The Dark Knight Rises
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Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Finally saw the film in IMAX yesterday, definitely worth seeing it in IMAX. While not as good as The Dark Knight IMO, the The Dark Knight Rises is still an excellent film and a perfect cap-off to Nolan's Batman Trilogy, the ending was perfect for this incarnation of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The plot was amazing, definitely had more connections to the first film though compared the second film, but like Inception IMO, one really needs to pay close attention while watching the film, not a film you want to get up for the bathroom for. Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway put on awesome performances as Bane and Selina Kyle (funny how she never gets called Catwoman, the closest they get are newspaper headlines calling her "The Cat", similar to her first appearances in the comics in the 1940s),
Liked how they adapted stuff from Knightfall, Legacy, The Dark Knight Returns, and No Man's Land for the film. The
John Blake character was interesting character,
The fights in this film were fantastic and some of the most brutal I have ever seen on film. Loved Jonathan Crane's cameo
While Michael Caine may overacted on a few of his scenes, they were still tearjerkers for me. The ending, while I could see as being controversial for some people, was perfect IMO for this incarnation of Bruce Wayne.
and is not unprecedented from the comics,
and loved the reveal of Talia Al Ghul at the climax.
Robin
as much as would have liked to see Richard Grayson as his name, for the context of the film series the character works much better as an amalgamation of the first three Robins (he became a police officer as an adult like Dick Grayson, his orphan background and street smarts mirror Jason Todd, and he deduces Bruce Wayne is Batman like Tim Drake. Finally, similar to Dick, he is bequeathed the Batman after Bruce's "death").
as the "judge".
Batman did not die, as we saw with Blake inheriting the Batcave, but Bruce Wayne got to retire, which fits perfectly with this version of his character (they stated multiple times he never intended to be Batman forever, and set up the symbol of Batman so it could be carried by others)
many Batman comics have had of Bruce Wayne retiring, so it is not out of character for Bruce Wayne in-universe or out.
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Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Sorry, should be fixed.
Interslicery
.....
Well that was... odd.
Edley
Pray for Sound
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- Issac Dian, Dudley, Chev Chelios
Carlie
CltrAltDelicious
- AKA
- Chloe Frazer
Saw it yesterday.
While not at the level of TDK I thought it was great especially considering that it was the third part in a trilogy. Anne Hathaway while not on the level of other Catwoman's like Arkham City's version was still pretty good as Selina Kyle, definitely the best I've seen in a movie or live action t.v. Bane was awesome, the voice was weird at first but as the movie went on I got used to it and Tom Hardy really sold him with his eyes and facial expressions. A few questionable things like Bruce's recovery from getting his vertebrae dislocated and how Bruce detonated the nuclear bomb in the water. I'm a little iffy over Talia because I would've liked to see more of her after the reveal and that scene were she and Bruce have sex felt completely pointless and out of place. I though John Blake's character was good up until the whole Robin thing, not that I didn't see coming but srsly his name is Robin John Blake? C'mon. As for the ending I wasn't particularly fond of it. Bruce is not that emotionally stable person that's going to leave his Batman persona to start a new life.
Fangu
Great Old One
I saw the film yesterday. I'm sad to say that I thought parts of it was a snoozefest, with too much story crammed into a too small frame - but there were particularly two actors who made the experience really good for me: Anne Hathaway, which is just something extra, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who I've loved since '10 things I hate about you'. I thought he was amazing in 'Inception' and I am now definitely a Joseph-fan. He somehow carried the movie for me and everytime I saw him in a scene, I felt glad and excited, while many of the other scenes were kinda mediocre to me.
I did enjoy Bane as a villain - his stunt work was absolutely brilliant. Also am I the only one who got gay vibes from catwoman? So
Also, Michael Cane, don't cry, please don't cry, cuz you're making me cry as well!!
I was really disappointed when she kissed Batman. It felt wrong to me somehow. Like forced into it because the blockbuster recipe says there has to be a kiss in the end.
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Ryushikaze
Deus Admiral Parsimonious, PHD, DDS, MD, JD, OBE
- AKA
- Tim, Ryu
Woman could be Bi, Fangle. Ya never know.
Ryushikaze
Deus Admiral Parsimonious, PHD, DDS, MD, JD, OBE
- AKA
- Tim, Ryu
Well, it would explain both the gay vibe and getting with Bruce at the end.
Unless, of course, she was just seduced by Bruce's feminine wiles.
Unless, of course, she was just seduced by Bruce's feminine wiles.
Fangu
Great Old One
When I wrote gay, I meant lesbian. As in, she only prefers males. That was what I meant by 'gay vibe'. It was just a feeling I had, purely an intuitive thing, a headcanon, you might call it, I made up while watching the movie. Nothing logical to it at all.
It's just that this is the second time on TLS that I write 'something lesbian something' and someone feels they need to inform me about bisexuality. I know there is a thing called bisexuality. I am not in denial nor unawareness of its existence
It's just that this is the second time on TLS that I write 'something lesbian something' and someone feels they need to inform me about bisexuality. I know there is a thing called bisexuality. I am not in denial nor unawareness of its existence
Cthulhu
Administrator
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- Yop
Fangu definitely gets the hots from a large amount of women, particularly the ones with 6-packs. 
I watched in the cinema in Brum the other day; like Fangu said, there was a lot of tl;dr story and overly emotionalish and thoughtful moments crammed in. The bad guy Bane wasn't as distinctive or insane a character as Scarecrow or the Joker in the previous movies, imho, and I had serious problems understanding the guy without subtitles. Didn't think the posh accent fit either, but then again, unexpected isn't bad per se. Overall, I'd say it's an okay movie.
I watched in the cinema in Brum the other day; like Fangu said, there was a lot of tl;dr story and overly emotionalish and thoughtful moments crammed in. The bad guy Bane wasn't as distinctive or insane a character as Scarecrow or the Joker in the previous movies, imho, and I had serious problems understanding the guy without subtitles. Didn't think the posh accent fit either, but then again, unexpected isn't bad per se. Overall, I'd say it's an okay movie.
looneymoon
they/them
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- Rishi
oh man I don't know what to say about this movie that already hasn't been said.
I'll list out what I did enjoy first off
- the score was amazing and there were a couple of points in the film where I had musicgasms
- the action scenes were really cool and enjoyable to watch.
- generally it was well-filmed and well-acted. tom hardy is a good facial actor, stupid voice aside. actually, the voiced ruins what is otherwise a pretty good performance.
Cons
- man, the overall stupidness in the plot was unforgiveable (nolan i am not 5 i know how a nuclear bomb works what the balls).
- then other stupid shit like "I LOOKED INTO YOUR FACE AND KNEW YOU WERE BATMAN" and "OH YOUR NAME IS SO NICE ROBIN" teehee
- suspension of disbelief was really bad, which may have been okay if nolan didn't do this half-assed "ground it in reality" schtick. it hasn't worked perfectly in the last two films, but it actively works against him in this one.
- ...why was there so much focus on a bunch of bitches we don't know or care about? honestly, jgl was almost the main character and there was just so much focus on shit that just did not matter - especially for a conclusion of a trilogy
- the plot meanders a LOT. a LOT A LOT. i mean the movie was paced pretty okay i guess but the plot just kind of wanders around for a good chunk of the movie and looking back i'm just like, what was the point of having to show us that when more exposition during other parts of the film could have been more useful? i mean i feel like the character development was pretty shallow because there was just so much cramming of pointless shit.
- ok we all knew it was talia right that wasn't even a twist
- i don't understand nolan's insistence of under-using extreme talent??? people mentioned christopher judge's couple of minutes of screen time, but did anyone have any clue that juno temple had a role on this movie? and she was only in it for a couple of minutes at most.
- the political commentary in this one was a lot more overt than any of the previous ones??? like, tdk was pretty pro-conservative but this one may have had a giant sign plastered across it saying "LIBERALISM IS EVIIIIIIL." idk it tried to be ~politically relevant~ but came off as hyper-conservative in a flighty manner and just pretty damn dumb tbh.
anyways if you shut your brain off i guess this movie could have been kind of enjoyable but otherwise it is a big giant BLEH!
I'll list out what I did enjoy first off
- the score was amazing and there were a couple of points in the film where I had musicgasms
- the action scenes were really cool and enjoyable to watch.
- generally it was well-filmed and well-acted. tom hardy is a good facial actor, stupid voice aside. actually, the voiced ruins what is otherwise a pretty good performance.
Cons
- man, the overall stupidness in the plot was unforgiveable (nolan i am not 5 i know how a nuclear bomb works what the balls).
- then other stupid shit like "I LOOKED INTO YOUR FACE AND KNEW YOU WERE BATMAN" and "OH YOUR NAME IS SO NICE ROBIN" teehee
- suspension of disbelief was really bad, which may have been okay if nolan didn't do this half-assed "ground it in reality" schtick. it hasn't worked perfectly in the last two films, but it actively works against him in this one.
- ...why was there so much focus on a bunch of bitches we don't know or care about? honestly, jgl was almost the main character and there was just so much focus on shit that just did not matter - especially for a conclusion of a trilogy
- the plot meanders a LOT. a LOT A LOT. i mean the movie was paced pretty okay i guess but the plot just kind of wanders around for a good chunk of the movie and looking back i'm just like, what was the point of having to show us that when more exposition during other parts of the film could have been more useful? i mean i feel like the character development was pretty shallow because there was just so much cramming of pointless shit.
- ok we all knew it was talia right that wasn't even a twist
- i don't understand nolan's insistence of under-using extreme talent??? people mentioned christopher judge's couple of minutes of screen time, but did anyone have any clue that juno temple had a role on this movie? and she was only in it for a couple of minutes at most.
- the political commentary in this one was a lot more overt than any of the previous ones??? like, tdk was pretty pro-conservative but this one may have had a giant sign plastered across it saying "LIBERALISM IS EVIIIIIIL." idk it tried to be ~politically relevant~ but came off as hyper-conservative in a flighty manner and just pretty damn dumb tbh.
anyways if you shut your brain off i guess this movie could have been kind of enjoyable but otherwise it is a big giant BLEH!
Ghost X
Moderator
@Looneymoon:
- I don't mind films that 'wander', as long as I find what it wanders to interesting. Not saying your wrong or anything, it just didn't bother me in this film.
- As far as political bias is concerned, I can see how a conservative might walk out of the film all smug, but conservatives are dumb
. What I took out from the film is that when the rich (both of private enterprise and of government) are corrupt, lawless revolution is not the answer. The film provided adequate commentary of both extremes, in my view.
- I generally have to shut off my brain to enjoy most films. It is only those films where I have to be comatose that I start complaining. There are films that also try to be intellectual, and try too hard. I don't think this was one of them.
- As far as political bias is concerned, I can see how a conservative might walk out of the film all smug, but conservatives are dumb
. What I took out from the film is that when the rich (both of private enterprise and of government) are corrupt, lawless revolution is not the answer. The film provided adequate commentary of both extremes, in my view.- I generally have to shut off my brain to enjoy most films. It is only those films where I have to be comatose that I start complaining
. There are films that also try to be intellectual, and try too hard. I don't think this was one of them.
looneymoon
they/them
- AKA
- Rishi
It actually didn't bother me while watching, because I was completely involved with what was going on through the film. It was more of a retrospective "oh wow that was ultimately really pointless" sort of thing.
Eeeeh I would maybe agree with that if it weren't for the fact that the villains (Bane and Talia) were horribly underdeveloped and their motivations hardly made any real ideological sense. I mean Nolan did sort of a half-assed job at trying to make them sympathetic but it was pretty shallow and never pushed it all the way home.
Bane's "liberation" of Gotham isn't really a liberation at all and he does this... why exactly?? To terrorize a bunch of people because he can? It isn't made clear why he's doing all this crap when he had a pretty straight-forward goal. Which was to finish of the work of Ra's al Ghul and blow up Gotham. That was it. What was the point of the whole liberation movement in the first place then? To give Bruce a five month window to heal and escape? It's very dumb and doesn't actually make any sense. Yet he's still painted as this leftist figure with socialist imagery and rhetoric when really he's just a terrorist.
Then ofc there's Batman, a personification of everything that is the 1%, who comes and saves the day with his "army." But the thing is, his army against the tyrannical terrorism of Bane is made up solely by... the Gotham police force. Uhhh okay, zeig heil Batman I suppose.
Gosh this whole thing becomes even more problematic now that I'm recalling that Caesar/dictator line from the second movie. The more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that Hitler would have loved this movie (because no one hated the socialists more than Hitler) (this is a deliberate over-exaggeration before anyone gets mad at me for making Nazi jokes).
Honestly, upon further reflection, I think the reason Catwoman came off as the most likable character of the film is because politically, she is probably the most honestly "liberal" character in a way modern audiences can identify. She's a working girl who relies on herself and makes do despite living a pretty underprivileged life. Even still, she's portrayed as morally corrupt with her thieving and deceptive nature, and still relies on Bruce to be her saviour to reprieve her from her past mistakes.
Oh related: I'm not sure how comfortable I was with the message that someone born privileged could just go and be underprivileged for a while and come out stronger than someone who had been born into the life of under-privilege? If that makes sense? Basically that whole part of Bruce breaking out the prison was decorated with some REALLY problematic language.
I dunno there were just a lot of right-wing political messages that were all-too overt in this movie for me to really be comfortable with them. It's just way too easy for me to see hardcore conservatives jizzing over this.
On that note, I think Vendel should see this I think he'd like it
No that was Total Recall .
Yeah, my worst pet peeve about certain films (or anything, really) is when they try too hard to be intellectual. Especially bad when said intellectualism is actually really absurd and falls flat on its face. I agree I don't think this film is really guilty of that. I think it gets way too involved with its own drama. So much so that it asks the viewer to dumb themselves down far too much for them to really buy what is going on. That's really the nicest way for me to put it.
- As far as political bias is concerned, I can see how a conservative might walk out of the film all smug, but conservatives are dumb
Eeeeh I would maybe agree with that if it weren't for the fact that the villains (Bane and Talia) were horribly underdeveloped and their motivations hardly made any real ideological sense. I mean Nolan did sort of a half-assed job at trying to make them sympathetic but it was pretty shallow and never pushed it all the way home.
Bane's "liberation" of Gotham isn't really a liberation at all and he does this... why exactly?? To terrorize a bunch of people because he can? It isn't made clear why he's doing all this crap when he had a pretty straight-forward goal. Which was to finish of the work of Ra's al Ghul and blow up Gotham. That was it. What was the point of the whole liberation movement in the first place then? To give Bruce a five month window to heal and escape? It's very dumb and doesn't actually make any sense. Yet he's still painted as this leftist figure with socialist imagery and rhetoric when really he's just a terrorist.
Then ofc there's Batman, a personification of everything that is the 1%, who comes and saves the day with his "army." But the thing is, his army against the tyrannical terrorism of Bane is made up solely by... the Gotham police force. Uhhh okay, zeig heil Batman I suppose.
Gosh this whole thing becomes even more problematic now that I'm recalling that Caesar/dictator line from the second movie. The more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that Hitler would have loved this movie (because no one hated the socialists more than Hitler) (this is a deliberate over-exaggeration before anyone gets mad at me for making Nazi jokes).
Honestly, upon further reflection, I think the reason Catwoman came off as the most likable character of the film is because politically, she is probably the most honestly "liberal" character in a way modern audiences can identify. She's a working girl who relies on herself and makes do despite living a pretty underprivileged life. Even still, she's portrayed as morally corrupt with her thieving and deceptive nature, and still relies on Bruce to be her saviour to reprieve her from her past mistakes.
Oh related: I'm not sure how comfortable I was with the message that someone born privileged could just go and be underprivileged for a while and come out stronger than someone who had been born into the life of under-privilege? If that makes sense? Basically that whole part of Bruce breaking out the prison was decorated with some REALLY problematic language.
I dunno there were just a lot of right-wing political messages that were all-too overt in this movie for me to really be comfortable with them. It's just way too easy for me to see hardcore conservatives jizzing over this.
On that note, I think Vendel should see this I think he'd like it
- I generally have to shut off my brain to enjoy most films. It is only those films where I have to be comatose that I start complaining
.Yeah, my worst pet peeve about certain films (or anything, really) is when they try too hard to be intellectual. Especially bad when said intellectualism is actually really absurd and falls flat on its face. I agree I don't think this film is really guilty of that. I think it gets way too involved with its own drama. So much so that it asks the viewer to dumb themselves down far too much for them to really buy what is going on. That's really the nicest way for me to put it.
Ghost X
Moderator
My memory of specific plot points is a bit hazy, as it's been a few weeks since I've watched the film, so forgive me. However, if I recall correctly, Bane and Talia are simply exploiting each side (rich and poor) to reach their goal. Also, the prolonged destruction of Gotham was meant to be Bane's torture of Batman, no? Maybe a cheesy plot device, but the film would be a lot shorter, and end tragically otherwise .
Aren't all vigilante superheroes representative of the right-wing? I can't say I disagree. Whether the film argues such a character is something to aspire to though is the question. I don't think it does, even if he saves the day. Batman's morality I think is put under question. I'll concede, maybe not as much here as in the second fillm. The radicalised prison escapees and impoverished are a bit of a caricature too, but I think the sympathetic light is shone on them enough.
.Aren't all vigilante superheroes representative of the right-wing? I can't say I disagree. Whether the film argues such a character is something to aspire to though is the question. I don't think it does, even if he saves the day. Batman's morality I think is put under question. I'll concede, maybe not as much here as in the second fillm. The radicalised prison escapees and impoverished are a bit of a caricature too, but I think the sympathetic light is shone on them enough.
looneymoon
they/them
- AKA
- Rishi
My memory of specific plot points is a bit hazy, as it's been a few weeks since I've watched the film, so forgive me. However, if I recall correctly, Bane and Talia are simply exploiting each side (rich and poor) to reach their goal. Also, the prolonged destruction of Gotham was meant to be Bane's torture of Batman, no? Maybe a cheesy plot device, but the film would be a lot shorter, and end tragically otherwise
So basically it comes down to this.
That's... really stupid. Things like this shouldn't really be happening so melodramatically for something that presents itself as sophisticated. I would have suggested a complete plot overhaul or at least a stronger justification for that. Way too trope-y and dumb.
I'm not sure if all vigilante heroes are representative of the right-wing, but this movie sure as hell tries to make it seem as they are. Though Batman maybe morally questioned a little bit (though not nearly enough), Blake on the other hand is shown as the face of moral aspiration and the movie ends with him becoming the next Batman.
Ghost X
Moderator
I agree about John Blake being the moral aspiration. At the end of the day, I think we simply differ in our view of if the movie is balanced enough in its commentary. On a scale of 1-10, with 5 being balanced, I'd say it's a 6.5. It is no Starship Troopers, Mein Kampf, or Atlas Shrugged =p.