I won’t be participating in the comment thread, because I had to attend a wedding six hours away from me this weekend and thus spent all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday either in a car or in a suit well away from a movie theater. The closest I got was the mobile game which… well… we’ll get into that tomorrow.
That said, I’m well aware of the fact that I’m literally the only person in America who didn’t go see The Dark Knight Rises last weekend. Warner Brothers is trying not to heavily trumpet their numbers out of respect for the Aurora tragedy, but they still made $160 million. And of course there were all sorts of reactions on Facebook.
So, have at it. What’d you like? What’d you hate? And where does it rank in the Batman movie canon?
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I loved the whole thing, start to finish. No complaints about it being too long, or a certain line at the end about a certain someone, or just the end in general. Quality flick, nice goosebumps at the end, great acting. *fist pump*
Agreed on all counts. I loved it.
I was shocked that you could have such a satisfying ending. In regards to that certain someone, it would have been cool if they said he legal name was the real name instead of the alias, but still liked the wink that Nolan gave to the fans.
I felt that certain line at the end with that certain someone felt very shoehorned and unnecessary. I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me. Didn’t like the way they handled it.
Maybe if he’d gone the whole movie by a shortened version of that name, rather than a completely different name altogether.
Are we trying to talk about this without spoiling it? Are you talking about R. John Blake?
If so it makes sense that he’d change his name growing up in a boy’s school with a girls name would be embarrassing.
I agree with you exactly. It seems to me that the biggest thing that people are nitpicking it the name reveal at the end being too forced and shoehorned in. However, with the internet and nerdom the way that it is things, would have been easily spoiled if Nolan did not decide to do it the way that he did. He has earned the right to use creative license and transform characters to how he sees fit. I thought it was a wonderful end and feel deeply satisfied.
His name is Robin John Blake. You don’t have to hide it.
I’m just saying he should’ve been Rob instead of John throughout the movie.
Also, I don’t care that much. We’re just spitballin’ here.
I think it might be my favorite of the three. Really built on the previous films, brought the story back to Bruce, an incredibly comic-reverent script, riveting scenes, resonant relationships, awesome visuals. Can’t wait to see it again.
Really enjoyed that a lot of canon from the comic books was masterfully crafted into something that Nolan can call his own. Hit a lot of points to satisfy the nerdcore audience but at the same time made a really accessible movie for general viewers. Couldn’t be happier with the ending. Just thinking about that last shot gives me chills.
Saw it twice, and it may still be too soon to officially declare it, but I think this may now be my favorite movie trilogy.
I had the biggest fucking grin on my face as Batman and Catwoman were fighting together.
I was actually pretty let down by the movie. I didn’t like how several things were handled and I thought the ending was kind of groan-worthy. The ending(s) felt like WB putting a gun to Nolan’s head and telling him to lessen the finality of the ending because sequels.
Also, I thought the scene of Bane breaking Batman’s back lacked the proper…gravity expected from having Batman broken and defeated. It just felt like a throw-away scene, and it didn’t make me feel shocked at the shit that just hit the fan, especially when it was a pretty important and devastating scene in the comics.
To your first point, it was kind of strange to see how Nolan laid everything out right at the end, instead of making you guess like Inception did and I wonder if that might be because WB heard all the complaints from dumb people when Inception hit.
I actually think it would have been better to just have Alfred smile at that restaurant and we wouldn’t know what he was smiling about.
I wonder if Nolan was reacting complaints about the ambiguous ending to Inception and I’m sure WB wanted something a little more clear anyway.
Uh, I disagree that the studio had anything to do with it. Two of the biggest themes of the trilogy have been: “Do we need Batman,” and “Does Bruce Wayne need to be Batman?” The ending answered both of those.
Are we even sure Alfred actually saw Bruce? There were plenty of instances of being shown things that were only in the character’s mind (Gordon remembering Two-Face, Bruce imagining Ra’s). So you could look at it either way
You could look at it either way, but the implication is still that Bruce survived. They would not have mentioned the autopilot otherwise.
PUT A FUCKING SPOILER WARNING AT THE TOP OF YOUR POST WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO POST A FUCKING SPOILER YOU DUMB FUCKING DOUCHEBAG.
@Iron Mike, dude this is a discussion of the movie. If you don’t want spoilers, click through to the next story.
I can agree with your about somethings seeming forced at the end. But Batman living was kind of set up in a roundabout way.
Remember Lucious found out that Bruce Wayne had solved and logged in a software update that fixed the botched auto pilot. Therefore it is totally plausible that Batman was not in the Bat at the end.
The beauty is in the details. Take it or leave it.
I liked it a lot. It’s a tough job trying to squeeze that much into a film. I’m not going to spoiler anything.
It was surprisingly heavy on the social commentary: First on the 99% with people who didn’t know they were fed up suddenly becoming fed-up, and then on the Patriot Act-like police actions of Gotham PD.
It ended a little like I expected. I think Anne Hathaway was even better than I thought she’d be. JGL was well-cast. I felt bad for Tom Hardy–there’s not much opportunity to act when no one can see your face and your voice is being dubbed in later (and modified).
My only criticism: Long periods of the filme were light on the batman. A lot of focus on others. But I suppose that’s part of the letting-go process.
to be fair… have you seen his lips?
Bane was the best part of the movie. I’ve literally been talking like him for 5 days now…. and dont plan to stop. My girlfriend is probably going to leave me…. unless I break her back and throw her into a hole…. hmmmmm
I loved the ensemble they put together. I could’ve watched an entire movie just based around JGL and Gary Oldman’s chemistry, and Michael Caine was heart-breakingly awesome. Liked the callbacks to old adversaries as well.
I just got hard thinking about it.
Saw it twice. I will say hands down that the 45 minutes of non-stop action at the end easily trumped The Avengers 45 minute showdown. Great movie, great ending, great trilogy. Nolan should be proud of what he’s done.
Except that the main antagonist in Avengers didn’t get killed in an anti-climatic way by being shot and never shown/mentioned again. And that the fight in Avengers was actually satisfying and fun to watch.
Batman already beat Bane. I don’t know why people are complaining about this.
The action at the end was awesome, but the climax where catwoman shoots bane was kind of weak.
I liked it well enough, and I thought the Batman storyline was great. Bane was a letdown to me, especially since i went to the movie marathon and just watched the amazing Joker. Bane just wasn’t as scary when he was just bs’ing everything to help someone else. Doesn’t match Dark Knight to me, but still a good movie
I have to respectfully disagree about Bane. The Joker is an evil character, but he was played with so much charisma that you couldn’t really hate him – you almost wanted to know what he would do next. Tom Hardy played Bane so well that you had to hate him, and I found myself wondering if he could even be stopped.
Yah, but at the same time I just wanted Bane to be a believer in something. His motivation was just to help someone else in revenge, and that made him less interesting to me for that whole stretch where the Bat was afk
Part of what made Nolan/Leger’s joker so enthralling is that at a certain point of watching him — whether it’s because of his charisma or the writing (or both) — you’re almost starting to buy into the logic of some of his ideas, and that moment in the movie is particularly frightening, especially in the way it left me not even considering the real answer to to ferryboat scene when the question was initially posed for a vote.
The only criticism I have about the character of Bane is that there comes a point where you sort of know he has to be stopped, so then it just becomes a matter of how it would happen. I agree that he seemed unstoppable, and that was what made him so menacing — but I felt like the movie tipped it’s hand a bit towards the fact that Bane being stopped was the only way the plot could be resolved, which made the events that follow seem a little anticlimactic in comparison.
Great movie though — enjoyed the hell out of watching it, even with the occasional nitpick.
I guess, but you kind of know in just about any major motion picture that the hero is going to win out in the end.
He was still motivated by the League of Shadow’s desire to burn Gotham to the ground.
Maybe I’m not explaining my thought the right way. To me a big theme in these Nolan Batman movies (and in other Nolan films) is that symbols and ideas are bigger than individual people, and thus more powerful and dangerous.
Especially in the Batman films, so much of the appeal was that while there were clear antagonists to be found, each held the idea of infecting (or enlightening) others with their philosophies to the point where the city would tear itself apart. I think that was especially the case in this movie, where Bane intends — at least in words — to take the power from the powerful and give it to the people, but then as events unfold it becomes clear that if Bane and Talia are defeated — then the larger idea/threat will fail as well if the heroes can find a way to deal with the physical threat of the bomb.
To me there’s a point in The Dark Knight that it’s suggested with Harvey Dent where even if the Joker is defeated that his ideas have taken root enough that the danger still exists — and I felt like this film was leaning towards something like that as well, but then it sorta shifted to a clear version of “Kill the bad guy, solve the problem.”
I still liked it — but that stole a bit of the punch from me with Bane, is all.
REVENGE IS NEITHER BANE’S OR TALIA’S MOTIVE. THEY SAY THIS EXPLICITLY IN THE MOVIE.
I’m sorry, but I’ve heard that complaint several times and it really bugs me.
Loved it. And I actually thought Anne Hathaway, who annoys the shot out of me often, stole the movie.
Agreed. Her gigantic facial features didn’t even bother me in the least.
Yes, I was pleasantly surprised by her performance as well. And I agree with Taco, ANNE HATHAWAY’S GIGANTIC FACIAL features were no distraction at all. *But great for helping with SEO page ranks.*
Perfect.
Agreed. I’m not a big fan of hers, but she absolutely ran away with this movie. The movie came alive every time she was on-screen.
Seconded, Cajun. I’ve always thought there was more to Hathaway than what Hollywood has been giving her. This proved it.
Great movie. The only complaint I had was the legal name fiasco at the end. I had no problem with the final shot, but the legal name made me mad. And maybe it’s because I don’t regularly read comics, but I found no problems with the portrayals of ANY of the characters because, in this universe, they all worked. Seeing the trilogy in theaters probably helped, so everything was fresh in my mind, but it was fantastic to see how everything tied together, and how Nolan put a bow on his story.
The “legal name” thing seemed a bit tacked on. But I think it was to give the viewers a clear picture as to how that character was going to carry on.
I just felt it unnecessary to use that show how the character would be carried on. The final scene of the movie did a pretty good job of showing that, I think. How many times in the series did we hear “Batman is a symbol, Bruce Wayne is man, Batman is more than Bruce Wayne” or something else along those lines?
Totally agree. I’m just thinking along the tagline ‘The legend Ends”. So the filmakers illustrate that oned ends and a new one begins. Just my take on all of it.
Bruce’s “Anyone could be Batman” + Gordon’s “We need someone who can get his hands dirty” both directed at Blake made it pretty obvious where his character was destined to go. I think the reveal of his given first name was just random fan service for those that got it. Blake would be more of a Nightwing than a Robin anyway.
If he went by Jim instead of John, he could have had an amusing rhyming reference with Jim Blake / Tim Drake.
To me it seemed like a joke.
Since Nolan and Bale have openly said they’re moving on from Batman movies, I thought it was a nice way to leave things so that someone else ‘could’ pick up where they left off with out doing a total reboot.
Very pleased with how the movie, and the whole trilogy, turned out. lots of great chemistry onscreen, humor at just the right moments. The fight between Batman and Bane is without a doubt one of the best in film history. All in all, a very satisfying send off for Batman. That is, until they reboot the franchise in three years.
I think my favorite shot in the whole movie was the scene that opened up focused completely on Marion Cotillard’s bust in her 50′s style outfit. It was like BLAM, here they are!
What I find interesting with The Dark Knight Rises is that I do have some nitpicks about it (I don’t really know that we needed Matthew Modine’s character in the long run, etc.) — but where the nitpicks I had about Prometheus initially overtook a lot of my ability to enjoy it without complaint, in The Dark Knight Rises they’re more a wishlist of things I would have liked to have had in order to make it more what I would have liked rather than what Nolan made.
Absolutely loved it other than the Talia bait and switch at the end and having a hard time hearing some of Bane’s lines also messed with my experience, but overall the best film I’ve seen this summer so far. Yes, even more than the Avengers which I really enjoyed also. I’ve seen the film twice thus far…
I didnt have any problem understanding Bane, even with the questionable sound editing at times. His accent kills me though. I dont hear spanish/carribean as much as I hear retarded Transylvanian. I’ve been speaking that way as much as possible all weekend.
I thought he sounded like an even drunker version of Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery talking into a Darth Vader mask. It was kind of hard to take seriously at times, even more so than Bale’s Batman voice.
The Penis Mightier, Mr. Wayne…..
Was anyone really surprised about the bait and switch though?
I don’t think Bane was supposed to sound like any particular nationality. They did not give him one if the movie, even if in the comic books he is from the Caribbean.
The brutality of the beating was so much so that I don’t think I took a breath during that entire scene.
Same here.
I saw it twice, and I really liked it, only a few nitpicky things.
1. No cop would just toss away a loaded gun. Ever. At least chuck it in the river.
2. No one knows you have to cross frozen ice on your belly? No one? Was everyone on the movie from warm climates?
3. Even the 2nd time through, I still missed some of Bane’s lines. I liked the voice, but it still wasn’t clear enough. But I think Thomas Hardy did really well considering you couldn’t see or hear him.
4. It seemed a little Talia-light.
That said, If Alfred cries, I cry. And Catwoman was really well done. Acting and the costume.
I don’t think a movie has ever made me cry (SO MANLY!), but when Alfred broke down when he was leaving and also during the funeral I just about cracked.
Michael Caine is the fucking man.
yeah… I totally cried when Alfred did…..
My breaking point was the statue. During the whole montage, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back
Yay im not the only one who got near tears. Michael Craine was tearing my heart out.
I enjoyed the movie a whole lot, and tried not to nitpick while I was watching.
The back-breaking should have been shot differently, or been treated with more impact. It’s sold better when someone breaks their back in pro wrestling.
Avengers was ever so slightly better, but as a trilogy, this one owns. Ties well into the first movie, full circle and all that.
Why didn’t Batman just throw one of those little grenades at Bane? Or is that like asking, “why didn’t the Empire just shoot that escape pod?”
He doesn’t kill, right?
Oh, I know…I was just thinking that shit was pretty desperate at that point.
Yeah, I do wonder why he didn’t go straight for the mask.
Did anyone else notice that somedays they just couldn’t get rid of a bomb?
Yes, well put sir.
I enjoyed Cillian Murphy’s cameo in the movie. Completely out of no where but still somehow awesome. If they didn’t kill Harvey at the end of the second movie it may have made more sense to have him be in that role, flipping a coin instead of the choice of Death/Exile.
I don’t understand why Murphy can seemingly only get roles in Nolan movies these days. Dude is fantastic.
Yeah, Sunshine is one of my favorite movies.
Google “The Wind That Shakes The Barley”. It’s an epic indie flick from 2006, starring Murphy, that won the Palm D’Or at Cannes. It’s about the beginnings of the civil war in Ireland. It’s pretty awesome stuff.
I enjoyed the movie. Thought it was well done, paced and thought Hathaway absolutely killed it as Catwoman.
Liked the absolute physical monster that Bane was. Batman Begins showed that it took a crowbar to the head to break the Batman cowl but, Bane smashed it with his fists! Took a little away from the character finding out he wasn’t the mastermind and really just an instrument of Talia Al Ghul.
I couldnt help think about it for a moment, but how different would the movie had been if Heath Ledger was alive? The Joker is not mentioned once(for obvious reasons), but what part would he have played in all the madness. I still loved the movie as it is, but that was a thought i had .
I laugh imagining the looks on Gordon’s face when Bane releases the prisoners and he thinks “Oh shit, Joker’s’ gonna be running around now too.”
I would imagine the entire story would have been different had Ledger not died. I was worried going in that the movie would feel empty has Nolan probably had to completely re-write what he had planned but credit to him, I hardly missed The Joker during TDKR.
Thing was Bane busted Black Gate Prison open not Arkham. He didn’t release psychopaths… But then again Scarecrow was loose so question markkk?
I think we simply get the Joker as the judge in Crane’s place, with Crane appearing elsewhere.
They should have named John Blake Rob. I liked the little fan service, but it made no sense.
Rob Blake skews aliitle too close to Robert Blake, and its no good to associate a heroic cop with a big bag of fucking crazy.
I guess, but that would probably be the last thing on my mind. I’d probably think of the hockey player first, but I’m weird like that.
It was my favorite of the 3, but it was very flawed. How did Bruce Wayne get from the Middle East(??) with only water and no money, no phone, no bat plane, no knee brace; all in less then 12 hours with a healing broken back. That was just bad.. Also why does Christian Bale become a horrible actor once he puts on the Batman costume (who wrote his dialogue)?
How does he do it? Hes the mother fucking Batman.
“WHO WROTE THE DIALOGUE??!?!?!”
“I don’t know, I swear to God…”
“SWEAR TO ME!!!!”
DISAPPOINTED!
Not suggesting that the movie was bad or anything. It was a bit long and had some questionable parts, but it also had some good parts.
I was most disappointed in how STUPID Batman was. Batman, as we’ve come to know him, is someone with a high IQ, gadgets, stealthy, prepared…
So how come all of that went out of the window as he faced Bane???
Here is an opponent that was trained as he was AND was stronger.
So his plan was to go DIRECTLY at Bane and out-punch him??? BOTH times?
You’d think his approach would’ve been better the 2nd time.
Yeah, I know, maybe he did it b/c Alfred didn’t believe in him. Nonetheless his approach was still STUPID.
Oh yeah, and the fact that Catwoman had to save him from Bane was lame and anti-climatic.
Overall disappointed.
One last nitpick. I know the prison scenes were there to reveal important background for several characters and served to rebuild Bruce into Batman, but when I saw it the second time my first thought was “Hmm, why hasn’t anyone just used the rope to climb out?”
I thought that the rope was hanging from something about halfway up near the jump. I think one of them put it there after climbing up to the jump. Didn’t he throw the rope from the top down when he got out? I imagine that’s when they climbed out with the rope.
Am I the only person who thought Selina Kyle was not welcome? I didn’t enjoy the character at all and the fact that SHE was the one who took out Bane So EASILY? It actually frustrated me.
Also, I tend to prefer the small, up-close-and-personal Batman. I wanted to see more utility belt and less Bat-wing. Still, loved the film all in all.
Agreed on this. One would think it would’ve been much easier to find a big ass plane on top of a building even with camo over it.
Anne Hathaway is always welcome, I don;t care what movie it is or what role she plays. They could have replaced her for Alfred and I would have been fine with it, as long as she’s naked or in skin tight suits.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, less so then the other two though. The pacing of the first 30-40 minutes was off, Bruce retiring for 8 FUCKING YEARS was really stupid (he trained abroad longer then he was actually in costume), His knee magically getting better and not needing the brace anymore was weird, Bruce can magically appear on Gotham even though no one can get on or off, and no one noticed the Batwing on a random roof for 5 months during a city wide riot/no mans land. Plus, Michael Caine was criminally underused. All these could be seen as nitpicking, but the fact that Nolan usually is so much more tight then this is what bugged me. If it was any other director, I may let some of it slide.
Really, though, I enjoyed it more than not.
And why was Bruce so beat up to start the movie. Per the movies, he was batman for 2 years and then sat in his house for 8, whats the problem?
Here is to hoping for the director’s cut that will include the footage that seems to be missing to fill the plot holes. I agree with you 100% but still thought the movie was great.
It was my least favorite of the three. The acting was great, and I think that almost all of the new characters added a lot to the film. But come on. It can’t be the best of the trilogy when it openly contradicted the other two. Dark Knight was all about Batman enduring and having to keep going in order to be the hero for his city, and then he quits as Batman right away. Yes, the Dent Act defeated the mob and locked them up, but they said the last time he was Batman was the day that Dent died, which would have been well before the streets were cleaned up.
And it also means that in 17 years, Bruce Wayne was only Batman for 2 years ( 7 years training, a year and a half between Begins and Dark Knight, 8 years when he quit being Batman and lived as a shut-in). And that’s bullshit.
And for some reason 13 year old kids (who, lets face it, wouldn’t even know who Batman was is he had been retired for 8 fucking years) still idolize and hold out hope for batman to return, even though the public thinks he fucking murdered Dent.
I really thought they’d make Blake that kid played by Joffrey from Begins. At least he was there when Rachel said “Bruce?”
The issue I had with the ending is it seems like Bruce is leaving Blake to take on the mantle of Batman, which is cool. But he has no training, no financial backing and no help. Gotham’s infrastructure is blown to shit and it looked like a good chunk of the police force is dead. And Bruce is kicking it with Selina in Europe? Seems like a dick move.
Salient point, for sure. But can you blame him?
I sure can’t. Selina’s a hot piece, you gotta lock that down.
Blake climbed into the bat cave at the end. Alfred has all the money and the house. Do the math.
Also, did anyone else notice… that Bane was basically doing all of this for a piece of Al Guhl pussy???
That’s what I gathered. But how fuckin’ old is Bane supposed to be? Talia was a little girl and he was already a Gorilla. Is he supposed to be in his 40′s? 50′s? I can’t believe Talia is only supposed to be in her 20′s.
I assumed Talia was in her 30′s to 40′s
So if Bane was in his 20′s; he would be in his 50′s or 60′s now? Ha ha, Batman got beat up by an old dude!
lets say shes. 30 and was 10 in the prison. 20 years.
Bane was 20ish so at the most 48. I think Bruce Wayne being near 50 and being out of shape makes sense… plus… Bane was ripped as fuck
I figured Bane was older than that. Was I the only one who thought his voiced sounded like that of an old person? Imagine him saying, “In my day sonny, we would walk 15 miles to school, up hill both ways.” And the image that comes to mind, at least for me, is the grandpa from Rugrats.
I just want to know if Aaron Eckhart get’s paid since his photo was everywhere in the movie although he wasn’t in it.
SPOILER:
Did anyone here have a hard time understanding that Alfred left Gotham after he gave Bruce the big speech in the middle? I’ve seen a forum where everyone is pointing at the fact that he survived the occupation without a scratch the biggest plothole. I thought that was pretty well spelled out, right?
Seemed pretty clear to me. He literally says he is leaving.
I don’t know if it’s been said, because I didn’t read everyone else’s comments, but with Joseph Gordon Levitt being called Robin, it doesn’t mean he’ll become the ‘Robin’ character. He’s probably going to be a new Batman, (which I think could be used when they start another reboot for the Justice League film. They already have a new actor for Batman!), which Dick Grayson did in the comic after Bruce Wayne had ‘died’
I think they just left it open ended.
I dont think JGL will be the new batman…
it’s gonna be a good 5+ years before someone tries to do another batman.
I don’t think WB will allow another 5 years to go by without a new Batman. At the very least, we already know we won’t have to wait that long to see a Batman back on the big-screen since they’re pushing the JLA movie full steam ahead after the success of Avengers.
WB is in a pretty tough spot with Batman now. Nolan just crafted what is arguably one of the Top 5 (if not all time) best trilogies in history. Where do you take the character from here? Do you dare go back to a more “cartoony” version of Batman as we had from the late 80′s to late 90′s? Do you try and stay in the “real” world but risk getting a director who could fall under the pressure of being compared to Nolan? Maybe they can convince JGL to be the new Batman if they hire the right writer and director and just continue this “universe”….
All I can say is, I’m sure glad I’m not making those decisions.
I liked it quite a bit. I had a few nit-picks which keep it from being my favorite of the trilogy, but considering what it had to follow up with The Dark Knight (which is one of my favorite movies of all time), I didn’t expect it would be either. As for the nit-picks….
*Tali. I liked the “switch and bait” and I think it was perfect for the over-arching story of the trilogy and keeping true to the comics. What I didn’t like was how short her stint in the movie was after the reveal. After she showed Bruce who she really was, she was in the movie for about 15 more minutes and the dead.
*Alfred. I didn’t like how they handled his character and how he just disappeared from the movie all together. As someone who’s kind of been the emotional and moral compass of the series, for him to just up and leave Bruce and not come back until the final seconds of the film…. something about that just didn’t feel right in terms of staying true to the character.
*Questionable logic. By that, I mean there were some things that if you try and look at them logically, they completely fall apart in terms of making sense. To be fair, The Dark Knight had some of this too, but not quite to the level that Rises does. For starters, when Bruce finally makes it out of the Prison/Pit, how in the hell did he get back to Gotham? He was dirt poor at that point, so all you see is him getting out and then he’s half-way around the world, back in Gotham. Or how about the Bat Flame on the Bridge that he has Gordon ‘light up’? With time being of the essence, when did he have time to meticulously put gasoline in the shape of a bat on the top of a bridge? Or…. major spoilers here…. at the very end when Fox is talking to the technician working on “The Bat” and mentioning that the Auto Pilot program was fixed by Wayne…. Shouldn’t “The Bat” have been incinerated in the nuclear explosion? There’s no way “The Bat” he was flying would have made it out of that in one piece. One explanation is that they had multiple “Bats” and the program was uploaded onto all of them, but if that’s true, why didn’t Bane and his men take those as well as the Tumblers?
So, while this movie requires the viewer to ‘not sweat the small stuff’, it’s still a beautiful movie with some spectacular action and acting. The voices never bothered me, be it Batman through the whole series or Bane in TDKR. I also actually loved the final 5 minutes and the reveal of Blake being “Robin”. I got chills with the final scene where Blake is rising on the platform in the Bat Cave. My personal interpretation of that scene wasn’t that he was going to go become Robin, but that he would continue being Batman or be Nightwing.
Leaving the theater, I had a weird mix of emotions in that I was very content with how they ended Bruce Wayne’s story, but I really REALLY wanted to see the story continued with John “Robin” Blake’s story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the role perfectly and I think he could carry a series of movies in that universe by himself. It’s something I’d love to see, but don’t expect we ever will.
One of my favorite fan explanations of the whole Robin thing is that John Blake is a composite of all the three main Robins: Dick, Tim, and Jason. The “Robin” name made me (and others) audibly groan in the theater, but viewed in this way, I actually think it’s a smart approach.
I agree with all of the various issues, and it seems like Nolan was more interested in blowing it all out for this last film than being meticulous in the details. You know he did this on purpose since he’s one of the most detail-oriented directors/writers of the last fifty years. That’s why I still feel like TDK is the true “Nolan Batman film” rather than Begins being the “Batman film by Nolan” and TDKR being a mashup of the two.
I interpreted the end with Blake “rising” up on the platform as the real definition of The Dark Knight Rises. The whole trilogy has been hammering in the point of symbols being greater than the man, and the final scene was the culmination of that philosophy. His name being Robin, I believe, wasn’t to imply he was to become the Robin, but instead implies that the symbol of what the Batman stood for inspired or will inspire him to become something greater, like the Robin’s of the comics. This can be seen in the end with Blake searching for and discovering the Bat Cave on his own while Bruce is shown to be retired halfway across the world, bringing the philosophy of the world needing Batman, but Batman not needing Bruce Wayne, full circle. Which all ties into the overall theme that if a symbol is great enough, it will continue on for ages to come. For these movies that symbol is a mask, which is directly addressed early on in the first film and it’s importance and reasoning addressed in Rises with the dialogue, “Why do you wear the mask?”
“To protect the ones I love.”
“But weren’t you pretty much alone and a recluse?”
“Like I said, to protect the ones I love.”
(This was my memory of the conversation, maybe not the exact EXACT words used but it is mostly correct and is the conversation in a nutshell)
Implying the people of Gotham are the ones he loves as referenced in Begins. And protecting them with the mask implies it is a symbol to be used in whatever way they need to use it in order to bring about change and hope for the future giving them strength, as referenced in TDK. Blake’s search for and subsequent “rising” up into the Bat Cave in the end, and the statue of the Dark Knight clearly show that Blake, Gotham, and the rest of the world still need that symbol, they still want and need Batman so it is my oppinion that if his story were to continue he would be the next Batman and not Robin or Nightwing.
“I had a weird mix of emotions in that I was very content with how they ended Bruce Wayne’s story, but I really REALLY wanted to see the story continued with John “Robin” Blake’s story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the role perfectly and I think he could carry a series of movies in that universe by himself. It’s something I’d love to see, but don’t expect we ever will.” Saosin you took the words right out of my mouth. I would very much like to see the Blake story unfold. A retired Wayne trains Blake in the ways of the League of Shadows since he is probably the only one left who knows the teachings. Blake takes over the mantle of Batman. Shoehorn it into the Justice League movie by using elements from the Batman Inc. storyline. This would allow Bruce to come out of retirement to be Batman for the Justice League while still having a Batman for Gotham whose story doesn’t get muddled up with over arching plot elements like Iron Man 2. This is just my opinion, and my take on the movies themes were my interpretations.
TDK was brilliant because it was a comic book-super hero-action movie that was also none of those things. I’d say it was the closest to Nolan’s earlier work than anything else he’s done since he’s blown up as a director. I have a lot of problems with TDKR and they all stem from Nolan trying to be TOO brilliant: 2hr 45min runtime, trying to tie everything up in an unnecessarily tidy bow, several unforgivable plot holes/leaps/things that make no sense, and of course what we find out about a Certain Someone. But those things could be minor gripes of a fanboy (granted, one who saw TDK three times in theaters and has been waiting years for TDKR, more than anything I can remember). Up until the last half hour, everything seems pretty darn tight and awesome.
Biggest problem is the portrayal of Bruce. To be blunt, the decision he makes at the end of the film makes absolutely no sense. I know Nolan has created his own Batman universe, but what Bruce decides to do goes completely against not only how the character is traditionally portrayed, not only the driving force of the character in the Nolan films, but also the whole point of why Bruce does what he does in the TDKR as he says himself: He hasn’t given everything to Gotham. While the viewers are tricked into thinking he has, it turns out he hasn’t. For what? So he can take Selina on a bang-around-the-world tour for the rest of their lives? I’m not saying Batman can’t retire; he has in certain plots. But he always either has a hand in the game despite having a reduced role (i.e. Batman, Inc.) or comes back when the city needs him again (various stories). The implication is that Bruce is done and Batman lives on, but this is ultimately a sign of his weakness. I can’t think of any Batman that has ceased his code of self-sacrifice for anything other than physical incapability.
Then again there’s a brilliant underlying message that Nolan may have intended and serves as a response to this: Batman, in the “real” world, is an impossibility because no single person would ever be able to make such a lifelong sacrifice. I really hope this is what Nolan meant because otherwise I’m baffled by him shoehorning in a sappy happy ending like he did.
I think it’s because he knew that if he took those actions Batman would go down as hero, and also because he knew JGL would take up the mantle. It could have been his only chance to ensure both of those things at the same time.
To clarify my point further, JGL makes it explicit that he is relying on Bruce Wayne and Batman. Making sure JGL thinks he is dead is the only way he will stop counting on Bruce.
You seriously have a problem with a bang-around-the-world tour with Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman?? If I just saved 12 million people, damn right I’m going on that tour!
I prefer The Dark Knight of the three. Overall I really enjoyed the flick. Among some of the more controversial parts being the Robin thing and Bruce retiring. I guess they were going that route with John Blake once he confronted Wayne about his identity. It screamed Tim Drake to me. Then I couldn’t get it out of my head for the whole movie and realized Blake is basically Tim with some Jason and Dick sprinkled on top. I was happy with his resolution.
Bruce retiring? I liked it. Keep in mind this is a Bruce Wayne that never believed he would be doing this forever. He always was working towards a time when Batman wouldn’t be needed and he could settle with Rachel. So the idea that this goes against his character is incorrect. Because it doesn’t go against THIS incarnation of the character. That and, for once, Bruce got a happy ending. It was the ending he deserved.
Some plot holes bugged me but on the whole didn’t hurt the experience. I walked out smiling from ear to ear.
As for the time Bruce was “active” I think he was Batman for… a year? Between Begins and TDK. I assumed he was active for a few months after that. Enough time to justify rebuilding the Batcave (which was sick,) accumulate those extensive injuries, and for the Dent Act to pass and cut a whole into the mob. I think there was a book called “How to be Batman” which was a guide that basically went over the fact someone would have to train for about ten years and then would probably only last a year or two before their body gave out. But Bruce was active long enough to establish his urban myth of the Batman that hunted the criminals and protected the innocents for kids to buy into. Besides the “Batman killed everyone” cover-up has enough holes in it that while that would be the “official” word on the subject, there would be conspiracy theorist putting the fringes of evidence together and not believe it.
I think you’re spot on about Bruce retiring here Froggie. Maybe that isn’t in the nature of the character from the comics, but Nolan set that up as something this Bruce Wayne was thinking about way back in the end of the 1st movie. So I also didn’t see that being out of character at all for this specific version of Bruce Wayne.
Thought it was great. There were a few groan inducing moments, but even the best films have one or two of those. I think they would have been better served leaving the football field explosions out of the trailer, as that would have blown my goddamned mind if I’d seen it for the first time in theaters.
I liked Bruce retiring and leaving Gotham to JGL. He did what he needed to do, which was give the people a backbone to stand up. In the first movie, the cops just don’t give a shit, in the second, they’re too fucking scared of the Joker to do anything. In this one though, they realized they needed to take a stand or the city would fall, and so Bruce’s work as Batman was done.
I was impressed even if a lot of this was “Batman: Exposition.” The name gag at the end would have been handled better with a silent glimpse of his ID or a piece of paperwork.
The return from backbreaking was hard to swallow without the deus ex machina love interest from the comics, but this IS a Batman movie. I do agree with Bowie that a smile and nod from Alfred would have been the best end of the scene, since Lucious Fox got his own confirmation as well.
As for JGL’s arc, it’d be great to see that series, but if Marvel and Sony have no balls regarding taking their characters in new directions, WB has a straight up vagina. We’re getting a reboot kicking off the new DC Universe and a Justice League as soon as WB decides where Man of Steel needs to go. Period.
Anyway, 8 out of 10, B+, 4 Hardons…whatever system you follow.
4 Catboners for me.
As for the Robin line, they could have fixed it easily.
“Hi, my name’s John Blake”
“We don’t have anything for a John Blake.”
“Try my legal name: Robin John Blake.”
Conveys exactly the same thing, makes more sense in context, and JGL gets to deliver the actual line.
Worst of the trilogy. This movie shit on everything that makes Batman, BATMAN. He pretty much quit being Batman because of a Girl. A girl. He left Gotham to become more, to avenge his parents the only way he knew how. And he quits because someone died. If my time line is correct he was Batman for a couple of years. That is it. Batman is more.
I enjoyed the flick but they ruined the mythos of The Batman. Killed Bruce Wayne. Gave away all of his parents things. The stuff he wanted to do for Gotham to make his parents proud just pretty much went out the window.
Favorite part was the Return though
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All in all, TDKR was solid. There was no way it was going to be another The Dark Knight, and I think we all knew that. This was it. The end.
Anne Hathaway surprised the hell out of me by actually doing a great job in the film, and I thought what they did with the foldout ear-goggles was pretty clever.
I was a little frustrated by a couple really stupid bits of writing/continuity errors, though.
Such as:
-Bruce Wayne’s totally crippled, cartilage-free leg. No one questions where his limp went. Then, after Bane throws him in the pit and his spine heals (not even touching it), he walks just fine without his magic brace.
-JGL walks up to Bruce Wayne and declares “I know you’re Batman because you walked in and I was like that guy is Batman.” Instead of saying something like…”No I’m not” or “Why would you say that?”, Bruce is just like “Ha, ya got me! Here’s the keys to the Batcave!”
JGL seemed really shoehorned in to me. I get that it was a cool twist to have him SPOILERS OH MY DEAR LORD become Robin, but at the same time, Bruce is like HERE TAKE MY HOUSE, MY CAVE, AND MY TOYS, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE MY MONEY, TRAINING, OR SKILLS. The filming was cool enough, but the writing seemed phoned in to me.
-Bane sounded like Sean Connery. I’m not knocking Tom Hardy, who did very well with the material and role he was given, but he sounded just like Sean Connery and I couldn’t stop giggling the first time he talked.
That said, fanboy rage aside, I’m glad Nolan did these films. It was a great take on Batman and his struggle between humanity and vengeance, in this case choosing humanity. I would also like to say in closing that the one bit near the end where Chris Nolan is finally like “Alright Christian, go nuts with that dumb voice we didn’t let you do in this one” and he screams “WHERE IS THE DETONATOR(IAHJRUERBUIQWIOVJHAI WHERE IS ITTTTRT?!” I applauded. I love that voice.
The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t as good as The Dark Knight, but it was still an awfully good movie. I guess I was the only one that was really impressed with Tom Hardy as Bane. I thought he showed a lot of emotion considering he only had half of his face to work with, and I loved the voice.
The scenes with Alfred pretty much ripped my heart out, stuck it through a meat grinder, then mashed it all together and stuck it back in my chest. God those scenes were well done.
Did anyone else think Bane sounded like the SNL parody of Sean Connery on Jeopardy?
“I have to ask you Bruce, about the Penis Mightier…”
I had a hard time getting around that.