The Dark Knight Rises - letdown or not?

[Anno_Domini]

And then looking at the 172 who voted on another thread that had TDKR being the best CBM of 2012.

[The Joker]

Out of three movies, one of which is TDKR itself, and TASM.

Not exactly stiff competition.

[Anno_Domini]

TDKR and The Avengers though. That is stiff competition and TDKR is still ahead.

[The Joker]

Stiff competition is when it's up against several great contenders like The Avengers. But it's not. You're also talking about a mere 40 vote difference.

[Anno_Domini]

The 172 votes on that one thread shows that the 80 'No's isn't even that accurate when we have 172 people thinking TDKR was the best CBM of 2012. 172 out of 500 or so is a lot more noticeable on what people think of TDKR if given that as an example than 80 votes out of 500 or so.

And why can't it be competition with only two films seeing as how there were only two good choices even on that poll, imo.

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

And then looking at the 172 who voted on another thread that had TDKR being the best CBM of 2012.

http://www.superherohype.com/polls/3...-movie-of-2012

Main page poll. Oh yeah. It wasn't even close.

[Anno_Domini]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

http://www.superherohype.com/polls/3...-movie-of-2012

Main page poll. Oh yeah. It wasn't even close.

That's pretty much the results on this poll but the other way around

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=389345

And your point is what? It's a letdown because it's in 2nd place?

[BH/HHH]

Originally Posted by Hamill-Joker

There will always be plenty of haters on something that is popular and reviewed well.

I remember there being a ton of people who absolutely hated Avatar.

Yeah but Avatar is ****

[Anno_Domini]

Indeed.

Avatar is a big pile of ****.

[Hamill-Joker]

I wouldn't know, I've never watched Avatar.

Anyway, about the front page poll. You'll notice that the question is favorite comic book movie, not best. It reminds me of something Roger Ebert said in his commentary for Casablanca, it was something like while he considers Citizen Kane to the be the greatest movie of all time, among the greats Casablanca is probably his favorite.

While The Dark Knight Rises was my favorite, I can see why The Avengers would appeal to a larger audience as their favorite. It is fun movie with great characters and action. Does that necessarily make it a better film than The Dark Knight Rises? No. Despite TDKR being my favorite movie of the year, out of the other movies I have seen I think Lincoln is the best.

[CoolCadaver49]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

And your point is what? It's a letdown because it's in 2nd place?

His point was probably the same one that you were trying to make when you referred to the other poll. C'mon man. You were just using that forum poll to justify your belief that more people liked TDKR better, weren't you?

I think it's impossible (and unnecessary) figure out exactly how many more people liked either movie better.

[mackblack01]

TDKR was a letdown for me. There was a lot of good parts in the movie, each of them were, independently, very enjoyable, but as a whole, the movie was inconsistent. It was a complete mess IMO.

I voted "Yes".

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

That's pretty much the results on this poll but the other way around

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=389345

And your point is what? It's a letdown because it's in 2nd place?

Naaaaah my point is your little forum poll there compared to the one on the main page of this places shows very different results. Ya only have a 41 vote diff on your one. In the main page poll for this place Avengers has like 55% of the vote and Rises only has 30 something.

[Anno_Domini]

Originally Posted by CoolCadaver49

His point was probably the same one that you were trying to make when you referred to the other poll. C'mon man. You were just using that forum poll to justify your belief that more people liked TDKR better, weren't you?

I think it's impossible (and unnecessary) figure out exactly how many more people liked either movie better.

I can show more than one poll with TDKR still being on top with these forums, though.

Originally Posted by Fudgie

Naaaaah my point is your little forum poll there compared to the one on the main page of this places shows very different results. Ya only have a 41 vote diff on your one. In the main page poll for this place Avengers has like 55% of the vote and Rises only has 30 something.

Okay, cool, you showed me a poll that has Avengers winning and TDKR taking second place. Congrats. But that 34% for TDKR still has it beat over the other CBMs in that poll, so 2nd place is still not really a letdown, don't ya think? To say there are a lot of haters but doesn't seem like it on the little poll you showed as well

[CoolCadaver49]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

I can show more than one poll with TDKR still being on top with these forums, though.

Good for you, I guess??

[Anno_Domini]

Thanks?

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

Okay, cool, you showed me a poll that has Avengers winning and TDKR taking second place. Congrats. But that 34% for TDKR still has it beat over the other CBMs in that poll, so 2nd place is still not really a letdown, don't ya think? To say there are a lot of haters but doesn't seem like it on the little poll you showed as well

Ahahaha the other movies are Ghost Rider, Men in Black 3, Chronicle and Amazing Spider-Man. Wow that is some damn hard competition there

[Anno_Domini]

Sorry that there weren't any other CBMs good enough to run against TA and TDKR in 2012?

But, you'd also think those other films were the real letdowns and not TDKR....but, boy oh boy, you don't think so, huh?

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

Sorry that there weren't any other CBMs good enough to run against TA and TDKR in 2012?

Nobody's blaming you.

But, you'd also think those other films were the real letdowns and not TDKR....but, boy oh boy, you don't think so, huh?

Chronicle had no expectations. Men in Black 3 had no big expectations. Ghost Rider 2 sure as hell didn't have any. Only Spidey had some expectations and it wasn't even a sequel to two great CBM flicks. It was a reboot with new cast and new director.

Rises was. It was a sequel to like the most popular CBM flick ever. Same cast and director coming back. Stands to reason it was the biggest letdown since it was so poor.

[Anno_Domini]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

Nobody's blaming you.

Didn't say you were. Needless to say, it will be dumb to do such when I'm not a director or a producer.

Chronicle had no expectations. Men in Black 3 had no big expectations. Ghost Rider 2 sure as hell didn't have any. Only Spidey had some expectations and it wasn't even a sequel to two great CBM flicks. It was a reboot with new cast and new director.

Rises was. It was a sequel to like the most popular CBM flick ever. Same cast and director coming back. Stands to reason it was the biggest letdown since it was so poor.

Lol, this is the most absurd reasoning I ever heard. TDKR made more money than TDK and while it wasn't as highly rated as TDK, it is more than BB as well as been said is a monumental conclusion to the DK trilogy.

To say it's a poor letdown only shows how poor people are trying to persist on TDKR being a letdown.

[Raoul Duke]

i wouldn't say the dark knight rises was a let down, i enjoyed it a lot, and i don't consider the dark knight as a masterpiece like some, so the "fall" wasn't so pronounced for me.

i agree with the idea that it was a bit messy. the editing and pacing were truly horrendous. but there were certain scenes and set pieces that were just fantastic. and whilst there were some great performances, especially from bale who has never been better as batman, and hathaway and hardy, there were some truly awful performances like modine's and cotillard's. ok cotillard wasn't awful, but she seemed to be sleep walking through the film.

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

Didn't say you were. Needless to say, it will be dumb to do such when I'm not a director or a producer.

Ya said sorry in your post, mon ami. Ya sounded like ya were apologetic for something.

Lol, this is the most absurd reasoning I ever heard. TDKR made more money than TDK and while it wasn't as highly rated as TDK, it is more than BB as well as been said is a monumental conclusion to the DK trilogy.

To say it's a poor letdown only shows how poor people are trying to persist on TDKR being a letdown.

Pulling the money card again are ya? I guess Spidey 3 wasn't such a disappointment cos it made more cash than the first two flicks.

Oh yeah.

[Anno_Domini]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

Ya said sorry in your post, mon ami. Ya sounded like ya were apologetic for something.

Rhetorical questions go right past your head as much as sarcasm it seems.

Sorry about that.

Pulling the money card again are ya? I guess Spidey 3 wasn't such a disappointment cos it made more cash than the first two flicks.

Oh yeah.

I expected you to pull that reply out of your 'bag o' tricks' as well.

[I Am Jack's...]

Every time I think about this movie, I find a new thing I have a problem with. Watching it in theaters, I enjoyed it, but the ending left me conflicted and I didn't know what I really thought of all of it. Now, I realize that I don't like it very much.

It doesn't suck. It's not an awful or "bad" movie. But it has a lot of problems, most of mine are with the story. And it's made worse by how good TDK was, and how good all of Nolan's other movies are. It makes this one, and all its story problems, stick out so much more, at least for me.

I find myself really wishing that TDK had been the conclusion, in hindsight. So yeah, I have to say, TDKR is a letdown for me.

[CoolCadaver49]

Originally Posted by Anno_Domini

Thanks?

You're welcome.

My point was that those polls don't mean s***. It's impossible to judge how many people liked which one better. Polls are iffy because users might not find them (which gets a less biased attitude, a thread in the Batforums, a thread in the general forums, or a poll on the main page?). Even if you got a good, fair sampling size, and even if TDKR won, what exactly would that prove (in relation to this threads' topic)? I know plenty of people (average moviegoers, film buffs, comic fans) that thought TDKR was a disappointment, but still liked it far more than The Avengers. In fact, I am the only person that I know (in "real life") that likes the Avengers better.

I'm saying that it's useless to compare the two films, especially within the context of this thread, which is meant to determine whether or not TDKR was a letdown.

And I'm pretty sure what Fudgie was trying to say (I'll be honest, it's hard to tell sometimes), was that TDKR had a higher chance of being a letdown. FAR higher chance than TASM, which was coming off of SM3, or Judge Dredd (because who cares), or MIB III (because again, who cares), or even The Avengers (just a big "dumb" summer popcorn flick). People weren't expecting any of those movies to be revolutionary or groundbreaking. But Rises had to live up to a movie that revolutionized the genre, according to many. That was very unlikely, but people still went in with those expectations (I just wanted a movie as good as Begins or The Prestige). So it only makes sense that more people left TDKR disappointed (because more people were expecting lightning to strike twice). This has nothing to do with the quality of the film (which did exacerbate things, imo), or whether or not The Avengers was better. There was just a higher chance of people being disappointed.

I don't think the poll of this thread is very representative of general audiences. I think most people liked it fine (though I've seen an almost unanimous agreement among friends and critics that TDK was better). I think a very small percentage of audiences left disappointed (maybe like 10-15% tops). And I think that generally, those are the people who thought about the movie, agonized over it prior to its release, and then continued to think about it long after seeing it. In my experience, the more somebody over-analyzes a movie, the higher the chance that they'll end up disliking it. This is a fan forum, filled with people that endlessly discuss CBMs so I think the results are skewed in the negative direction.

Keeping all of that in mind, TDKR was/is a great success. Even someone like me (I enjoy it less and less over time) can understand that a sequel to TDKR could have been, no, should have been much less popular (think about Godfather III, or Return of the Jedi). I think backlash against this movie (among general audiences and critics alike) was extremely small, and that alone makes it a successful movie.

So financially and critically speaking, I think it would be incorrect to call this movie a letdown. But on a personal level, it was for me, which is why I voted yes. And there's no use debating opinion, so I'd rather not get into that (I've lurked for a long time, I know that you slobber over TDKR, I don't need to hear more of the same).