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

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by JacksonArcher, Jul 10, 2012.

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How do you rate "The Dark Knight Rises"?

  1. Excellent

    147 vote(s)
    58.3%
  2. Good

    61 vote(s)
    24.2%
  3. Fair

    26 vote(s)
    10.3%
  4. Poor

    12 vote(s)
    4.8%
  5. Terrible

    6 vote(s)
    2.4%
  1. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I got it from McAfee.
     
  2. Captrek

    Captrek Vice Admiral Admiral

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    A henchman who then vanished into thin air? The police had the place completely surrounded. The only people there were Gordon, Gordon's wife and children, Dent, and the Batman.
     
  3. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    In the dead of night, in a chaotic situation, is it credible that a skilled killer could find a way to hide/otherwise evade the fuzz? Hell yes, it is, and doubly so by these movies' standards.

    Bottom line is, if Nolan had had our heroes successfully blame Dent's rampage on Joker and his henchmen, no one in the audience would have cried foul, certainly not after the massive leaps in logic seen in the nearly two movies building up to that moment. The deaths were pinned on Batman purely for an "oh, snap!" cliffhanger ending.
     
  4. Captrek

    Captrek Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Obviously I was offering an in-universe explanation of why the characters made the decision they did. From a real-world perspective, the decision was made for artistic reasons. Nobody's claiming the situation offered no other plausible alternatives for Nolan.
     
  5. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm grateful for waiting for this one to show up on Redbox.
    It was curiously watchable, in a wow, what ignorant shit is gonna happen next?! way. The writer/director delirium is so blatant that it feels churlish to measure this flick against any standards. Not against normal, intelligible notions of plot, characterization, thematic integrity, physics, chemistry, basic common sense nor familiarity with normal human behavior!

    But, the latest float in a parade of nonsense duly arrives every few minutes for our amusement, however unintentional. As a result, this is a much, much livelier viewing experience than the solemn, self-absorbed and pompous predecessors. The only sour note was during Michael Caine's breakdown: The appearance of a seemingly genuine human emotion didn't fit the tone of the movie at all.

    Seeing men tear a plane apart, apparently by hand, tips us off in the first few minutes. Catwoman's lesbian girfriend dropped immediately in favor of the Right Man (aka Big Dick,) exploding concrete, "foundations" that don't have an endowment, Alfred's worldwide web of criminal contacts, a football player who really is playing football as the field blows up, and, of course, pretty much every aspect of the plot....the powers of invention of nonsense are unflagging.

    I guess that is an achievement of sorts.
     
  6. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You might be reading too much into it.
     
  7. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    It's known about there is a thread in the QSF sub-forum.
     
  8. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I always thought that was Selina's little sister/sidekick Holly (don't remember if they gave her a name in TDKR). She's been around in many different incarnations of Catwoman.
     
  9. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    That was my take too, I didn't read any kind of relationship between the two beyond "partners in crime"/friends.
     
  10. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The name given in the credits is "Jen".
     
  11. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Given movie genetics, perhaps I should have wondered if she has a sister or some other full, half or step relative. That interpretation works too. But I never saw Catwoman associated with anyone while I followed the comics. But Selina Kyle's willingness to ditch her sister/? for Bruce is still pathetic.
     
  12. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So if it's not her sister, just some chick she hangs out with, like in the film, what's the problem?
     
  13. tomswift2002

    tomswift2002 Commodore Commodore

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    Just saw the film for the first time. Terrific ending, and I like how Nolan managed to close the storyline of the trilogy, but just leave enough so that if there were any more films in this series, it would still connect.
     
  14. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In either case, the way this person obviously very important to Selina Kyle (in whatever fashion,) just gets dumped without a thought. Obviously, by itself not a big problem, it's just there are so many.
     
  15. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ That, and her only purpose is to spell everything out for the audience.

    Cats and blonde watch the looting. Cats looks perturbed.
    Blonde: Isn't this what you wanted?
    Cats: Not like this.



    There's no reason that exchange couldn't have been shown and not told with Hathaway's expression, and no superfluous companion. But Nolan is not one to skimp on the exposition of the perfectly obvious.
     
  16. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Funny thing: there is no verbal response from Selina in the film, just an expression.
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2012
  17. Captrek

    Captrek Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "I downloaded a cam of TDKR, watched it over and over and over and over and over, and wrote this super long blog post to explain why it isn't worth my time."
     
  18. C_Miller

    C_Miller Captain Captain

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    This is probably one of my biggest qualms with the Nolon trilogy. There's no reason for her to not be Holly Robinson other than Nolan trying to escape the comics. I feel the same way about John Blake not being Dick Grayson, but you can make a better argument in favor of Nolan for that one.
     
  19. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    What Nolan does is that he takes the essence of something, then writes the story and script based on that, and then during the making adds another layer of references.

    It's like writing a renarration of something you saw or read ten years ago. The essential stuff you can remember and extrapolate on, but other detail is not important to the story you want to tell.

    I like that approach for remakes and parodies very much.
     
  20. Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Flying Spaghetti Monster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The reason I believe that John Blake wasn't named Dick Grayson or Tim Drake or anyone like that is because it's impossible, with the internet and buzz, to keep his identity Robin as a secret before the film's release (*ahem, John Harrison, ahem*) before it comes out.