The Dark Knight Rises

Griffith · July 24, 2012

Good points, I think if there's an agenda it's to touch on political issues for the appearance of relevancy without taking much of stand either way, leaving it accessible to almost anyone (well, depending on how strident you are in your views, being glib with certain topics could rub someone the wrong way, and there's the danger of being lazy or irresponsible with serious issues). I think the politics in these movies are about as meaningful as the pseudo-philosophy, and for the same effect.

hellrasinbrasin · July 25, 2012

Yes while Nolan says that the films aren't political because they none the less are due to how each episode is very apolitical...The Dent Act in the Dark Knight Rises you can say is a mirror for The US Patriot Act where the US Government/Gotham City has the power to waive Habeas Corpus and detain you unlawfully until such time as they choose to charge you with a crime.

NightCrawler · July 25, 2012

Holy endless exposition dialogue Batman. Was this a movie, or a no-narrative audio book? I was rolling eyes and sighing the whole time.
I can't believe you liked it Griff. I agree with everything you wrote inside the spoiler tags, and that's why it matched my low expectations. Actually the more i think about it the more i dislike it.
Cinematically i enjoyed Bane and Bats first fight (and at least the fucking music was more quiet in that sequence), and that was it. The rest was so poor, not even entertaining. Had no sort of impact. Just so uninspired, and so very cheesy.

frankencowx · July 25, 2012

Alright, words out. Rocksteady Batman officially > than Nolan Batman:

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/batman-arkham-asylum-2/1225518p1.html

Terrible article but still fun.

Griffith · July 25, 2012

NightCrawler said:
Holy endless exposition dialogue Batman. Was this a movie, or a no-narrative audio book? I was rolling eyes and sighing the whole time.
I can't believe you liked it Griff. I agree with everything you wrote inside the spoiler tags, and that's why it matched my low expectations. Actually the more i think about it the more i dislike it.
Cinematically i enjoyed Bane and Bats first fight (and at least the fucking music was more quiet in that sequence), and that was it. The rest was so poor, not even entertaining. Had no sort of impact. Just so uninspired, and so very cheesy.

I'm kind of apathetic about it really, but was entertained (maybe because I didn't care; after TDK it was all gravy to me, though coming out of the theater I was already mocking the ending). I don't disagree with what you said, but I had a much different experience than you. For all the never-ending plot and talky talk, I actually thought it was kind of just a straightforward action movie at heart, for better or worse. After the first act it was a downright breezy couple of hours! Anyway, I wasn't suffering or anything, it was enjoyable on the same level as any movie with Batman or where a

giant bomb

needs to be stopped

from exploding

(maybe it was a tribute to the 60's Batman movie,

"Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb" =)

). Though, my secret hope was that it was actually going to be Nolan's attempt to top TDK or anything he'll ever do while being overtly political and making a "Fritz Lang movie" featuring Batman, but, alas, it was just a superhero action movie with some added pretension. On that note, it's truly disappointing because after the critical and financial success of TDK he could have done any fucked up thing he wanted to with Batman, but just sort of settled for wrapping it up (which, to its credit, we haven't and probably won't see again in a Batman movie, but even that felt uneven).

hellrasinbrasin · July 26, 2012

I really enjoyed Nolan's take on the source material used for Batman Begins - Rises.

01.Batman: Year One
02.Batman: The Killing Joke
03.Batman: Knightfall
04.Batman: No Man's Land
05.Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
06.Batman: The Long Halloween
07.Nightwing: A Knight in Blüdhaven
08.Batman: The Man Who Falls
09.Batman: Legacy
10.Batman: Veritas Liberat
11.Secret Six
12.Batman: INC
13.Batman: The Movie (1966)*Update

I forgot the rest so if I missed any add them to the list.

Griffith · July 26, 2012

hellrasinbrasin said:
I forgot the rest so if I missed any add them to the list.

13. Batman: The Movie (1966)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4v1hAnfy1I#t=1m44s

hellrasinbrasin · July 26, 2012

The Dynamic Duo at RedLetterMedia have Risen with a Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5hSwnZ7FyY&list=UUrTNhL_yO3tPTdQ5XgmmWjA&index=2&feature=plcp

IncantatioN · July 26, 2012

Watched it last night and honestly loved it. Among the 3 superhero movies released this year, this is the best of the lot. Going to watch it again, soon.

I thought it'd be cool if the movie ended

either when they unveil the Bat~memorial or when Alfred smiled at the end and they didn't HAVE to show Wayne n co, Batception moment

.

The first Bane vs Batman fight had me laughing inside because it wasn't cheesy and it was really happening the way I'd pictured it. A friend this morning asked "What do you think of Bane's death?" and well, it was realistic in the sense, nobody's going to reveal themselves and pull the trigger, especially if you're scared of them like Catwoman was, so it was quick and came out of nowhere - like in the real world. I also liked how 'The Bat' was shakey or wobbly in the beginning. IMAX sequences were pretty good during action scenes.

Major gripe - Bane's voice. Yes, I preferred his voice in the 8 minute IMAX preview back in December because it was natural to hear someone talk KEEPING all background sounds in check. I felt like his voice in the movie, because of criticism back then, is with most natural sounds muted in the background. I would like to think it wasn't Nolan's choice to do so.

Catwoman, better than I expected/ imagined after the cheese we've seen in prior movies. Anne played her part well, as did Blake. I agree with Griffith on the name thing, going straight to Robin was weird.

Glad I didn't read reviews or avoided this topic or any spoilers (unlike Prometheus). I thought the movie was great, didn't want it to be better than The Dark Knight and it had a lot more highs than lows for me. If we are to nitpick, you can rip any movie apart like The Amazing Spider-Man or The Avengers (oh totally) but I think it's convenient to rip this one more because it's Batman.

My brother who's a big fan of the comics pointed something interesting to me last night, he said Batman was just human but he was not ordinary and there's a hint of mysticism to him also. Got me thinking, you come out of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises not talking much about how cool Batman is because of the storyline and the way he's portrayed versus an Iron Man or Spider-Man movie. Nolan likes to give equal importance to everything in the plot and doesn't center the story around his Batman. And, that's good in my books. Our chat was cut off prematurely but I'd love to discuss more with my brother to understand where he's coming from.

Saephon · July 26, 2012

IncantatioN said:
If we are to nitpick, you can rip any movie apart like The Amazing Spider-Man or The Avengers (oh totally) but I think it's convenient to rip this one more because it's Batman.

Funny you should say that, I thought I was the only one who found The Avengers to be eye-rollingly silly. But then I've never been a huge comic book fan. Don't get me wrong, I've always digged superheroes, just not the majority of the mediums in which they've appeared. Whereas all my friends are hardcore comic nerds and know everything about the universes and lore, etc. I imagine for them, the movie was their version of seeing Berserk animated. "OH MY GOD IRON MAN IS STANDING NEXT TO HAWKEYE AND THEY'RE MOVING!" :troll:

Now if we're talking about Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns....that's my kinda drug. :badbone:

Johnstantine · July 29, 2012

Just got back from seeing it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. While its newness is still setting in, I would have to say it's my second favorite in the series. (2, 3, 1). I went in with high expectations, and I was not disappointed.

My friend saw it on opening night and said, "It's a little bit better than Spider-man 3." I lost all respect for his opinions on movies henceforth.

Vampire_Hunter_Bob · July 29, 2012

Johnstantine said:
I lost all respect for his opinions on movies henceforth.

Good call.

Jaze1618 · July 30, 2012

I saw the movie yesterday and I liked it. It exceeded my expectations for it, although I was not expecting too much.

Griffith · July 31, 2012

Saw this at CVS the other day:

That's an unfortunate headline.

Oburi · July 31, 2012

^ That's just terrible.

Btw, I'm surprised nobody is giving the old "i told ya so" about Two-Face not returning. :troll:

All those poor fools must feel so stupid right now

Griffith · July 31, 2012

Oburi said:
^ That's just terrible.

Yeah... couldn't they stop the presses or something? On the lighter side, Bane looks like a human action figure there.

Oburi said:
Btw, I'm surprised nobody is giving the old "i told ya so" about Two-Face not returning. All those poor fools must feel so stupid right now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aenjycLx56U#t=0m24s

Anyway, now I almost feel ashamed of this:

Griffith said:
It would be like if they'd done something stupid like brought Harvey Dent back from the dead.

Almost.

P.S. lol, "July 20th" I literally got my "I told you so" in as soon as possible. :ganishka:

Th3Branded0ne · July 31, 2012

Griffith said:
Saw this at CVS the other day:

That's an unfortunate headline.

Yeah , just coincidence in a very bad way. The release date of the magazine was 7/20 if you can see it at the right top corner. I heard in the news that some new stands got new prints but. EW could not replace them allo in time.

Oburi · July 31, 2012

I never posted what I thought of the movie even though I saw it opening night but I really liked it. Stayed fully attentive and enjoyed all 2 and half hours of it. Don't have much else to add but I agree with about everything Griff stated. I really hated how they said

Robin

at the end. I know why it was in there but I think even the most casual moviegoer rolled their eyes at that part.

Dick Grayson or Tim Drake

would have been so much better. My favorite scene was the first fight where Batman gets his ass kicked. I thought Bane turned out to be a pretty badass villain. So yea I thought it was a decent final film.

hellrasinbrasin · July 31, 2012

So what was everyone's favorite Quote from The Dark Knight Rises. For me it was Bane's speech and Gordon's during

the Eulogy.

MrWeatherby · August 1, 2012

Oburi said:
Dick Grayson or Tim Drake would have been so much better.

I don't think so, since it would imply

that he's gotten his full name changed at some point, but for whatever reason is not legally recognized by it. So he's just trolling around town using a full fake name that's not legally registered with anyone. It's somehow more baffling than "Robin" which was forced and stupid enough.

The correct option would be to not have pulled that crap at all.

Griffith · August 1, 2012

Don't throw out the baby with the bath water; it was a good play, just ham-fisted execution. For example, he could have been

Richard Blake

, birth name

Grayson

. Everyone's a winner. Of course, since they'd be doing their own thing either way, and the name

Robin

is totally symbolic anyway, it doesn't really matter (i.e. I'm over it).

MrWeatherby · August 1, 2012

Yeah,

just making "Grayson" his last name and establishing that John Blake is his first and middle would have been Ok. I still feel the whole thing was unnecessary, it would have been fine enough to have Blake take up the mantel without name dropping Robin.

Aazealh · August 1, 2012

Saw it today. I surprisingly liked it. I enjoyed it the most out of the three actually, despite its clichés and various preposterous moments. Not much to say other than that. Bane's voice felt kind of funny, especially in the opening scenes. He sounded a bit like an old man to me. I got over it, but that was a bit weird. Anne Hathaway pulled a nice Catwoman. Marion Cotillard's acting on the other hand... Blargh.

The whole theater actually laughed at her dying scene... Bane's death was neat and fitting to me. I almost gained a new appreciation for Nolan from it. Batman's comebacks to Bane and Talia sucked pretty bad though.

I felt the ending was pretty nice. I saw it coming a mile away and it was executed rather cheesily but I think it's nice that Nolan didn't go for the easy ultimate-sacrifice. The "Robin" thing didn't bother me either, though yeah sure it could have been more subtle. But if we start down that lane we can easily deconstruct the movie as a pile of flaws glued together with shit, so why bother?

Griffith · August 2, 2012

Aazealh said:
Saw it today. I surprisingly liked it. I enjoyed it the most out of the three actually, despite its clichés and various preposterous moments

Glad you enjoyed it as well. I think it's the most conventionally entertaining of the bunch, and more so than even something like The Avengers, as IncantatioN pointed out.

Aazealh said:
Marion Cotillard's acting on the other hand... Blargh.

The whole theater actually laughed at her dying scene...

I remember that now, I was so in shock by her overall ineffectiveness at that point that it didn't stick out.

Aazealh said:
Bane's death was neat and fitting to me.

I almost gained a new appreciation for Nolan from it.

Yeah, and a genuine surprise. I just didn't like what directly preceded it. See above.

Aazealh said:
Batman's comebacks to Bane

and Talia

sucked pretty bad though.

"I'M HERE... TO STOP... U!"

I actually liked his vocal efforts in the first fight. =) Catwoman had all the best (and worst) lines though. Speaking of which, in response to hellrasinbasin's question:

"You don't even go broke like the rest of us."

Aazealh said:
I felt the ending was pretty nice.

I didn't mind it, and it's grown on me since actually, for the reasons you mentioned,

and while still having its own definitive ending for Batman.

Aazealh said:
But if we start down that lane we can easily deconstruct the movie as a pile of flaws glued together with shit, so why bother?

Us? Naaaah. :griffnotevil:

Aazealh · August 2, 2012

Griffith said:
Glad you enjoyed it as well. I think it's the most conventionally entertaining of the bunch, and more so than even something like The Avengers, as IncantatioN pointed out.

Hehe, maybe, I don't know. I liked the banter in The Avengers. =) I think the two hardly compare honestly. This is more of a drama whereas The Avengers is almost a buddy movie. Not the same tone at all.

Griffith said:
Yeah, and a genuine surprise. I just didn't like what directly preceded it. See above.

Yeah, I didn't enjoy the Talia-reveal scene nearly as much as I feel I should have.

The Dark Knight Rises

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew

hellrasinbrasin

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Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless

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Die young and save yourself

Skibbidy Boo Bop

Cats are great

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I'll be back.

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What's up, ketchup?

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