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

[Agent Richard07]

The trivia I posted earlier in the thread says that this movie deals with pain, but I think it deals more with loneliness. That's what stood out for me.

Spoilers ahead...

- Bruce has always lived a lonely life, but his is even moreso in this movie now that he's become a recluse.

- Alfred is by himself because Bruce is so distant. Even in the end, the quiet peace and hapiness we see is a solitary one with Bruce gone. Even his seeing him again is consistent with Bruce's MO... Being distant.

- Selina Kyle lives a lonely life as well, having been on her own and having to get by as a thief to support herself.

- John Blake lost his parent just like Bruce did.

- Commissioner Gordon's wife left him and took the kids.

- Talia had a falling out with her father and became estranged.

- Bane was left behind by Talia, though out of necessity.

- Bruce and Selina have vacated the lives they knew and seem to only have eachother.

 

[Cutter John]

Armond White strikes again

http://cityarts.info/2012/07/20/bat-guano-economics/

Why does anyone even pay attention to him? He's not a film reviewer, he's an attention whore.

 

[SG-17]

I loved it. Loved that President Henry Hayes from Stargate SG-1 was the President in the Dark Knight Rises.

 

[CaptainCanada]

One of the things I really like about this series is all the recurring minor characters. Scarecrow, most obviously, after the first movie, but even really small ones like that Wayne Enterprises board member played by Nolan's uncle who I believe was in all three.

 

[Relayer1]

OK - just got back from seeing it. I'd put it about on a par with Batman Begins - ie. good but not great - certainly not a patch on The Dark Knight.

It's a rather flat and overlong experience - it starts, carries on without much in the way of highs and lows and then ends. There's a few bits that don't really ring true and only one point where that 'oh yes' grin broke out, and then only briefly. It was a bit 'same old, same old'...

I think Nolan is somewhat overrated - it's not that I think he's bad, but TDK is the only one of his Batman film's that's truly great and not all of his other stuff's is as good as is reckoned. Inception was nowhere near as clever as it thought it was.

I'm glad he did the Batman films - I wasn't a fan of Burton and Co.'s efforts and these three have raised Batman well above 'joke' level. I'm hoping for Batman IV to bring Bats into a wider DC Universe but NOT be another bloody reboot.

Avengers is definitely my superhero movie of the year, Rises sadly doesn't come close.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I'm hoping for Batman IV to bring Bats into a wider DC Universe but NOT be another bloody reboot.

Any new Batman film series will be a "reboot" by default since Nolan wrote his trilogy a definitive ending.

 

[Relayer1]

I'm hoping for Batman IV to bring Bats into a wider DC Universe but NOT be another bloody reboot.

Any new Batman film series will be a "reboot" by default since Nolan wrote his trilogy a definitive ending.

Fair enough, but they could recast without going back to square one like they did with Spiderman. They don't need to contradict the Nolan trilogy (Ra's al Ghul, Talia, Bane and Two-Face are dead), just make Batman IV...

 

[CaptainCanada]

They don't need to contradict the Nolan trilogy (Ra's al Ghul, Talia, Bane and Two-Face are dead), just make Batman IV...

Isn't any future Batman film with Bruce Wayne as Batman still inherently contradicting Nolan's trilogy? A new Batman movie is highly unlikely to use any of the villains Nolan used, though, anyway.

 

[Relayer1]

They don't need to contradict the Nolan trilogy (Ra's al Ghul, Talia, Bane and Two-Face are dead), just make Batman IV...

Isn't any future Batman film with Bruce Wayne as Batman still inherently contradicting Nolan's trilogy? A new Batman movie is highly unlikely to use any of the villains Nolan used, though, anyway.

I don't think so - who knows why Bruce Wayne would be drawn back to the Batman pesona ? And (imho) they've still got all of Batmans main villains to play with... Joker, Riddler, Penguin etc.

 

[sidious618]

Bringing back Bruce Wayne would be awful.

 

[SalvorHardin]

Time for live action Batman Beyond?

 

[CaptainCanada]

I don't think so - who knows why Bruce Wayne would be drawn back to the Batman pesona ? And (imho) they've still got all of Batmans main villains to play with... Joker, Riddler, Penguin etc.

It would completely spit in the face of Nolan's whole tenure to bring Batman back after this movie. The whole point is that he's gotten his happy ending and there's a new guy on the job. There's no way a future Batman movie is going to be in the same continuity as this. It may not be a new origin story, but it'll be a different universe. Nolan worked miracles for DC, and he got to give his take on the character a definite end.

 

[Star Wolf]

I don't think so - who knows why Bruce Wayne would be drawn back to the Batman pesona ? And (imho) they've still got all of Batmans main villains to play with... Joker, Riddler, Penguin etc.

It would completely spit in the face of Nolan's whole tenure to bring Batman back after this movie. The whole point is that he's gotten his happy ending and there's a new guy on the job. There's no way a future Batman movie is going to be in the same continuity as this. It may not be a new origin story, but it'll be a different universe. Nolan worked miracles for DC, and he got to give his take on the character a definite end.

The Search For Spock

 

[marillion]

^^ Agreed...

I feel this has to be a different universe.. They can go the route of flipping through the origin during a montage in the credits if they must, but WE ALL KNOW WHO THE BATMAN IS (dammit!!)...

This isn't Bond where new actors inhabit the same clothes as time marches on...

Had this been a continuation of the Burton Universe Batman, it would be much easier, continuity-wise...

But yes, Nolan's story has a beginning and an end...

 

[The Wormhole]

Pretty cool movie, although my bladder certainly didn't appreciate the three hour length. I actually had to get up during the epic final battle and take a piss.

Still, a solid movie which I can find nothing else to complain about. Really cool action scenes and great character work, especially the stuff with Alfred. Definately a solid addition to the Batman franchise.

 

[Brikar99]

I honestly hope that the next Batman movie just kinda skims over the origin in the credits or in a brief prologue, like the "Incredible Hulk."

 

[M-Red]

It's an excellent next chapter in Nolan's trilogy. It's really more of a sequel to BB than TDK though, and that makes the overall series more defined and well rounded.


It was basically impossible to top Ledger's Joker, but the Bane character was a great choice and Hardy gave him a believable persona. Hathaway worried some people, but this is the best Catwoman we've seen.

There were a couple things that seemed a bit off though. This is the first Batman movie where Batman doesn't drive the Batmobile/tank, but they give him a cool new toy so that was ok. I wish they would have said Richard Grayson, but they gave us a cool treat nonetheless. The falling out with Alfred wasn't pleasant, but they got it right in the end.

The ending is excellent but it's sort of painful for me though. They lay the groundwork for more stories, but this is supposed to be it.

My only regret now is that we don't get to see the Riddler in Nolan's universe. After seeing it though, it's understandable why Nolan chose Bane.

Great trilogy.

 

[Aldo]

I could sit here and bore everyone with a long "review" but I thought I'd be brief:

First off, I loved it, that goes without saying. It certainly didn't feel as long as it did.

The moment that I geeked out (literally, I was practically creaming myself), was when Batman had Gordon light up the Bat Symbol on the bridge, that was one of the coolest moments I've seen in any film!

I still can't quite put my finger on it, but I felt something was off about Hathaway. She didn't seem to have very good presence, and her character didn't really feel necessary to the story (aside from being the catalyst to get Bruce to become Batman again).

 

[Agent Richard07]

About The Dark Knight...

- I saw it again last night for the first time since 2008. I absolutely loved it back then, but this time around, it did seem a little more bogged down in politics than I remember, especially at the beginning.

- Nolan did a great job of using the right camera work to make the Joker look scary and psychotic. This was especially evident in those video messages.

- Maggie Gyllenhaal is way hotter than I remember and has a great figure.

More on The Dark Knight Rises...

[highlight]Spoilers ahead![/highlight]

- It was a good balance between the political thrill we got with The Dark Knight and the comic book feel we got with Batman Begins.

- When Batman was flying the bomb out to sea, how and when did he get out of the Bat?

-As I said above, I wondered if Dick Grayson would get some sort of mention, and before I saw the movie, this is how I thought it should have gone down... I thought it should have been revealed that during the 8-year gap, Bruce had a ward named Dick Grayson who lived at Wayne manor, but went off to college at some point. We wouldn't have actually seen him, but maybe we'd have Alfred talking to him on the phone.

 

[Procutus]

I loved it. Loved that President Henry Hayes from Stargate SG-1 was the President in the Dark Knight Rises.

According to IMDB, Christopher Judge has a small part in it as well.