ultimately I enjoyed Iron Man more. I appreciate the fact that he is being honest about what he thinks and throwing down the Marvel VS DC gauntlet. This is either blunt honesty or major league trolling. Either way, it's gonna be a hot time on the message boards tonight.
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8-13-2008 @ 12:44PM
Daniel M said...
It has taken me multiple viewings of The Dark Knight to get everything straight. But its a movie that you want to see more then once anyway. Its a movie that you get something more out of with every viewing.
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8-13-2008 @ 1:13PM
Gary said...
That's funny because it only took me one viewing to understand that I wouldn't be getting Iron Man on DVD.
8-18-2008 @ 7:32PM
mike said...
wow..
lots of chatter on TDK, and Iron Man.
Personally, I thought both were well written and directed and keeping in the *spirit* of the characters.
For people having problems understanding why TDK is so complex, in the late 80's, Batman had been Redesigned. Frank Miller, redid Batman, and dubbed it, The Dark Knight Returns.
That book was the basis for what batman movies in the early 90's, were trying to copy, but just couldnt get the feel for.
It wasnt till Batman Begins did they finally get the concept of what batman was supposed to be.
Read the book and then you can see the natural progression of how Bats character evolves from the movie to the books.
Not unlike star wars where they start the episodes from the middle and work backwards.
anyway, TDK Returns is a great book/graphic novel, quick and easy read, and should be the defining book of all that is Batman, atleast for this generation.
just my 02 cents.
8-13-2008 @ 12:47PM
Luke said...
Some of us feel that Downey may have been a little "Tongue in Cheek" regarding that comment. He is, after all, hilarious and has always been edgy like that.
I mean, when I read his quote it was almost like RDJ was saying movies should appeal only to the lowest common denominator and not be too intelligent. The whole "college education" quote alone took me off guard. But then I realized who was saying it and started to doubt the actual tenacity of the quote itself.
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8-13-2008 @ 12:48PM
ML said...
I like it that he's willing to admit he didn't get it. I loved both movies.
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8-13-2008 @ 1:17PM
scoville said...
And this is the man that's playing Sherlock Holmes????
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8-13-2008 @ 1:27PM
Beth said...
Haha, I love RDJ. Good for him for speaking up. I loved both, but in the end - I was giddy after I left the theater for Iron Man and slightly miffed but in awe at the end of Dark Knight.
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8-13-2008 @ 1:41PM
AJ Wiley said...
Okay. I never thought the day would come when I would say something bad about Robert Downey, Jr. But here we go:
He's kind of stupid if he didn't understand The Dark Knight. Seriously. Complex? Yes. Hard to follow? No. Yeah, there's a lot to take in, and plenty of things can be mulled over for days after, but to actually understand the movie only took one viewing.
I'm not saying that Iron Man didn't rock, as it most certainly did, but I just cannot fathom how someone this intelligent could not understand the latest Batman movie.
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8-13-2008 @ 2:00PM
Mr. R said...
That's what those repeated trips to rehab will to to you, eventually you stop getting it.
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8-13-2008 @ 2:28PM
Sabi said...
Everything has its strengths and weaknesses.
Like batman has no superpowers but has the money.
Wolverine is strong as hell, and can't die.. but he can't remember what happened to him 10yrs ago.
Superman is invincible except when there is Kryptonite.
Spider-man is agile but ejaculates prematurely.
everybody has strengths/weaknesses.
deal with it.
Iron Man was more of a movie to introduce Iron Man to the unfamiliar world which is why i didn't like it too much. We should compare this to batman begins more than the Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight was established from Batman Begins and brought up to be an Action Suspense Thriller movie to sweep a crowd off its feet, and was heavily made popular because of Heat Ledger. I seemed to be more focused on the Villain this time around rather than the hero. Really that was a first. so it got me thinking is this a superhero movie? or a supervillain movie? I expected more villainy, more criminals, more dirt on the streets of gotham and etc.. instead i see it has been renewed very quick from batman begins. Gotham was not as dark as that movie, especially the end where you see the demon horse under hallucinated eyes' of a boy.
All in All, i think both movies were good.
Iron man should've had a bit more action in it, rather than just baddassiveness.
Dark Knight was not as dark as i expected it to be, and was rather more of a lovely stroll in the park.
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8-13-2008 @ 2:43PM
Mark A. said...
So why would Dent get blamed for the cop in the hospital being shot by the Joker?Also, I don't remember a goon in the car with Maroni. Lastly, does anyone remember the Joker saying in the interrogation room to the veteran cop that he killed 5 people. He was describing about how they died.
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8-13-2008 @ 4:47PM
Wayne said...
I also can't figure out how or why Dent would be blamed for the cop. The Joker clearly blew up the hospital.
The Joker asked the cop how many of his friends he (the Joker) had killed. It was actually six. It was part of his ploy to eventually get a cell phone.
8-13-2008 @ 2:59PM
Robert Frenay said...
Iron Man was a fun movie, but anyone who championing its superiority over The Dark Knight needs to seriously consider having their "Film Buff" card revoked.
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