The Dark Knight Rises

[rockNrollaDIM]

I liked the Talia reveal. I saw it coming a mile away but I'm not sure if that's due to the execution or the original casting rumors from last year.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I liked the Talia reveal. I saw it coming a mile away but I'm not sure if that's due to the execution or the original casting rumors from last year.

I think most people will be surprsied since nobody has ever heard of her character.Bane and Batman scenes are great. I loved when Bane kicked Batman ass. Tom Hardy was great as Bane it did not matter he small.Anne was great as well. The whole cast did a stunning job. The more I think about the more I am liking the movie.

[75Live]

I liked the Talia reveal. I saw it coming a mile away but I'm not sure if that's due to the execution or the original casting rumors from last year.

Yeah I saw it coming as soon as she showed up on screen, but since i heard a lot of gasps and surprised noises in my showing, I can't say it wasn't done well since it obviously worked on a lot of people. I was shocked to hear so many people seem surprised though.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I still can't get over how good this movie was. It is Jaw dropping good.

[rockNrollaDIM]

LOL so I was IM'ing with Noctis before and he was saying, along the lines of,"I'm really anxious for the film, as long as there's no Robin shit. I swear I'll shit a brick if Robin is in the film":rofl:I tried dodging and deflecting but I think he could see through it and now he's really worried that Robin actually is in it. I guess he was reading too many rumors, but for me that was a complete and total shock. The only thing that was spoiled for me was Talia Al Ghul and I didn't even seek that out, that's what Cotillard was announced as at the very beginning. Otherwise I went in with only having seen the trailer and that's it.

[MrPink]

I wrote this for another site but here goes.

In 2008, The Dark Knight took the world by storm, presenting a chaotic Gotham brought to its knees by the anarchistic Joker. It also happened to be thematically richer than pretty much any superhero film before, tightly written, and incredibly well acted. Naturally, when they finally announced The Dark Knight Rises, expectations were extremely high, especially since the threequel curse has plagued so many other films including Spider-Man 3, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and even Return of the Jedi to an extent. But the odds were different this time, director Christopher Nolan returned and had complete creative control, which meant that for better or worse, whatever he did would represent his vision in the end so he would shoulder all of the praise or blame. As someone who very much enjoys Christopher Nolan films and adores the Batman series he has created, it was hard not to walk into that theater without some pre-conceived notions, and having followed much of the news and footage surrounding the film, I made the mistake of having a specific image of the film in my mind. It turns out, it was much different than that.

But it wasn’t necessarily in a bad way.The Dark Knight Rises is often times quite moving and thrilling, just managing to stick the landing, but it doesn’t appear to have done it with ease. Nolan makes the mistake of biting off more than he can chew with so many storylines to weave together, and the result is a less tightly written film than The Dark Knight or even Batman Begins. The set up is huge, as it brings in elements from both of the previous films, including the aftermath of Harvey Dent’s and Rachel Dawes’ deaths, while incorporating a lot of storylines from the first which I’ve chosen not to reveal for the sake of spoilers. Despite being 2 hours and 40 minutes long, one could argue the movie actually could have been longer, allowing many of the dramatic moments to settle in and breathe, and adding to the gravity of how serious and dire the situation gets in Gotham City, which make no mistake, becomes worse than ever despite the events of the first two. The movie zips at a furious pace that means you will never be bored, but it results in a film where you feel like Nolan isn’t quite in control, a bizarre feeling considering how calculating his films can be.

But, there’s a lot to be said in how the film ties the overall trilogy as a whole. As a complete character arc, Bruce is giving a finale that he deserves, and it certainly helps that Christian Bale delivers a terrific performance as Bruce Wayne, which shocked me, considering how apathetic he seemed in The Dark Knight. But somehow, he regained his spark and delivers an unbelievable amount of charm to the character. While his Bat-voice is only moderately improved from the 2nd film, his enthusiasm and effort into the role in the film is felt, and makes the movie considerably more interesting. Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake is also given a meaty role that is reasonably well handled as a character who can relate to both Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Bruce Wayne. Bane, the film’s villain is interesting, as Tom Hardy certainly has the unenviable role of succeeding Heath Ledger as the Joker, and he also has to wear a mask for the entire film. He is physically brutal throughout the film, but even I have to admit some of his dialogue got lost by the mix/accent, which you either find comical, or oddly chilling. Finally there’s Anne Hathaway as Catwoman who brings a lot of sizzle to the role, pulling the role off with flying colors. She’s wonderful as Catwoman and if there was only one fault to character, it has nothing to do with Anne, her role just isn’t as fleshed out as it should have been.

The supporting cast is full of the usuals including Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Both provide a soothing presence in the film in light of the dramatic intensity of the film as they always have, if a bit underutilized. Their presence (especially Michael Caine) adds a lot of the emotional weight to the film, quite possibly the most emotional of the three if that means much. People should not confuse that statement with intimate though...Batman Begins is an incredibly interesting film in the Nolan series because the focus is almost entirely on Bruce Wayne, whereas that is not the case with the 2nd and 3rd film. Despite that, Bruce does get more screen time than he did in the 2nd. The emotional moments are accentuated by some of the terrific action scenes which showcase some of Nolan’s improvements in that department. Bane vs. Batman is often brutal and fairly well choreographed, while the scale of some of the other set pieces are so much bigger than before, and he’s able to execute them relatively well. The end, which brings many emotional and visceral moments together is proof of that, even though the script hasn’t quite earned the frantic urgency the film displays.

It may seem like I have a lot of criticisms with the film, and it’s because I do. But make no mistake, the first two films also have a slew of problems, it’s just that it’s more readily apparent this time (at least compared to The Dark Knight). But it works in the end, and it certainly helps that it ends on a very satisfying note in terms of a finite trilogy. The stakes are considerably raised, the acting is as strong as ever (though missing the magnetic performance of Ledger), and the cinematography is beautiful. There’s a lot to like about the film. The main problem I have comes with the execution, which just brute forces its way to its conclusion and manages to reach its destination safely. In the end, I wanted to see a conclusion that would end the trilogy on a satisfying note, similar to Return of the King or even Return of the Jedi and that held true. It’s just that with the wrong mindset (comparing it to his predecessors), you may end up disliking this movie more than you should, because this movie is tonally different from the other two films. And who knows, it may even play better on rewatch once you have the initial expectation out of the way, Batman Begins has held up incredibly well and even improved in some aspects since its release in 2005. But think about it this way, you’ve looked at a series that was dead in the water from 1997-2005, and Nolan turned it into a powerhouse franchise for the ages...and one of the best things you can say about the film is that when it ends, you will feel that it was entirely worth the seven year journey..

8/10

 

Fuck you Jake

Edited April 14, 2020 by MrPink

[The Dark Alfred]

Have you seen in it real IMAX? Because there's a total grade difference between the two viewing. After watching the marathon I must admit that it's probably mty favorite trilogy of all time and I can't think of a better final film of any trilogy. Indy 3 maybe.My final rating:BB 10/9TDK 10/10TDKR 10/9Bane wasn't controlling the chaos as much as the Joker, but JGL and Anne as Selina were terrific. Bale was better than in TDK. Great film, easily the best of the year so far, it's just not as magical as TDK.

[MrPink]

Yep I saw it in real IMAX, great seats and all.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I did not want Robin in but Nolan does a great job with ending. I love why he takes over. He is not the new Batman. Batman gave his life for the city of Gotham.

[jb007]

While the movie has several great moments, it has way too many wasted scenes and a script that fails more often than not.

Good:

Scale of the movie

Blake & Selena

Parts of the ending

Score (though it is rehash of BB)

Bad:

Numerous plot holes

Tate - Horrendous

Bane - Awful

Pacing - way too slow

Script

The plot holes and pacing reduced this movie from a very good one to just about average. Cotillard's acting at the end evoked derisive laughter. Bane is a colossal waste and the other minor villains are pathetic.

B

Nolan's Batman Trilogy:

BB: 9.5

TDK: 6.5

TDKR: 6.75

[Deep Wang]

It has become clear to me that Nolan is far more interested in Batman's villains than he is in Batman. How much screen time did Batman actually get in this movie?I can't be the only one that thought Bane's voice in the prologue was laughable, right? It got better as the movie went, but damn that was terrible what they did to it.I however, LOVED the finale. They could have revealed Robin's name a little better and I could have done without the shot of Wayne and Kyle together. It is a good Batman movie, but I think it is a great Robin origin story.

[rockNrollaDIM]

Bad:Numerous plot holesTate - HorrendousBane - AwfulPacing - way too slowScriptThe plot holes and pacing reduced this movie from a very good one to just about average. Cotillard's acting at the end evoked derisive laughter. Bane is a colossal waste and the other minor villains are pathetic.

What was wrong with Cotillard's acting? She has an accent, so?

[jb007]

What was wrong with Cotillard's acting? She has an accent, so?

Her dying scene was awful. A high school drama student could have done a more convincing job. The whole theater laughed at her death scene.

[MrPink]

It has become clear to me that Nolan is far more interested in Batman's villains than he is in Batman. How much screen time did Batman actually get in this movie?I can't be the only one that thought Bane's voice in the prologue was laughable, right? It got better as the movie went, but damn that was terrible what they did to it.I however, LOVED the finale. They could have revealed Robin's name a little better and I could have done without the shot of Wayne and Kyle together. It is a good Batman movie, but I think it is a great Robin origin story.

The prologue was a different voice from the original and that's a complete shame because it sounded much better in the original version. The complaints was the definite cause of that.In terms of the villains thing, I disagree. While there isn't a lot of Batman in this film, there is a lot of Bruce Wayne. He felt like the central presence of the film unlike TDK.

[MrPink]

Her dying scene was awful. A high school drama student could have done a more convincing job. The whole theater laughed at her death scene.

That death scene was quite bad, a stark contrast to how incredible her death scene was in Inception. HOWEVER, I thought Cotillard was fine outside of that scene in TDKR.

[Kevin Bacon]

Is Robin really THE Robin? I just took it as a wink to the audience, since Robin's name isn't actually Robin. If his real name was Richard Grayson or something, I'd have taken that as an actual Robin reveal.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

It has become clear to me that Nolan is far more interested in Batman's villains than he is in Batman. How much screen time did Batman actually get in this movie?I can't be the only one that thought Bane's voice in the prologue was laughable, right? It got better as the movie went, but damn that was terrible what they did to it.I however, LOVED the finale. They could have revealed Robin's name a little better and I could have done without the shot of Wayne and Kyle together. It is a good Batman movie, but I think it is a great Robin origin story.

I think Nolan does a good with Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne gets a lot of screen time. But the ending was so good. I think the ending is better TDKR.

[chasmmi]

So my thought on Dark Robin Rises... I mean Batman err Knight.Ok it not that bad but for the first 60% of this film it felt like Batman (or Wayne) was a cameo character. It was all Blake and Bane.I thought the film started too slow especially for something that already has 5 hours of backstory but the ending is perfect.Catwoman was great throughout and I spent pretty much the entire film convinced that the Police guy had to be Robin he had to be, so I was happy when it turned out to be so.Bane was awkward to me. At times great, at other times I couldn't hear what he was saying and I spent much of the opening hour thinking that Sean Connery had come out of retirement to do a voiceover.Action wise very good, only one moment of unnecessary peril when Gordon drops the nuke blocking thingy.In general a good movie, very good in fact. But it isn't topping TDK and IMHO it doesn't beat Avengers.My Superhero Summer rankings:1) Avengers2) TDKR3) TASMOne final thing I am surprised that nobody has considered that Alfred was only imagining Wayne sitting there and it wasn't really so.It felt like they left that open to interpretation.

[rockNrollaDIM]

I don't wanna wait until Tuesday to see this again! Fffuuuu.The midnight show is so weird to use as a barometer, because the atmosphere there always biases me in the positive. Add in some tiredness and I eat anything up, plus the immediate distraction of the tragedy, and I know it'll take a couple viewings for me to fully evaluate the film. There were flaws for sure but did the epicness outweigh that? Last night for sure, but let's see in a second viewing...

[Gopher]

I highly doubt there will be speculation about the ending. It ties up Selina's storyline too. The last 20 minutes of this movie were simply astounding. The other 144 minutes... well, I need to see it again to decide.