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

[WVsax27]

I'm not sure how I feel...I didn't hate it, but I don't have a super strong desire to run right out and watch it again. I have a lot of the same problems as other people did, so I'm not going to rehash all of them..but here are some brief thoughts

Spoiler

1.The alterations to Bane's voice in the prologue were horrible, I was very worried he was going to sound like that the whole film. It sounded like Tom was sitting in a room somewhere rehearsing the lines. I actually thought he sounded fine the rest of the movie, I can't really think of a moment where I couldn't understand him.

2. The whole first act is a mess
The scenes with Bruce and Alfred talking about the league of shadows? it didn't even sound like they understood what they were saying.

3. The first showdown with Bane was pretty great, coupled with the stadium sequence I thought maybe the film was taking a very dark turn for the better. A lot of very chilling visuals here.

4. The massive leaps in time where kind of jarring. Also what were the normal people of Gotham doing during all of this?

5. How Bruce got back didn't really bother me, I can buy that he just can at this point

6. The Talia reveal didn't really work because Miranda was hardly a character in the film, I read a review that mentioned it felt like she was added in post production and that was sadly accurate.

7. More to the above, I felt like Nolan tried too hard to connect the film to the first two and really tie things up. I think he could have made this a satisfying conclusion while still being a film that stands on its own, and I'm not so sure it does. Actually inserting scenes from the other films seemed silly to me. I think he could have told largely the same story without trying to throw in so many references and go "full circle"

8. The moment with Bruce and Gordon at the end made me tear up...but I think it was because of the world that was created rather than anything this film did to earn such a reaction. A lot of the emotional moments came from that same place, they registered because of how much I loved the characters already...not because of what happened in this film.

9. The ending works, it is odd that so many on here were freaking out over it because it was one of the few parts that really and truly clicked imo

I'm leaving stuff out, but like I said I had a lot of the same issues that other did.

 

[GregComicFan]

The first act was a mess, the final showdown was extremely rushed, and Bane [blackout]went out like a punk[/blackout].

I thought the way Bane was finished off was very appropriate... one, because

Spoiler

Catwoman kills him and redeems herself

and two, because it worked again to show how Catwoman lives by a different moral code than Batman.

 

[Skrilla31]

Im curious as to what you see the essence of batman being. What would your ideal batman movie be like. Not being snarky, i am genuinely curious.

It depends on the interpretation. I don't care if it's grounded in realism or if it's fantastical like the comic books, that's all up the director and his vision for the film.

But for the character of Batman? I think the duality is what really, really needs to be stressed the most. I always envisioned Batman fighting crime not because he feels he owes anyone, but because he's mentally deranged. I think Batman needs to fight crime like most men need to have sex. Sort of like a PG-13 version of Dexter (or is Dexter just a Rated-R version of Batman?). Dexter doesn't kill people because he wants to clean the streets, he kills because he has to. It's who he is. He's not right in the head... and neither is Batman.

I envision Bruce Wayne spending his days gathering data and gaining intel for the next night's crusade. I envision him dressing up as Batman and roaming the streets at night even if there's nothing to do. I imagine he would do it in the hopes he finds trouble.

 

[jmc]

I'm going to spend some time tonight writing out some more detailed thoughts about the movie. I might see it again this weekend just to see if I was in the right mood when I saw it.

 

[joker1524]

Bane went out like a ***** is my only real complain

 

[Mreah]

I feel like it was too predictable. Disappointing... I feel like I did when I finished the LOST series. It seems like Nolan took the easy way out when it came to the narrative. There was no real point to invoking the League of Shadows other than to make a weak tie-in to the first movie. It was like how everyone speculated that the island was Purgatory in LOST from like the third episode of the first season... and come the finale? It wasn't too far off despite all those endless reassurances from the writers that they had aces up their sleeves. I expected a little more creativity from Nolan, here, instead of just lifting things from Knightfall, tying parts of it back to the League of Shadows arbitrarily, and calling it a day.

The final fight with Bane was an anticlimax,

Spoiler

especially the way he was killed. I expected something a little more epic for Batman's final fist-fight, here.

Bane's new voice sounded too much like a robotic Sean Connery so I had a hard time taking him seriously.

The pacing was definitely off. At times it felt like the plot was running along at a snail's pace, while other times they hammered through like 5-6 different scenes in under a minute with odd cutoff points (and there were a couple moments where the editing was extraordinarily lazy, such as when Bruce went to visit the Commissioner).

Other than that, a decent movie... but it could have been a lot better. Nolan is definitely capable of more than this.

 

[TanneRain]

The movie is overwhelming. But I think I loved it.

 

[4Eyes]

Bane's

Spoiler

death came out so quickly I didn't even know if he was actually dead or just wounded. I half expected him to get up and fight both Selina and Bat.

 

[TX85]

9.5/10,That's sure one way to end a trilogy

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

As someone who very adamantly believes that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were overrated (not to be confused with "bad"), there is only one thing I can say after seeing The Dark Knight Rises:

(no spoilers)

[YT]NBh895KdXAU[/YT]

 

[dsharpyo]

It kinds pissed me off at the end when it [BLACKOUT]all turned out to be Joel Schmacher's dream on the set of Batman and Robin[/BLACKOUT]

Really lame of Nolan to piss on the franchise like that.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

I want to say one thing about Miranda tate. Her romance with bruce is getting a lot of complaints.

Spoiler

Bruce has been portrayed as a pimp throughout the entire series. It is completely in character for him to bang miranda.

He never hints that he loves her, so this idea that "the romance is undeveloped" is silly because THERE IS no romance.

we just see bruce doing what he was doing with the fountain girls in BB, the ballerina, boat, and helicopter girls in TDK, etc.

dont hate on it, its nothing out of character.

Spoiler

Eh, not really. He shows affection for her when he sneaks in to see Fox, Bane is confident Batman's coming for him because he cares for Tate, and he look completely crushed when Tate reveals herself

 

[jacobed]

10/10 easily best Batman movie ever.

 

[TX85]

I loved this film and love the trilogy..But yeah can't wait for the reboot!

 

[flickchick85]

I don't know if I loved it more than TDK, but I do love the fact it is first-and-foremost about Bruce's journey again.

The [blackout]LoS/Talia[/blackout] stuff didn't bother me at all. I loved that part of the story, actually. Sure, I knew it was coming, but I thought it worked very well. The only "surprise" that felt kind of forced to me was [blackout]Robin.[/blackout]

Right now I'd give it a 9/10, which may change on subsequent viewings.

 

[Goku Goes Crazy]

10/10

 

[Hzygone]

9/10 I wanted a better final fight as well as a better explanation of Bruce's return.

 

[GregComicFan]

I posted all my thoughts on page 4 of this thread, but I forgot one of the most important ones... the title!!! I never cared for the title "The Dark Knight Rises" and I still, after seeing the film, think that title is lazy, a cash-in on the previous film, and doesn't entirely "sum up" the film or justify itself. Batman saves the day in BB TDK and TDKR. In TDKR, Batman saves the day again... so whats the rise? Is it really that literal? He "rises" to the occasion... the rises when he climbs out of the pit... that's the reasoning behind the title. Meh meh meh... the title is lazy. They could have thought of something better. BB TDK AND TDKR all feel like totally different genres (action film, crime film, war film)... they each needed totally distinct and unique titles...

 

[mongoose-mania]

I genuinely loved it, but it's not without its flaws. I, too, thought it was much too predictable.

Spoiler

I thought it was obvious who JGL and Cotillard's characters were from the moment they were cast. A friend, who I saw it with, said the whole reveal of Talia was completely pointless, and that they should've stuck with the twist of Bane being Ra's' son. I really would've preferred that.
Another thing that drove me crazy was Bane's death. Nolan created this beast of a villain; this total behemoth who puts Bruce Wayne through total hell, and you just shoot him? I was really hoping they would rip off his mask or something, but, eh...
Also, how in the heck did Bruce survive that explosion? Did he jump? Or is Alfred senile?

Other than that, and a few other minor things, I really, really enjoyed the movie and would like to see it again as soon as possible. It's definitely not my favorite of the trilogy (that'd be TDK), but it's a good way to end it all.

 

[SpideyScott]

Every Movie has its flaws.
10/10
Perfect end to a perfect trilogy, Well done Chris.

 

[4Eyes]

He

Spoiler

survived through movie magic. It's implied that Bruce fixed the autopilot on the Bat, so he probably set it to auto, while he escaped...somehow.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

I think my biggest problem with Nolan's Batman is - and I'm not sure if this is going to strike a nerve - that for whatever reason they don't feel like "Batman" movies to me. Yes I'm aware there is no one definitive take on the Batman mythos and that this is just one interpretation, but for me I just feel he took too much artistic liberties with the character and really failed to capture the essence of Batman.

The Dark Knight doesn't really need Batman in it. It was a crime drama centering on a psychopathic over the top villain... who in turn had a fascination for our hero. That hero didn't have to be Batman. I still fail to see how it's a Batman movie and not just some run of the mill genre piece in the same vein as Heat or something similar. I felt Batman's role in it was inconsequential other than he was needed for grand action set pieces.

The Dark Knight Rises felt like even less of a Batman film, for me anyways. And yes I understand that everyone has their own idea of what "Batman" means to them. Again I can only speak for myself. I believe this movie transformed Batman into your typical generic, "self sacrificing" superhero. And the plot was just... wow. I'll just say this. I have the feeling Nolan and Goyer are surrounded by lots of lots of yes men. Either that or maybe they just don't have anyone there to tell them "no".

This is essentially my beef with Nolan's trilogy as well, and why I feel it to be completely over rated.

But, reading through this thread, and I am completely in awe at some of the opinions. For all the people talking about it being predictable, I didn't follow this movie one teenie tiny bit, so all of the reveals were great for me, and not predictable. This is, as far as I'm concerned, hands down the best of the Nolan trilogy. I was in complete awe walking out of the theater tonight, something that I was not with either Batman Begins nor The Dark Knight.

 

[Mr. Wayne]

Anne Hathaway blew me away in a good way. I was expecting her to completely Holmes/Gyllenhaal it up but she was exceptional. I also loved the

Spoiler

Liam Neeson cameo and the Blake reveal. I thought they were done in a cool non cheesy way. I also thought that the humanization (for want of a better term) of Bane was very credibly done. He had more depth than just being an evil wrecking machine in the comics and I'm glad that was portrayed here. Tom Hardy is going to be a huge star, no doubt in my mind.

I've loved Batman since I was a little boy and watched TAS every day. I really appreciate what Christopher Nolan did with this franchise and I love all 3 movies. This one may have just pipped Begins for the best of the bunch. Sure, there was nothing close to Heath's performance here but as a film it was tremendously strong with a very fitting and moving ending. 10/10 for me and multiple theater viewings for sure.

 

[BRUCEHATESME]

I can't think of a more perfect movie.

 

[jmc]

You know what? I was going to go into a more in depth analysis of the film but the shooting at the TDRK screening makes my issues with a movie irrelevant.