The Official Rate/Review Thread for TDKR (TAG SPOILERS!!!)

So where to begin? This was easily my most anticipated movie of the year, and on the back of Inception and The Dark Knight I once again put myself in the hands of Chris Nolan expecting him to take me on this epic conclusion to the Batman mythology. The end result is a film big on ambition but ultimately leads to an unsatisfactory journey that is predictable, extremely clunky in parts, featuring undeveloped characters and an ending that is not all that satisfying.

I'll start with the positives. The acting in the film is top notch, Bale gives probably his best performance of the series, Bruce Wayne gives off very much a Howard Hughes vibe earlier on having become a recluse to society. He's lost all sense of living and is only awaken from his slumber by the arrival of Bane. For people wanting another Bruce Wayne film this is very much what you're getting, but it's mixed in the rest of the plots going on that his story almost gets completely lost.

Anne Hathaway is fantastic as Catwoman, she's sexy, sly, tough and resilient, but it feels like only the surface of the character is ever scratched, there's just so many more layers that could have been explored but sadly weren't. After a fantastic introduction in the first act the character all but disappears in the second, only to reemerge in the finale to help Batman. She's still probably the best version of the character we've seen but she could have been so much better.

The rest of the supporting cast is solid, Micheal Caine is again the soul of the film (and indeed the series), Gary Oldman again is great as Gordon even if his role feels more diminished this time around. Joseph Gordon Levits is strong as Blake and has a far more prominent role than anticipated, very much the spiritual sidekick in this film. Marion Cotillard is fine as always but her role is kinda minor for the most part.

And then there's Tom Hardy's Bane. A character that like Catwoman feels like the surface has only been scratched upon. There are moments when he feel terrifying, but they are so few and far between. I feel the weaknesses of Bane doesn't come from Hardy himself but from the way the character is presented. The voice is really distracting, it sounds pretty ordinary, not inaudible, but it sounds like an ADR recording, it's like there was no attempt to blend it in with the environment. I feel like so much more could have been done with the character but again it's like we're only given a glimpse of what he can do.

My biggest issue with this film is the story. For starters the dialog at times feels like it's being spoon fed to us, characters blurting out exposition that could have otherwise been shown in other creative ways, and it's borderline cringe worthy on occasions. Everything about Bane that the characters learn seems to come out of thin air, there's no great revelation that characters discover, stuff just kinda gets told to us again.

Then there's the story itself, the whole thing of Gotham being sealed off from the rest of the world never once feels real, and nor are the themes of of uprising against the upper classes ever really gone into great detail. Again, it feel like the subject is just left hanging for the most part after Bane comes out as Gotham's liberator. On top of that the time span of the story seems to fly by and in some cases defies logic. Of all the films in the series the story in Rises feels the most incomplete and frankly the struggle between Nolan trying to deliver a serious movie and playing to the conventions of a superhero film are never more paramount than here. It just feels so clunky.

Lastly there's absolutely no surprises in this film, just about everything rumoured about this film over the last year is more or less true, and even if you were a Batman fan who lived under a rock for a year avoiding spoilers you'd still figure where things were going. The big 'revelation' is about as surprising as finding a pickle on your Big Mac. I held out hope that Nolan would be far more creative and surprise us as to where he'd take things but alas no, the coming back to Begins thing is all too true I'm afraid. I was anticipating something along the lines of war film but sadly that never came into fruition.

Overall, Rises is not a bad movie, but by Chris Nolan standards it's a fumble. I will say though I am grateful for what he's done with the character in helping him get back to the top of the superhero film genre, but I can't in good conscious give The Dark Knight Rises the glowing review it's been getting from some others. By the end I was just so frustrated of feeling like there were some major pieces missing. Maybe I will have to see it again, but I admit there were times I was almost urging myself to like it, but I just can't rate it in the same category of it's two predecessors, for me it ranks a distant third in the series, the Dark Knight still remains the genres best.

7/10

 

In 2005, Christopher Nolan gave us the origin tale to The Dark Knight Legend with Batman Begins. In 2008, Nolan surpassed expectations and changed the comic-book-film genre for the better with The Dark Knight, featuring the late Heath Ledger’s epic portrayal of the Joker which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar win. In 2012, he has given us an epic conclusion to The Dark Knight Legend with The Dark Knight Rises. He has completed his trilogy.

The Dark Knight Rises begins 8 years after the events in The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has not shown his face in Gotham and Batman has been “retired” since the night Harvey Dent died. Almost right away, we meet Bane (played by Tom Hardy). He is a powerful mercenary that is not to be crossed and has exceptional strength and intelligence. He then makes his way to Gotham City. After a meeting with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Bruce realizes that The Batman has to come back in order to save Gotham. He then visits Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) in order to “get back in the game”. The events that follow in the next two hours are pure cinematic greatness. Christopher Nolan has done what no man has before, create a perfect superhero trilogy.

This film has so much to praise. Christian Bale gave his best Bruce Wayne performance yet. I absolutely loved Tom Hardy’s performance as Bane. He was terrifyingly brutal and walked around with a certain swagger that really showed he was afraid of no one. Bane’s dialogue, while difficult to understand at times, was perfect for his character. His voice was chilling. Anne Hathaway was also a fantastic addition as Selina Kyle. The way she delivered her lines was outstanding. I was pleasantly surprised by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, John Blake. Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both reprised their roles as Alfred and Lucius Fox and gave emotional performances within their limited screen time. Marion Cotillard also played her role as Miranda Tate wonderfully. In terms of the film itself, the action was bigger in terms of scale and the IMAX cameras truly showcase the film’s beautiful cinematography. Another fantastic element is Hans Zimmer’s score. The music accompanies the film beautifully, ranging from the intense moments of action to the somber emotional moments. For those complaining about the 2 hour and 45 minute runtime, the film did not drag at all. Each scene was in the film for a specific purpose and the last 45 minutes of the film are unlike anything I have ever seen before.

It is truly sad to see Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman end. He has taken Batman to new heights with his Dark Knight Trilogy. Though it is ending, he gave us the most possible epic and fantastic sendoff anyone could have possibly asked for. I cannot stress this enough when I say, GO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT RISES! Not many films deserve the opening-weekend viewing, but The Dark Knight Rises deserves multiple opening-weekend viewings! GO SEE IT TODAY!

10/10

 

I have watched this movie in Malaysia and i follow this forum for months with high anticipation. I even took leave from work just to watch this movie.

This movie is not as good as the second one. Though the scale of the movie is bigger than the previous ones but it did not exceed my expectation.

TDK is better than TDKR.

I really enjoyed the first and second movie's ending but not this one.

I must say this is a good conclusion to nalan's saga but definitely not his best.

After watching this, i agree that the franchise needs a reboot. Definitely not for jla material.

I give it 7/10. 7 because i am a fan.

I will definitely watch again but there's no sense of urgency, not as what i felt when i watch tdk.

 

TDKR is without a doubt in my mind, the best Batman movie, hell the best superhero movie ever made. It's incredibly tense, beautifully acted, and the action was staggering! The ending was amazing, and brought tears of joy to my eyes.

A perfect 10/10

 

Spoiler alert regarding the title and the ending

The title appears at the end of the movie.

Spoiler

The dark knight enters the bat cave for the first time.

An underground platform rises beneath his feet.

Then we see the title.

And the title was not referring to batman.

The title was referring to another major character that nolan says will not appear in his movies.

Well.. He lied.. Sorta..

7/10 for the proper ending, a nod to the batman universe.

Spoiler

it should be retitled as "another dark knight rises". Well, that will definitely give away the ending twist

 

For nearly 2 hours of this EPIC and intense film, I was utterly engrossed and amazed at the awesomeness I was witnessing. This was the best movie I had ever seen period. But then a scene occured that made me [and my brother] go "waa, how, mmm?" which unfortunately bought me out of my immersion.

Spoiler

Bruce just appearing back at the ruined streets of Gotham in broad daylight to Selina after "rising" out of the pit somewhere in the middle east. without any explanation how. [this couldve been handled so much better]

Not really a biggy in the big scheme of things, but still....Even at nearly 3hours, this film needed more time to fully explain the events unfolding. The film felt a little rushed in the 3rd act. Anyway, The Dark Knight Rises is an awesome finale to the trilogy. Everyone in the cast brings their A game. The action is awe inspiring and the plot is deep and resonant. Special mention must be made to Tom Hardy as Bane. he was simply BRILLIANT. Such a powerful and intimidating presence and the iconic moment that every Batfan would be anticipating, the first time Bats and Bane meet, is probably the most emotionally intense fight scene ever. Its nail biting.

I cant wait to see it again...and again.

4 out of 5.

Oh. another thing. I ruined the emotional impact of the ending by reading the spoilers prior.

 

10/10

Everything I wanted from, not only Batman character but from an movie of epic proportions in general. It is a great, amazing, epic movie that just so happens to have one of my favourite fictional characters.

If TDK was Heat - TDKR is Doctor Zhivago.

Love it more than TDK and BB.

Although I can imagine that some comic book fans wont like it.

 

I was at the UK Premiere at IMAX Waterloo yesterday.

They transported Nolan, Hardy and Bale from Leicester Square to Waterloo and Nolan introduced the film for us.

I won't go in to too much detail.

All I will say is, WOW. Rises was EPIC. On every level. Absolutely EPIC.

The story was superb, the characters were brilliant, the action was fantastic and the tempo of the movie kept me engaged through every one of the 164 minutes.

Nolan has crafted a perfect ending to what must be considered as a near perfect trilogy of superhero movies.

You will not be disappointed. Sit back, relax and enjoy the final ride!

10/10

 

Short and sweet for my review (London guy here too):

"Its not perfect (plot wise) but if you take it for what it is, its still a good film. 8/10 my verdict."

 

Spoiler tag please and a big NO

 

The characters are charismatic (Bane, Selina, well almost everyone.).
The chase scenes are okay (IMO).
The fight scenes (Bane and Batman) are OMGGGG.
This was my first time I heard an applause in theaters.
Although, I still can't get over why they changed Bane's voice.

Spoiler

Bane's voice during the prologue is super ODD!

The pacing is okay but some scenes felt very rushed.
The plot was kinda predictable.
The ending just

8.5/10

 

The Dark Knight Rises is an amazing film, and as of right now (without 100% consideration and needed re-watchings) I like it better then The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan and crew did it. They made the perfect trilogy. Bruce Wayne, along with the city of Gotham go through the perfect arc, with this movie presenting the ending in the most exciting way possible.

The beginning is a little slow, with too many important new characters introduced within a short span of time, making it slightly boggy for those who do not pay 100% attention. But you begin to realise as the film goes on that this is is building up to the incredible and action packed finale, filled with brilliant twists and turns. The story oozes with comic adaptations and references that form very well into an original narrative that puts Bruce and Gotham through hell, before they can, what else - RISE (A word that is said a little too much in the film).

All actors seem to bring their A game. Christian Bale fully encompasses his role as Bruce, giving a starring performance that shows a great deal of character appropriate emotions. Tom Hardy makes Bane a terrifying villain with much emotion shown with his eyes, a brutal fighting style and a persona audiences will love to hate. Anne Hathaway is a definitive Catwoman in my opinion, perfectly balancing dangerousness and sexiness. The new and old secondary characters are all great and play off the mains in awesome ways.

Overall the improved action, gripping set pieces, emotional driven story and fully developed and well acted characters make me give The Dark Knight Rises a
9.5/10

I may change the score when I have more time to think about it and am not caught up in hype.

 

Just got back. Amazing movie.

 

Such a bad movie ... such a waist of a trilogy ... all that build up for nothing.

Nolan shot his creative juices in the last one. Don't believe the hype.

This movie is a gift wrapped turd.

 

Just saw this here in the Philippines. My theatre was surprisingly idle, but then again it's the school season. Turned out to be an omen. This was completely underwhelming.

 

Just saw it in Syd, Aus. Two (or three) words. Slightly/moderately disappointed.

Longer version:

I'd say jmc summed it up quite nicely. The story doesn't feel cohesive, with months passing by quite quickly. Compared to the tighter TDK, Rises tries to juggle too many themes and characters. As a result, some named characters fall by the wayside and disappear for multiple scenes, only to reappear suddenly in the final act.

There also seemed to be one too many coincidences and 'nice timings' occurring throughout the film. Once is okay, but it happened enough times to make you wonder if the writers just took shortcuts during the scripting/draft process.

I also felt that the editing was a bit jarring. Remember from TDK, where Judge Surrilo and Commissioner Loeb are killed simultaneously, while the Joker makes his way up to Wayne's penthouse, and Bruce is putting a choke hold on Dent to knock him out? The way that scene was put together, along with the music building in tension just as the Joker arrives at the top floor, that was a great scene. I can't think of a single scene like that in Rises.

Spoiler

Another issue, and it may just be a misunderstanding on my part, but since when was it established that Bruce and Miranda had a thing for each other? They share three or four scenes, none of which hint at any mutual romantic feelings, then they're smooching. It just felt forced/rushed.

The relationship between Bruce and Selina also felt underdeveloped. Apart from that Masquerade Ball scene, I can't think of any memorable scenes with the two when they're not in costume. And that kiss...why? Again, maybe I missed something, but were there any signs between Batman and Catwoman (not Bruce/Selina) that hinted at something romantic? It felt like one of those cliched action flicks where the male and female heroes have to share one final kiss before parting ways. Does Selina kiss every guy on the mouth?

Even the music at times felt overbearing. The soundtrack is great and all, but that doesn't mean every scene needs bombastic music. It feels like they're trying to overcompensate by telling us this is what you should be feeling because we have loud music. Bane is the worst culprit. Between the music, sound effects, breathing noises and the accent, some lines were almost impossible to understand. Or maybe it was just the speakers at the theatre.

Finally, the CGI. Some shots of the Bat flying around looked quite comical. It looked like someone was dangling a miniature model of it on a fishing line in front of green screen while the visual FX artists layered in the various buildings at a later date. Maybe because in the back of your mind, you know a vehicle shaped like that would have trouble performing some of the maneuvers. There is a reason why helicopters and jets/planes are shaped the way they are.

All in all, disappointing, but by no means a bad film and the last 10 minutes present a fairly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

 

Didn't believe the hype until I saw it…



The villain doesn’t overshadow the story here as it did in The Dark Knight and I am a huge fan of Heath and his portrayal of the Joker was absolutely god-tier but Nolan’s choice of Bane was really a stroke of genius. He doesn’t trump the Joker but Bane was never meant too.

The story feels “complete”, Hathaway is brilliant as Selina Kyle. Go see this film, it’s like a film rendition of A Tale of Two Cities on steroids.

Spoiler

Bane is brute manifested. My god, the emotion in the scene between Bane and Talia is just magnificent. Do not listen to anyone says about this film, negative-wise. This film is leaps and bounds beyond The Avengers. It will go down as Nolan’s greatest tribute to the Dark Knight legacy and absolutely grounded, epic take of the Batman mythos.

There are no plot holes that I was aware of it. Everything felt perfect. It did not drag at all. Reminder, this is a blockbuster movie. Things had to keep the plot going at a fast-paced. Keep up because they are so many gems in this.

Favorite Bane line whilst the child is singing the National Anthem, “What a lovely voice”.

Give it time, it is easily Nolan’s best Dark Knight film yet.

The prologue has been cut a bit and Bane’s voice doesn’t retain that same synthetic voice from that but God damn, please. See this film for yourself. The story wraps up everything perfectly. This is my favorite Nolan film at the moment.

Overall rating 8.8/10
The Dark Knight rating 8.6/10

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PHENOMINAL MOVIE... 9/10 .... loved joker better then bane.. but loved this story better then dark knight... please please please do not believe the imdb fan boy hype of how bad it is.. this movie is a really great ending to our favorite trilogy

 

Holy crap. Everything you said I agree with.

Its got ambition, but it wasn't given the patience and focus it needs to be executed well.

If Nolan was going for this type of movie, I would have preferred an even longer movie just so the scenes could breathe. Just so the full scope of his vision could be realized on screen.The scenes just didn't have room to breathe. It felt clunky and rushed sometimes despite the almost 3 hours running time, like it was hurrying towards the end.

The positives for me? The action scenes were improved a lot by Nolan. The complaints about shaky cam when Bats is fighting? We get long takes of Bats kicking ass this time. The action, and when Batman is on screen, are the best things about this movie. When it tries to be too serious and important, or tackle some social issues, it fails because of the execution. It is the weakest of the Nolan Bat series, but still a solid movie.

My Bat movie ranking:
THE DARK KNIGHT 8.5/10
BATMAN BEGINS 8/10
BATMAN 7/10
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES 7/10
BATMAN RETURNS 7/10

 

edit

 

edit double post

 

To all the know-it-alls who said that last bit was never gonna happen, you can suck it.

 

Blergh. The whole implication of who

Spoiler

Blake is just feels tacked on. Bruce trained with the LoS for years to hone his skills. Now a hotheaded, retired cop can just take up the mantle? It reminds me of those poorly written fan-fics.

 

I found the movie very underwhelming. Like TDK I have no interest in watching it again. It was long and slow. The fight choreography was just as disappointing as the last two films. Anne Hathaway played an okay Catwoman, but she wasn't very appealing for a femme fatale. There were so many cameos of actors who have appeared in sci-fi television series it was becoming annoying.

For a while I almost missed the twist in the end but it became pretty obvious soon enough. Loved the destruction of Gotham scenes, but the other special effects weren't as interesting as what Nolan delivered before. This simply isn't a superhero film. Once that's understood, it's easy to see why V for Vendetta resonates better in its themes.

6/10.

In addition, DC's new logo looked stupid in the cold opening credits.