"The Dark Knight Rises" Review and Discussion Thread (spoilers)

[DarthTom]

One of the under appreciated actors IMO is Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. Oldman has as much acting range as Ledger and everyone remembers him as Zorg in the Fifth Element. Oldman did a great job in this film as well as the last.

[The Stig]

Gen. Zod wrote:

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Bruce left him the GPS coordinates and the rappelling gear in the duffel bag.

Right. The big 'Robin' reveal occurs after Bruce's will is read and the various items are distributed to their beneficiaries. Blake asks if there's anything for him and the official says no, but when he asks again under his 'birth' name, she gives him the bag and states that he should go by his full name, 'Robin Blake.'

I really, really enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I thought that it finally gave Bale a chance to shine and Anne Hathaway was a revelation as Selina Kyle (Not Catwoman, as she is never named as such.) Tom Hardy was wasted, however. I've read reviews that rave about how expressive his eyes were, but I really didn't see anything in his physical performance that couldn't have been done by a bodybuilder in a mask. His voice-work was adequate but I didn't care for the accent or the odd effect of the mask on his voice. There were more than a few lines that I missed because of it. That being said, Bane was effective in portraying the pure physical threat to Batman and that first beat-down was brutal and stark. No music, somewhat muted sound and the sight of Batman on his heels from the very start all combined to make that scene riveting.

I think that this movie worked so well for me because it treated the cost of being Batman with the kind of weight and gravity it deserves. Bruce is physically, emotionally and intellectually scarred by his experiences and Bale acted the hell out of his performance. Nolan got me to care about Bruce Wayne in a way that I didn't think was possible and there were more than a few moments in this film (mostly courtesy of Michael Caine) where I had a tear in my eye. Hathaway was also scarily effective as the brittle con-woman and thief who longed to escape her own mistakes and is unable to break the pattern of her life. The addition of Blake to the story was welcome and JGL was believable as a potential successor to Batman. I would be very interested in a movie featuring him as the 'new' Dread Pirate Roberts...err, Batman.

The plot was silly as all get-out, but so was "The Dark Knight." People forget just how inconceivable the Joker's scheme was because Ledger was so commanding onscreen that all other elements fell away. In 'Rises,' Bale carries the movie and Hardy doesn't have the presence as a villain to obscure the outlandishness of his own plots. The Talia 'reveal' was obvious but I liked the twist regarding the identity of the child who escaped 'The Pit.' I also liked the way Bane went out, like a bitch. It was an effective counter to the standard mano-a-mano showdown we see so often in these movies.

So, all-in-all, this film was very much like the first film in terms of stakes, plot devices and a general level of silliness that 'The Dark Knight' avoided by playing things (mostly) straight. Where it rose above 'Begins' is the very human story of Bruce Wayne. It was a heartfelt and well-earned conclusion to a spectacular set of films that dared to treat the subject matter with the gravity and naturalistic tone it deserved. As a huge fan of the animated Batman series, 'my' Batman used to be Kevin Conroy, but Nolan managed to change that. Bale 'is' the definitive Batman to my mind and I doubt that his portrayal and Nolan's take will be topped by the inevitable reboot in order to try and capitalize on 'The Avengers.'

Final grade: Good. A set of superb human performances that do their level best to distract you from the silly plot. In the end, they succeed but there are some ropey moments along the way. When viewing all three movies as a complete tale of Nolan's 'Batman,' I'd have to rate them as Excellent. As I said, this has become 'my' Batman and will probably remain the definitive take on the character to my mind.

[DrEvil]

Three days since I've seen this movie and everyday I'm more disappointed in what I saw...and I was already pretty disappointed coming out of the theater. What nobody seems to have said in this thread is that the movie was just plain boring most of the time. Yes, there were some good moments but took so long to get to them in between long stretches of nothing that hard for me to say much positive about this film.

And I'm sad because I was defending Batman movies vs. Marvel movies to various people during the day and had to eat my own words later when I didn't enjoy much about Rises. I'm a long-time defender of DC vs. Marvel in terms of comics and movies, yet I know when it's time to throw in the towel.

I love long movies, but in this case the time just seemed to drag on and on. Bane was nearly incomprehensible in some scenes (at least in the theater I was in), Batman was seriously lacking (and yes, there was lots of Bruce angst/sulking/probing emotional depths but when I go see a Batman movie I actually would like to see some Batman), and too many sub-plots and characters I really just didn't care about. How many times did Bruce really need to try to climb out of the Pit anyway?

I guess in the end I just didn't expect a movie like this to be so ponderously boring.

..and yes, I do imagine that I will get blasted for this, but it's only my opinion :-)

[indianatrekker26]

DrEvil wrote:

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Three days since I've seen this movie and everyday I'm more disappointed in what I saw...and I was already pretty disappointed coming out of the theater. What nobody seems to have said in this thread is that the movie was just plain boring most of the time. Yes, there were some good moments but took so long to get to them in between long stretches of nothing that hard for me to say much positive about this film.

And I'm sad because I was defending Batman movies vs. Marvel movies to various people during the day and had to eat my own words later when I didn't enjoy much about Rises. I'm a long-time defender of DC vs. Marvel in terms of comics and movies, yet I know when it's time to throw in the towel.

I love long movies, but in this case the time just seemed to drag on and on. Bane was nearly incomprehensible in some scenes (at least in the theater I was in), Batman was seriously lacking (and yes, there was lots of Bruce angst/sulking/probing emotional depths but when I go see a Batman movie I actually would like to see some Batman), and too many sub-plots and characters I really just didn't care about. How many times did Bruce really need to try to climb out of the Pit anyway?

I guess in the end I just didn't expect a movie like this to be so ponderously boring.

..and yes, I do imagine that I will get blasted for this, but it's only my opinion :-)

It's sad that you have to worry about giving out your opinion on the net. I can see your points in the movie, but i still really enjoyed it. But it's your opinion. And you shouldnt have to worry about getting crapped on for giving a good, logical opinion on the movie.

[DWF]

DarthTom wrote:

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One of the under appreciated actors IMO is Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. Oldman has as much acting range as Ledger and everyone remembers him as Zorg in the Fifth Element. Oldman did a great job in this film as well as the last.

I agree Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were all excellent thoughout the entire trilogy and greatly overlooked.

[Donald Draper]

I am not going to blast you. I think it's silly though that you engage in DC vs Marvel debates and now are embarrassed because this movie disappointed you. Like what you like and dislike what you dislike. These are movies. This is not politics or religion.

[Warped9]

Odd. I didn't find it boring at all or slow. And that's also acknowledging that it isn't a hyper actively paced film like so many today try to be.

[Donald Draper]

It was not boring or slow to me either. I was expecting that from early reviews and I did not feel it all. I was fully engaged through the whole film.

[DarthTom]

To nitpick the plot one of the less plausible parts of the film is - what deranged police cheif would deploy virtually the entire police force an a 'training exercise', that was really a man hunt? Moreover, the film would have us believe that 3,000 police officers were trapped underground for weeks - come out of being trapped - and have spotless uniforms and are ready to fight.

Very far fetched part of the plot.

[Greg Cox]

Donald Draper wrote:

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I am not going to blast you. I think it's silly though that you engage in DC vs Marvel debates and now are embarrassed because this movie disappointed you. Like what you like and dislike what you dislike. These are movies. This is not politics or religion.

Yeah, I've never gotten the Marvel vs. DC thing. (Or Star Wars vs. Star Trek, for that matter.)

These aren't sport teams. And there's no reason we have to choose sides.

[Dark Gilligan]

Donald Draper wrote:

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Robin has the Cave and the suit but he is not ready to be Batman yet. Other than detective skills and basic police training he has none of the fight training and experience Bruce had before he started.

I think Bruce would disagree, since he very clearly and willingly passes his mantle to Blake by giving him the Batcave and everything in it.

Is Blake set up to be Bruce's equal? Of course not. That will only come with time. Blake's most important job right now is to keep the symbol alive, which is essentially what he'd already been doing through the entire film.

[indianatrekker26]

Dark Gilligan wrote:

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I think Bruce would disagree, since he very clearly and willingly passes his mantle to Blake by giving him the Batcave and everything in it.

Is Blake set up to be Bruce's equal? Of course not. That will only come with time. Blake's most important job right now is to keep the symbol alive, which is essentially what he'd already been doing through the entire film.

Besides, there's nothing to say that Bruce doesn't come back, to help train Blake into the role, kinda like Batman Beyond.

[Mage]

Warped9 wrote:

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Odd. I didn't find it boring at all or slow. And that's also acknowledging that it isn't a hyper actively paced film like so many today try to be.

I think people find this boring, since they are used to the Marvel way of doing things. After TDK we've had a lot of Marvel movies, movies that are going at warpspeed, in hyperspace, on speed. That's not how Christopher Nolan makes movies. Never has, never will. Look at his previous work. He likes to take his time to tell a story, instead of going all Michael Bay on your ass. So, when he finally does come with the 'splosions and stuff, people freak out and find that the pacing is wrong. I can see how that can come across that way, but instead of filling up the entire movie, he's doing what movie-makers have been doing for decades: actually building up to something, telling a story, working towards this big build-up, which then delivers. And he accomplishes that be getting your attention with an action packed intro, which focusses you straight away. The thing is, after the Marvel-movies/Michael Bay era, we are used to not only getting an action-packed opening, but an action-packed everything.

I like how Nolan tells his story. I will, however, admit that his tactics worked better with TDK, where you really felt the suspense building throughout the movie. I did get that with TDKR, but less then I did with TDK.

[Set Harth]

Mage wrote:

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You know, we were talking after the movie..... A lot of people must be very deaf. Since no one I spoke to had any issues whatsoever understanding Bane. Is this just a haters gonna hate thing, or do most theaters have crappy sound installations or something?

There were several lines I couldn't quite understand, but they were a small minority of the total.

indianatrekker26 wrote:

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when my wife and i went to see it, she felt uncomfortable at the beginning, looking around the theatre to see if some maniac would pop up.

This is the problem with the 24-7 cable news cycle: people see something bad happening to someone and assume that it's going to happen to them. It's like people refusing to fly after 9/11. But in fact this was an isolated occurrence. Even before Aurora happened, my family wasn't entirely supportive of my even going to the city where I saw the film, because of a random incident months ago where some tourists were stabbed to death for no reason. And due to the perennial recurrence of bozos who can't swim getting drowned at the beach, I'm constantly admonished that I don't know what I'm doing in that arena, while nothing could be further from the truth.

[Garak]

A solid 8/10 for me, I was definitely entertained. The opening sequence was nothing short of epic, and I liked to ending very much - it was good to see that after all the suffering, pain and sacrifice Bruce went through, he actually gets to live the rest of his life out as a normal guy. Everything in between the start and finish worked just fine for me. Hardy was great, I really enjoyed Hathaway (probably the first time I ever have) and Gary Oldman was bang on as usual.

It's hard to nitpick on or be entitled about the final chapter of something that has brought me 7+ hours of fantastic entertainment and besides, there's no such thing as a perfect movie. I'm a bit choked it's over, but what a ride it was.

One thing, how did Blake know Bruce was Batman? Educated guess?