The Dark Knight Rises - SPOILERS... That's right, I said SPOILERS.

[Y 2 Jake]

The Dark Knight Rises is a popcorn movie as well. People are kidding themselves if they think it's anything more.

 

[Con T.]

The Dark Knight Rises is a popcorn movie as well. People are kidding themselves if they think it's anything more.

I don't understand.
Popcorn goes with all movies.
Just like Vicodin

 

[Ming]

I could hardly understand what Bane was saying throughout the film. Maybe it's for that reason that I don't think Hardy's performance as Bane was anywhere near as good as Ledger's as The Joker. I was quite disappointed with there being absolutely no acknowledgement of The Joker and what he did.

Hathaway was brilliant as Catwoman, just brilliant.

Call me easily satisfied but, I thought Michael Caine did a great job.

I don't think the ending could have been much better, although all of my friends hated it, I thought it was very good. The whole JGL thing is pretty much the viewer's choice.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. Was it as good as The Avengers? No. Was it as good as The Dark Knight? No. But it was still highly enjoyable and a good end to the trilogy.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I liked the Robin thing. It just made sense.

Did it, now? How many other superheroes walk around using their first name as a superhero name?

Did anyone else realize that Bruce Wayne and Talia engaged in sexual relations, setting up the possibility of Damion Wayne in the future?

Was your mother dead when she had you?

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

The Dark Knight Rises is a popcorn movie as well. People are kidding themselves if they think it's anything more.

It's definitely a popcorn flick, but it has three times the story of something like The Avengers. Time and effort were put into the stories of Nolan's movies, that much is obvious. Most definitely a step ahead of a film like The Avengers, and several ahead of trash like Transformers.

I could hardly understand what Bane was saying throughout the film. Maybe it's for that reason that I don't think Hardy's performance as Bane was anywhere near as good as Ledger's as The Joker.

Tom Hardy had a lot less to work with. Basically he had to make an impact through his words, his eyes and his physicality. I had no problem understanding him, and I put his performance on par with Ledger's, no matter how blasphemous of a statement that may be.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

- I still struggled to hear everything Bane said. He also sounded like a mash up of that Believe Cher song and somebody who'd been at the Christmas sherry.

I could hear it just fine. Don't be lambasting a film because of your geriatric ears, you old fuck. I had a troupe of babbling filipina women to right of me and I still managed it.

- Michael Cain can't weep convincingly.

And yet you laud the talents of professional wrestlers. Michael Caine could outfake weep Ric Flair anyday now.

- The name Robin made no fucking sense.

Would you go around a city like Gotham with a name like Robin? You'd get lynched in Bristol, let alone Gotham City.

- Would've been a nice touch to at least have a bit of Joker graffiti somewhere in derelict Gotham. Or something along those lines.

BRB, just popping out to spray paint an Idi Amin stencil onto the side of my apartment.

- The Bat voice is still stupid. If Catwoman knows who you are why talk to her in that gravelly tone? Also you're hardly going to keep it up when you're in the heat of battle. You're walking down the street doing a mocking French accent, somebody starts a fight with you, do you maintain it? Do you 'eck!

Fuck right off, this is the best part about Batman movies. Would "RAAAAAAAACHEL" sound as good without it? Would it bollocks!

- Catwoman was excellent. Worked so much better than I thought she was. Though she wasn't what Catwoman should be.

Respectfully agree.

 

[The Talon]

Wait, was Ra's Al Ghul actually alive (from like the Lazarus Pit or something) or did Bruce just hallucinate seeing him?

 

[Loveless]

Wasn't impressed, too telegraphed, and it wasn't a vision of Alfreds. It lacked things that made it a Batman story.

My thoughts exactly. Very well made, awesome soundtrack, brilliantly shot and stylish, but the story? Extremely predictable, lacking spark, lacking the fun little nods to the source material (barring an early Killer Croc reference).
Bane didn't even get a worthy ending, or any ending from my view, Kyle shoots him and that's the end of it. It would have been much better had he just died after his mask was damaged. Also, considering how he absolutely destroyed Batman in their first meeting, seeing him beaten so easily in their 2nd meeting just didn't ring true to me. That first fight was brutal, the guy is just a brick wall, totally unstoppable and physically dominating.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Bane should've died very slowly and painfully from something as minor as a mask malfunction. No need to have him fix his mask and then casually get blown away.

 

[Ming]

Tom Hardy had a lot less to work with. Basically he had to make an impact through his words, his eyes and his physicality. I had no problem understanding him, and I put his performance on par with Ledger's, no matter how blasphemous of a statement that may be.

It's pretty blasphemous.

Hardy did have less to work with, and Bane's obviously an inferior character to The Joker. However, Heath Ledger's performance was still better. I could watch The Dark Knight again right now and Ledger as Joker will give me chills, even though I've seen the film five times. Once did I get that feeling of awe with Hardy's Bane, whereas with Ledger's Joker it's had several times.

I'm not going to discredit Hardy for that though, his performance was still good, not his personal best by a long shot, but still good.

 

[JGlass]

I liked TDKR. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't. There were a lot of HUGE leaps of faith that Nolan wanted us to accept, but I just couldn't. I thought the movie was crowded, and the good acting didn't make up for the clutter. The various sub-plots they tried to work in (class warfare, Bruce Wayne separating himself from Batman) got lost in the shuffle, and in the end it seemed more important to Nolan to come up with a movie that kept you guessing than one that told a more compelling story.

-Tom Hardy was just as good at what he did with Bane as Heath Ledger was with what he did with The Joker. Fact.

Not even remotely true. Tom Hardy was very good, but he's not in what was Heath Ledger's league.

PS. The league was Heath Ledger and Ian McKellen.

-Anne Hathaway was fantastic, as well.

I was surprisingly pleased with her. She played the smokey cloak and dagger role well. I think Selena Kyle is a comparable character to Black Widow, and Anne Hathaway blew Scarlett Johannson out of the water.

-The first fight between Bane and Batman might be the best fist fight in the history of film. There isn't a ton of competition, but between the physicality and the awesome dialogue (mainly Bane), this fight had my jaw on the floor. Wow.

Once again... not even remotely. Maybe the best superhero fist fight scene, but you forget that Bruce Lee is a thing.

-The scale of this film cripples any other comic book film. Yes, that means The Avengers. When the sky actually opens up and aliens drop in, let me know, then we can talk about it.

What do you mean the scale of this film?

-Robin? Seriously? His real name could have been Richard, or Dick, or even Jason... but Robin? A bit cheesy for my taste.

It was a nice little thing where you can say, oh that's funny. It's like at the end of The Artist when...

Spoiler

You find out that the main character has a funny accent which is why he couldn't act in talkies.

-I didn't think they'd actually go where they went with JGL. I didn't mind it, just thought it was nothing more than fanboy chatter leading up to the release. Interesting.

I just read this before reading the rest of the thread, but are folks talking about whether he became Batman or Robin at the end of the movie? I just finished explaining to a friend of mine that he was supposed to become the next Batman, but she's convinced he just picked up the mantle of Robin.

-Is Wayne actually alive, or was that just a vision Alfred had? Maybe I missed something, but I'm not sure. I guess that's the point.

I think he actually is alive, and that pissed me off for two reasons.

1) How did Bruce Wayne survive an atomic bomb that had a 6 mile blast radius?
2) Clearly whoever came up with this ending thought audiences couldn't handle a non-happy ending. Rocky came out 36 years ago dude, we can take it.

Sorry to pick you out, Nick. You just said a few things I vehemently disagreed with, and then brought up a few points that I really wanted to discuss.

 

[justinsayne]

I can't say that I was disappointed with the film overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie, though not the best movie I've seen this summer, hell it's not even the best comicbook movie of the summer, that goes to Avengers.

My only issues with the film (most, if not all of these are very minor)

-Banes voice, you really had to pay attention to understand exactly what he was saying at times, this bothered me most during the football stadium scene.

-Alfred, in all my years of being a Batman fan I don't ever recall Alfred being such a fucking bitch.

-The Blake/Robin nod, I felt if this is what they were going to go with, that perhaps naming the character Drake would've made a little more sense.

-Wayne's recovers from being crippled in a shitty underground prison, I know Nolan has said that the Lazerus pits didn't exist in his Batman universe, but it sure would've made a hell of a lot more sense, & saved a lot of time.

-The could've explained Banes mask a bit more, also it shouldn't have been so easily repairable.

-There is a good chunk around the middle that just seems to drag a bit.

Aside from that I really enjoyed the movie, though I can't say it's the best movie of the summer, hell I can't say it's even the best comic book movie of the summer, I have to give that to Avengers.

 

[Coco]

I'm still not 100% convinced he survived. Convince me, oh wise one.

Yeah, that's just what I want to get myself into. An argument about a comic book movie. I'll express my opinion, but I'm not going down THAT road.

For the record, the first plot hole that concerned me turned out to be bullshit. Never believe every convincing-sounding complaint on the internet without first thinking it through.

 

[Loveless]

I think he actually is alive, and that pissed me off for two reasons.

1) How did Bruce Wayne survive an atomic bomb that had a 6 mile blast radius?
2) Clearly whoever came up with this ending thought audiences couldn't handle a non-happy ending. Rocky came out 36 years ago dude, we can take it.

1) How many times was the auto-pilot being broken mentioned in the film? He fixed it.
2) The ending was necessary. A major theme of the whole film is about letting go of what causes you pain and moving on. Death isn't a personal resolution, it's just an end.

As for Bane's voice, I actually quite liked it. Yes it's difficult to understand at times but the guy sounds like he's in pain, which is exactly right.

 

[JGlass]

For the record, the first plot hole that concerned me turned out to be bullshit. Never believe every convincing-sounding complaint on the internet without first thinking it through.

Care to elaborate? I'm still looking for someone to talk me through how ridiculous it was that Joseph Gordon Levitt knew Bruce Wayne was Batman simply because he had a look on his face.

1) How many times was the auto-pilot being broken mentioned in the film? He fixed it.

Doesn't really explain how he got out of the Batcopter and moved out of the 6 mile blast radius, but I accept this as a possible explanation.

2) The ending was necessary. A major theme of the whole film is about letting go of what causes you pain and moving on. Death isn't a personal resolution, it's just an end.

Fair enough, though I could argue that death is just as big a theme in the Batman trilogy as letting go.

I also find it somewhat ridiculous that he chose to run around with Catwoman for the rest of his life.

 

[justinsayne]

Care to elaborate? I'm still looking for someone to talk me through how ridiculous it was that Joseph Gordon Levitt knew Bruce Wayne was Batman simply because he had a look on his face.

He was also a detective, & didn't he mention at one point in the movie how he found it odd that both Bruce Wayne disappeared from the public eye around the same time Batman did too.

Doesn't really explain how he got out of the Batcopter and moved out of the 6 mile blast radius, but I accept this as a possible explanation.

I figured he just drop the bomb into the ocean & kept flying off until he cleared the blast radius.

I also find it somewhat ridiculous that he chose to run around with Catwoman for the rest of his life.

Not really that ridiculous, the whole thing Selina was working for throughout the movie was a clean slate, both literally & figuratively, there was a whole chunk of dialogue on this between the two. Also Catwoman & Batman have had an off & on relationship for years in the comics.

 

[Loveless]

Doesn't really explain how he got out of the Batcopter and moved out of the 6 mile blast radius, but I accept this as a possible explanation.

I'd have to watch it again to see the last point at which he's in The Bat but my guess is he bails out the moment he gets into open water and it just carries on alone for 30 seconds.
The blast radius would also be severely reduced by the lack of available fuel for the explosion, assuming it wasn't just dropped in the water.

I also find it somewhat ridiculous that he chose to run around with Catwoman for the rest of his life.

That might simply be what he wanted Alfred to see, not necessarily the reality.

 

[Coco]

Care to elaborate? I'm still looking for someone to talk me through how ridiculous it was that Joseph Gordon Levitt knew Bruce Wayne was Batman simply because he had a look on his face.

Shared experience lets you read someone's mind. It's like the telepathic link between twins.

 

[Coco]

The "Alfred was dreaming" theory is my favourite. Yeah, it was definitely one of those movies.

Why the fuck am I getting into this? Is this what Stormtrooper feels like when he goes all "HULK SMASH"?

 

[JGlass]

The "Alfred was dreaming" theory is my favourite. Yeah, it was definitely one of those movies.

That's my exact reaction to it. Because Darren Aronofsky is directing this movie, not Christopher Nolan.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

I'm still not 100% convinced he survived. Convince me, oh wise one.

Stepping in for CoCo in the role of The Wise one will be MTM.

Alfred say Bruce with Selina, but he never had any interaction with her at any other point of the movie.

If he was seeing what he wanted to see, he would have visioned Bruce with Miranda because she was "lovely" and he would have no clue that she was Talia.

Oh, if you haven't noticed, I'm on a first name basis with the Batman Universe.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

It's pretty blasphemous.

Because Ledger's dead?

Hardy did have less to work with, and Bane's obviously an inferior character to The Joker.

In some ways, yes. In others, no, he's really not. Extremely intelligent, calculating, and an evil, evil human being. Naturally evil, actually. Born and raised that way. The Joker is a more popular character, no question, but I wouldn't say he's that much better.

However, Heath Ledger's performance was still better. I could watch The Dark Knight again right now and Ledger as Joker will give me chills, even though I've seen the film five times. Once did I get that feeling of awe with Hardy's Bane, whereas with Ledger's Joker it's had several times.

I agree with this assessment, somewhat. However, I think everything surrounding Ledger's performance added to that feeling, it did for anyway. He had a larger impact, but I think Hardy did an equally excellent acting job.

I'm not going to discredit Hardy for that though, his performance was still good, not his personal best by a long shot, but still good.

Bronson and Warrior are the only two that come to mind, and I'm not sure he was much better in Warrior than he was as Bane.

I liked TDKR. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't. There were a lot of HUGE leaps of faith that Nolan wanted us to accept, but I just couldn't. I thought the movie was crowded, and the good acting didn't make up for the clutter.

This I agree with. It wasn't nearly as clean and together as The Dark Knight.

Not even remotely true. Tom Hardy was very good, but he's not in what was Heath Ledger's league.

As I said earlier, I think a lot of that has to do with everything surrounding Ledger and that particular performance. I'm a mark for Tom Hardy, but the performance was outstanding. I'm going to concede Ledger was better, but if Heath's Joker is the greatest villain a comic book film has seen, I think Hardy is somewhere in the realm of number two.

PS. The league was Heath Ledger and Ian McKellen.

Wasn't a big fan of McKellen as Magneto. Not saying anyone else could have done a better job, but the character bored me.

Once again... not even remotely. Maybe the best superhero fist fight scene, but you forget that Bruce Lee is a thing.

The emotion, the dialogue, the physicality - it brought more to the table than any kick-fest could ever pull off.

What do you mean the scale of this film?

*Scope. I was really tired when I wrote that, surprised you were the first to see that.

I just read this before reading the rest of the thread, but are folks talking about whether he became Batman or Robin at the end of the movie? I just finished explaining to a friend of mine that he was supposed to become the next Batman, but she's convinced he just picked up the mantle of Robin.

As I said in another post, he's definitely the new Batman, not Robin. That was clear.

I think he actually is alive, and that pissed me off for two reasons.

1) How did Bruce Wayne survive an atomic bomb that had a 6 mile blast radius?

Wasn't it actually a neutron bomb? More radiation, smaller explosive blast.

2) Clearly whoever came up with this ending thought audiences couldn't handle a non-happy ending. Rocky came out 36 years ago dude, we can take it.

That's why the ending reminded me a bit of Inception. I'm not positive Wayne is actually alive. However, with Catwoman being there, I'm guessing he is, seeing Alfred had no idea they were "together."

Yeah, that's just what I want to get myself into. An argument about a comic book movie. I'll express my opinion, but I'm not going down THAT road.

I wasn't looking for an argument. I was/am legitimately curious as to what people saw that I might not have.

As for Bane's voice, I actually quite liked it. Yes it's difficult to understand at times but the guy sounds like he's in pain, which is exactly right.

Exactly. And who gives a fuck if you couldn't make out every last syllable? His voice is supposed to be muffled, don't be lazy bums

The "Alfred was dreaming" theory is my favourite. Yeah, it was definitely one of those movies.

You're far more confident in your interpretation than I am in mine.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Aside from that I really enjoyed the movie, though I can't say it's the best movie of the summer, hell I can't say it's even the best comic book movie of the summer, I have to give that to Avengers.

Hate to go all broken record here, but The Avengers was an amazing piece of entertainment, not a great film. It didn't have half the story of any Nolan Batman film, and the characters (in The Avengers, not the other Marvel films) aren't in the same league.

 

[Coco]

I wasn't looking for an argument. I was/am legitimately curious as to what people saw that I might not have.

Let's start with precedent. None of Nolan's Batman films involve reality bending, Inception-style mind-fuckery. Why start during the last two minutes of your conclusion to the series? Did the Mad Hatter break out of Arkham? Couple that with MTM's feeling that Alfred would be more likely to imagine Bruce with Talia's alter-ego, and I can't see any other interpretation to this. It's just not one of those movies.

You're far more confident in your interpretation than I am in mine.

Yes.

 

[Coco]

Hate to go all broken record here, but The Avengers was an amazing piece of entertainment, not a great film. It didn't have half the story of any Nolan Batman film, and the characters (in The Avengers, not the other Marvel films) aren't in the same league.

It could be argued that the Avenger did a more satisfying job of juggling an ensemble than TDKR, what with all the complaints about too much JGL and too little Batman and Catwoman. There's something to be said for writing that skilful and a film that puts together a final battle on that scale without reducing it to charmless explosion after charmless explosion.

Of course I don't plan to take part in that argument. Bye.