The Dark Knight Rises You Have My Permission To Lounge - Part 3

[shauner111]

Apocalypse is currently at 43 % on Rotten Tomatoes. About 20 reviews in.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Looks like the First Class trilogy won't be rivaling the TDK trilogy as I previously envisioned.

 

[The Batman]

What a damn shame. The First Class trilogy was on a roll, too.

Of course, I'll watch the film for myself, but still...

 

[The Joker]

I'm not condemning it yet. It's only on twenty something reviews. It could still turn around. Hopefully...

 

[Tacit Ronin]

It usually goes downwards.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

One of the most consistent criticisms seems to be the poor balancing act of the huge roster of characters. Taken together with BvS only highlights how impressive Civil War's juggling act is.

Oh, and Jen Lawrence apparently sleepwalks through the role. But that's hardly surprising.

 

[Shikamaru]

All this points to a particular question though.

What are the chances of the Infinity War films being as good as Marvel's best films? Very rarely does a director (or directors in this case) knock it out of the park 3 or 4 times in a row.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

At 25 reviews it was:
15 rotten - 10 fresh

At 27 reviews:
1 new review for each end


Guess the end of Comic Book Movies era is nigh, as predicted by Steven Spielberg and others, right?

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Well, they are being renamed and rumors are swelling the first one may not be an Avengers film at all. But a cosmic film focusing on Thanos.

 

[shauner111]

Normally I'd look at the list of characters for the two upcoming Avengers movies and doubt they can balance that many. But these guys did so well. But now we have Hulk, Thor, Nick Fury and the Guardians of the Galaxy. So we'll see. It's a lot. But if there's anyone in Marvel that can pull it off it's the Russo's, after having a head start with the majority of that cast.

I'm only worried about Thanos. But the Russo bros are aware of the villain complaints.

 

[The Batman]

All this a particular question though.

What are the chances of the Infinity War films being as good as Marvel's best films? Very rarely does a director (or directors in this case) knock it out of the park 3 or 4 times in a row.

I am wondering the same exact thing, Shika. I feel like it wouldn't be surprising if the IW films are disappointing.

 

[shauner111]

I love the idea of changing the titles because they're apparently two very different films. Which means they're avoiding that dumb part 1/2 formula. Which is usually a gimmick to make as much money as possible even though everyone can see one great movie in there somewhere.

 

[I Am The Knight]

I'm just waiting for fanboys to knock the Russos off their pedestal with the upcoming Avengers two-parter.

They had two successful comic book movies. That's the limit.

 

[Kane52630]

I think they can pull off the hat trick

 

[shauner111]

The hype is going to be incredible for the next Avengers. I can't believe i'm anticipating that more than another Batman movie. How is that even possible!? Well, i say this for now.

I know Joker would argue that it's not technically a Captain America trilogy, or any kind of trilogy for that matter...but the Russo's can deliver 3 or 4 strong movies in a row. That would be unheard of.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

If they do it, I guess then MCU will continue being a successful CBM franchise.

 

[Shikamaru]

To be fair, the Russo's have a lot of experience with TV directing. TV directing is all about putting out quality on a consistent level. Other film-only directors like Singer, not so much.

Also Nolan put out like 5 critically acclaimed films in a row before Interstellar. Even then, Interstellar was received well.

 

[BatLobster]

What interests me is that the Russos have said they view Winter Solider through Infinity War as one big story. It's intriguing to see how they'll weave everything together.

I honestly really don't know how they'll pull it off. It is exponentially more characters than what we got in CW.

I agree with Joker though....to me neither the Iron Man or Captain America trilogies are really trilogies in the purest sense. The MCU as a whole is just one big saga. It defies traditional movie franchise categorization in that sense- it is its own paradigm-shifting beast.

I know Marvel fans are always looking to knock TDKT off its pedestal, but they should be happy that Marvel has totally defied expectations in how far it's come along with this "experiment". TDKT is still something special for different reasons, because it's self-contained in a way that is now positively old school. Beginning, Middle, End, done. A self-contained trilogy with no add-ons.

To be fair, the Russo's have a lot of experience with TV directing. TV directing is all about putting out quality on a consistent level. Other film-only directors like Singer, not so much.

Also Nolan put out like 5 critically acclaimed films in a row before Interstellar. Even then, Interstellar was received well.

Agreed. The Russos' TV experience is perfect for Marvel because the MCU is essentially a big budget TV show.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Russos work outside of Marvel is not that well received, when it comes to movies at least.

 

[BatLobster]

You know what I'd love to see happen?

Raimi directs a Spider-Man film in the MCU. Highly doubt it would happen, but that would be really cool, and kind of full circle considering his Spider-Man movies really set a tone for what was to come in the MCU.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

What did you guys thing of Zemo? People are calling him another bland Marvel villain. But I thought he was the most interesting villain they had since Loki in Thor (not a high bar admittedly).

He had a simple but genuine motive with real conviction that tied seamlessly with the movie's theme of consequences.

I thought he was great.

Spoiler

I loved how they didn't do the cliche thing and have him recruit his own gang of Winter Soldiers and then the feuding Avengers put their differences aside to fight him. His motivation was believable, Bruhl performed it very well, and he was both intelligent and threatening. I also love how his motivation involving the death of his family ties in with that of Black Panther's and Iron Man's who also deal with avenging their families in this film. His scenes were some of the best in the film, especially his conversation with Black Panther at the end where he bares his soul and tries to kill himself. I would love to see more of this character.

 

[shauner111]

I loved his first scene too. I was so afraid we were getting a group of soldiers for Bucky, Cap and Iron Man to fight. His last scene with BP almost made me start clapping. So pleased that he didn't turn out to be a one-note mustache twirling villain. And i thought it was going that way as the film progressed. Someone said in a review (John Campea?) that the one nitpick they had about CW was another generic/bad villain...and i couldn't disagree more. Not the greatest, but solid.

Does anyone else think Bradley Cooper would have made a great Lex Luthor? I was looking at Lee Bermejo's Lex, and it totally looks like Bradley with a bald head. The way Snyder was describing his Lex back in 2013 as a cross between Brad Pitt and Richard Branson. Quite a few come to mind, but Bradley would fit that description before Eisenberg that's for sure.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

The RT meter is going slowly up. Maybe it will crawl to be fresh.

 

[Brother Jack]

I loved his first scene too. I was so afraid we were getting a group of soldiers for Bucky, Cap and Iron Man to fight. His last scene with BP almost made me start clapping. So pleased that he didn't turn out to be a one-note mustache twirling villain. And i thought it was going that way as the film progressed. Someone said in a review (John Campea?) that the one nitpick they had about CW was another generic/bad villain...and i couldn't disagree more. Not the greatest, but solid.

Spoiler

He was generic, but in a way that had not been done before in the MCU. He was the most personal villain they've ever had. He wasn't out to rule or destroy the world, his lines about empires crumbling are red herrings designed to mask what he's really doing, which is just about pitting a few good guys against each other. The stakes are much lower but there's an intimacy to it that I loved. The twist regarding the Starks was genuinely surprising and devastating, moreso than many of the large scale events in past films. And I liked that Zemo was, more or less, just a regular guy. He didn't need superpowers to tear the Avengers down. He was very much the worst case scenario consequence to their collateral damage; a man who walked away from the destruction losing everything who becomes the hidden threat. He was sympathetic as well; you get the sense he doesn't want to be doing the evil things he does. He also kind of wins in a way.

 

[JackWhite]

It's looking like the trend with comic book films this year is:

Deadpool - Great

BVS - Awful

Civil War - Great

X-Men Apocalypse - Really bad?

So by that guideline SS should at least deliver a good film.

Seeing Civil War tonight, folks!