Massassi Forums Logo

This is the static archive of the Massassi Forums. The forums are closed indefinitely. Thanks for all the memories!

You can also download Super Old Archived Message Boards from when Massassi first started.

"View" counts are as of the day the forums were archived, and will no longer increase.

ForumsDiscussion Forum → The Dark Knight Rises....
123
The Dark Knight Rises....
2012-07-20, 1:00 AM #1
....is pretty much pure cinematic catharsis.

Go see it.

EDIT: I intend to do a full write up describing my feelings toward this movie, but it's a bit late and I have to work tomorrow.

Let's just say that it's honestly a perfect conclusion to the trilogy. Note that I did not say "series"..... ;)
>>untie shoes
2012-07-20, 1:47 AM #2
... Falls And Can't Get Up.
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2012-07-20, 3:19 AM #3
I agree with Antony. Everything was wrapped up perfectly. I read some critic's complaints that the beginning was slow, though honestly, considering the scope of the film I saw that as essential for setting the proper tone. I cant wait to see what Nolan tackles next.
My blawgh.
2012-07-20, 6:43 AM #4
I had tickets to see it this morning and my car's timing belt snapped halfway there. :(
nope.
2012-07-20, 7:07 AM #5
:( shooting in Colorado
2012-07-20, 9:00 AM #6
Before I continue, I'd just like to make clear that I enjoyed this movie very much. A lot. It was a fitting and well-done conclusion to Nolan's Batman trilogy that left me feeling very satisfied. I would certainly see it multiple times.

Now to poke at it in no particular order. I don't think I'll be giving any spoilers, but just in case, POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW.

Mostly ignores The Dark Knight

I understand that the death of Heath Ledger complicated a lot of things, and that the history of the 'lie' of Harvey Dent played a significant role in The Dark Knight Rises, and I still felt this third movie could have tied in better with the second movie as they did so in this movie with Batman Begins. I'd say this was my biggest complaint about the movie. At the end of the second movie, Batman seems intent on continuing to be "the hero the city needs" while on the run from the cops, and yet at the beginning of the movie, it opens to 8 years later with Batman not in action because "he's not needed." I think it would have made more sense if they had said Batman was still in action over those years and gradually doing less -- that, or have made the timeframe shorter, say a couple years. I have no problem with the Joker not making an appearance of any sort (even if later in the movie you might ask where he is, though I didn't at the time), but I felt his presence should have had a bigger impact on the characters, but he's not mentioned at all. As for how they use the history of Harvey Dent, while good for the most part, I feel Bane's part could have been a little more show then tell.

Bane suffers from the gravel voice too
It's not as bad as it was with Two-Face and Batman at the end of The Dark Knight, but especially at the beginning of the movie, it can be hard to make out what he's saying. I realize the mask makes that expected, and admittedly, I grew accustomed to it towards the end of the movie. Batman still has the gravel voice too, but I think it's irksome levels are more on par with Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight Rises continues the Republican vibes
It had already been pretty strong in The Dark Knight, and I felt the subtlety dropped a touch in this third movie. "Hey look, socialism is bad!" Otherwise, I guess I can't technically knock this as a fault, since it does mostly fit.

Batman's first fight with Bane wasn't epic enough
Again, I realize they set it up where Batman's not entirely on his A-game (having been out of action for almost 8 years) and, in a small way, I think that set-up does a bit of discredit to Bane. Obviously Batman needs to fall in that fight (I don't think I'm spoiling anything here) and I feel that fall should show Batman doing so from closer to his peak. Up to this point in the movie, it was clear that Batman was "sloppy" or "rusty" and it goes with an overall theme they were going with through the movie, and I think it was a theme they could have at least tweaked to have made Batman's fall bigger and Bane an even more intimidating villain. Calling back on my first point, it felt like they were almost disregarding what skill and wisdom Batman had built up previously, and with that in mind, is my other major complaint.

The "Bat" (Batplane/whatever) was...weird.
I know it's a similar thought to when the first movie revealed the Batmobile, and maybe I'll accept it after time and more viewings, but looking at it fly through the city seemed so WEIRD. "Is that thing really flying through the city?" It wasn't bad - it's actually an interesting design. It just throws me for a loop when I see it.

I feel like I had some others, but I can't think of them at this moment. Mostly I'm super-tired from getting less than 4 hours of sleep. @_@
The Plothole: a home for amateur, inclusive, collaborative stories
http://forums.theplothole.net
2012-07-20, 10:30 AM #7
Originally posted by Gebohq:
Mostly ignores The Dark Knight
I understand that the death of Heath Ledger complicated a lot of things, and that the history of the 'lie' of Harvey Dent played a significant role in The Dark Knight Rises, and I still felt this third movie could have tied in better with the second movie as they did so in this movie with Batman Begins. I'd say this was my biggest complaint about the movie. At the end of the second movie, Batman seems intent on continuing to be "the hero the city needs" while on the run from the cops, and yet at the beginning of the movie, it opens to 8 years later with Batman not in action because "he's not needed." I think it would have made more sense if they had said Batman was still in action over those years and gradually doing less -- that, or have made the timeframe shorter, say a couple years. I have no problem with the Joker not making an appearance of any sort (even if later in the movie you might ask where he is, though I didn't at the time), but I felt his presence should have had a bigger impact on the characters, but he's not mentioned at all. As for how they use the history of Harvey Dent, while good for the most part, I feel Bane's part could have been a little more show then tell.


Nolan had previously said that as a mark of respect to Ledger and the experience he had with him that the Joker would not even be mentioned in this film. With that in mind, I thought the tie-ins with TDK were significant enough. One thing that always bothered me about TDK is how it doesn't allude to the events of BB at all (apart from Wayne's manor being destroyed), yet themes and story threads are re-visited and explored thoroughly in TDKR. It seemed an appropriate way to tie the trilogy up by making a film that was more a sequel to BB than TDK....
Xbox Live/PlayStation Network/Steam: tone217
http://twitter.com/ourmatetone
2012-07-20, 10:43 AM #8
Originally posted by AKPiggott:
Nolan had previously said that as a mark of respect to Ledger and the experience he had with him that the Joker would not even be mentioned in this film. With that in mind, I thought the tie-ins with TDK were significant enough. One thing that always bothered me about TDK is how it doesn't allude to the events of BB at all (apart from Wayne's manor being destroyed), yet themes and story threads are re-visited and explored thoroughly in TDKR. It seemed an appropriate way to tie the trilogy up by making a film that was more a sequel to BB than TDK....

It's true that TDK didn't have many ties to BB (mostly just picking up where BB ended and had a Scarcrow cameo), but in that case, I feel like TDK would have been hard-pressed to find more ways to tie in it. And again, I understand Heath Ledger's death complicated things, but I feel not having made ANY mention of the Joker is almost a disrespect in a way. They didn't even necessarily have to say "Hey, remember when Joker did this?" - they could have at least added one or two more references to events in TDK. As you said, it felt TDKR was more a sequel to BB than to TDK, and regardless, it did bring the trilogy together well.
The Plothole: a home for amateur, inclusive, collaborative stories
http://forums.theplothole.net
2012-07-20, 12:05 PM #9
It's difficult to say really. I get where you're coming from, because I'm such a huge fan of that character, but I don't think the Joker's havoc really had any relevance whatsoever in the period that TDKR is set in.... Harvey's Dent's death was the event that played on the public conscious and overshadowed everything else from that time.

That said, I would've loved to have seen what the Joker got up to whilst let loose in Bane's chaotic Gotham. I guess it'll always be left up to our imaginations... (unless DC are bold enough to publish comics to tell that story)

Ledger's death in January 2008 was one of the few celebrity demises that genuinely disturbed me.
Xbox Live/PlayStation Network/Steam: tone217
http://twitter.com/ourmatetone
2012-07-20, 12:22 PM #10
Actually, even if there wasn't the Heath Ledger complications, it's good that they didn't include Joker directly in TDKR since he would have overshadowed a lot of the story. I just felt that at least the beginning of the movie should have talked more about the results of what the Joker had done (as with any major terrorist event), and as you said, the period (8 years later) make Joker specifically not relevant, hence why I felt it should have been considered to shorten the time period too. I do feel Dent's impact in TDKR should be bigger... I dunno. It just felt awkward that it felt like NOTHING of what the Joker had done got referenced, even indirectly.
The Plothole: a home for amateur, inclusive, collaborative stories
http://forums.theplothole.net
2012-07-20, 12:28 PM #11
Arguably, Ras and the League of Shadows caused just as much chaos in Batman Begins and that didn't get a look-in either... It's kinda like saying every New York film set since 2002 needs a 9/11 reference. I think I'd rather that it was ignored than awkwardly shoe-horned in at some point just to create some bridge of continuity.

Originally posted by Gebohq:
Batman's first fight with Bane wasn't epic enough
Again, I realize they set it up where Batman's not entirely on his A-game (having been out of action for almost 8 years) and, in a small way, I think that set-up does a bit of discredit to Bane. Obviously Batman needs to fall in that fight (I don't think I'm spoiling anything here) and I feel that fall should show Batman doing so from closer to his peak. Up to this point in the movie, it was clear that Batman was "sloppy" or "rusty" and it goes with an overall theme they were going with through the movie, and I think it was a theme they could have at least tweaked to have made Batman's fall bigger and Bane an even more intimidating villain. Calling back on my first point, it felt like they were almost disregarding what skill and wisdom Batman had built up previously, and with that in mind, is my other major complaint.


This is pretty true to the Knightfall* arc from the comics, where Batman isn't on top form and Bane managed to break his back.

(*I loved that they snuck in the classic Knightfall Bane pose of him breaking the Bat, I didn't expect that...)
Xbox Live/PlayStation Network/Steam: tone217
http://twitter.com/ourmatetone
2012-07-20, 12:56 PM #12
i can sum up my thoughts in 2 words

**** YES
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2012-07-20, 12:56 PM #13
True, shoehorning would have been bad. From an overall trilogy standpoint, it just seemed awkward.

I also didn't realize Batman wasn't in his A-game in Knightfall, so that makes some sense. From a non-comic guy's perspective, the general setup (that he's stop being "Batman" for 8 years, get rusty, etc.) seemed non-Batman-like. It's certainly not a complaint on the "oh god that was awful" level for me - far from it. Just the biggest downside I felt I could take away from it. And I only felt the need to bring up downsides in the first place as otherwise I feel I'd just be all "OMG THIS MOVIE WUZ AWESOOOOOOOME!" (because it was at least as good as Batman Begins).
The Plothole: a home for amateur, inclusive, collaborative stories
http://forums.theplothole.net
2012-07-20, 1:09 PM #14
I really loved it. The first act was a bit muddy for me - a jarring way to establish all the story lines for the movie. I felt (and it could have just been my theatre) that the sound mixing was pretty bad at parts - the music muffled out dialogue in a few scenes. It is bad when the only character you can understand is the one who is supposed to have a muffled voice. But overall, I had a good time.

As for my rankings:

(TDK minus the Ferry scene) > TDKR > BB. That's not to say any movie is bad, I think they're all great films. With the ferry scene included, I'd say TDK and TDKR are about equal. The film felt like a combination of TDK and BB, which I think was its intent.

Top scenes of all the movies for me:
- Joker Interrogation Scene
- Sewer Fight (Holy ****! That was great.)
twitter | flickr | last.fm | facebook |
2012-07-20, 1:41 PM #15
Originally posted by Gebohq:
From a non-comic guy's perspective, the general setup (that he's stop being "Batman" for 8 years, get rusty, etc.) seemed non-Batman-like. It's certainly not a complaint on the "oh god that was awful" level for me - far from it. Just the biggest downside I felt I could take away from it. And I only felt the need to bring up downsides in the first place as otherwise I feel I'd just be all "OMG THIS MOVIE WUZ AWESOOOOOOOME!" (because it was at least as good as Batman Begins).


What Nolan has done really is bring the whole Bruce Wayne/Batman mythology to the big screen in a strict trilogy form. It's a really bold move, and kudos to him for it (and WB/DC for letting him get on with it). I would've preferred that he ended up making these films for 15-20 years with various villains and stories from the comics, but that's an unrealistic expectation for a film maker of his calibre.
Xbox Live/PlayStation Network/Steam: tone217
http://twitter.com/ourmatetone
2012-07-20, 1:42 PM #16
I've heard a lot of people saying the first half felt muddled or scattered or such to them, but I never had that problem myself.

Also, to AKPiggott's point, I agree. As awesome as seeing more villains would be, drawing it out would be bad. I still stand by my point that Batman not being on his A-game seemed odd even strictly from a trilogy standpoint, and that might just be me.
The Plothole: a home for amateur, inclusive, collaborative stories
http://forums.theplothole.net
2012-07-20, 2:12 PM #17
Blake/Catwoman spin-off flicks with more of the rogues gallery featuring would be welcome though. :)

As an aside, I crashed the premiere in London on Wednesday and took pictures of some of the stars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourmatetone/sets/72157630642969734/
Xbox Live/PlayStation Network/Steam: tone217
http://twitter.com/ourmatetone
2012-07-20, 2:43 PM #18
Here's a political analysis http://leftfilmreview.net/2012/07/20/the-dark-knight-rises-2012/
2012-07-20, 5:14 PM #19
Originally posted by Gebohq:
The Dark Knight Rises continues the Republican vibes
It had already been pretty strong in The Dark Knight, and I felt the subtlety dropped a touch in this third movie. "Hey look, socialism is bad!" Otherwise, I guess I can't technically knock this as a fault, since it does mostly fit.


[QUOTE=Rush Limbaurgh]
"Have you heard, this new movie, the Batman movie -- what is it, the Dark Knight Lights Up or something? Whatever the name of it is. That's right, Dark Knight Rises, Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in the Dark Knight Rises is named Bane. B-A-N-E. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran, and around which there's now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time, the release date's been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental, that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed, whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane? ... Anyway, so this evil villain in the new Batman movie is named Bane. And there's now discussion out there as to whether or not this was purposeful, and whether or not it will influence voters. It's going to have a lot of people. This movie, the audience is going to be huge, lot of people are going to see the movie. And it's a lot of brain-dead people, entertainment, the pop culture crowd. And they're going to hear 'Bane' in the movie, and they are going to associate Bain. And the thought is that when they start paying attention to the campaign later in the year, and Obama and the Democrats keep talking about Bain, not Bain Capital, but Bain, Romney and Bain, that these people will think back to the Batman movie -- 'Oh yeah, I know who that is.' There are some people who think it will work. There are some people think it will work. Others think -- 'You're really underestimating the American people who think that will work.'"
[/QUOTE]

Yeah....anyhow I didn't think the movie really tried to attack socialism. Bane ruled the city like a warlord and the court laws were rather iffy.

I love the movie (though Dark Knight still edges out a bit) with how it ties everything together with all the references from the first and second movie. The ending also felt damn satisfying too though is Alfred imagining seeing Bruce and Selina together or is that for real?

I also agree that the first act kind of felt heavy handed with a lot of the exposition thrown in. Something about the editing in the first act also felt jarring and wasn't that smooth. There's a part where this guy describes what this computer program does that sounds very contrived in its forced exposition.
2012-07-20, 5:17 PM #20
Originally posted by Cloud:
There's a part where this guy describes what this computer program does that sounds very contrived in its forced exposition.


Was he not being sarcastic there and trying to point out how it actually sounded too good to be true?
"Flowers and a landscape were the only attractions here. And so, as there was no good reason for coming, nobody came."
2012-07-20, 5:41 PM #21
He was, but it just sounded very forced. By the way, I miss the beginning of the explanation of why Bruce was injured?
2012-07-20, 6:00 PM #22
I am not sure why so many people are thinking that Alfred seeing Bruce and Selina Kyle at the end was some kind of dream or hallucination. Isn't it pretty obvious when Fox finds out that the autopilot is fixed that Bruce Wayne is alive?
>>untie shoes
2012-07-20, 8:23 PM #23
maybe cloud had someone behind him loudly munching on some popcorn at that moment and missed that bit
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2012-07-20, 8:41 PM #24
I've heard a bunch of people talk about that... Apparently just because Inception has an ambiguous ending, every movie Nolan makes from now on has to be over-interpreted to understand what is and isn't real.

People are stupid.
>>untie shoes
2012-07-21, 7:22 AM #25
I admit I do have some bias since in some ways I would have preferred an ambiguous ending of not showing Selena and Bruce sitting together. Also there never was a hint that Bruce had ejected at any point when he was carrying the bomb with The Bat even though I'm aware of the auto pilot thing. Given the blast radius of the nuclear bomb. He would have had to eject pretty early unless The Bat could fly at super fast speed given the time limit.
2012-07-21, 8:44 AM #26
Originally posted by Cloud:
I admit I do have some bias since in some ways I would have preferred an ambiguous ending of not showing Selena and Bruce sitting together. Also there never was a hint that Bruce had ejected at any point when he was carrying the bomb with The Bat even though I'm aware of the auto pilot thing. Given the blast radius of the nuclear bomb. He would have had to eject pretty early unless The Bat could fly at super fast speed given the time limit.


Yeah but there was a break in the sequence between him getting up and leaving the city (the shot of the kids on the bus). So presumably it was this moment where Wayne left the plane off screen)
2012-07-21, 6:06 PM #27
Loved it.

Also, I was totally on the bridge while they were filming that barricade scene.
[01:52] <~Nikumubeki> Because it's MBEGGAR BEGS LIKE A BEGONI.
2012-07-22, 11:57 AM #28
I greatly enjoyed this film, however, it felt like Christopher Nolan totally abandoned his whole semi-realistic approach at Batman.

This felt as dark and gritty as the previous movies, but it felt more like an over the top greek tragedy with lots of symbolism and rediculousness rather a nice simple "criminal guy does evil things but hes sort of weird" realism like the previous one had.

Still very good.

Loved the first fight between Bane and Batman underneath the sewers
2012-07-22, 12:14 PM #29
I was wondering which would break first. Your body, or your spirit?
>>untie shoes
2012-07-23, 8:35 AM #30
Originally posted by Couchman:
I greatly enjoyed this film, however, it felt like Christopher Nolan totally abandoned his whole semi-realistic approach at Batman.

This felt as dark and gritty as the previous movies, but it felt more like an over the top greek tragedy with lots of symbolism and rediculousness rather a nice simple "criminal guy does evil things but hes sort of weird" realism like the previous one had.

Still very good.

Loved the first fight between Bane and Batman underneath the sewers



I totally agree with this. I've been telling folks that it felt more like a super-hero film than the other ones
2012-07-23, 8:48 AM #31
Yea. I didn't like it a much as the first two, but I enjoyed it.

I wasn't a fan of banes voice. It felt too much of a voice over.
2012-07-23, 10:16 AM #32
Originally posted by Antony:
I was wondering which would break first. Your body, or your spirit?


Nononono.

Its "Your spirit, or your body?"
"Guns don't kill people, I kill people."
2012-07-23, 10:35 AM #33
I loved it.

Those people who think Alfred's sighting of Bruce and Selina is a dream though are idiots. Why would Alfred dream that Bruce would be with Selina? Selina to Alfred is nothing more than a thief.
Magrucko Daines and the Crypt of Crola (2007)
Magrucko Daines and the Dark Youth (2010)
Magrucko Daines and the Vertical City (2016)
2012-07-23, 11:36 AM #34
The best bits in this movie were Alfred's emotional lines... man Michael Caine is so good. Chokin' me up, here, Michael Caine.

Also Antony where's the 'in-depth writeup' or whatever you faffer.
2012-07-23, 5:02 PM #35
I've been busy. And no one really cares. Plus it's not fresh in my mind anymore. Maybe after I see it again.
>>untie shoes
2012-07-23, 8:51 PM #36
I finally got around to seeing it today, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. IMO mostly because it's a weaker movie than 'The Dark Knight'. I have to agree with some of general comments already voiced - Pacing was slow and Bane's mask did muffle a lot of his lines.
My favorite JKDF2 h4x:
EAH XMAS v2
MANIPULATOR GUN
EAH SMOOTH SNIPER
2012-07-23, 10:15 PM #37
Hey man, I clearly care. -_-
2012-07-24, 7:01 AM #38
Originally posted by EAH_TRISCUIT:
I finally got around to seeing it today, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. IMO mostly because it's a weaker movie than 'The Dark Knight'. I have to agree with some of general comments already voiced - Pacing was slow and Bane's mask did muffle a lot of his lines.



I was okay with the slow pacing.

As for Banes voice I do agree. There was a point however that I decided I didn't NEED to always understand him. They made Bane scary enough that his commands didn't always need to be heard.
[01:52] <~Nikumubeki> Because it's MBEGGAR BEGS LIKE A BEGONI.
2012-07-24, 7:31 AM #39
But his voice sounded so bizarre and creepy. I would rank the voice that Tom Hardy created for Bane as high, or higher, than the voice that Heath Ledger created for the Joker.
>>untie shoes
2012-07-24, 10:58 AM #40
Yeah I was sorta confused and perhaps annoyed by his voice in the trailer, but by the end of the movie I wished he was speaking more often. It was a very intriguing voice.
123

↑ Up to the top!