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Mockery Dec 1st, 2012 06:14 PM

The Dark Knight Rises thoughts...
 
So Warner Bros. just sent me an advance copy of The Dark Knight rises Blu-ray / DVD combo set and I watched just about everything on it and thought you might wanna hear my thoughts on both the film and the disc features.

*WARNING - POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW*

THE GOOD:

First off, I never really talked about the movie itself when it was first released in theaters, so here's my take on it. TDKR is a great movie - flawed with plot holes like any superhero movie for sure, and it had the nearly impossible task of living up to the success of TDK, but it's still great. What I really enjoyed about this one is that it focuses more on Bruce Wayne rather than on Batman. I always thought Bale's performance of Bruce Wayne was a lot better than his take on Batman. Well, there's a lot more Wayne in this movie than the other films, and I'm all about that.

I also really enjoyed Tom Hardy has Bane. Sure the voice was kinda funny since it sounded like a muffled Sean Connery, but Bane was just as badass as one could ever hope him to be. And man, I really enjoyed his fight with Batman. You expected it to be brutal, and Nolan doesn't let you down here at all. By the end of the fight, Batman is utterly exhausted and has his cowl practically caved in on his faced from repeated blows before having his back broken by Bane.

The music is also right on par with the previous films, only there's even more of a sense of panic and urgency to the music in TDKR. I dare say the score for this film is the best of the trilogy.

Lastly, the scale of the movie is incredible. If there's one thing they definitely did better with this one than in TDK, is they made the movie feel even bigger. The huge sweeping shots that are a Nolan trademark, the big football stadium, the big showdown on Wall Street between the cops and Bane's army, and the pit that Bruce has to climb out of... it all just feels so massive. I really wish more big films to advantage of IMAX cameras like Nolan does. Argue if you will, but The Dark Knight Rises feels WAY bigger than The Avengers, and it's not just because of how many real extras were used, but it's because of the way it was shot.

THE BAD:

First, I definitely thought they way that they killed off Bane was a cheap shot and an unceremonious end to a really entertaining villain. I would much rather see Batman break his one rule to finish off Bane than a blast from Catwoman.

Plot holes - yes, I can overlook them like most fans, but they're still annoying in any movie, and this one had plenty. What caused Bruce's leg to be injured so badly in the past 8 years when he hadn't done any crime fighting? How the hell do you fix somebody's broken back simply by punching it? How / why did Batman find the time to paint his logo in flammable liquids on the side of a huge building for Gordon to set ablaze when the city was about to be destroyed by a nuke!? I could go on and on...

I also hated the trailers, because they spoiled one of the biggest moments in the entire movie - the football stadium scene. That scene would've been so shocking to audiences had the entire cave-in not been shown in the trailers. I think it was a huge mistake on their part to show that in advance. People would've been caught completely off guard during the movie and talking about it a lot had that scene not been aired in advance.

Robin was also pointless to me. He barely has time to talk to Wayne in the entire movie, and yet Bruce basically retires and turns over the Batcave to him? Uh, let's not forget that Bruce is an extremely intelligent and highly trained ninja. While Robin is a smart cop, he's no Batman. So what, Bruce just expects him to learn all those martial arts moves on his own with no mentor? I get that he wanted to retire 'n all, but come on... at least train your replacement before you hand over the reigns.

THE BLU-RAY / DVD combo:



It goes without saying that the Blu-ray looks fantastic here, and while the movie is best seen on the big screen in IMAX, this is the next best thing. In terms of extras, it comes with a lot of featurettes (20 in total I believe) that show the making of some of the biggest scenes in the film. I enjoyed these more than anything, because you see just how many people and how much planning were put into the scenes. The football stadium, plane hijacking, Wall Street battle, and Batman vs. Bane featurettes were among my favorites here. There's also one that talks about the chant and music behind Bruce rising out of the pit, and I always love seeing how the sounds behind a film like this are put together. Again, the music in the film is absolutely stellar.

My only complaint about the DVD set is the lack of deleted scenes. Considering how much footage was shot for this film, it's disappointing that there's absolutely no extra footage from the cutting room floor. I was really hoping to see the rumored footage of Bane's origin - but no dice. So yeah, if you're hoping for deleted scenes, you may want to hold off, but there's no guarantee they'll ever release those I guess. Still, we know they're releasing an "Ultimate Trilogy" set next year too, so if you haven't purchased the other movies already, you may want to hold off until that one comes out anyway.

I should also note that there's a special edition version that comes with Batman's broken cowl. Nice display piece for sure, but my mantle is out of space, so I'm fine with just the standard Blu-ray which still comes with a nice lenticular art cover.

All in all, I thought this was a really solid ending to the Dark Knight trilogy. I'm sad to see the movies come to an end though, because I thought Nolan did more justice to the Batman mythology than any other director has in the past. Can't tell you how excited I was for the release of each film in theaters. Very curious to see what Nolan does next, because nobody does "big" movies quite like him, and whenever one of his works comes out, it feels like an event rather than just another movie coming out.

Alright, there you have it for my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises. What did you guys think of the movie?

All Hail Duke Dec 1st, 2012 10:20 PM

to be honest, i fucking hated it
which really got under my skin since i was really looking forward to it, and the previous two were so good

the generic bomb plot, the rehashing of the league of shadows,i hated how dumbed down everyone had to be for things to work in the movie

the characterisation was the worst aspect to me:
bane being nothing more than a dumb goon following orders (like schumacher's version), instead of the brilliant tactician he's supposed to be; in place of the venom angle, he's breathing pain killers because he has a cut on his face (making him look especially weak compared to two-face and joker, who had far worse injuries)...and yet he has super strength for no apparent reason
and his relationship to "talia" is straight out of that lame bond movie the world is not enough (which rises may just be a remake of)
his origin is stripped from him and given to talia, even though several times earlier in the movie this is said otherwise

next is bruce/batman-being some mopey, deadbeat quitter really pissed me off
he lets wayne enterprises go broke, lets all his money get stolen, and quits being batman because his would be girlfriend gets killed
he's supposed to be this brilliant guy, and he makes nothing but bad decisions in the movie:all but reveals himself as batman to selina in the dumbest of ways, trusting in selina despite all the shit she did to him, going head to head w/ bane in name only in such a sloppy manner, and quitting again and leaving his gadgets and whatnot to a beat cop
and the ending; he's supposed to be dead yet he's in europe, surrounded by thousands of people who know who he is and he's just supposed to blend in?

john blake-he saw bruce wayne once when he was a kid, so he knew he was batman...i'm supposed to buy this shit?
he's some jerk off beat cop, with no real experience in...anything, and he's the new batman? bullshit
oh, and his name's actually robin in some half assed attempt to work that character in
and to top it off, the schmuck wants to play batman in the justice league movie

the movie is just over loaded with flawed logic, and it came off as michael bay's attempt at a batman movie

Mike Tobacco Dec 2nd, 2012 01:49 AM

I thought it was terrific. It's the Return of the Jedi of Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy: bigger in scope than it's predecessors and easier to nitpick.

First, down to brass tacks: TDKR is not the best Batman film/story ever. To me, though, the Nolan trilogy taken as a whole is among the best Batman material ever. Superhero stories, at heart, are tall tales. They're fables and morality plays. The basic premise of any superhero story is outside real world logic, thus rendering any critiques based on real world logic moot. One wouldn't expect an Aesop tale or a Bible story to adhere to the rules of reality, and the same should apply to superhero stories. They aren't about the details. They're about the viewer/reader walking away feeling that good does overcome evil; that a person's sacrifices will pay off in the end; that symbols aren't about to who's behind them, but what they stand for. So, on whatever levels the makers of this Batman trilogy failed, they succeeded at their core mission statement.

Now, about TDKR specifically- it's a Batman story by Christopher Nolan. Sure there are plot holes aplenty; I've read/watched/played enough Batman and seen enough Chris Nolan movies to know that that's more of a trope than an aberration, really. And yeah, there is flawed logic and moments where one has to suspend his disbelief. Again, this is par for the course. Personally, if I can buy into Batman, I can buy into Batman recovering from a broken back or any of the other nitpicks. If the premise is ludicrous, it should follow that the details will be ludicrous. Bane, Catwoman, and Miranda were exactly what they needed to be in service to the story. Were they 100% true to the comics? No. Was any character in any of these movies 100% true to the comics? No. Hell, I'm pretty sure some of the characters weren't even in the comics. Nolan attempted to take patently absurd ideas and bring them as close to reality as possible. I'd say he did as good a job as any filmmaker could to that effect.

And finally, the Robin thing. It was silly, and I understand why some people hated it. I personally don't begrudge it because at no point is it ever said that John Blake would take on the Batman mantle. He just has access to all of Batman's gadgets. So he puts on the cape and dies trying to glide for the first time. Who knows? Who cares? It was an out for Bruce Wayne, and if there's one character trait of Bruce's from the comics that this movie absolutely nailed, it's his reckless endangerment of inexperienced vigilantes named Robin.

Nick Dec 3rd, 2012 07:27 AM

While I enjoyed The Dark Knight when I first watched it, between then and the time this movie rolled around I found myself completely hating Nolan's Batman universe. Batman can be realistic, but Nolan too it too far. You could watch these movies with any other characters besides Batman ones and it'd still be the same movies.

I hope the next Batman series can keep the superhero and real world aspects evened out. Marvel seems to be doing a pretty decent job of that with their movies.

WhiteRoseBrian Dec 3rd, 2012 11:37 AM

When I took my friend to see it in the theater--on Imax no less--we were both impressed with a spectacular conclusion. However, since then I've become more aware of the plot holes (I tend to not notice them right away, probably because of my Asperger's).

10,000 Volt Ghost Dec 3rd, 2012 11:20 PM

The only parts of the movie I actually liked were with Joseph gordon-levitt. I barely remember Christian Bale even being in the movie.

Dimnos Dec 4th, 2012 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 764167)
Marvel seems to be doing a pretty decent job of that with their movies.


X Men: Days of Future Past

:boob:boob

Mike Tobacco Dec 4th, 2012 12:35 PM

^
Marvel doesn't make the X-Men or Spider-Man movies.

kahljorn Dec 5th, 2012 12:40 AM

i thought it was gay. for one maybe because i watched a ripped version the fightscenes all sucked and it looked poorly choreographed like they weren't even actually punching people most of the time
also the ending was gay. JST DRIVE THE BUMB OUT TO SEA that hasn't been done before :/
the broken back thing also angered me beyond all belief.

i think the thing that made me the most mad (besides the back scene) is when he had to have his leg fixed with that dumb device. i thought that was ironman's gimmick, but I don't know a lot about comic books.
for me batman was always just a regular nonmagic dude who was really rich and pretty smart with a bunch of gadgets from the sharper image, but with his miraculous back healing and shit that was pretty much gayed up.
also bane was kind of gay. i dont really get what was special about him all he did was not get hurt and get punched in the face on purpose. i thought he was part of some ninja league or something. the first time he punches someone on that plane didn't even look like he punched him very hard; i would've liked to see him punch people's heads off. maybe im just expecting epic fight scenes when really batman is all about one-two punches and shit. also in the cartoon bane was super buff and scary and not a ninja but i dont know if thats canon :( but that's what i think of when i think of bane. oh well i was just reading about bane on wikipedia out of curiosity and it says in one of the comics batman has his back broke and gets healed para-normally, so i guess that shows what i know.

also along time ago somebody told me this batman was actually supposed to be twoface and the joker coming back, but then heath ledger died.

Mike Tobacco Dec 5th, 2012 12:48 AM


kahljorn Dec 5th, 2012 02:11 AM

haha i watched all of those honest trailers

my favorite one is paranormal activity.at the end when he says, "STARRINg, NOBODY"

Mike Tobacco Dec 5th, 2012 02:45 AM

I dug that one, too. All of the ones I've seen and also saw the movie for I liked, even when I enjoyed the movie. The butt-hurt responses on YouTube to this TDKR Honest Trailer are hilarious.

kahljorn Dec 5th, 2012 02:58 AM

haha i wish in his next video at the end when he says stupid shit he would say something like,
"Fire Bat was dramatic symbolism, an obviously impossible feat (though more realistic than any BS in Avengers) like others in Nolan Bat films that are part of the hyper-realism of the world- used for dramatic effect, same with standing on buildings. U LEAVE ON hoods for interrogation, who hell expect mid air heist! How things discovered not important & easily be explained- Talia & Bane knew identity from Ras & with Talia inside & months of prep found R&D lab,"
or any of the other overly serious responses :(

Dimnos Dec 5th, 2012 08:05 PM

That read like some spambot gibberish but I kind of think that is what you were going for?

kahljorn Dec 5th, 2012 10:38 PM

basically, if by spambot gibberish you meant butthurt fanboys

Dimnos Dec 5th, 2012 11:43 PM

U LEAVE ON hoods for interrogation, who hell expect mid air heist! How things discovered not important & easily be explained

kahljorn Dec 6th, 2012 02:52 AM

i not speak english as firt language and even i undertand bane u need get better

kahljorn Dec 6th, 2012 05:16 AM

SO I WAS WATCHING THOSE HONEST TRAILERS THEN I STARTED WATCHING RED LETTER MEDIA AND THEN I READ SOME YOUTUBE COMMENTS AND DISCOVERED THAT APPARENTLY BLADE RUNNER AND ALIEN ARE IN THE SAME STORYLINE/UNIVERSE AND BLADERUNNER 2 AND PROMETHEUS 2 W/E ARE GONNA EVENTUALLY BE CONNECTED.

WOW.

FUCK THIS RIDLEY SCOTT GUY CAN'T YOU JUST MAKE A FUCKING MOVIE

Mike Tobacco Dec 6th, 2012 07:10 AM

It's all in the "Ridleyverse," although I don't see how he's going to tie Legend together with Thelma & Louise.

Dimnos Dec 6th, 2012 01:01 PM

Thats easy; after they die Sarandon comes back as Curry in a fantasy like afterlife. :rolleyes

All Hail Duke Dec 6th, 2012 01:11 PM

maybe legend is some kind of post apocalyptic earth, and sarandon made a deal w/ darkness to save her life and was turned into meg mucklebones

*shrug*

kahljorn Dec 6th, 2012 03:45 PM

am i really going to be able to understand the deep philosophical questions presented by prometheus if i havent watched thelma and louise?

Dimnos Dec 6th, 2012 06:15 PM

Impossible.

kahljorn Dec 6th, 2012 09:05 PM

i hope they release a box set then

Mike Tobacco Dec 6th, 2012 09:11 PM

At the very least, Geena Davis' bizarre, overly-gummy smile provides some insight on how the addition of human DNA could lead to creating a xenomorph.


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