The Dark Knight Rises Can Batman escape the "Third Act Curse"?

[Chris Wallace]

 

[DoomsdayApex]

These types of images are gonna appear mighty foolish after July 20th.

 

[presidentsaad]

Nolan said he wouldn't do another movie just to make a movie, but to do it on an emotionally-attached level. I think that says something here not said in other trilogies.

 

[Art Damage]

Exactly, I'm sure this movie is going to be fantastic.

Also, I normally hang out on the spoiler side of the forums (that's all I ever went to in 07/08 for TDK) but the release of too many spoilers is making me want to wait it out and hang here till July 20th. Haha.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

in all fairness I think they already escape the "Third Act Curse"...

as the supposed "Curse" of third movies usually is the result of a radical change in direction, based on studio influence, changing cast, crew and/or director...ect

which this movie managed to avoid for the most part

tho, the down side to that is there will be no excuse, or scapegoat if this movie does fail

 

[LegendaryCaleb]

Bad approach to the costume almost always goes hand in hand with a bad approach to the film.

yeah that dark knight movie that came out in 2008 sucked cause people didnt like batmans costume...this is just as doomed as the dark knight...............
(your marvel fanboy is showing)

 

[KangConquers]

This movie has so much more attached to it than Spider-Man 3 and X-3 did though. The Dark Knight wasn't just a hit movie, it almost carved out a sub-culture. "Nolanites."

I have a feeling there will be very few mixed reactions to this film. Aside from being a hit (1 Billion is guaranteed regardless), fans are either going to build themselves into such a frenzy that after they see it, they will only be able to label it a masterpiece or a failure, nothing in between.

 

[Chris Wallace]

These types of images are gonna appear mighty foolish after July 20th.

Maybe, maybe not.

 

[KangConquers]

These types of images are gonna appear mighty foolish after July 20th.

$207 M OW is far from guaranteed...nor is a 93% fresh on RT. TDKR has an uphill battle against Avengers the same way Avengers had an uphill battle against TDK, which had an uphill battle against Raimi Spider-Man.

Just like a presidential election, the incumbent is always favored.

 

[Nevincer]

He already has.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Maybe, maybe not.

Then obviously you haven't been following the film quite well.

$207 M OW is far from guaranteed...nor is a 93% fresh on RT. TDKR has an uphill battle against Avengers the same way Avengers had an uphill battle against TDK, which had an uphill battle against Raimi Spider-Man.

Just like a presidential election, the incumbent is always favored.

TDKR is tracking incredibly strong right now, and we're still in June. Several Box Office based sites are predicting a +180m opening weekend (190m recently) for Nolan's finale.

There is no uphill battle. The Avengers won't affect TDKR's performance (two different films on two different spectrums), and TASM hasn't been able to match the hype that The Avengers and TDKR have received.

The only question that remains is whether or not TDKR will surpass TDK's quality and if Nolan can top himself after setting the standard, and judging by trailers and tv spots, it's highly probable.

 

[Batman jr.]

It's too early, but I think, from all the "footage" we've seen, that he might have topped TDK. And even if it doesn't beat The Avengers (which was helped because it's in stupid 3D, and don't say I'm da Nolunfanboy, troll, or whatever), it'll be a big succes no doubt.

But I'm more interested in the quality. He has to deliver. He has set the bar almost too high.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

It's too early, but I think, from all the "footage" we've seen, that he might have topped TDK. And even if it doesn't beat The Avengers (which was helped because it's in stupid 3D, and don't say I'm da Nolunfanboy, troll, or whatever), it'll be a big succes no doubt.

But I'm more interested in the quality. He has to deliver. He has set the bar almost too high.

I don't see TDKR breaking the OW record either, but if TDKR grosses 190m then it'll unarguably make a statement for all non-3D movies. With that said, I don't give a flying **** about Box Office records. I just want TDKR to be a phenomenal film.

It's about Bruce's emotional journey coming to an end. Nolan has a chance to do something extremely unprecedented and ballsy here.

 

[Batman jr.]

I don't see TDKR breaking the OW record either, but if TDKR grosses 190m then it'll unarguably make a statement for all non-3D movies. With that said, I don't give a flying **** about Box Office records. I just want TDKR to be a phenomenal film.

It's about Bruce's emotional journey coming to an end. Nolan has a chance to do something extremely unprecedented and ballsy here.

It'll be hard to beat the OW record, but when I said "top" I was more referring to the quality of TDK.

 

[Batman jr.]

Maybe, maybe not.

Yeah.

 

[The Joker]

Maybe, maybe not.

It's in the bag, Chris. TDKR looks amazing. No bad vibes from it. With less than a month away from release we'd know by now if there was.

 

[Aggressive Sock]

Long thought out post warning!

I'm not too worried about it beating Avengers when it comes to the box office. It's not in 3D, it's a longer movie(less showings in a day), it's for a more mature audience(Avengers appeals to everyone, whereas Nolan's Batman has been darker and not so kid friendly), and finally it's opening up to more competition. That's all working against it, they aren't excuses to make up for a poor box office performance, as I am sure it will still do great just as TDK did, but to expect it to beat Avengers...it's not as important given all the factors at hand.

It's about quality.

I just hope the reviews are positive, and the movie can stand up against Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in terms of quality, and an argument can be made on which is better. Some people like Begins more than Dark Knight, and all I hope is that this movie can be on par with the other two highly praised films. It doesn't have to be better than either, it just has to be on par. That's it. I hope fans don't let their hype and expectations make or break the movie, and treat it with the black and white approach. It doesn't have to be amazing or crap. It can be great, but not be better than Dark Knight.

With that said, I hope and believe, that this movie will be the exception to the curse. I believe it will be on par with the other two and this series will be great from start to end. Be it not as good as the other two, better, or equal to, it'll be good enough to be on par.

As stated before, Nolan only made The Dark Knight because he felt it was a great story that was worth telling. Same goes for Rises. I remember when the word was that there would be no 3rd. However, after his vacation and giving it some thought with his brother who he writes with, he thought of another great story that caps the franchise well. Heck, he even said in an interview that one of the reasons he was hesitant to do a follow up the Dark Knight, was because he knows how often trilogies dip in quality, especially with the 3rd. It takes a lot of effort and a tremendous story, to wow an audience effectively catching lightning in a bottle 3 times in a row. It was never a for sure thing. He isn't in it for the money grab or easy check, as proven with the fact that he is calling it quits after Rises. If he just wanted money and didn't care to give a great story, i'm sure WB would be dying to keep him and have probably offered him the moon to get him to stay.

Point being, if he didn't think he could top what he has already done, or at the very least make a movie that's on par with the previous two, he had no reason to ultimately do it. He could have left it at the two and leave on a high note. He's confident, and we have no reason to doubt his ability to make it happen. He's had around 10 movies so far, all of them have been good-amazing in most people's eyes.

Beyond the points in his favor already made, it's also worth noting as discussed earlier in the thread, he's a rare case. He has directed the past 2 movies. The cast has been the same(Rachel being the exception, but not a big difference), and they all seem to have chemistry and get along, and Nolan sees something in people that bring to the table what he's looking for. The writing team has been the same. He and his brother work on the writing, so obviously the process is very cooperative and streamlined, with little kinks or internal issues. Finally, he seems to be given full freedom, no meddling or interferance from WB, as proven with him choosing the villains he wants, and him walking away when he wants etc. They know he knows what he's doing, and they let him do his thing. No forced villains or themes to sell toys etc. No re-writes making things more kid friendly or taking out key plot points etc.

Lastly, I will point out 1 last factor in Nolan's favor. The Dark Knight Rises looks to have a different feel than Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. At first it threw me off guard and I didn't know what to think, but after watching the 1st trailer a few times I was excited for a different feel. If it follows the same steps as Dark Knight, it's gonna get panned. It needs to play the same melody, but hitting different notes. The Dark Knight had a different feel than Begins and it worked. Far too many sequels of successful movies, especially the 3rd, try and be too different to the point it loses what made the 1st and/or 2nd good, or they play it safe and make it just more of the same and offer little to nothing new, leaving the audience wondering what the point was. Examples of each being Spider-man 3 being too different(cramming way too much in, and everything feeling underdeveloped and rushed), and Iron Man 2 not being different enough(imo it felt like just more of the same).

So there's really no reason for this to fail. If it does it's all on him, the actors, and the writing. With everything on his side for why it will succeed, I fully believe we will get an on par film if not better than the previous two.

 

[LaraP]

As long as TDKR is on par with Batman Begins AND The Dark Knight, I'm going to be so, so happy. I agree w/others who've said that if something was seriously wrong, we'd have at least heard whisperings about it by now.

 

[Anno_Domini]

The question - Can Batman escape the "Third Act CBM Curse"?

The answer - YES.

 

[Anno_Domini]

The question - Can Batman escape the "Third Act CBM Curse"?

The answer - YES.

After watching TDKR, my post is accurate.

These types of images are gonna appear mighty foolish after July 20th.

Mighty foolish indeed.

 

[psylockolussus]

Even though I'm not a big fan of this film. I think it already escaped the third-act curse. In terms of quality, it is consistent with BB and TDK (TDRK got 86% in RT). In terms of box-office success, it looks like this movie is at least gonna get $300 million at the domestic box-office.

 

[Suppis]

I would say this is one if not the best movie trilogy ever.

 

[Drizzle]

Mighty foolish indeed.

The Avengers does have the upper hand in both opening weekend box office as well as critic approval (at least according to Rotten Tomatoes). I'm not trolling as I loved both movies, but that's the truth of it.

 

[Anno_Domini]

The Avengers does have the upper hand in both opening weekend box office as well as critic approval (at least according to Rotten Tomatoes). I'm not trolling as I loved both movies, but that's the truth of it.

The Avengers' opening weekend had 3D and no tragedy.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

The Avengers does have the upper hand in both opening weekend box office as well as critic approval (at least according to Rotten Tomatoes). I'm not trolling as I loved both movies, but that's the truth of it.

And yet Rotten Tomatoes is one website. TDKR has a higher score/rating on Critics Choice, Metacritic and IMDB. TDKR also has an 'A' on Cinemascore.

The critical praise is pretty even. A 6% difference on Rotten Tomatoes is not an upperhand.