Escape to the Movies: The Dark Knight Rises

[Siberian Relic]

Despite its accolades and overall quality, I've felt 'The Dark Knight' actually moved away from a more ingrained comic book sort of movie. Perhaps a better way to put that is: 'Batman Begins' looked and felt more about Batman, while 'The Dark Knight' looked and felt more about a city with a caped crusader.

I'm thinking the main problem (because no film is perfect) with 'The Dark Knight Rises' is that, according to Nolan, it's a "war film"--in my opinion, his necessary step forward as a filmmaker first and a Batman helmer second. Batman has become an increasingly rare sight in the movies, and the action has been nudged further and further into daylight. I like that Nolan sorta addressed the "if Batman comes out at night, why don't the crims attack during the day?" question some of us have had, but, like I said, it pulls the emphasis away from Batman, methinks.

Not as good as 'Batman Begins'? I can accept that; that's still my favorite Nolan Batfilm thus far.

Not as good as 'The Dark Knight'? I don't think too many people expected it to reach that height; that was a box office lightning storm no one could have predicted.

Not as good as 'The Avengers'? That coming from Bob, I don't buy it for one second.

 

[pearcinator]

Hit the nail on the head for me Moviebob!

I thought almost exactly the same after seeing it. Except for Anne Hathaway's part...I've never really liked her and I thought her acting seemed forced and tried to 'steal the spotlight' from other actors in the movie.

Too many new characters to develop, not enough Batman, a twist that (to me) felt like a 'twist for the sake of a twist' thing (I never read the comic books) and seemed unnecessary etc. all the other stuff you mentioned I agree with.

Overall good not great. It's not as good as Dark Knight or The Avengers and I believe will be over-hyped and over-rated to the same extent that Inception is/was.

 

[notimeforlulz]

Pleas pleas please don't have spoilers, usually I'd watch the spoilers anyway, but this time I don't want to, and I would like to watch the entire episode...

And watching....

mild spoiler warning immediately, fuck.

Are you serious? I have to stop watching 1 minute in....

 

[malestrithe]

No plans on seeing it. Sorry, but the movies really did nothing for me. I found them all to be poorly paced and too long.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

On the one hand, sad that they couldn't quite live up to the last one.

On the other, never really expected it too and, let's be honest, I'm not sure 'Not quite as good as The Dark Knight' really counts as a criticism. That's like saying Jesus curing the lame wasn't quite as good as Moses parting the Red Sea. It's inevitable that movies in a trilogy will be compared to one another, but had this movie not been the sequel the TDK I think the love would still be flowing in abundance.

 

[Phlakes]

Pleas pleas please don't have spoilers, usually I'd watch the spoilers anyway, but this time I don't want to, and I would like to watch the entire episode...

And watching....

mild spoiler warning immediately, fuck.

Are you serious? I have to stop watching 1 minute in....

I don't buy the "I can't review it without saying what happens" for a second, I've read half a dozen reviews by now and none of them had a single spoiler.

And this one isn't mild.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Wait, wait wait wait wait.....
You thought Inception had a narrative rhythm
Action sequence, exposition dump, the same exposition dump again, the same exposition dump for a third time (except this time Ellen Page is saying it for no adequately explained reason) another action sequence and then we're on to the next trilogy of the same fucking exposition dump again until you find out Cobb accidentally killed his wife, then another action sequence then more exposition dumps...
That's rhythm? I'm calling your criticism credentials in to question Bob.

 

[Shjade]

Fucking called it. I and have been saying for a long time that its going to be a disappointment that doesn't live up to the previous two movies. I figured it would be good, jut not a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy.

I dunno, it sounds like it lives up to the previous two movies to me.

In that I find the previous two movies to be grossly overrated for being average action flicks.

 

[gorfias]

What other A list non-ridiculous Batman villians could you have instead of 'Bane' though?

There was talk of a Johnny Depp Riddler and a Phillip Seymour Hoffman Penguin. Sorry if I'd been Ninjad.

EDIT: And this, "I heard that Robin Williams was in consideration for the role of Hugo Strange early on in production." The Last Nomad.

 

[Strain42]

What other A list non-ridiculous Batman villians could you have instead of 'Bane' though?

Maybe he doesn't count as A List, but I'm gonna say who I've been saying I'd love to see since Begins.

Maxie Zeus.

I think he would have been a GREAT addition to the Nolan perspective of more realistic, less kooky villains. A fellow billionaire with serious delusions and grandeur.

 

[Psykoma]

Pleas pleas please don't have spoilers, usually I'd watch the spoilers anyway, but this time I don't want to, and I would like to watch the entire episode...

And watching....

mild spoiler warning immediately, fuck.

Are you serious? I have to stop watching 1 minute in....

I don't buy the "I can't review it without saying what happens" for a second, I've read half a dozen reviews by now and none of them had a single spoiler.

And this one isn't mild.

Do you mean the one that comes up about mid-way through the review?

Spoiler: apparently people do think this is a spoiler

I didn't really think that was a spoiler, unless you thought they would bring Bane into the movie franchise and NOT do the ONE thing to batman that he's almost universally known for

 

[Brad Gardner]

I didn't like the last one for a lot of reasons, and I doubt I'll like this one. If I wanted politics mixed into fiction I'd watch msnbc or foxnews. So I'm going to pass.

 

[faefrost]

What other A list non-ridiculous Batman villians could you have instead of 'Bane' though?

Just off the top of my head?

Black Mask - especially the second version where the director of Arkham goes nuts and becomes the villain. Lots to play with there.

Calender Man - The Long Halloween, just a perfect hunt the serial killer type theme.

Harley Quinn - Yeah she is the Jokers Girldfriend and colorful. But there is once again a nice darkness in her story as the Psychiatrist who goes nuts that has a lot to play with. Plus while being a relative newcomer to the bat universe she is well known and wildly popular. Especially among the female fans.

Hugo Strange - another shrink gone crazy (Batman seems to have a lot of those.) Possibly the coolest name out there.

Red Hood - OK this one is hard to do without having a Robin in place so to speak.

 

[Ultramatic]

I saw this movie two nights ago, opening night in Australia. My impressions were that it was a better film than The Dark Knight, purely because not one actor carried the film as much as Heath Ledger did. It felt more like a solid movie.

 

[The Random One]

I didn't even care enough about Batman Begins to watch it. I might skip this one had I not have free tickets. That my mom won. On a supermarket.

Comic book movies!

 

[Metalrocks]

i have to agree. the movie is good but not as good as the previous 2. had a good time watching it and i sure will get it on dvd once its out.
but i just think that catwomans character wasnt really explained well. also have admit that it does have some weird moments in it. i dint really understand how this new cop (forgot his name now) knew who batman was. he sounded like he knew who he was when he was talking to bruce.
maybe i missed something that i dint understand this part but thats how it felt to me.

anyway, good movie, worth watching, has a satisfactory ending.

 

[SamStar42]

Gives a 'mild' spoiler warning.

Proceeds to tell the mid-film twist. Fucking hell Bob.

 

[shadowmagus]

Gives a 'mild' spoiler warning.

Proceeds to tell the mid-film twist. Fucking hell Bob.

Which mid-film twist? That Bane breaks the Bat?

OT: This isn't a surprise. I expected it would be a good movie, but it wouldn't be as good as TDK and possibly even not as good as BB. Still, it'll get my money, if even for one show.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Exacerbate, not exasperate. Though exacerbation can lead to exasperation.
/Grammar Nazi.

Oh. *coughs, embarrassed*

Though that's not a grammar problem, I just used the wrong word. Exacerbate. Exasperate. ...you know that's a pretty easy mistake to make...! I am Australian, I struggle to remember what words mean 'n shit. Plus, I have a tendency to throw out words I've never used before and just perchance getting them 100% right, both contextually and in definition. 99% of the time it works (I consult the dictionary afterwards, not beforehand, and usually call myself a genius when I'm right. Feels good, man).

 

[SamStar42]

Gives a 'mild' spoiler warning.

Proceeds to tell the mid-film twist. Fucking hell Bob.

Which mid-film twist? That Bane breaks the Bat?

OT: This isn't a surprise. I expected it would be a good movie, but it wouldn't be as good as TDK and possibly even not as good as BB. Still, it'll get my money, if even for one show.

I've read about eight reviews. NONE OF WHICH stated that.

It's a dickmove. It might not be seen as a massive shock, but when he says 'i have to explain the plot' I didn't think he'd fucking go that far, considering that again, NO OTHER REVIEW has had to say that. Bob has pissed me off before but this is a new level.