The Dark Knight Rises The TDKR General Discussion Thread - - - - Part 153

[BatLobster]

Since we've got a bit of a Bale/TDKT lovefest going on here, what the hell:

[YT]ckT61-PyPW0[/YT]

 

[The Shape]

This, starting at 1:53


[YT]watch?v=fpw0ajm3_5k[/YT]

 

[Snow Queen]

This, starting at 1:53


[YT]watch?v=fpw0ajm3_5k[/YT]

Even though some of the hits may not look quite right, it's one of the most exhilarating finales for a film of this variety. Much better than endless CG-fests. To me, anyway.

 

[The Shape]

Even though some of the hits may not look quite right, it's one of the most exhilarating finales for a film of this variety. Much better than endless CG-fests. To me, anyway.

The moment when Bane catches his punch, but Batman starts to drive him up the steps and break out of it -- serious feels for me when the music kicks in and Bale starts roaring with every strike.

 

[JackWhite]

Yea, that scene became something of a "meme", but it really is such a great introduction to Batman's feral side in BB. His utter disdain for crooked cops like Flass who contribute to the rot within Gotham. Another good one to mention is the way Batman has Joker pinned to the wall during the interrogation, just before Joker reveals Rachel is also kidnapped. Batman's eyes in that moment are so good - you can tell he's using all his willpower to restrain himself.

I love his delivery of "them?" during the interrogation room scene. At that moment Bruce realizes the stakes have gone up tenfold and it's become personal.

 

[BatLobster]

You guys. This is all really making me want to watch the trilogy, and I haven't felt that itch in a while.

 

[georgec]

I love his delivery of "them?" during the interrogation room scene. At that moment Bruce realizes the stakes have gone up tenfold and it's become personal.

Exactly. The dynamic immediately changes and Joker takes control. Batman simply doesn't know how to handle it, so he starts beating the crap out of Joker. That brings us to what I think is possibly the best line of the entire trilogy:

"You have nothing - nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all of your strength."

Again, the expression in Batman's eyes and his uncontrollable rage indicate how it tears him up knowing that Joker is right.

 

[shauner111]

I dont think ill watch the trilogy for another year or so to be honest. My mind is on the new Batman and once i see it a few times in the cinema, ill go back to the trilogy. It'll feel fresh for me when the time comes. Either that, or i do a Bat marathon before the release of Bats vs Supes. Either way, it's about a year away.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, I'm going to hold off too. I'm planning on watching Star Wars I-VI at some point before I see TFA so that's the next big marathon I've got my sights on. Possibly a big Batman marathon before BvS.

But it's still nice to feel that itch, with the comfort of knowing it'll always be there.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Anyone else feel "weird" about Batman sharing the screen with Superman in a live action film? I'm so used to seeing Batman all by himself, and then this Superman guys comes along...

 

[Brother Jack]

Exactly. The dynamic immediately changes and Joker takes control. Batman simply doesn't know how to handle it, so he starts beating the crap out of Joker. That brings us to what I think is possibly the best line of the entire trilogy:

"You have nothing - nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all of your strength."

Again, the expression in Batman's eyes and his uncontrollable rage indicate how it tears him up knowing that Joker is right.

A lot of the focus goes to Ledger's performance with that scene, appropriately so, but a big part of the reason the scene works so well is how Bale plays off of him and vice-versa. You see the full dichotomy of the two in every way. Joker's colorful, fidgety, talkative, and evil while Batman is monochrome, steadfast, and relatively quiet. The overexposed white light in the room with the cops viewing through the glass gives it an almost scientific feel, like we're all observing how these two diametrically opposed elements react when they're mixed together.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Nope. Avengers has already blown the lid off for these things.

 

[BatLobster]

It is just a bit weird for me. In a lot of ways this feels like a big culmination...we've had near misses with these two being the same movie before. Batman appearing in Kevin Smith's Superman Lives Script, the Batman Vs. Superman film that Wolfgang Peterson was supposed to do before Nolan came into the picture. It seems like something that was always going to happen, especially because WB has been clueless about what to do with Superman for a long time and throwing him in there with Batman was always going to be a huge box office no-brainer.

So it's a historic event which is undeniably exciting, but at the same time it is kind of a weird feeling for me because it's going to be so different to see Batman within the context of a movie that he's the co-star of as opposed to his own movie where everything from the cinematography to the production design to the score are all working together to drawn you into the world of Batman. The whole criteria by which I'm used to assessing a Batman movie is kind of obliterated in the face of BvS because it's an entirely different animal.

 

[georgec]

A lot of the focus goes to Ledger's performance with that scene, appropriately so, but a big part of the reason the scene works so well is how Bale plays off of him and vice-versa. You see the full dichotomy of the two in every way. Joker's colorful, fidgety, talkative, and evil while Batman is monochrome, steadfast, and relatively quiet. The overexposed white light in the room with the cops viewing through the glass gives it an almost scientific feel, like we're all observing how these two diametrically opposed elements react when they're mixed together.

And just to think that was one of the first scenes filmed for the movie, IIRC (or at least, one of the first for Ledger as Joker).

 

[Travesty]

But while Zack Snyder’s aesthetic is still rooted in grandiose machismo that, at its root, is fantastical, it’s another director who has completely ruined the superhero genre for me. It is, of course, Christopher Nolan, who managed to strip all of the fun from Batman with his trilogy of films that followed Gotham’s personal protector.

http://decider.com/2015/04/22/christopher-nolan-made-me-hate-comic-book-movies/#comments

 

[Snow Queen]

http://decider.com/2015/04/22/christopher-nolan-made-me-hate-comic-book-movies/#comments

They're entitled to their wrong opinion.

Spoiler

 

[JackWhite]

TDKR, which you could say is the driest of the three films in the trilogy, still had Batman flying around in a plane. How was that not fun?

Edit: Read the article, or more or less, skimmed through it. Yeah, it's the same pissing and moaning about Nolan being too gritty, realistic, blah, blah, blah.

Honestly, if you don't like the "Nolan approach" then you'd probably like the more light-hearted fare with Marvel, and vice versa. So all in all, that's a great thing, because there is something for everyone these days.

I wasn't really big on The Avengers, but I'm really looking forward to Age Of Ultron, because it looks a lot darker.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Am I missing something? All I see from that article is Nolan's greatness. An artist makes art so that you can have a reaction to it. This reaction can either be positive or negative. For example, I hate Michael Bay. I revile his Transformers movies. But their sheer idiocy hasn't turned me off dumb blockbusters. I will gladly see the next Fast and Furious movie. But his reaction to Nolan's art was so extreme and it consumed him with so much hate that he can no longer view an entire genre. That is an amazing achievement for a filmmaker.

The last time I had an art move me like that was Spielberg's Schindler's lost and Kurosawa's Ikiru where I was consumed with them for months. That is a rare achievement. So bravo to Nolan. You made something that made such an impression on a bloke that when he sees something else in the genre he is constantly reminded of the TDK trilogy. Only the best films can do that.

 

[BlueLightning]

I think he misses a point. The Dark Knight Trilogy isn't realistic in the strict sense of the word. I'll say it again, it has a core of verisimilitude, as much as a good Batman film can be. If we remember the Year One treatment that made the rounds before Begins from Aronofsky, it was way off the mark. What Nolan did was take the mythos and adapt it through plausibility lenses. It worked greatly because the character lends itself to be adapted that way, (and many other ways too, just see the "Brave and the Bold" animated series), and because of Nolan sensibilities.

But not everyone has the same sensibilities. Just as a Spielberg movie has his artist signature, so does Nolan with his films. Now, the films themselves aren't dour or humorless, but they have a tone that they abide in order to work properly. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of good jokes in them. That the films managed to be as fascinating as they are is a testament for the history of cinema and for the authors work: exploring complex themes often found in the very medium that the character come, translating the content of two very different visual mediums, managing to leave the authors mark, and adding to the mythos all while telling a compelling complete story.

Now, that many directors wanted to imitate or replicate these films style is another matter. We have good examples, like Casino Royale... and bad examples: X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It's just the nature of the medium. But most of the time a film misses the mark because approaches to it differently. Nolan searched what Batman was about and went along with it. It took the core of the character and presented it in a bold way. Which isn't the same as Snyder did with Man of Steel, even if it was the intention. It seems to follow the same template, but not the same thoughtfulness. I don't think Nolan could do a Superman film for example. His works, though optimistic and reflective, have an element of tragedy and bitter sweetness that I don't think would translate well with Superman. I think he has said it on an interview before, I can't recall.

I think superhero movies have to be less like Batman and more like themselves. See Guardians of the Galaxy for example. I loved that movie! It was great and fun, it had his own identity. The Avengers has an ending that I wish Man of Steel had more.

I think it's hyperbole to say to never watch "insertfilmgenre" movies because of a single film though.

 

[The Joker]

Who is Tyler Coates and why should we care what he thinks? Is he someone notable or just some writer on that website?

 

[ThePhantasm]

You guys. This is all really making me want to watch the trilogy, and I haven't felt that itch in a while.

Not even in your bones and stuff?

Some fan you are. We could use a few more hotheads around here.

 

[Snow Queen]

Who is Tyler Coates and why should we care what he thinks? Is he someone notable or just some writer on that website?

According to my Google search, just some writer on that website.

 

[Travesty]

 

[ThePhantasm]

Who is Tyler Coates and why should we care what he thinks? Is he someone notable or just some writer on that website?

just some nut

 

[titansupes]

Honestly, and this isn't a reactionary comment, since I haven't actually read the article- Nolan's aesthetic > Snyder's aesthetic.