The Dark Knight Rises The Official Rate/Review Thread for TDKR (TAG SPOILERS!!!) - Part 1

[StevieNicks1988]

lol This thread is like.....boys with toys.

 

[Dr Zaius]

I just got back from seeing the film for the third time, I enjoy it more and more every time I see it. I was a little iffy after the first time, but now I unequivocally think it is the best of the trilogy and a great film on its own merits.

 

[batman1115]

I simply loved TDKR. Did it have flaws? Sure. But so did BB and TDK. But I think we can say that each film now all compliment each other wonderfully. TDKR had all the scenes I think we hoped for in all the preparation of this film. We had great emotional scenes with Bruce and Alfred. Great new gadgets, Bane broke the Batman and was easily on par with the Joker in terms of performance(especially considering he had a mask on), and a great ending to wrap everything up. I think when we go back and now watch BB and TDK, now knowing where it ends, our favorite scenes will now have even more weight to them. We should be all grateful that we had such a wonderful cast and crew who took so many years of their lives to give us something that will last the rest of ours. Here's to Nolan's Batman trilogy and hopefully we will see something like this again soon in the not too distant future.

***and as a side note, it is such a pleasure to watch, debate and get excited over these films with you all. This forum represents whats great about film and art and that movies can bring everyone together.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'm pleased to note that, though there have been quite a few complaints raised, from what I've seen none of them have centred around Bane not being tall enough.

 

[angryweb]

I just got back from seeing the film for the third time, I enjoy it more and more every time I see it. I was a little iffy after the first time, but now I unequivocally think it is the best of the trilogy and a great film on its own merits.

I'm with you on that. 3 times here and better every time.

 

[itsthebatman]

I'm pleased to note that, though there have been quite a few complaints raised, from what I've seen none of them have centred around Bane not being tall enough.

He was a big dude.

 

[LostSon88]

Bane uses the truth about Dent to justify the release of prisoners from a prison located in a city he had already laid siege upon.

What would have been the difference had he not exposed Dent ?

The whole Dent Act thing was used very poorly.

To further piss off those locked up in addition to make the citizens of Gotham realize that they've been idolizing a complete fraud.

It was a psychological tactic.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

My pro's and con's and official score for the movie

Spoiler

bane breaks batman's back?
check

bane's accent/origin at least hinted to be spanish?
check

batman using wheelchair, cane, and cybernetic enhancement in the film because of paraplegic recovery?
x

alfred incredible (imo oscar worthy) acting but not in the film very long? even if he left gotham?
x

i know what's good with the following previous supervillains of this now, concluding trilogy: scarecrowe, ra's al ghul, and harvey dent,
check

...but what's good with falcone, maroni, zaz, coleman reese (knows who batman is), hong kong (after lao's death), anna ramirez (knows that harvey dent = 2face), tom lister jr (disgusted by joker, big guy, disgusted/intimidated/RELEASED by bane?) and most importantly, joker?
x

c. gordon's wife, son and daughter (who i guess is named after the wife) have nothing at all to say about what almost happened to the youngest in the family 8 years ago?
x

bane sees ra's and batman as his only equals? i find nolan's bane to be far more faithful to the comics than a lot of you give credit for.
check

stakes convincingly way higher than tdk?
check

some sort of lazarus... "pit?"
check

ra's al ghul & the league confirmed to be of arabian origin (deshi, basara = arabic!)?
check

bane's face shown at least once?
check


overall great acting, from pretty much all the actors
check

"the bat loves cat" kiss (you know, with them both in their costumes)


catwoman never calls herself catwoman even though she's a woman dressed up in leather, catwalking like it's in her super sassy physiology
x

ANOTHER plotline centered around a super weapon that must be stopped in its track otherwise (this, to me is what hurt batman begins the most, and one of the reasons why the dark knight was so much better) ?
a great big

bruce lives happily ever after with a love interest?


The legend ends on a satisfying note?
checkmate!

12 s, 6 s


Although all these pro's and cons are important to me, the last 3 are the dealbreakers.

The first one had the same flaw as my other most anticipated piece of entertainment this year, Mass Effect 3, however,

the second one HAS one of the other things Mass Effect 3 didn't have (which is a really big deal to me)

And the last one is best summed up in that other thread, which is a poll of whether this is the first successful comic book film series, although the recent tragedies (both with TDK and TDKR amongst others) is another reason why I think Batman should just be left alone and not rebooted no matter what.

A well deserved...

9.78... out of 10

won't stop thinkin' bout this movie for a while, nor will I refrain from doing more viewings at the theater. Cheers, fellow SHH posters!

The dark knight rises!

 

[corkyberlin]

I'm intrigued by the folks that like it more each time they saw it. I saw it once in Imax, and the more I think about the movie, the more disappointed I am by what it was. There were pieces of the brilliance of the past two movies, and some things I really, truly thought couldn't have been done better. But I felt a few things were egregiously off...

Spoiler

Talia being tacked on in the last 15 minutes, her relationship with the entire world around her being a ruse unnecessarily, and the fact that they would lay out such a humanizing story of bane only to never give us an opportunity to feel the weight of his relationship to Talia, simply baffles me. Also, I still have no clue why she would hate her father for exiling Bane, only to then take up arms in the name of her father's struggle and act on the basis of continuing his work. I felt like an important component of the last two movies was the struggle over the soul of the people of Gotham, and that entire theme went missing. Not b/c we weren't supposed to assume that was still going on, but because the people of gotham were largely MIA. The miracle of keeping police alive for 3 months or however the hell long they were under ground, and then magically bring them out of the dark with only 45 minutes before they're all going to get nuked, was beyond my ability to suspend disbelief.And Bale's Batman inevitably felt half baked. I feel like the second fight - with Batman taking Bane on physically with no clear attempt to outsmart Bane robbed the character of the opportunity to RISE above his limitations in the face of such an overwhelming foe.

My short opinion: In the end, I think it was a sometimes amazing movie, chopped up and buried by a solid hour of film wasted on a story that was defined by medocrity, deus ex machinas, cliches, and plot holes bigger than any villain could blow in any city. Kind of sad to say that.

But on the bright side, it was just a movie.... and 15 bucks.

 

[Ultra Nolanite]

OK the strangest thing just happened. Went to see TDKR for a second time and I really enjoyed it now. I think the first time I was just shocked at how different it was from BB and TDK.

For some reason I was more engaged in all the goings on and this second viewing bumped it up from a meager 7 to a solid 9. It has flaws and I still think Alfred wasnt in it enough. But everything was just more epic this time around.

 

[jrd550]

My pro's and con's and official score for the movie

bane breaks batman's back?
check

bane's accent/origin at least hinted to be spanish?
check

batman using wheelchair, cane, and cybernetic enhancement in the film because of paraplegic recovery?
x

alfred incredible (imo oscar worthy) acting but not in the film very long? even if he left gotham?
x

i know what's good with the following previous supervillains of this now, concluding trilogy: scarecrowe, ra's al ghul, and harvey dent,
check

...but what's good with falcone, maroni, zaz, coleman reese (knows who batman is), hong kong (after lao's death), anna ramirez (knows that harvey dent = 2face), tom lister jr (disgusted by joker, big guy, disgusted/intimidated/RELEASED by bane?) and most importantly, joker?
x

commissioner gordon's son and daughter (who i guess is named after c. gordon's wife) have nothing at all to say about what almost happened to the youngest in the family 8 years ago?
x

bane sees ra's and batman as his only equals? i find nolan's bane to be far more faithful to the comics than a lot of you give credit for.
check

stakes convincingly way higher than tdk?
check

some sort of lazarus... "pit?"
check

ra's al ghul & the league confirmed to be of arabian origin (deshi, basara = arabic!)?
check

bane's face shown at least once?
check


overall great acting, from pretty much all the actors
check

"the bat loves cat" kiss (you know, with them both in their costumes)


ANOTHER plotline centered around a super weapon that must be stopped in its track otherwise (this, to me is what hurt batman begins the most, and one of the reasons why the dark knight was so much better) ?
a great big

bruce lives happily ever after with a love interest?



The legend ends on a satisfying note?
checkmate!

12 s, 5 s


Although all these pro's and cons are important to me, the last 3 are the dealbreakers.

The first one had the same flaw as my other most anticipated piece of entertainment this year, Mass Effect 3, however,

the second one HAS one of the other things Mass Effect 3 didn't have (which is a really big deal to me)

And the last one is best summed up in that other thread, which is a poll of whether this is the first successful comic book film series, although the recent tragedies (both with TDK and TDKR amongst others) is another reason why I think Batman should just be left alone and not rebooted no matter what.

A well deserved...

9.78... out of 10

won't stop thinkin' bout this movie for a while, nor while I refrain from doing more viewings at the theater. Cheers, fellow SHH posters!

The dark knight rises!

Very well said!

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Just wanted to say, that was the most incredible movie i've ever seen in my life.

I really wasn't expecting it to top The Dark Knight. But it completely blew it out of the water.

It was epic on so many levels - the story, the twists, the characters, the dialogue, the stakes, the fights, the effects... it was just amazing. And wow did the actors bring it, especially Bale! TDK was so focused on the Joker, Bruce sort of took a back seat. But this was absolutely back to Bruce's story. Bale gave such a powerful performance. Oh, and such a nice change to have female love interests that didn't suck!

I can't think of a single thing about the film that I would want to change or that I would even improve on. It was, in my eyes, flawless. Emotional, deep, inspiring and also entertaining, funny, heart warming etc. It was all the things I want from a film.

 

[Tony Stark]

No movie is flawless.

you're right, but the problem with this film is by trying to overexplain everything it draws attention to those flaws.

For example in TDK, it's kinda hard to believe that a guy blowing up hospitals wouldn't attract the attention of the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. military. But they just ignore this in the movie, and you know what? It actually kinda works.

In this film, [blackout]first off the nuclear bomb is so cliche, but then they go and show the military and the President getting invovled, and 3 special forces guys going down like *****es.[/blackout] This actually detracted from my suspension of disbelief. The whole scene where Bane [blackout] drags out the Russian scientist with the whole "I am the only one capable of disarming this bomb" [/blackout] again just draws attention to huge plot holes and leaps of logic.

 

[Matt Mortem]

As other posters have said, I was annoyed that Batman didn't do anything extraordinary to defeat Bane the second time around. First time, he tries to duke it out with Bane and gets his ass handed to him. Second time, HE GOES WITH THE SAME STRATEGY, only difference is he decided to punch him in the face. Only difference I saw between Batman before and after his second fight with Bane was some pushups and situps. They could have done more with that.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

My pro's and con's and official score for the movie

Spoiler tags?

 

[CConn]

I think the point was, Batman went at Bane without any fear the second time, which made him faster and stronger - like it did when he climbed out of the pit without a robe.

 

[DeathChill]

i think the point was, batman went at bane without any fear the second time, which made him faster and stronger - like it did when he climbed out of the pit without a robe.

Sweet mother of God, we did not watch the same movie!

 

[Dr Zaius]

I think the point was, Batman went at Bane without any fear the second time, which made him faster and stronger - like it did when he climbed out of the pit without a robe.

I thought it was the exact opposite, I thought he was afraid the second time which made him fight harder, just like the doctor said: that it was foolish for him to not fear death, because the fear of death gives us the strength and will to fight on when we normally wouldn't. So making the jump, not having the security of the rope to save him allowed fear to find him once again and he was able to make the jump. And when he faced Bane again he was afraid, not for himself, afraid of his city being destroyed and it drove him to fight with a crazy intensity defeating Bane. Batman seemed to not be afraid of going against Bane the first time, he was quite arrogant, telling Alfred he will fight harder, he always has.

 

[hafizbat]

As other posters have said, I was annoyed that Batman didn't do anything extraordinary to defeat Bane the second time around. First time, he tries to duke it out with Bane and gets his ass handed to him. Second time, HE GOES WITH THE SAME STRATEGY, only difference is he decided to punch him in the face. Only difference I saw between Batman before and after his second fight with Bane was some pushups and situps. They could have done more with that.

I think you missed the whole "fear" thing. The first time, Bruce had no fear of death, he secretly wanted to die as Batman. The pit was there to refocus him, to bring back that fear of death, and that made Batman more powerful. If you look closely, in the sewer brawl Batman just goes in there and I dont know how to explain it, but he's just not scared, overconfident. The second time you can see how focused he was, how he had a purpose, how he needed to beat Bane to save his city. Hence when Bane says, "So, you came back to die with your city" he replies "No, I came to stop you." there's a lot under those words....

 

[CConn]

I thought it was the exact opposite, I thought he was afraid the second time which made him fight harder, just like the doctor said: that it was foolish for him to not fear death, because the fear of death gives us the strength and will to fight on when we normally wouldn't. So making the jump, not having the security of the rope to save him allowed fear to find him once again and he was able to make the jump. And when he faced Bane again he was afraid, not for himself, afraid of his city being destroyed and it drove him to fight with a crazy intensity defeating Bane. Batman seemed to not be afraid of going against Bane the first time, he was quite arrogant, telling Alfred he will fight harder, he always has.

Sorry, you're right. I was remembering it wrong.

Essentially, it was supposed to mirror what he learned to escape the prison.

 

[hafizbat]

And I liked that he didnt need some gimmick or new suit or gadget or whatever to beat Bane. It was inside him all along.....the story was very emotional, very elemental. Dealing with the concepts of fear and and strength/weakness. It all ties back to Ràs al Ghul's lesson to Bruce.....the training is nothing, will is everything. That's why the pushups and pullups are secondary

 

[Leenie]

To the people having gripes about [BLACKOUT]Batman possibly killing people during the finale[/BLACKOUT]:

It didn't feel out of character or contradicting/hypocritical for me. Batman straight up said this was a war. War is an entirely different ballgame.

 

[Shawn Wayne]

I thought it was the exact opposite, I thought he was afraid the second time which made him fight harder, just like the doctor said: that it was foolish for him to not fear death, because the fear of death gives us the strength and will to fight on when we normally wouldn't. So making the jump, not having the security of the rope to save him allowed fear to find him once again and he was able to make the jump. And when he faced Bane again he was afraid, not for himself, afraid of his city being destroyed and it drove him to fight with a crazy intensity defeating Bane. Batman seemed to not be afraid of going against Bane the first time, he was quite arrogant, telling Alfred he will fight harder, he always has.

I agree, it was Bruce's lack of a fear of death that prevented him from pushing further because, in a way, he welcomed it. The 'real' Batman was only in the end of the movie-as Alfred pointed out, he evaded a blunted police force using Fox's toys and gadgets. W

Spoiler

hen he emerged from the pit, he was reborn

. And like most people, i enjoyed the movie far more on my second viewing and recommend seeing it again to those that felt let down the first time. I'm not sure why, but something was different the second time

 

[CConn]

And that's also why [blackout]JGL[/blackout] deserves to be Batman.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Very well said!

Thanks very much! I hope you enjoyed the film as much as I did.

Spoiler tags?

I posted my review in another thread but it got moved here without spoiler tags but yeah, I wrapped it now