The Dark Knight Rises

[Wrapper30]

Watched it New Years Eve and yesterday and it wasn't a patch on the Dark Knight and was let down by:-
1. Bane. Very one dimensional and as terrifying as a very small mouse.
2. All the Cops going down the sewers.and getting trapped.
3. Anne Hathaway. Dreadfully wooden with a strange accent.
However it was a great spectacle and I would watch it again but parking my brain would be essential.
I found the Amazing Spiderman infinitely better.

[Jonesy]

I have shocked myself by actually enjoying this film. Unlike BB and TDK, I didn't fall asleep. Visually it was stunning, and Anne Hathaway's arse was worth every cent.

Edit: I suppose I should be a little less facetious and explain why I liked this film. Like Skyfall, TDKR was clearly trying to bring action back to basics, moving away from the 'gamey' look of such tosh like The Amazing Spiderman. In this Nolan succeeded - the fighting was more realistic, the war on the street, between the released prisoners and the police, more like a battle of times past. This is what impressed me more than anything about this film, and why I rate it above Batman Begins, which bored me shitless in every sense.

[Punchbowl]

Watched BB and TDK today and rather enjoyed BB more than I did on the first viewing. I still think Bale sucks, but he's not as bad in BB as he is in the subsequent movies. And Oldmans monologue at the end of TDK is still pointless. But TDKR is pretty poor, a let down of Ewokian proportions. So, I don't hate it as much as I used to bit it's not as great a trilogy as everyone seems to think it is.

[morris]

Originally Posted by Punchbowl

And Oldmans monologue at the end of TDK is still pointless.

Of course it is. As far as I'm concerned, the movie ends the moment the Joker is no longer in it. I stop it there and take the film out of the player.
I didn't find TDKR poor. It was epic, did what it said on the tin, I found all the characters interesting and it was so beautifully shot, I almost wished I'd made the effort to go to the cinema (but not quite 'cause I'm lazy). If I'm honest not only did I enjoy it more than the Amazing Spider-Man; I liked it more than Avengers Assemble. I said it.


Bale is most annoying in BB and I find that film such a bore. I've tried to watch it more than once. Maybe it's tedious because it's so Wayne-centric and Batman is nothing without his nemeses. Scarecrow is good but criminally under-used. We barely see him, what a waste.

I'm not disappointed with my purchase of TDKR as I thought I might be. I'll watch it again, and I like having the follow up to TDK. It's a flawed trilogy, sure but imo BB is by far the weakest film.

[CitizenSnips]

Have to agree with fortunesfool on this, the whole thing was too disjointed and forced to reach the heights of TDK. Although TDK had a lot going on within it, I thought it more or less hung together whereas TDKR just didn't cohere. I get that this is a film about a guy dressed as a bat beating up vigilantes with a nuke but when the film gets this serious about its themes and politics I expect more coherency. It felt more to me like it was trying to be epic, rather than actually succeeding.

The Joker's scheme in TDK was implausible, but at least fit with the idea of the character as a very smart, powerful anarchist-type. The central threat in this was suitably fitting for a final film but Nolan's twisted the plot in knots trying to justify everything that happens. Sending every cop into the sewers, waiting 5 months before the endgame, the bad guys not immediately mowing down all the police at the end, the kangaroo court scenes, Bane's exit... the action, as others have said, was awesome, and the whole thing WAS beautifully shot. And Hardy and Hathaway were excellent in their roles. Bane in particular is an awesome villain, but underused. But there were too many moments that made me go 'Huh?" to put it on a par with TDK.

[morris]

Fair points made stikks, esp in the second paragraph. I can't dispute what you say but found it entertaining all the same. I suppose with so many people saying it was crap and that I'd be disappointed, my expectations were adjusted not to hope for The Most Perfect Bat Movie Ever.
Could it be that we tend to ask or expect more from Nolan than other comic book film directors? I mean AA and Amazing Spider-Man both had more holes than Swiss cheese and more CGI than you could stuff onto a cloaked aircraft carrier but we don't tend to call those out on not being realistic and logical enough.

[fortunesfool]

My problem with the Nolan Batman's, and I include Dark Knight, is that Nolan seems to hold them to a higher standard. He seems to be under the impression that he's making some profound, high art thrillers, when he's really just making a boring superhero movie. The smarter he tries to make them, the dumber they seem. Why does the energy device have a huge 'countdown to destruction' on it? It's not actually a bomb, its an energy device! His dialogue is awful too - really ponderous and on the nose. I lost count of the amount of times the film ground to a halt so someone could deliver a monologue.

At least Joss Whedon had no pretensions that he was making something other than a glorious, fun, superhero movie.

[morris]

Whoa. Did you, a JAMES CAMERON fan, just criticise Nolan for bad diaologue?? That is so rich I don't feel the need to say more.

Whedon's Avengers had some snappy repartee between certain characters. But it was still a dumb movie. And when there was nothing happening on the screen, action wise, it was easily as boring as a talky bit in TDK or TDKR.
Most of Samuel L Jackson's lines had me rolling my eyes. Jingoistic American tripe.

[fortunesfool]

Opening ten minutes aside, I wasn't bored at all during Avengers. I was bored constantly during dark knight.
Can't really argue the Cameron thing, there are some serious clangers in Avatar. it's not that the dialogue is bad in dark knight just that it's lifeless. People speak in statements to serve the story. I remember one scene between cat woman and Batman when she gets on the bike: it's about the only scene where there's a bit of humour and banter between them. That's why I preferred*avengers. It's a dumb film for sure, but every scene is full of lovely character moments and it's those that make me want to watch a film again.
it's also a tonal thing. Avengers got away with a certain amount of cheese because you were expecting it and whedon writes it so well. The tone in dark knight is so serious that the superhero stuff just jars and seems stupid.
I'd happily watch any of Nolans film again but the Batman trilogy just baffles me.

[morris]

Originally Posted by fortunesfool

Can't really argue the Cameron thing, there are some serious clangers in Avatar.

Not just Avatar. The dialogue in Titanic is dire and when I recently rewatched T2 on telly, I was shocked at how clunky and try-hard the dialogue is. Good god, it has dated SO badly it's not true. I've come to recognise that dialogue is a consistent weakness with Cameron. The only time I can think of where he gets it right is Aliens, because the marines are wisecracking. It works there, and even manages some memorable quotes. But all attempts since to recapture that slickness have been big fails, by Cameron and his many would-be copyists.

It's probably a fair cop to say the Dark Knight films are sometimes guilty of taking themselves too seriously. Especially Batman Begins which I try to forget about. But TDKR managed one or two chuckle moments. Not as many as AA, obviously.

It's a dumb film for sure, but every scene is full of lovely character moments and it's those that make me want to watch a film again.

I get what you're saying, but in some ways the film is so dumb that I think one or two watches and I'd be done with it, even with those lovely character moments. Tony Stark is really in love with himself; doesn't mean the rest of us have to be.

The tone in dark knight is so serious that the superhero stuff just jars and seems stupid.

It is undeniably serious and dark, but I'd argue there isn't as much superhero stuff in TDKR. You see Wayne brought down to his most basic...in prison, without gimmicks, barely able to move for the pain. All the superhero stuff is really his technology and this is used as much by the bad guys as it is by him. So it's more of a human story, and in that sense, hard to compare with people who can make the sky crackle by throwing a hammer on the ground etc.

I guess the bottom line is, they're too different to easily bear comparison. It comes down to which approach you like. Dark and gritty, character-driven but taking itself quite seriously - or big dumb and fun with supposedly endearing moments between characters.