# Can "The Dark Knight" be watched as a stand alone film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278 "2009-08-30T19:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/41 "2009-09-02T01:10:52Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I like Edward Norton, but his characters are all the same nowadays. You can easily ID him in a movie thanks to his neatly trimmed goatee and half-lisp. You need to see American History X. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/42 "2009-09-02T02:22:50Z")
> [@Atomicktom](#): > > You need to see American History X. I have. Apparently you need to see him in everything _since_ American History X. He looks exactly the same, only with hair. His half-lisp is missing from AHX though I’ll admit. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/43 "2009-09-02T03:05:44Z")
I am Jack’s misappropriated sense of superiority. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/44 "2009-09-02T03:08:27Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > I am Jack’s misappropriated sense of superiority. Ironically, a quote from a movie with Edward Norton in it. Fine, no goatee in that movie. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/45 "2009-09-02T04:18:13Z")
> [@mecaenas](#): > > Far too many times the big name actors just play themselves. IMO Pacino and Nicholson are the worst offenders in this regard - Pacino plays Pacino as a gangster or Pacino plays Pacino as a cop or Pacino plays Pacino as a football coach! Loud yelling! Bulging veins and bug eyes! More loud yelling! > [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I like Edward Norton, but his characters are all the same nowadays. You can easily ID him in a movie thanks to his neatly trimmed goatee and half-lisp. A little early to say on Norton ( **Down in the Valley** was recent and not particularly goatee’d 😉 ). But good actors do sometimes settle into stylistic ruts it seems. The Pacino of **Dog Day Afternoon** was quite different from the Pacino of the **Godfather** films. He came by his big name legitimately, as did Norton. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/46 "2009-09-02T04:24:31Z")
Yeah I could be wrong about Norton. Perhaps my problem is that I’m only seeing him in the same movies over and over. [ul] [li]American History X[/li][li]Fight Club[/li][li]Red Dragon[/ul][/li] And probably another movie or two that I can’t remember. I know he looked the same as ever in Pride & Glory though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/47 "2009-09-02T04:28:56Z")
> [@mecaenas](#): > > …or Pacino plays Pacino as a football coach! Loud yelling! Bulging veins and bug eyes! “Any Given Sunday” was on the other night. I watched about five minutes and it occurred to me that what I was watching was actually Vincent Hanna, his character from “Heat,” coaching a football team. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278/48 "2009-09-02T05:45:44Z")
I saw \*Dark Knight \*without benefit of having seen _Begins_. I had no real trouble following it, I knew where that pencil was going before the henchman did! Ledger as the Joker in the nurses dress and wig was fuckin’ creepy, I want to do that for halloween, but where would I take it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-dark-knight-be-watched-as-a-stand-alone-film/508278.md?page=2)