Best CBM Threequel AFTER CW and TDKR

[The Shape]

None of the films listed in the poll are particularly great. As for which is the "best" of them in terms of quality, I'd probably go with Iron Man 3.

As for which is my favorite? I'd have to go with Batman Forever, with nostalgia playing a fairly significant role in making that call.

 

[Kyle]

IM3 then XMA. The others are leagues below those two.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Iron Man 3

 

[TalismanRing]

Iron Man 3

Also, IM3 >>> TDKR

 

[Awest66]

also, im3 >>> tdkr

tdkr>>>>>>>>im3

 

[Slade W]

TDKR is one of the best superhero movies, whereas IM3 is a middling one IMO.

 

[Ivan Drago]

TDKR is one of the best superhero movies, whereas IM3 is a middling one IMO.

I thought TDKR was pretty middling, and considering the talent and hype behind it, I found it to be much more disappointing than IM3.

TDKR is a huge step down from BB and TDK, and TDKR betrays the great ending of TDK imo.

 

[Awest66]

TDKR betrays the great ending of TDK imo.

Not really. The premise of TDKR is built around Batman taking the blame for Harvey Dent's murders and preserving his reputation

 

[DA_Champion]

Not really. The premise of TDKR is built around Batman taking the blame for Harvey Dent's murders and preserving his reputation

Yes pretty much it. It's a logical continuation of TDK, for both Batman and for Gotham.

 

[Ivan Drago]

Not really. The premise of TDKR is built around Batman taking the blame for Harvey Dent's murders and preserving his reputation

Yes pretty much it. It's a logical continuation of TDK, for both Batman and for Gotham.

The Dark Knight, by way of Gordon, tells you that Batman will protect Gotham and its citizens, no matter what, regardless of how the public or anyone feels about him. The ending sets up the order of things in the comic world, where Batman is actively seeked and pursued as a vigilante/criminal as much as the people he fights against. Even the Joker says "I think you and I are destined to do this forever." Nobody will ever change my mind that the magical garbage called The Dent Act is a retcon of Nola's own original ideas for this franchise.

Nothing about TDK tells you he's going to give up and go skulk in an attic for eight years. Absolutely nothing

The ending of TDK set up the entire Batman mythology for future adventures; but TDKR revealed that they were just kidding and he was actually hiding in his mansion for years.

I want to like TDKR but the script is just too obviously half-assed compared to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Batman getting important plot details from his own hallucination? Get out of here with that.

 

[Flint Marko]

I was able to move past it, but I must admit that the 8 year gap threw me on my first viewing. That's not where I thought the character should be.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the 8-year gap either. I mean, I didn't have a problem with it being 8 years since TDKR, but I didn't like that Batman was likely inactive all that time.

 

[Flint Marko]

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the 8-year gap either. I mean, I didn't have a problem with it being 8 years since TDKR, but I didn't like that Batman was likely inactive all that time.

Yeah that's what I should say. I recall going into the movie completely unspoiled (I do that for all big movies I'm really anticipating) so seeing him with the cane as a recluse was shocking.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I just always figured the Dent act cleaned up the streets enough to the point Batman wasn't needed.

Also I don't think Bruce became a total recluse immediately after TDK, he still tried to make city better for a while with the energy project they eventually made the bomb out of.

 

[Boy Scout]

I didn't mind the 8 year retirement as much as most, but...yeah. I always imagined that Bruce would keep fighting the good fight. But I understand how emotionally broken he was, and how irrelevant Batman became in light of both the Dent Act and the symbol that the man himself became.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I didn't like that they chose to injure his knee.

 

[Boy Scout]

I would've been fine with it if it had contributed in any way to showing the audience that Batman was past his prime. Instead, they had him put a knee brace on and get back to exactly where he was 8 years ago. A better place, even. Stupid decision IMO.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

One strong reason to make me hate the choice of damaged knee.

 

[Ivan Drago]

TDKR is Nolan's sloppiest film by a large margin.

I still maintain a firm belief that Nolan and company didn't really want to make a third Batman movie after Ledger died but didn't want to potentially burn any bridges with WB - which is why TDKR feels so incredibly lazy in writing and acting in spots.

 

[BatLobster]

This is a rough batch of films, haha. Definitely shines a light on how few good third CBMs there have been. Like Shape I voted Forever for nostalgia purposes. I actually don't think Iron Man 3 is all that bad, but it's not a movie I've ever had a strong desire to rewatch either. Spidey 3 is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but it's so disjointed.

I would've been fine with it if it had contributed in any way to showing the audience that Batman was past his prime. Instead, they had him put a knee brace on and get back to exactly where he was 8 years ago. A better place, even. Stupid decision IMO.

Him having the knee brace doesn't stop him from getting handily defeated by Bane though. I think the "past his prime" element was definitely at the forefront of the film. Even though he obviously needs to be able to still be able to kick a reasonable amount of butt for the sake of it being a Batman film, the movie emphasizes him being past his prime enough to make it clear that if he were to continue being Batman with no end in sight, he'd eventually die in the cowl. Also I thought the knee brace was a nice little nod to the arm brace in Dark Knight Returns.

The Dark Knight, by way of Gordon, tells you that Batman will protect Gotham and its citizens, no matter what, regardless of how the public or anyone feels about him. The ending sets up the order of things in the comic world, where Batman is actively seeked and pursued as a vigilante/criminal as much as the people he fights against. Even the Joker says "I think you and I are destined to do this forever." Nobody will ever change my mind that the magical garbage called The Dent Act is a retcon of Nola's own original ideas for this franchise.

Nothing about TDK tells you he's going to give up and go skulk in an attic for eight years. Absolutely nothing

The ending of TDK set up the entire Batman mythology for future adventures; but TDKR revealed that they were just kidding and he was actually hiding in his mansion for years.

I honestly don't believe that with TDK's ending Nolan was setting up the mythology for and endless stream of sequels. I don't believe that he ever planned on making more than a third film, and I don't think he was trying to tee things up for other filmmakers either. I understand not liking the direction TDKR took, but just because it was a different direction than what many assumed it would be, I don't think that's inherently bad. For me, it did a nice job balancing a respect for the ending of TDK (by making the decision to take the fall for Dent have a huge impact on the story) while also pushing the story in a new, fresh direction.

Also, I don't think the ending of TDK sets up a "status quo" for the Batman universe. Not really. Sure, they teased the idea of more freaks (teased, not promised), but status quo is not Batman being wanted for the murder of a beloved public figure. The ending of Batman Begins, that's closer to status quo to me.

 

[Erzengel]

Which is fine, until he's in the hole sans knee brace.

 

[BatLobster]

Which is fine, until he's in the hole sans knee brace.

I see that a lot, but do we have definitive proof of that? Not trying to be cheeky here, but it's not like we ever see his legs under those rags he's wearing when he's in the pit. I will give you, the movie definitely drops the whole idea of the bum knee and it's a bit sloppy. But given that he's able to walk, make the climb and be Batman again by the film's end- my assumption has always been that the knee brace never came off once it was on.

 

[Erzengel]

No, but the League of Shadows removes his entire Batsuit, but you know what, let's leave the knee brace cause he need it.

 

[BoredGuy]

Yes pretty much it. It's a logical continuation of TDK, for both Batman and for Gotham.

Thematically Logical? Yes
Interesting? Enjoyable? Logical in the rest of its plot?? Not as much

Also, IM3 >>> TDKR

agreed

 

[BatLobster]

No, but the League of Shadows removes his entire Batsuit, but you know what, let's leave the knee brace cause he need it.

Well, the whole point of even bothering to throw him in the pit was to torture him him with "hope", etc, otherwise they would've just killed him. Or if they just wanted him to rot in the pit without even the possibility of attempting the climb, they could have severed his damn legs, never mind removing brace. They wanted him to have a faint glimmer of hope that he could escape so his soul would slowly be crushed. Given their cruel form of punishment for him and Gotham combined with their arrogance, it actually does kinda make sense if you follow their twisted line of thought.