Dark Knight Rises Spoiler Edition

Off Topic
181

I just saw it yesterday.

I’ll let the rumors fly regarding another one being made, etc. The one thing I would warn is that we don’t want movie franchises to end up like Tugg Speedmans movies did in the “Tropic Thunder” story.

Here are my thoughts on TDKR.

  1. The opening airplane scene was freaking badass and in a 6-8 minute segment it told you that Bane was a mastermind, his crew was well equipped, and the whole organization was well trained and committed. In relation to the Jokers team of boobs that broke into the bank in TDK, the LoS guys meant business and were there to clean house. Spooky-good.

  2. The thing I hated most going into this movie was that Catwoman was going to be meddling in Batmans’ operations. I always thought of her as a good looking pain in the ass. I was proven wrong by the writing for Selena Kyle as well as Hathaways’ performance. Gone are the cat-lady crazies that Michelle Phifer brought and I’m glad for it.

Hathaway was terrific and her costume was far from conservative. Even using her goggles flipped up to create the illusion of cat ears on her head was very smart. Writing her as a motivated character with a goal made more sense than a just girl who thrived on getting attention and chaos.

  1. A lot of folks are bummed that Bane turned out to be a henchman for Talia. I don’t necessarily agree. His drive was to the service of the one he loved most. Tending to Talia’s needs is what he did his whole adult life. Her vision was also his, and in the end he had done what he’d always done, which is what he believed was the honorable thing. It’s the truest committment a man can make for a woman, and it’s both romantic and manly. I’m not mad about that plot point at all.

  2. I recommend everyone listen to Kevin Smiths’ podcast “Fatman on Batman” episode #8. If you’re a fan of the Batman you should listen to all episodes, but episode 8 is where he sits down with his buddy Scott and he rehashes TDKR. He has theories that make sense, references from other films, and talks openly with his buddy (sometimes even coming to tears) about what this story did for him. I can only take Kevin Smith in very small doses, but this Fatman on Batman podcast has really been great.

  3. Marion Cotillard. Man, Nolan must either love or hate this girl to be the lady antagonist in now two of his biggest films (She was Mal in “Inception”).

  4. I’ve really enjoyed how Nolan is using the same cast of players for his films. Doesn’t matter for storytelling or cinematography, but I definitely grin when I see Hardy, Levitt, Caine, Cotillard and the like having big roles in his films.

  5. I loved this movie, LOVED IT. The whole trilogy is terrific and should compete if not beat Star Wars as the way modern day movies should be told.

  6. Marvel Movies are but appetizers for the depth of the Dark Knight movies.

  7. My wife is a big softy. She is the type of person who really walks into a theater with a clean slate prepared to be immersed into whatever world a film puts her in. Throughout this film she crouched, leaned way back, covered her eyes, sat on the edge of her seat, and pumped her fist during the victories this film provided.

That being said, she was a mess the last 10 minutes of this picture. Balling. Overwhelmed by the ride she had taken and wholly satisfied by the way Bruce Wayne’s story had been buttoned up. I haven’t seen her react to any movie like that save Toy Story 3, but even that movie left her quietly weeping, whereas this one really got to her. I think that should about say it all for how we feel about this film, and trilogy.

Oh,

Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.

182

I liked it

183

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:

Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.
[/quote]
it made me LOL

184

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
I just saw it yesterday.

I’ll let the rumors fly regarding another one being made, etc. The one thing I would warn is that we don’t want movie franchises to end up like Tugg Speedmans movies did in the “Tropic Thunder” story.

Here are my thoughts on TDKR.

  1. The opening airplane scene was freaking badass and in a 6-8 minute segment it told you that Bane was a mastermind, his crew was well equipped, and the whole organization was well trained and committed. In relation to the Jokers team of boobs that broke into the bank in TDK, the LoS guys meant business and were there to clean house. Spooky-good.

  2. The thing I hated most going into this movie was that Catwoman was going to be meddling in Batmans’ operations. I always thought of her as a good looking pain in the ass. I was proven wrong by the writing for Selena Kyle as well as Hathaways’ performance. Gone are the cat-lady crazies that Michelle Phifer brought and I’m glad for it.

Hathaway was terrific and her costume was far from conservative. Even using her goggles flipped up to create the illusion of cat ears on her head was very smart. Writing her as a motivated character with a goal made more sense than a just girl who thrived on getting attention and chaos.

  1. A lot of folks are bummed that Bane turned out to be a henchman for Talia. I don’t necessarily agree. His drive was to the service of the one he loved most. Tending to Talia’s needs is what he did his whole adult life. Her vision was also his, and in the end he had done what he’d always done, which is what he believed was the honorable thing. It’s the truest committment a man can make for a woman, and it’s both romantic and manly. I’m not mad about that plot point at all.

  2. I recommend everyone listen to Kevin Smiths’ podcast “Fatman on Batman” episode #8. If you’re a fan of the Batman you should listen to all episodes, but episode 8 is where he sits down with his buddy Scott and he rehashes TDKR. He has theories that make sense, references from other films, and talks openly with his buddy (sometimes even coming to tears) about what this story did for him. I can only take Kevin Smith in very small doses, but this Fatman on Batman podcast has really been great.

  3. Marion Cotillard. Man, Nolan must either love or hate this girl to be the lady antagonist in now two of his biggest films (She was Mal in “Inception”).

  4. I’ve really enjoyed how Nolan is using the same cast of players for his films. Doesn’t matter for storytelling or cinematography, but I definitely grin when I see Hardy, Levitt, Caine, Cotillard and the like having big roles in his films.

  5. I loved this movie, LOVED IT. The whole trilogy is terrific and should compete if not beat Star Wars as the way modern day movies should be told.

  6. Marvel Movies are but appetizers for the depth of the Dark Knight movies.

  7. My wife is a big softy. She is the type of person who really walks into a theater with a clean slate prepared to be immersed into whatever world a film puts her in. Throughout this film she crouched, leaned way back, covered her eyes, sat on the edge of her seat, and pumped her fist during the victories this film provided.

That being said, she was a mess the last 10 minutes of this picture. Balling. Overwhelmed by the ride she had taken and wholly satisfied by the way Bruce Wayne’s story had been buttoned up. I haven’t seen her react to any movie like that save Toy Story 3, but even that movie left her quietly weeping, whereas this one really got to her. I think that should about say it all for how we feel about this film, and trilogy.

Oh,

Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.

[/quote]

Good post; made me think.

185

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
I just saw it yesterday.

I’ll let the rumors fly regarding another one being made, etc. The one thing I would warn is that we don’t want movie franchises to end up like Tugg Speedmans movies did in the “Tropic Thunder” story.

Here are my thoughts on TDKR.

  1. The opening airplane scene was freaking badass and in a 6-8 minute segment it told you that Bane was a mastermind, his crew was well equipped, and the whole organization was well trained and committed. In relation to the Jokers team of boobs that broke into the bank in TDK, the LoS guys meant business and were there to clean house. Spooky-good.

  2. The thing I hated most going into this movie was that Catwoman was going to be meddling in Batmans’ operations. I always thought of her as a good looking pain in the ass. I was proven wrong by the writing for Selena Kyle as well as Hathaways’ performance. Gone are the cat-lady crazies that Michelle Phifer brought and I’m glad for it.

Hathaway was terrific and her costume was far from conservative. Even using her goggles flipped up to create the illusion of cat ears on her head was very smart. Writing her as a motivated character with a goal made more sense than a just girl who thrived on getting attention and chaos.

  1. A lot of folks are bummed that Bane turned out to be a henchman for Talia. I don’t necessarily agree. His drive was to the service of the one he loved most. Tending to Talia’s needs is what he did his whole adult life. Her vision was also his, and in the end he had done what he’d always done, which is what he believed was the honorable thing. It’s the truest committment a man can make for a woman, and it’s both romantic and manly. I’m not mad about that plot point at all.

  2. I recommend everyone listen to Kevin Smiths’ podcast “Fatman on Batman” episode #8. If you’re a fan of the Batman you should listen to all episodes, but episode 8 is where he sits down with his buddy Scott and he rehashes TDKR. He has theories that make sense, references from other films, and talks openly with his buddy (sometimes even coming to tears) about what this story did for him. I can only take Kevin Smith in very small doses, but this Fatman on Batman podcast has really been great.

  3. Marion Cotillard. Man, Nolan must either love or hate this girl to be the lady antagonist in now two of his biggest films (She was Mal in “Inception”).

  4. I’ve really enjoyed how Nolan is using the same cast of players for his films. Doesn’t matter for storytelling or cinematography, but I definitely grin when I see Hardy, Levitt, Caine, Cotillard and the like having big roles in his films.

  5. I loved this movie, LOVED IT. The whole trilogy is terrific and should compete if not beat Star Wars as the way modern day movies should be told.

  6. Marvel Movies are but appetizers for the depth of the Dark Knight movies.

  7. My wife is a big softy. She is the type of person who really walks into a theater with a clean slate prepared to be immersed into whatever world a film puts her in. Throughout this film she crouched, leaned way back, covered her eyes, sat on the edge of her seat, and pumped her fist during the victories this film provided.

That being said, she was a mess the last 10 minutes of this picture. Balling. Overwhelmed by the ride she had taken and wholly satisfied by the way Bruce Wayne’s story had been buttoned up. I haven’t seen her react to any movie like that save Toy Story 3, but even that movie left her quietly weeping, whereas this one really got to her. I think that should about say it all for how we feel about this film, and trilogy.

Oh,

Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.

[/quote]
Excellent post. And, I couldn’t agree more.

186

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
A lot of folks are bummed that Bane turned out to be a henchman for Talia. I don’t necessarily agree. His drive was to the service of the one he loved most. Tending to Talia’s needs is what he did his whole adult life. Her vision was also his, and in the end he had done what he’d always done, which is what he believed was the honorable thing. It’s the truest committment a man can make for a woman, and it’s both romantic and manly. I’m not mad about that plot point at all.
[/quote]

Yeah, Bane was far, far more than a henchman. After she reveals her true identity to Bruce Wayne, Talia tells him to stay and die in Gotham. She knew, as Ra’s did, that Bane was too dangerous to control and had to die. At that moment Hardy let a look flicker across his eyes to show that he didn’t want to die but knew he had to. Brilliant. Even if he did go out like a bitch.

The relationship between Talia and Bane is similar to Esmerelda and Quasimodo: he’s a tragic figure and an outcast, and in some ways a romantic hero (he is said to love Talia even if that love is unrequited), just like a twisted, shadow-cloaked ‘hermit’ Bruce Wayne draws comparisons with The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux’s original, not Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tuxedoed metrosexual).

There were also shades of Frankenstein’s monster in Bane. Created in hell, should be dead, too brutal to live in civilized society…yadda-yadda-yadda, you get the point…

The (Lazarus) pit sub-plot borrows heavily from The Count of Monte Cristo. With the French revolution backdrop and Cotillard in a key role, Nolan really went continental in this.

But the absolute best thing in these movies which this third chapter brought into the light was the nature of mythologizing an individual:

Talia is the only person to "rise "(apart from Bruce Wayne); she returns with her father to rescue Bane and wreak bloody revenge on the inmates who raped and murdered her mother; Bane becomes known as the inmate who rose; young Ra’s observes the power of myth and forms an army around himself to appear immortal; in later years, Ra’s teaches Bruce Wayne to become a symbol; Wayne, lacking an army to obscure his identity, resorts to his childhood fear of bats to become something greater than a man; The Joker puts his own twist on it by become a symbol of crime, not justice (hence why he tells a different story to explain his scars every time - the man is gone. Just like Bruce Wayne almost loses himself and becomes Batman totally.

Bane and Talia’s shared origin brings it full cirle.

That’s just brilliant storytelling on every level. Good luck following that , WB.

187

[quote]roybot wrote:
The (Lazarus) pit sub-plot borrows heavily from The Count of Monte Cristo. With the French revolution backdrop and Cotillard in a key role, Nolan really went continental in this.
[/quote]
Got the same vibe. Explains the feelings of nostalgia.

188

[quote]roybot wrote:
she returns with her father to rescue Bane and wreak bloody revenge on the inmates who raped and murdered her mother
[/quote]
They ran a frickin cruiseliner on her. Absolutely ridiculous.

189

Slightly off topic, but my mommy bought me a batman bobble head doll. Looks just like him!!!

They also had bane, but I chose batman. :->

I put him on my nightstand near the picture of my puppy dog (in a puppy dog frame actually).

He fits right in!

BOBBLE

BOBBLE

BBOOOOOOOOBBBBBBLEEEEEEEE

190

[quote]roybot wrote:
The Joker puts his own twist on it by become a symbol of crime, not justice (hence why he tells a different story to explain his scars every time - the man is gone. Just like Bruce Wayne almost loses himself and becomes Batman totally.
[/quote]

That’s a similar perspective to my own. As the Joker says to Batman, “you complete me”. They are the symbolic manifestation of polar opposites, but at the same time - they are alike.

192

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.[/quote]

Yeah that was cool.

I caught IMAX version for my 2nd viewing… and the entire movie was prob twice as good.

No lie.

193

[quote]chillain wrote:

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
Favorite sequence:

The strobelight effect of gunfire as the Batman got closer to his assailant. I’ve never seen a thing like that before, and it was awesome.[/quote]

Yeah that was cool.

I caught IMAX version for my 2nd viewing… and the entire movie was prob twice as good.

No lie.

[/quote]

x2. I did the same. The sound was particularly awesome in IMAX.

194

I liked it alot and have seen it two times now, are probably going to see it a third time in cinema.

What I liked the most about the film:

  1. Bane.
    He`s persona and voice, I think Hardys Bane was as good as Heats Joker.
    ( He was especially good in the scene he breaks Batmans back and when he kills daggart )

  2. The opening scene.

  3. The pit.

  4. Jim Gordon. Because Gary Oldman plays him ( nuff said )

Things that could have been better IMO:

  1. Banes death. ( Others have explained why )

  2. Wayne should have died in my opinion. IMO it would have made the point of Batman being a symbol and more than one man even stronger. Also it would have made Wayne a even more heroic and darker character.

  3. The catburgler thing where lame and pretensious. Would it killed them to call her catwoman.

  4. Didnt like the Blake character that much, even though I understand hes an integral part in the entire "batman is more than a man, hes a symbol" concept.

All in all thoug, it was a cool movie and a great entertainment. The marvel stuff aint much in comparison IMO.

195

[quote]Consul wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:
The Joker puts his own twist on it by become a symbol of crime, not justice (hence why he tells a different story to explain his scars every time - the man is gone. Just like Bruce Wayne almost loses himself and becomes Batman totally.
[/quote]

That’s a similar perspective to my own. As the Joker says to Batman, “you complete me”. They are the symbolic manifestation of polar opposites, but at the same time - they are alike.
[/quote]

If you have not read Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke,” go read it.

now.

196

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]Consul wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:
The Joker puts his own twist on it by become a symbol of crime, not justice (hence why he tells a different story to explain his scars every time - the man is gone. Just like Bruce Wayne almost loses himself and becomes Batman totally.
[/quote]

That’s a similar perspective to my own. As the Joker says to Batman, “you complete me”. They are the symbolic manifestation of polar opposites, but at the same time - they are alike.
[/quote]

If you have not read Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke,” go read it.

now.

[/quote]

Thanks, man, I’ll check it out.

Beastly new avi, btw.

197

My son liked it more than myself but it was allright. The IMAX was worth the extra quid.

I also thought Banes voice was odd. It sounded like Sean Connery mixed with Darth Vader, seemed less sinister than it could have. I kept picturing Connery the beat cop in the Untouchables lol.

198

^ Yeah thats a big thing going around, a lot of people are saying the same thing. They actually dubbed over his vioce, the original IMO was more menacing and deeper. But it was hard to understand and I actaully had problems even understanding the new voice so I can imagine how hard if would have been to sit through an entire movie of the old voice.

The new one reminded me of a guy at a carnival calling into the crowd.

199

His voice did give the impression of calm, total control though, which fitted him.

200

It wasn’t an odd voice to me. It was definitely menacing. This English Gentry that’s been pinned under this mask. Can’t sink himself low enough to sound gangster, but instead chose to stay refined.

Really good.

The death metal growl would have been the obvious choice. It was pretty cool to me.

201

Here’s the comparison vid between the IMAX prologue Bane voice and the redubbed version:

And this is a clip of gypsy bare-knuckle boxer Bartley Gorman - the guy who Tom Hardy based the Bane voice on: