The Dark Knight Rises
- Thread starter Batutta
- Start date
RodThompson
Veteran
I've been saying Bruce is going to die from the second they said Bane was the villian. Just a thought. Plus, as was mentioned, JGL's character is way to noted in the trailers to be a bit. Like Billy Lumis' mom in Scream 2. The second that ***** showed up as a "Unknown Reporter" I knew she was the killer. Small characters with importance are spoilers.
refocusedmedia
Veteran
Batutta
Major Contributor
KyleProhaska
Veteran
86% on RT so far...their consensus suggests it's not as good as TDK. I think though I'm going to like it far better due to a few things. Can't wait 
Batutta
Major Contributor
86% on RT so far...their consensus suggests it's not as good as TDK. I think though I'm going to like it far better due to a few things. Can't wait
I'd be concerned if the reviewers liked it but were lukewarm in their praise, but it seems like a good share of the reviewers are calling it spectacular, with a few think it the best of the three movies. Seems like a few negative outliers are bringing the rating down in this case. I get worried when the reviews are just 'meh'.
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KyleProhaska
Veteran
Eventually movies of this scale and size that are hyped this much fall prey to critics bloated expectations...it's just how it goes. TDK got so much praise initially IMO because it was the surprise. Nobody expected it to be that good. TDKR following something like that almost always means it'll take a bit of a hit and be compared to the last.
I still think it's going to be awesome.
I still think it's going to be awesome.
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
It was very good. I'll go see it again for sure.
With that said, it was a little exposition heavy in spots and some of the laughs seemed forced.
Dark movie. Not a hell of a lot of Batman either. Actually, Bruce Wayne gets most of the screen time by far this go around.
Bane is great. Not quite Joker great, but pretty damn good.
Great final act.
I found a few things a little hard to swallow here and there but it's a comic book movie. A good one at that.
Pretty damn good trilogy actually.
With that said, it was a little exposition heavy in spots and some of the laughs seemed forced.
Dark movie. Not a hell of a lot of Batman either. Actually, Bruce Wayne gets most of the screen time by far this go around.
Bane is great. Not quite Joker great, but pretty damn good.
Great final act.
I found a few things a little hard to swallow here and there but it's a comic book movie. A good one at that.
Pretty damn good trilogy actually.
And the rush is on to compare BO numbers to the Avengers:
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/dark-knight-rises-vs-avengers-lack-3d-limit-182934898.html
Why does the press insist on making a story out of a films opening weekend total? As if the general public has a stake in how much the film earns. I mean the BO almost becomes a part of the review of the film itself.
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/dark-knight-rises-vs-avengers-lack-3d-limit-182934898.html
Why does the press insist on making a story out of a films opening weekend total? As if the general public has a stake in how much the film earns. I mean the BO almost becomes a part of the review of the film itself.
Eric Boellner
Well-known member
Same reason we keep score in soccer -- sure it's fun to play and fun to watch, but without a little competition, there's no story for the next-day headlines.
KyleProhaska
Veteran
I thought it was very good as well.
SPOILERS
I think it lost steam here/there and that as previously stated a lot of the jokes fell flat as did some of the big moments of the film for me. The ending lacked a punch that I was hoping it would have, even though I knew what Nolan was trying to pull out of me the pacing and construction of it just didn't feel right...felt squandered. A little expositional yes, but I was fine with that. The unrealistic stuff isn't in-consistent with the series in general so it didn't bother me, I just chuckled. Bane was a quirky character, a weird mix of brawn, smarts, and humor. I thought his death was a little sudden and unexpected, a little glossed over especially being capped off with a joke from Catwoman that fell flat for the theater I was in...a disappointment. I'm just mentioning the negative for the most part since it would be fruitless to say what else was good...it's obvious.
END SPOILERS
Overall a solid movie with enough epic to feed my satisfaction. The IMAX footage was gorgeous by the way. 3D can take a hike. I saw it in a legit 70mm projection IMAX (not lie-max), and it was absolutely stunning. People that think cropping their little 16x9 frame to 2.35 makes their movie look epic need to see the IMAX format properly projected in its taller then wide format...it's so awesome.
SPOILERS
I think it lost steam here/there and that as previously stated a lot of the jokes fell flat as did some of the big moments of the film for me. The ending lacked a punch that I was hoping it would have, even though I knew what Nolan was trying to pull out of me the pacing and construction of it just didn't feel right...felt squandered. A little expositional yes, but I was fine with that. The unrealistic stuff isn't in-consistent with the series in general so it didn't bother me, I just chuckled. Bane was a quirky character, a weird mix of brawn, smarts, and humor. I thought his death was a little sudden and unexpected, a little glossed over especially being capped off with a joke from Catwoman that fell flat for the theater I was in...a disappointment. I'm just mentioning the negative for the most part since it would be fruitless to say what else was good...it's obvious.
END SPOILERS
Overall a solid movie with enough epic to feed my satisfaction. The IMAX footage was gorgeous by the way. 3D can take a hike. I saw it in a legit 70mm projection IMAX (not lie-max), and it was absolutely stunning. People that think cropping their little 16x9 frame to 2.35 makes their movie look epic need to see the IMAX format properly projected in its taller then wide format...it's so awesome.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
I don't recall the exact reaction a the theater I was at... but it was the last of the 3 movie marathons that some theaters had... most of the audience were more than 'casual' viewers, many in costumes, and there were often audience reactions during the first 2 movies, and more so during the "Dark Knight Rises"...
I however thought the Bane death was a bit accelerated... poof, gone... rather than some malingering, with the realization that his plans were falling apart and Batman had a possible, no matter how slim, chance to save the day... after all that rhetoric about 'suffering only happens when there's hope, and one knows that hope will not become reality'... In Bane's case the 'hope' is the destruction of Gotham...
reem12
Veteran
Spoiler Alert:
I wasn't as jarred by banes sudden death since the final showdown between batman and him had established a loss of steam for Bane, when he was slowly dying in the final fight sequence, finally Showing Bane's more human side, as apposed to in the beginning when he seemed untouchable.
I wasn't as jarred by banes sudden death since the final showdown between batman and him had established a loss of steam for Bane, when he was slowly dying in the final fight sequence, finally Showing Bane's more human side, as apposed to in the beginning when he seemed untouchable.
filmguy123
Veteran
SPOILERS
was anyone else disappointed? I thought the movie was merely OK.
* The grand scale picture seemed to dominate at the expense of any meaningful personal character play-out. The Marion Colltard love story was unbelievable and underdeveloped, and thus the twist at the end seemed meaningless. A surprise but a pointless one, with no weight. I didn't really care and it didn't really matter to the plot. There was no real interplay between Batman and the villains, it all felt shallow and hollow.
* No real surprises, I called the ending before it started (Batman appears to die but doesn't actually, remains a symbol to the people), and called Joseph Gordin Levitt being Robin from the story of him in an orphanage near the beginning. I'm not saying it was bad, but everything was utterly predictable and the only shock (Marion's character) was meaningless.
* There was very little actual Batman in the movie. He was absent most of the time, and none of his scenes were that cool - his flying ship was cool but that very much depersonalized him. Minimal use of gadgets, darkness, chaos, no flying, etc. The two fist fights with Bane were pretty plain. Batman/Wayne almost felt like Indy 4... old/out of shape and they didn't show him regain his real strength until far too late in the movie when he climbed out of the prison. That was cool, but it all lead to just one anti-climnatic, no "smarts" fist fight scene and some jet piloting.
* I felt none of the character themes ran that deep. There was a lot of bloat and breadth that could have been replaced with more depth, and I would have liked to seen more done with Cat Woman - something Darker and more complicated with her motives, and also her dying perhaps (use of the 9 lives)
* Lighting style seemed more glossy and comic booky than TDK, and cat woman just looked too clean. Seemed much more comic bookish than TDK.
* the grand scale of destruction seemed to try and over compensate for that lack of actual meaningful/intellgent substance. I like the political/grand scale themes but I thought they should set the tone for the batman story... on the contrary it felt batman was a backdrop to a politcal/large scale battle movie.
Anyway, I dunno. 7.5/10, least favorite of the three. It just felt bloated, less intelligent, less character, less batman, and the same old grand scale battle we've seen too many times... which would have been fine with some weightier micro-scale smartness. Here would have been some of my suggestions:
- Speed up the first hour! slow and bloated. make batman's first re-appearance (not 2nd) the one where he would end up getting crushed by Bane; the hell hole prison that he rises from and training happen earlier. And when he comes back, more of a triumphant re-entry
- don't introduce the flying bat mobile so fast, save it for the end
- Marion's character better developed, and make the twist more weighty. We find she is bad, and now she owns the company and has power that means something. Better development should feel like more of a backstab towards Bruce - what if she had been the one to pull him out of his sulking and he truly felt in love again? And then when the twist happens its more personal, and with the plot twist more meaningful to story mechanic. Also flesh her out as a more sophisticated villain since Bane felt so 1 dimensional.
- Catwoman more of a noted menace to the city and actually play on that theme better with the disparity of the rich and poor. Make her more complicated as a mercenary, I'd like to see her backstab Batman then help him then betray for more complicated, weighty reasons. There was just not a lot of oomph there or unpredictability.
- more gadgets and bat stuff, misdirection, smaller more personal battles. Something more than just grand scale battle, hiding behind huge machinery, or pure brute force. Mental battles not just physical, and more intelligent mini-schemes by Bane (or Catwoman for that matter - I never felt she had a real agenda in the movie).
END SPOILERS
was anyone else disappointed? I thought the movie was merely OK.
* The grand scale picture seemed to dominate at the expense of any meaningful personal character play-out. The Marion Colltard love story was unbelievable and underdeveloped, and thus the twist at the end seemed meaningless. A surprise but a pointless one, with no weight. I didn't really care and it didn't really matter to the plot. There was no real interplay between Batman and the villains, it all felt shallow and hollow.
* No real surprises, I called the ending before it started (Batman appears to die but doesn't actually, remains a symbol to the people), and called Joseph Gordin Levitt being Robin from the story of him in an orphanage near the beginning. I'm not saying it was bad, but everything was utterly predictable and the only shock (Marion's character) was meaningless.
* There was very little actual Batman in the movie. He was absent most of the time, and none of his scenes were that cool - his flying ship was cool but that very much depersonalized him. Minimal use of gadgets, darkness, chaos, no flying, etc. The two fist fights with Bane were pretty plain. Batman/Wayne almost felt like Indy 4... old/out of shape and they didn't show him regain his real strength until far too late in the movie when he climbed out of the prison. That was cool, but it all lead to just one anti-climnatic, no "smarts" fist fight scene and some jet piloting.
* I felt none of the character themes ran that deep. There was a lot of bloat and breadth that could have been replaced with more depth, and I would have liked to seen more done with Cat Woman - something Darker and more complicated with her motives, and also her dying perhaps (use of the 9 lives)
* Lighting style seemed more glossy and comic booky than TDK, and cat woman just looked too clean. Seemed much more comic bookish than TDK.
* the grand scale of destruction seemed to try and over compensate for that lack of actual meaningful/intellgent substance. I like the political/grand scale themes but I thought they should set the tone for the batman story... on the contrary it felt batman was a backdrop to a politcal/large scale battle movie.
Anyway, I dunno. 7.5/10, least favorite of the three. It just felt bloated, less intelligent, less character, less batman, and the same old grand scale battle we've seen too many times... which would have been fine with some weightier micro-scale smartness. Here would have been some of my suggestions:
- Speed up the first hour! slow and bloated. make batman's first re-appearance (not 2nd) the one where he would end up getting crushed by Bane; the hell hole prison that he rises from and training happen earlier. And when he comes back, more of a triumphant re-entry
- don't introduce the flying bat mobile so fast, save it for the end
- Marion's character better developed, and make the twist more weighty. We find she is bad, and now she owns the company and has power that means something. Better development should feel like more of a backstab towards Bruce - what if she had been the one to pull him out of his sulking and he truly felt in love again? And then when the twist happens its more personal, and with the plot twist more meaningful to story mechanic. Also flesh her out as a more sophisticated villain since Bane felt so 1 dimensional.
- Catwoman more of a noted menace to the city and actually play on that theme better with the disparity of the rich and poor. Make her more complicated as a mercenary, I'd like to see her backstab Batman then help him then betray for more complicated, weighty reasons. There was just not a lot of oomph there or unpredictability.
- more gadgets and bat stuff, misdirection, smaller more personal battles. Something more than just grand scale battle, hiding behind huge machinery, or pure brute force. Mental battles not just physical, and more intelligent mini-schemes by Bane (or Catwoman for that matter - I never felt she had a real agenda in the movie).
END SPOILERS
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Batutta
Major Contributor
I might have to see this again to firm up my opinion of the film. For now I'll call it the Return of the Jedi of the series, not as great as the first two but still a pretty satisfying resolution to the story. I think it's a better movie then Return of the Jedi, just talking about its quality in relation to the other two films. There was lots I liked about it and nothing I hated. I'm glad that Nolan is done with these movies though, because as much as I like his Batman movies, I really think he has it in him to make an epic David Lean or Stanley Kubrick level masterpiece at some point in his career. He has a get out of jail free card at this point and can make any movie he damn well pleases. I hope he uses it well.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Well, I certainly share a different perspective than most here. I basically loved the film, and felt it topped the other two films in the series (which I had watched two nights before). Here are some of the highlights for me.
- Essentially Batman had to have another origin story, a rebirth as it were. Most of the times with these superhero films the first one is always the most compelling because it's the origin of the character. What Nolan was able to do is give us another origin, almost a deeper one. I loved that aspect
- Bane. I didn't know how Nolan would top The Joker, but he did. Bane had the menace mixed with the mind and conviction. I honestly felt afraid for Batman and Gotham. Halfway through the film I honestly had no idea how they were going to get out of the mess they were in. Both Gotham and Batman.
- Spectacle. Obviously it was an amazing film to watch. Seeing it in IMAX was an experience I've had on very few films.
All in all my favorite of the series, and I did not see the end coming. I was moved to tears at the end, followed by intense relief.
The Nolan Batman trilogy is right up there for me with the best of all time.
- Essentially Batman had to have another origin story, a rebirth as it were. Most of the times with these superhero films the first one is always the most compelling because it's the origin of the character. What Nolan was able to do is give us another origin, almost a deeper one. I loved that aspect
- Bane. I didn't know how Nolan would top The Joker, but he did. Bane had the menace mixed with the mind and conviction. I honestly felt afraid for Batman and Gotham. Halfway through the film I honestly had no idea how they were going to get out of the mess they were in. Both Gotham and Batman.
- Spectacle. Obviously it was an amazing film to watch. Seeing it in IMAX was an experience I've had on very few films.
All in all my favorite of the series, and I did not see the end coming. I was moved to tears at the end, followed by intense relief.
The Nolan Batman trilogy is right up there for me with the best of all time.
^^^I too think that Bane was the best foe in the trilogy. I felt very uneasy when he was pummeling batman, I didn't expect them to show him getting manhandled in such a way.
The absence of music cues along with the sounds of the two engaged in mortal combat (the screams, grunts, punches) truly heightened the experience; the scene was handled in a masterful way.
As far as Bane's death, I felt it was anticlimatic compared the their first fight. I think he handled Bane way too easily; but the quip from Bruce when he's questioning Bane and the tables were turned was spot on.
For me, I thought it was the best of the trilogy. Great film.
The absence of music cues along with the sounds of the two engaged in mortal combat (the screams, grunts, punches) truly heightened the experience; the scene was handled in a masterful way.
As far as Bane's death, I felt it was anticlimatic compared the their first fight. I think he handled Bane way too easily; but the quip from Bruce when he's questioning Bane and the tables were turned was spot on.
For me, I thought it was the best of the trilogy. Great film.