You'd think TDKR was so bad with all the crap it gets, when everything shows that it's at least better than Batman Begins(which many seems to deny even):
BB:
70/100 Metacritic (8.5 user rating); 85%, 7.7 average rating on RT (62%, 6.7 top critics)
TDK:
82/100 Metacritic (8.9 user rating); 94%, 8.5 average rating on RT (91%, 8.0 top critics)
TDKR:
78/100 Metacritic (8.6 user rating); 87%, 8.0 average rating on RT (76%, 7.9 top critics)
Zimmer was disqualified for his TDK score because five names were listed on the music cue sheet. The Academy considers works by either one or two composers.Oh wow, I thought Zimmer was disqualified based on this being a sequel? Guess not.
Go Zimmer!
I disagree with the critics. For me it goes in opposite order. BB is the best by a pretty considerable margin, then TDKR, then TDK. But I do agree with your general point that some folks want to make TDKR out to be some kind of SM3-esque disaster, but that is simply not the reality of the situation. TDKR is by far the most highly praised superhero threequel, both by critics and audiences.
Plain and simple, The Dark Knight Rises is a fantastic film, but it has no chance at even getting a nomination for anything this year.
It pains me deeply to say that , but its true.
This year films including The Life of Pi, The Master, Lincoln, Argo, and thats naming a few.
Had it been released in any other year, MAYBE it would have a chance but even then the odds would still be heavily stacked against it due to the fact its a comic book film.
In the eyes of the Academy, its the lowest type of film there is, not even above certain forms of horror.
David Cronenberg's mindset on TDKR and CBMs roughly sums up the mindset of, probably, the vast majority Academy:
"I don't think they are making them an elevated art form, I think it's still Batman running around in a stupid cape. I just don't think it's elevated. Christopher Nolan's best movie is Memento, and that is an interesting movie. I don't think his Batman movies are half as interesting, though they're 20 million times the expense."
"A superhero movie, by definition, you know, it's comic book. It's for kids," Cronenberg asserted. "It's adolescent in its core. That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying, you know, Dark Knight Rises is supreme cinema art, I don't think they know what the f--- they're talking about."
And that comes from a man who has directed horror films.
CBMs are seen as juvenile fantasies made for mindless enjoyment and are primarily associated with images of men running around tights fighting bad guys.
Before TDK, the only cbm to get nearly as many nominations as that did was Road to Perdition and that one of the least stereotypical cbms there is.
Even TDK, unarguably the most praised superhero film of all time, relied on heavy realism and non comic book conventions in the telling of its story.
Despite that, it still couldn't manage a nomination.
I'll tell you something now. If Cloud Atlas is nominated, it would be this year's Avatar that has no reason to be nominated. The Wachowskis are no longer "greats" in my book since they've gone down a very slippery slope ever since The Matrix Reloaded.
Therein lies the problem with the Academy and their overall hypocritical and disrespectful views on the comic book film genre in general.
Sci Fi Fantasy type movies like Avatar can be nominated in multiple categories and even in the Best Picture category as well as a Fantasy movie like the Lord of the Rings films can end up being nominated in multiple categories and even end up winning Best Picture, along with an Action/War Drama film (TDKR is an action/ urban war film) like Gladiator can be recognized and even win Best Picture, but the last two Dark Knight films are snubbed because they are comic book genre films??
Utterly hypocritical and disrespectful toward the comic book genre of films and especially toward the last two Dark Knight Batman films.
The Academy has serious issues to get over.
This year's nominees:
The Master
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Lincoln
Les Miserables
The Hobbit
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi
Holy Motors
Underdogs:
Beasts of the Suthern Wild
Anna Karenina
The Sessions
Moonrise Kingdom
Amour
This is 40
The Promised Land
Looper
Cloud Atlas
These are all films that will make it before The Dark Knight Rises, so I would ask that everyone keep their expectations low for a Best Picture Nod. Like, under the foundations of the southeast corner low. Look to the technical awards, which will be difficult enough with juggernauts like The Hobbit and Les Mis in the field.
but if it was going to be anything it would have been The Dark Knight, which was such a massive cultural sensation when it came out, and more universally beloved.
TDKR is as universally loved if not more than TDK... may not seem it looking through these forums but it really is.