The Dark Knight Rises HONEST Answers Only... Did You Cry? (SPOILERS)

[Fenrir]

I nearly cried. Out of sheer frustration and disappointed. All the reviews were so encouraging. The hype felt like TDK all over again. It seemed like Chris Nolan had done it. Finally, we would have a perfect comic book trilogy, and that too with Batman no less. But then the sloppiness of the film overwhelmed me. So many great moments but just as many crushingly bad ones as well. A lot of the time, I was even wondering if it was a Chris Nolan film, considering the fact that his last three movies were textbook examples of clinical precision in filmmaking and TDKR was this bloated, overindulgent mess that had all the ingredients for a jaw-dropping finale but somehow managed to get all muddled up. I couldn't believe that the subpar-fan-fiction speculation by posters on this board had pretty much telegraphed the entire movie. I mean, this was Chris Nolan for crying out loud! He threw more curveballs with Memento, The Dark Knight, The Prestige and Inception than most filmmakers do their entire career. It's the 'ambitious mess' curse that strikes every great director at the height of their prowess. I was secretly hoping that for Nolan, Inception would be it so that he'd learn from his mistakes and wouldn't screw up the sequel to the gold standard for comic book films. But when he hit it out of the ballpark with Inception, I was secretly hoping that maybe, just maybe, Nolan would be able to succeed where the likes of Cameron (The Abyss), Spielberg (way too many 'ambitious mess'), Ridley Scott (again, quite a few), Fincher (Benjamin Button) and P. T. Anderson (Magnolia) failed. Alas, the gods of film spare no one. I was actually depressed after the credits rolled.

Sorry for the sentimental rant. I have an obsessive compulsive personality and I have a habit of making a big deal out of seemingly inconsequential things. I just wrote what I honestly felt that woeful day I first saw TDKR.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

I think the saddest scenes are in Batman Begins; one, when young Bruce and his father are playing around on the bed for a brief moment, and also the moment when Bruce remembers the memory of his father with the stethoscope.

I think these scenes are especially affecting because they really illustrate the missing pieces of Bruce's life, happiness, a father, etc. The movies always talk about it, but these brief scenes really show it. And Nolan only gives you a few seconds of it, like it was one of Bruce's only memories about it.

I also find the reveal about the boys home to be quite affecting. What a perfect way to resolve Bruce's oldest and most-defining issues.

 

[the5timechamp]

for the record I did tear up in Begins when the kid did the "it was my fault Alfred.." something about the way its said and done...

 

[BatBat]

I've been a comics Batman fan for the majority of my life. This movie disappointed me on so many levels it was hard to enjoy it. There were some really good scenes in it but the defamation of some of my favorite characters was too bothersome for me to watch it again much less own a copy. I for one am glad Nolan's trilogy is over and hope and pray that the next Batman is nothing like his.

 

[Snow Queen]

I've been a comics Batman fan for the majority of my life. This movie disappointed me on so many levels it was hard to enjoy it. There were some really good scenes in it but the defamation of some of my favorite characters was too bothersome for me to watch it again much less own a copy. I for one am glad Nolan's trilogy is over and hope and pray that the next Batman is nothing like his.

If I may ask, which characters bothered you?

 

[Anno_Domini]

My point stands. It is what it is, I knew some people would get offended but its true

Saying it's supposedly embarrassing for a full-grown man to cry is truth?

Nah, sorry, but I think you're confusing ignorance with truth right here. While you can say it's "embarrassing", it's more on the lines of something "macho" and plain dumb than to say it's the truth. And quite laughable as you usually have some quite intelligent posts.

 

[Ramsay Snow]

I would say I cried but that wouldn't be much of a surprise 'cos I cry in almost every emotional scene in a film, show or cartoon lol.

 

[Herolee10]

I didn't cry; but TDKR was probably the only film out of every batman film there is to have made me actually feel sorry for Bruce's character. The guy really went through all kinds of hell in this film, and it actually really translated on how lonely the guy is.

 

[Macrotus]

I cried when Bruce did the last climb out of the pit.
The chant, the music, everything was so perfect.

 

[Mgneto]

Didn't cry, but I did get chills when the bats flew out of the wall of the pit on the last climb. Also when Gordon is watching the return of Batman on TV.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I was completely unmoved. It was only in repeat Blu-Ray viewings can I muster emotion, putting the ending in the context of the entire trilogy.

 

[Bim]

I didnt cry at all. I've been known to cry with some movies though, but this one didnt do it.

 

[jmc]

Didn't have an emotional investment in this film to shed a tear.

 

[AnneFan]

I didn't cry; but TDKR was probably the only film out of every batman film there is to have made me actually feel sorry for Bruce's character. The guy really went through all kinds of hell in this film, and it actually really translated on how lonely the guy is.

Reclusive for years. Told by Alfred that Rachel actually chose Harvey. Bankrupted. Beaten to a pulp. Imprisoned. Betrayed and stabbed by Talia. Presumed dead in riots. If you do all that you get a chance at Selina, so it's all worth it.

 

[TheBat812]

I had tears in my eyes when Bruce was flying off in the Bat at the end of the film the first time i saw it. I really thought Nolan was going to kill Bruce off. Then that last montage was probably one of the most uplifting endings to a film ever for me. Couldn't wipe the damn smile from my face the whole ride home, haha. Much of the criticism I did have initially were wiped away with repeated viewings (ie, the unconventional pacing, the Blake intuition, the leg brace, the fixing of his back, etc.). There is just so much depth to the film that renders those little things completely inconsequential, and the pacing actually is fantastic now when I watch it, it was just jarring initially because it does not really have a typical film structure.

 

[CFE]

My emotional investment is in Batman himself...the character, his history and its relation to the loss of a parent (mine, however, was through divorce and abandonment instead of death...even so) and the sense of lonliness and isolation I used to feel throughout my entire life prior to this last year.

My first word when I was an infant, I kid you not, was "Matman"...and you can clearly see the intention there even if the execution of that first letter was off.

This character has been so integrated into my entire life and I've followed the trajectory of contemporary Batman having been born right at the commencement of Tim Burton's tenure and the creation of "The Animated Series."

That all said, I wept...openly...like a baby.

Now to specify, the midnight showing of the trilogy left me too exhausted and shocked to react at all beyond having my jaw on the floor. I could feel it tugging in my chest but it hit so much and so fast that I was blindsided more than anything.

I saw the film a total of 4 times in theatres and it was in the subsequent viewings, especially the 3rd and 4th, where emotion swelled.

For me, it was both the scene where Alfred decides to leave Wayne Manor and reveals the truth about Rachel...and from Bruce dropping hint of his identity to Gordon all the way up to the end.

The earlier scene got my eyes wet.

But the entire ending was so monumental. Seriously, I was outright blubbering, it's not even an exaggeration.

What Gordon meant to Bruce.

The concept that even after his persecution, Batman is STILL fighting to save the city.

"No, that's BATMAN!"

Bruce's face as he accepts his fate combined with harking back to the chorus from his parent's death.

Gordon's Eulogy in voice over combined with the lives Batman has saved.

Alfred standing before Bruce's grave...and THEN moving to reveal Thomas and Martha (the idea that, through death, he's reunited with his parents)...and Alfred crying over his failure.

"No one's going to know who saved an entire city."

The reveal of the Batman statue/The dismantling of the Wayne Estate.

----

Now all of the proceeding were just tears of genuine sadness.

But then, once it starts revving back up to assure you that Bruce has in fact survived and we get that moment of Alfred acknowledging Bruce in the cafe...the tears kept flowing, but they were tears of joy.

As Kevin Smith so eloquently put it, this dude has finally caught a break and he's allowed, in that moment of smiling to Alfred, the chance to be alive and happy.

I really couldn't care any less about all the naysayers who were crying foul that Bruce would abandon Gotham and the mantle.

As far as I'm concerned, Bruce EARNED that happy ending. That comes from my relationship and feelings about him as a character throughout my life.

Amazing.

So yeah, I cried. BIG time.

 

[Picard Sisko]

None of TDKR moments made me cry to be honest.

 

[Anno_Domini]

My emotional investment is in Batman himself...the character, his history and its relation to the loss of a parent (mine, however, was through divorce and abandonment instead of death...even so) and the sense of lonliness and isolation I used to feel throughout my entire life prior to this last year.

My first word when I was an infant, I kid you not, was "Matman"...and you can clearly see the intention there even if the execution of that first letter was off.

This character has been so integrated into my entire life and I've followed the trajectory of contemporary Batman having been born right at the commencement of Tim Burton's tenure and the creation of "The Animated Series."

That all said, I wept...openly...like a baby.

Now to specify, the midnight showing of the trilogy left me too exhausted and shocked to react at all beyond having my jaw on the floor. I could feel it tugging in my chest but it hit so much and so fast that I was blindsided more than anything.

I saw the film a total of 4 times in theatres and it was in the subsequent viewings, especially the 3rd and 4th, where emotion swelled.

For me, it was both the scene where Alfred decides to leave Wayne Manor and reveals the truth about Rachel...and from Bruce dropping hint of his identity to Gordon all the way up to the end.

The earlier scene got my eyes wet.

But the entire ending was so monumental. Seriously, I was outright blubbering, it's not even an exaggeration.

What Gordon meant to Bruce.

The concept that even after his persecution, Batman is STILL fighting to save the city.

"No, that's BATMAN!"

Bruce's face as he accepts his fate combined with harking back to the chorus from his parent's death.

Gordon's Eulogy in voice over combined with the lives Batman has saved.

Alfred standing before Bruce's grave...and THEN moving to reveal Thomas and Martha (the idea that, through death, he's reunited with his parents)...and Alfred crying over his failure.

"No one's going to know who saved an entire city."

The reveal of the Batman statue/The dismantling of the Wayne Estate.

----

Now all of the proceeding were just tears of genuine sadness.

But then, once it starts revving back up to assure you that Bruce has in fact survived and we get that moment of Alfred acknowledging Bruce in the cafe...the tears kept flowing, but they were tears of joy.

As Kevin Smith so eloquently put it, this dude has finally caught a break and he's allowed, in that moment of smiling to Alfred, the chance to be alive and happy.

I really couldn't care any less about all the naysayers who were crying foul that Bruce would abandon Gotham and the mantle.

As far as I'm concerned, Bruce EARNED that happy ending. That comes from my relationship and feelings about him as a character throughout my life.

Amazing.

So yeah, I cried. BIG time.

Dang, lol.

 

[Picard Sisko]

I'm still convinced that Bruce died, and Alfred was imagining him at that table with Selina. No way he jumped out of the Batpod in time before the bomb exploded. And even if he did, it would have killed him.

 

[The Joker]

I'm still convinced that Bruce died, and Alfred was imagining him at that table with Selina. No way he jumped out of the Batpod in time before the bomb exploded. And even if he did, it would have killed him.

Michael Caine disagrees with you;

The actor is also quick to dispel any ambiguity about the film’s ending. Asked about the scene in which Alfred spies Bruce Wayne and Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle sitting together at a neighboring table in that restaurant — a shot that suggests that Alfred’s wish for Bruce has come true, that his former charge has found a companion to bring him some measure of inner peace and happiness, enabling him to finally leave behind his self-appointed role as Gotham’s unofficial protector — Caine is quite emphatic.

“They were there,” Caine said. “They were real. There was no imagination. They were real and he was with Anne, the cat lady, and I was happy ever after for him as I told him during the picture.”

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/12/05/dark-knight-rises-michael-caine-on-alfreds-final-scene/

 

[Picard Sisko]

That's his interpretation of the ending, nothing more.

 

[The Joker]

That's his interpretation of the ending, nothing more.

That's not his interpretation, he's telling you what the scene meant. He should know since he was in it. If he was giving his interpretation he would say so, and be phrasing it as "I think they were there".

 

[Picard Sisko]

Well his words aren't set in stone, and I'm pretty sure Nolan intended for the audience to interpret the ending the way they wanted to. Personally, I just don't buy the fact that Batman could have survived that.

 

[The Joker]

Well his words aren't set in stone

Do you have anyone associated with the movie who refutes what Caine said?

and I'm pretty sure Nolan intended for the audience to interpret the ending the way they wanted to.

You're entitled to think that.

Personally, I just don't buy the fact that Batman could have survived that.

Neither do I. But the movie shows he did. The way the movie presents it doesn't make it out to be like a dream. Especially since Selina was there with Bruce. Why would Alfred be imagining her there when he was oblivious to the fact they had become romantically involved at the end?

 

[Picard Sisko]

Do you have anyone associated with the movie who refutes what Caine said?

Do you have anyone associated with the movie who confirmed what Caine said?

Neither do I. But the movie shows he did. The way the movie presents it doesn't make it out to be like a dream. Especially since Selina was there with Bruce. Why would Alfred be imagining her there when he was oblivious to the fact they had become romantically involved at the end?

While that is true, she was the last woman that Bruce had interacted with, so she was probably still fresh in his mind. Otherwise, you could also see it as a plot hole (since this movie had quite a few).