The Dark Knight Rises

[SoulBlazerFan]

I'm assuming by now anyone who really wanted to see this movie has already seen it, and made their judgments on it. I will warn there will be spoilers coming, so if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to know major plot points, turn away now- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Let me start of my general consensus of the film. I hated it. I remember sitting there after it was over looking at my friend, speechless. I can understand why people would like it, it's not a horrible film by any means. But to me, all the little things that irked me through the film ruined the experience on a whole for me, and I'll be getting to those shortly.

I didn't hate the film at first- I wasn't sure what to think. I did a self test- try this one yourself. Assuming your fan, go back and remember The Dark Knight. Got it? Now, think of three awesome things that blew your mind or any holy shit moments that were in that movie. Go ahead, take a second, do it.

Okay, got it? For me, the whole interrogation scene and everything that followed, then, the scene where Batman flips the truck completely over. Fucking awesome. Finally, when the Joker is captured, and basically tells Batman that he pretty much had done everything to turn Harvey into a killer and fucked Batman's shit up. Brilliant and awesome, and there's a whole lot more I can remember, including the pencil gag and Joker burning the money.

Now, go back to the movie you just saw in theaters, a film that's been out less than a week, and try to think of three WTF moments from that.

Got any? I've asked this same question to multiple people, and all they can come up with is the first fight between Bane and Batman... and thats it. A damned fist fight. Not sure if anyone else sees this as a fault of the movie- that it's not nearly as memorable as it's predecessor. Maybe that's just me.

Now, onto the other issues I had with the film, which will be far more spoilery. Here's a question from the peanut gallery: this film series is supposed to be more grounded in reality, right? Okay, so why does a police commissioner write a speech detailing a plan to falsify information to make a killer look like a hero, banish the true hero and blame him for the murders of several people, and basically keep up a lie so that a 1000 criminals wouldn't go free? And no less, who keeps this speech on him at all times, when if he just so happened to lose it everything would go to hell? Huge cliche, and I expected more from Chris Nolan than that.

Next, where the fuck was Batman? I mean, I understand he's supposed to be retired, but why in the hell do we only see him for a total of like 30 minutes in a three hour long film titled the Dark Knight Rises? It was more like the Dark Knight Rises From Bed Every Now and Again When He Feels Like It... or TDKRFBENAWHFLI for short.

I wouldn't even call that a minor issue- he's barely in the film. I mean, I get what they were trying to do (you'll see this phrase I just wrote again, I can promise you that) but a little more Batman in a Batman film would've been nice. Just saiyin'.

Bane. Oh God, Bane. People have been talking up his performance.. but I really didn't like him all that much. It was interesting take on it, sure, but he never really felt like much of a threat to me. He seems more bloated than badass. In fact, I feel like they pushed him so hard in dialogue parts (Oh, he's SO AWESOMER THAT LEAGUE OR SHADOWS CANT HANDLE HIM LIKE OMGRRRRRRFJFJS) that when he was on screen he just seemed more mundane than anything else. Hell, even when it was revealed that he wasn't the "stuff of legends" as the prisoners had mentioned, and also that "twist" was sort of retarded. Not to mention, I saw it coming from a mile away. Once again, super cliche.

Another minor problem: the cops were buried underground for, what. Three months? And in three months time, when they got out of a dark, cramped sewer with little to no light, food, or room for movement, they're battle ready to go fight a street full of criminals? I call super duper BULLSHIT on that. Sorry, just another dumb cliche. And also something else that was pointed out to me that I didn't even realize- this scene was actually stolen from a much better film, Gangs of New York, featuring Nolan's Inception alum, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Another problem I had was the ending... pretty much the whole fucking thing. How they eliminated Bane was terrible- shot in the chest by the Batbike, never to be seen or mentioned again. Batman flying off with a nuclear bomb, blows up. Oh wait, not dead- but everyone knows who Batman is and no one says anything. No one also picks up on the fact that both Bruce Wayne AND Batman both die at almost the same time? Not a single person?

Don't even get me started on Officer Blake- real name "Robin." Come on now. I get what they tried to do (Told you I'd say it again), everyone's heard the names "Batman and Robin" together, but average film fans don't know Robin's name is Dick Grayson. Or Jason Todd. Or Tim Drake. Whatever his name, I get it, but it was just plain silly and stupid.

Finally, the last scene with Alfred and Bruce. I know they touched on it earlier, and it was sort of poignant, but why in the fact would a guy, who was so bent on fighting crime and not ever taking a life and looking down on anyone that did, would run off to a foreign country with a woman like Selina Kyle, who on more than one occasion showed NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE? Jesus, she shot and killed at least half a dozen people in the film- and what does a guy like Bruce Wayne, who was so opposed to criminality, do? Oh yeah. Shacks up with her in a foreign country, just to see his old butler who he fired. Yeah, really great ending Mr. Nolan.

Don't get me all wrong- there were parts of the film I liked. I always enjoyed Bruce and Alfred's scenes together- great chemistry. Anything with Morgan Freeman or Gary Oldman were fantastic. I even kinda liked Joseph Gorden Levitt in the film, even though they ruined it for me right at the end. It was good to see Liam Nieson back as Ra's Al Ghul, even if briefly. I always love seeing him in the film. Bale was as good as ever in the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Hell, I even kinda liked Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, although at times her performance was all over the place, and never really felt all that even. Wish they'd explored more of her character, honestly.

My favorite part of the movie was Cillian Murphy's cameos as Dr. Crane/Scarecrow. Great to see him again, and his role in the film was a good laugh.

All in all, it's not horrible- I don't really like it myself- but there were too many plot issues, big and small- that really deterred the movie for me.

Tl;dr: Didn't like it, lotta plot holes, cast good except Tom Hardy as Bane. No wow factor.

What did you guys think of the film? Anyone disagree with my points? Think I'm being too critical? Did I hit it all on the nose? Have any other issues with the film that weren't listed here? Agree? Disagree? Lets discuss.

[inferiare]

pfft i thought this was going to talk about the crazy dude who shot up a theater during the movie XD

honestly, i really liked it. i likened it to Final Fantasy 6: bad guy actually did screw everything up.

i don't have the time to debate due to lolwork, but i'll revisit when i get home.

[EverPhoenix]

I really enjoyed the movie. It wasn't as good as The Dark Knight, but it was still excellent. The main thing that irritated me about the movie was the bit at the end - "Robin". I thought it was unnecessarily tacked on just for the sake of it. The twist at the end also seemed to come out of nowhere, and was a bit odd. Other than that, I think it was well done. I'll agree on the police thing - it wasn't clear how much time had passed, but I'd more call bullshit on Batman recovering so fast from a dislocated vertebra. He went from not being able to stand to doing Prince of Persia-style leaps of faith in however many months...

As for the rest of the points you made, I think you are being too critical of the movie. You probably expected it to be as good as The Dark Knight - and let's be honest, that movie set a hell of a standard. I tend to not compare how 'good' movies in a series were, I just enjoy each one individually (even if they carry on the plot). It tends to lead to a much more enjoyable movie experience.

[SoulBlazerFan]

EverPhoenix wrote:

I really enjoyed the movie. It wasn't as good as The Dark Knight, but it was still excellent. The main thing that irritated me about the movie was the bit at the end - "Robin". I thought it was unnecessarily tacked on just for the sake of it. The twist at the end also seemed to come out of nowhere, and was a bit odd. Other than that, I think it was well done. I'll agree on the police thing - it wasn't clear how much time had passed, but I'd more call bullshit on Batman recovering so fast from a dislocated vertebra. He went from not being able to stand to doing Prince of Persia-style leaps of faith in however many months... As for the rest of the points you made, I think you are being too critical of the movie. You probably expected it to be as good as The Dark Knight - and let's be honest, that movie set a hell of a standard. I tend to not compare how 'good' movies in a series were, I just enjoy each one individually (even if they carry on the plot). It tends to lead to a much more enjoyable movie experience.

I'll even admit I'm critical when it comes to movies and certain subplots- but by God, the speech in his pocket thing was just too much for me. The moment I saw him pull it out, I knew they (they being the filmmakers) were going to have the villains get a hold of it- which really took me out of the rest movie. Like I said, it's extremely cliche and not something that a series like these films should ever have to resort to using as a plot device. I'm sorry, that just seemed extremely lame to me.

Hell, considering what kind of character Bane is, wouldn't torture or truth serum make more sense to use on Jim Gordon than having him have some ridiculous no-one-in-real-life-would-do speech end up being in the first pocket he reaches into?

If anyone one of those things I had mentioned were the only issues with the film, it wouldn't have been so bad. Hell The Dark Knight has it's problems too- but there's enough awesome shit happening in that movie the entire time that it's easily overlooked. For instance, never was a big fan of the whole Tokyo scene in that film, but it at least served to further the story and set something up for the ending. There are parts to this film that really didn't seem to serve any purpose at all.

And just a second... how old is Bane in this movie anyway? Talia was a young girl early on in the film, then she's suddenly in her late thirties or forties under a new name... but Bane had been her "protector" as a child as a full grown man? How old does that make him in this film? Fifties? Sixties? Another inconsistency that didn't make sense and went completely unexplained.

Like I said, there's some major flaws in the film that should have been addressed from the get go but were left ignored. For me, the sum of everything- all the little issues- that really took me out of it. A film should be like a roller coaster ride- high points, low points, build ups, payoffs. If a hand came out of no where and slapped you mid ride, wouldn't it take you completely out of the mindset you should be in while on the ride? You're too focused on the slap in the fact to enjoy the rest of it?

That's what this movie ended up being- the movie didn't engross me as much as the previous film did. Hell, Batman Begins was even great at keeping you invested in the story.

And I was trying to avoid talking about the big reveal, but what does it matter- if you've read the posts you probably have seen the movie already. The Talia Al Ghul reveal wasn't all that shocking or interesting- it really came off more to me like a bad M Night Shaymalan "what a twist" reveal than an Earth shattering one it should've been.

Not every movie has to be perfect. The Dark Knight is damn near close. I was just hoping for a little too much from it, and maybe that's my own flaw. Maybe in a few years my mind will change- I've got a completely different outlook and, dare I say, appreciation for Spider-man 3 I didn't have when I first saw it... but that's another discussion for another day.

[inferiare]

I think you mean Hong Kong part in Dark Knight

But I... really didn't have issues with the movie. I now feel like the only person surprised by Talia being all "Lol! " at the Bat.

[SoulBlazerFan]

inferiare wrote:

I think you mean Hong Kong part in Dark Knight But I... really didn't have issues with the movie. I now feel like the only person surprised by Talia being all "Lol! " at the Bat.

My mistake- yes, the Hong Kong part. I don't like that part so much I can't even remember where it takes place.

[Fei Wong]

Tomorrow i'm going to the cinema to see the movie, i cant wait, i loved the 2 first ones

[psychokind]

I'm going this evening

edit: it was ok