The Dark Knight Rises *May Contain Spoilers*

[Chomppig]

So we can discuss the moive itself seperate from the shooting. Please mind the spoilers.

Was I the only one who thought the movie was kinda meh?

[X Bones X]

Nah. My mom saw it too...she didn't really care for it either.

But majority of people (especially those that reviews movies and follow this series) loved it.

See RedLetterMedia's review on it. (Half in the Bag #36 i think?)

[smittymet]

****Spoliers*****

This was one of those movies I absolutely loved when it ended but two days later thought it was "just" great. I think if you measure this in a vacuum, its a great movie. Best comic book movie since the last Batman movie and I really enjoyed the Avengers. Technically, the sound, the effects, fight choreography, dialogue and storytelling were excellent.

The problem is, this movie is compared to the last one and Bane is compared to Joker and that is a losing proposition. Heath Ledger's Joker was amazing and Harvey Dent's Two Face and even him as the D.A. were brilliant! The Dark Knight casts a huge shadow on this film so Nolan decides to go large and uses the character known for breaking Batman's back to do so. The scenes of destruction were so powerful, I was a little pissed off they showed lower Manhattan in a few scenes. That's personal because I was about 10 blocks from the towers on 9/11 and I thought I was over that but it gave me a chill.... I digress...

Things that annoyed me, the beat cop so easily knowing Bruce Wayne is batman and casually telling him that. Yes, I know he's a naturally gifted detective, but isn't commissioner Gordon that too? Also, many of the plot twists were predictable, especially the fact that you knew how Bruce Wayne would wind up after Alfred told him his dream for him. Even the way Alfred bailed on him was weak.

The reason why I overlooked those things, the was Bale's best work. I liked the fact that he starts the movie as a broken man. He's not supposed to be Clark Kent and always do the right thing. He's supposed to be tortured, brooding and hard to understand. Bale did great work in delivering all that.

That fight scene when Bane beats his tail was fantastic too. A gritty and ugly beatdown of the symbol once thought indestructible.

I can go on but to me, this movie was a perfect ending for the trilogy. I pumped my fist in the air when the rich girlfriend revealed herself. I kinda saw that coming cause I know the comic. Also, I love the way Nolan finishes his movies.He did this with Inception too. A lot of cut scenes, minimal dialog and key discoveries. C'mon... wouldn't you guys love to see Robin movies?

[Michura]

If you can, please change the title of the thread so people know that there are spoilers in here.

[Chomppig]

**Spoiler Warning**






I thought it was good for what it was, I just didn't like what it was. I hated it being set eight years later and Bruce Wayne was a recluse with bad knees. I thought that made the events at the end of TDK seem a lot less important. Yeah, I also hated the way Blake knew Bruce was Batman. He saw the look on his face when he was a kid and just knew? I thought that was really lame. Catwoman served almost no point to the story, she was just kind of there. Bane was awesome. I wish they would have focused on him more. His first encounter with Batman was the best scene in the movie. The acting was great...well all except for that part at the end with Miranda, that was cringe worthy. My buddy I saw it with laughed out loud at it lol.

[smittymet]

**** Spoiler ****

Her death scene stood out in that it was soooo bad in a movie full of good performances.

I think that scene, along with Blake knowing what a seasoned cop like Commish Gordon didn't took away from the other aspects of the movie that were so good. These flaws were not in TDK which is why that movie will stand out in this trilogy.

What I also appreciated was that DKR became a team oriented movie. The way the police were able to band together built upon the point that Batman is more than a masked crime fighter but a symbol that inspires. That seemed to be the point Nolan was trying to make from Batman Begins that he kept bringing up in this movie.

[Michura]

SPOILERS

The problem is, this movie is compared to the last one and Bane is compared to Joker and that is a losing proposition. Heath Ledger's Joker was amazing and Harvey Dent's Two Face and even him as the D.A. were brilliant! The Dark Knight casts a huge shadow on this film so Nolan decides to go large and uses the character known for breaking Batman's back to do so.

I think a huge part of that is that Nolan didn't want superpowered villains so Bane was a very logical choice. They even left out Bane getting stronger through Neo-Venom.

Things that annoyed me, the beat cop so easily knowing Bruce Wayne is batman and casually telling him that. Yes, I know he's a naturally gifted detective, but isn't commissioner Gordon that too?

Don't let this annoy you too much. It's an homage to Tim Drake, the third Robin. He was able to figure out on his own that Batman was Bruce Wayne like John Blake did.

Also, many of the plot twists were predictable, especially the fact that you knew how Bruce Wayne would wind up after Alfred told him his dream for him.

I wouldn't really call that a plot twist. I don't think Nolan actually expected anyone to think he died. It was just their way of ending the story without having Batman just vanish (which is pretty much how Dark Knight ended).

C'mon... wouldn't you guys love to see Robin movies?

But he becomes Batman, not Robin. I love that too, actually. It's another homage to the comics. Bruce is thought to be dead and Robin takes over as Batman.




I definitely agree that while it's great, it's just not on par with the first two.

[Michura]

**Spoiler Warning**






I thought it was good for what it was, I just didn't like what it was. I hated it being set eight years later and Bruce Wayne was a recluse with bad knees. I thought that made the events at the end of TDK seem a lot less important. Yeah, I also hated the way Blake knew Bruce was Batman. He saw the look on his face when he was a kid and just knew? I thought that was really lame. Catwoman served almost no point to the story, she was just kind of there. Bane was awesome. I wish they would have focused on him more. His first encounter with Batman was the best scene in the movie. The acting was great...well all except for that part at the end with Miranda, that was cringe worthy. My buddy I saw it with laughed out loud at it lol.

Like I said to smitty, it's similar to the comics. Time Drake figured it out when he was 9 years old.

[SuPeRfLyKiD]

I saw it twice over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Not as good as TDK, but I didn't expect it to be.

It actually felt a lot like Rocky III to me. Alfred warns Wayne about Bane's speed and combat technicality and Wayne kind of brushes it off. He then gets his a** kicked, goes back to find his inner demons that made him so great in the past, and then gets his revenge.

The final fight scene on the courtroom steps was epic though. I thought they built it up so well, mainly because of the first encounter in the sewers between the two.

[SuPeRfLyKiD]

But he becomes Batman, not Robin. I love that too, actually. It's another homage to the comics. Bruce is thought to be dead and Robin takes over as Batman.

I think that's the biggest misconception about the ending. Everyone seems to think that just because Blake's real name was Robin (which I think was more of a wink/nod from Nolan) means that he becomes Robin, but I don't think that's the case. Robin is a sidekick, not a successor to Batman. It's pretty clear that Wayne has retired from Batman in the end, so I think Blake either becomes the new Batman or Nightwing. Nightwing is technically Robin, but he doesn't go by Robin and isn't a sidekick.

[Chomppig]

Like I said to smitty, it's similar to the comics. Time Drake figured it out when he was 9 years old.

The way he figured it out in the comics was different. He saw Robin pull off a difficult acrobatic move that he had seen Dick Grayson do in the circus years before and figured out he was Robin, then by putting two and two together figured Wayne was Batman. He didn't just look at Bruce Wayne realize he was Batman. That takes some Jedi instincts there lol.

[Bearfanmike20]

I think any speculation that Ledgers performance as the Joker in the dark knight was blown out of proportion due to his death was put to sleep with this film. Simply put... if the TDK didn't exist.. this would be an awesome film, but.. What TDK did... and Ledger in particular... it may never be duplicated.



Ledger was sooooo good.. that if you watch the scene where he crashes Dents fund raiser party, and the joker approaches Rachel... Watch her reaction... its GENUINE FEAR. That wasn't acting on her part. You cant possibly act that. he was THAT convincing.

Anything after just wont measure up.

[Chomppig]

I think any speculation that Ledgers performance as the Joker in the dark knight was blown out of proportion due to his death was put to sleep with this film. Simply put... if the TDK didn't exist.. this would be an awesome film, but.. What TDK did... and Ledger in particular... it may never be duplicated.



Ledger was sooooo good.. that if you watch the scene where he crashes Dents fund raiser party, and the joker approaches Rachel... Watch her reaction... its GENUINE FEAR. That wasn't acting on her part. You cant possibly act that. he was THAT convincing.

Anything after just wont measure up.

I remember Michael Cane said that scene where he was at the elevator door and the Joker popped out was the first time he saw Ledger in make-up and character and it legit scared the crap out of him lol.

[Swift456]

I saw it twice over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Not as good as TDK, but I didn't expect it to be.

It actually felt a lot like Rocky III to me. Alfred warns Wayne about Bane's speed and combat technicality and Wayne kind of brushes it off. He then gets his a** kicked, goes back to find his inner demons that made him so great in the past, and then gets his revenge.

The final fight scene on the courtroom steps was epic though. I thought they built it up so well, mainly because of the first encounter in the sewers between the two.

I thought the same thing, Rocky 3 for Rocky 4 going against the indepsable machine.....

I think any speculation that Ledgers performance as the Joker in the dark knight was blown out of proportion due to his death was put to sleep with this film. Simply put... if the TDK didn't exist.. this would be an awesome film, but.. What TDK did... and Ledger in
particular... it may never be duplicated


Ledger was sooooo good.. that if you watch the scene where he crashes Dents fund raiser party, and the joker approaches Rachel... Watch her reaction... its GENUINE FEAR. That wasn't acting on her part. You cant possibly act that. he was THAT convincing.

Anything after just wont measure up.

That role killed Ledger, and I still thought that movie was overrated. I thought this was better and enjoyed it, def better than Avengers as well which I also thought was overrated.

Bane was solid, good plot, bane could actually fight unlike the joker, who was a puss really, just severly demented. It was almost too much, ledger made it too real and too psychotic it was like he went overboard and it wasn't even fun to watch for me......plus u could tell he was acting at time just to be so psycho. Nicholson warned ledger about that and it ended up consuming him, a real shame.

But again I thought this was one was better and I might of liked this one the most of the 3, although it's close with the first one.

[smittymet]

Michura... Much like you're 49er and defensive tips, you educated me. I'm not that versed in the comics and appreciate that Nolan did that. Tim Drake? No idea who that was. Well done. Also the fact that he is going to be Batman, not Robin. Great point!!! Of course he'll need a trainer like R'as Al Ghul for the hand to hand combat.

All your counterpoints on my critique were appreciated. To be clear, I loved this movie, those things I brought up were minor in the overall quality. Both fights with Bane were so well done and the chants in the prison for "Rise" were powerful. Great ending too!!!