The Dark Knight Rises - letdown or not?

[solidsnake86]

Is it just me, or are all these threads created by the same two posters.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Still...'good' is not a term for letdown.

A letdown is Spider-Man 3 that lost track with any personality of the previous Spidey films with an inconsistency with every character as it seemed they all took two steps back from Spider-Man 2.

While people may not view TDKR to be as good or better than TDK doesn't mean it's a letdown. It's a sad fate from films like Return of the Jedi and Return of the King, but TDKR means to tie up the trilogy with a bow on top and succeeded.

Good is a letdown if you expected more. Letdown by defintion is when your expectations are not met. Something doesn't have to suck in order to be a letdown.

As far as TDKR typing up the trilogy with a bow and succeeding, that is in the eye of the beholder. IMO, it didn't.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Imo, I expected more from the example I had(Spider-Man 3), but it wasn't good. It was just a letdown. Imo, I don't see how good would still be a term for a letdown, but to each their own.

 

[The Guard]

A letdown is Spider-Man 3 that lost track with any personality of the previous Spidey films with an inconsistency with every character as it seemed they all took two steps back from Spider-Man 2.

Ironic that you should say this, really...

 

[Anno_Domini]

Not ironic at all as I didn't feel any inconsistency with the characters between TDK and TDKR.

 

[Quasimod0]

I think it was a bit of a let-down. As I expected it to be better. Even though I thought it was a really enjoyable film I was still let down because I expected something on another level.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Maybe it's just me. I never came to see any of Nolan's DK trilogy expecting something, even with Batman Begins.

 

[THE BAT 101]

I enjoyed The Dark Knight Rises, however The Dark Knight was a big let down for me.

 

[hammerhedd11]

The people who pay to be entertained by his movie. The people who help make his movies a success. Who else is he making these movies for?

People pay for a product. They don't dictate what gets put in. They dictate whether they like it or not. His previous movies were a success because people liked what he had made. He doesn't owe anything to anyone. That's ridiculous.

 

[hammerhedd11]

I think it was a bit of a let-down. As I expected it to be better. Even though I thought it was a really enjoyable film I was still let down because I expected something on another level.

On another level? How can any film reach those heights going in? It's sort of unfair don't you think? I mean, you call it a let down, yet it was "really enjoyable" and a 9/10 according to you.
I don't think any film has or can ever reach any expectations going in that a movie will be "on another level" as if it will be transcendent experience. It's setting up for failure.

 

[BH/HHH]

A letdown is something that's disappointing and just not good at all. I don't see how you can say someone's calling it a letdown when they say it is a good movie.

I just realised you didn't mean me lol I was gonna say I never said it was a letdown

 

[hammerhedd11]

As for Batman retiring being uncharacteristic, to what iteration do we refer? Because Batman does not have a lone canon to refer to such as Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins. Batman constantly evolves and changes to suit the story the writers want to tell. It's happened for more than 70 years. This is Nolan's interpretation. Why the hell can't his version retire for the reasons stated in the film?

That's the criticism that really irks me. Say what you will about anything else, but to say "Batman wouldn't do that?" What does that mean? Which Batman? What makes that the definitive one? And why can't people play around with that?

 

[ironmaidenrules]

it was a bit of a letdown for me. the story had some pacing problems and there was just too much I didn't like compared to what I did like

it was a let down in the same way ASM was a let down but not as bad as x3 and Spider-Man 3

 

[Micromind]

If TDKR was a let down then you guys have really high standards. lol.

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

The movie was just as good as TDK. Super high quality. I enjoyed its epicness very much.

 

[ThDWgeek]

Hmmm, I'd say it was A BIT of a let down for me. I still think it was a very good film, it's just that I feel it wasn't as good as the standard set by TDK, which admittedly is a really high bar. It wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

 

[The Joker]

Good is a letdown if you expected more. Letdown by defintion is when your expectations are not met. Something doesn't have to suck in order to be a letdown.

As far as TDKR typing up the trilogy with a bow and succeeding, that is in the eye of the beholder. IMO, it didn't.

Exactly

People pay for a product. They don't dictate what gets put in.

Obviously. But it is the people these movies are being made for. He is making them with the hope and intention that the audiences will like them otherwise his movie will fail.

They dictate whether they like it or not.

And thus dictate the level of success of the movie.

His previous movies were a success because people liked what he had made.

No doubt. The Dark Knight may well be the most popular movie of his career.

He doesn't owe anything to anyone. That's ridiculous.

Why is it ridiculous? A director doesn't get to be where they are unless they have the support of the audiences for their movies. That rests on delivering good movies.

It's like when some people say the writers at DC or Marvel don't owe anything to the fans. Like hell they don't. It's the fans who keep their sales up and keep them in business. That depends on them liking what they're paying for.

It's the same principle with movies.

 

[Spider-Fan]

If TDKR was a let down then you guys have really high standards. lol.

Or just didn't think it was very good.

 

[Quasimod0]

Now that the hype has worn off i realize its not as good as i thought it was. Just felt like a solid CBM which is nothing bad at all. 2nd best cbm of the year for me! Blame the fans for my way high expectations. With all the claims floating around of " better than TDK!" Its the only movie I've ever let myself get my hopes up for

 

[Anno_Domini]

Still the best CBM I've seen this year and the fourth best film I've seen this year(Lincoln, Argo, The Master, The Dark Knight Rises).

 

[James]

Or just didn't think it was very good.

That's what I was thinking. My standards aren't high at all. My favorite movie of last year was Drive Angry. TDKR still managed to get something like a 4/10 in my book, possibly lower.

Still the best CBM I've seen this year and the fourth best film I've seen this year(Lincoln, Argo, The Master, The Dark Knight Rises).

Did you like TDKR Anno? Why didn't you say something sooner!

 

[hammerhedd11]

Why is it ridiculous? A director doesn't get to be where they are unless they have the support of the audiences for their movies. That rests on delivering good movies.

It's like when some people say the writers at DC or Marvel don't owe anything to the fans. Like hell they don't. It's the fans who keep their sales up and keep them in business. That depends on them liking what they're paying for.

It's the same principle with movies.

But delivering good movies is obviously in the eye of the beholder. We have people on this thread who range from hating it to thinking it's among the best of the year. He did something right for some, did something wrong for others, so already it's flawed to say he owes something to the fans when the fans are divided in what they wanted or perceived they had been given.
Yes, Nolan has gotten where he was because his movies are successful, including many fans who pay to go see it. But people paid to go see it to see what HE had come up with. Because they liked the product that HE made. So, I say it's ridiculous to say something like ' the fans got Nolan where he is." Yeah, partially. But only with the product he had put out there of his own making. They bought it. But they did not make the product good. That was Nolan, and that only comes from Nolan.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Did you like TDKR Anno? Why didn't you say something sooner!

Oh, well you know me...I decided it was about time for me to say something about TDKR at least before it arrives on Blu-ray/DVD t:

 

[shauner111]

An artist owes **** all to a fanbase. I'm sorry but i dont come from that line of thinking at all. You either enjoy the output, or you don't. It doesn't matter if it's a hundreds of millions of dollars in budget, a massively known band, a small indie film, or an unknown broke band. The artist owes nothing.

If you make movies for the fanbase you're a bloody ******. Your art isn't art anymore it's just a product. But those kind of movies would indeed need to do things according to what their fans want. Like an entertainment/pop group. This isn't the same thing because Nolan wouldn't have done this movie if he didn't have a story to tell. Let the production companies, etc worry about their fanbase and how they're going to sell it to them. Nolans job is to not worry about fans or anybody else and just write and direct the movie he wants to make. A big Batman movie or something like Memento...it's all the same thing.

The fans don't own Batman, nobody does. They're entitled to nothing. If somebody wants to come in and butcher the idea of Batman (ill say that its been done before but i mean in the future) and do it assbackwards, and show the Batman just once the entire movie. Or use the Joker in some weird way, they can..and they dont owe the fans **** all. You either buy it or you dont. The artist can interpret it however they please.

 

[hammerhedd11]

The fans don't own Batman, nobody does. They're entitled to nothing. If somebody wants to come in and butcher the idea of Batman (ill say that its been done before but i mean in the future) and do it assbackwards, and show the Batman just once the entire movie. Or use the Joker in some weird way, they can..and they dont owe the fans **** all. You either buy it or you dont. The artist can interpret it however they please.

I agree with everything you say, but this especially. Fans have a really strange sense of entitlement on properties like this. I am fine with "I don't particularly like this version of the character" and if people just left it at that for this movie then it's perfectly fine and understandable. But people say stuff like " This isn't what my Batman would do" as if it's an affront to a real person. It's boring if there's only one way to do a character like this.