The DC Film Universe

[Empath of the White]

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Epic. Nerdgasm. Heaven.

You've seen it? How was Bane? Did Nolan treat him as more than the grunting pitbull we got in B&R?

[Ricky]

Just got home from the movie. I really enjoyed it! However, I don't know what it was but I wanted something...more. Don't get me wrong, there were some amazing, amazing scenes (some of my favorite of the series) and dialogue and action, but there were some not-so-great parts as well. I'd love to discuss as more people see it. Still processing my thoughts.

[pathoftheturtle]

It's kind of long, seeming lacking and even dull in parts, but then comes the ending. That's not just emotionally intense but also pretty involving story. The plot holds off on twists until they all come together.
It is a very good film, if not one I'll ever value quite so much as the previous installment.

[Merlin1958]

It's kind of long, seeming lacking and even dull in parts, but then comes the ending. That's not just emotionally intense but also pretty involving story. The plot holds off on twists until they all come together.
It is a very good film, if not one I'll ever value quite so much as the previous installment.

I didn't mind the length, though I did think there were some editing issues that would have helped the story flow. The twists were great!! I especially liked...

Spoiler:

How they intertwined the 1st movie into this one and tied up most of the loose ends.

P.S. Feev, maybe its time to stick "Spoilers" in the thread title? JMHO

[Ricky]

Yeah, I think there were some definite editing issues. One big example is

Spoiler:

one minute, Bane's setting the bomb, and the next minute we hear Gordon say that 3 months have passed?! The transition (or lack of) was very poor, and also makes you wonder from a plot standpoint, what happened in those 3 months?

Just off the top of my head, here's some things that stood out for me:

Spoiler:

Positives:

- Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine performances. Wow. Easily the best (and my favorite) acting in the film. Perfect.

- Bruce climbing up from the Pit with Zimmer's Why Do We Fall blaring in the background. Probably in my top 5 favorite scenes from the series.

- Bruce's Batman-related comments such as "so that's what that feels like." Provides comedic relief while also giving Bruce the opportunity to feel what others' do by his presence.

- Bruce subtley revealing to Gordon that he is Batman. That little bit of dialogue really packed a lot of emotional punch.

Negatives:

- Probably the big negative of the film for me: the Reactor. From it not being introduced in a past film, it just kind of seemed "oh, here's something cool that could also be terrible for Gotham. Let's revolve the whole plot around this Reactor." It just didn't sit well with me. I've seen the "bomb's going to explode/have to save the city" plotline in way too many films before.

- Not enough Catwoman backstory. Anne did a fantastic job with what she was given, and she was given a great deal, however her story needed more, I thought. There were continual hints/mentionings about her past and how she wanted the Clean Slate program, but what I wanted to know was why?

- Blake being Robin. Just felt like a forced inclusion to please the comics fans. Maybe I'll think differently on a second viewing?

- Some of the editing, as I said earlier. The overall movie didn't need to be cut shorter or longer, just more focused.

That's what I've got for now. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts.

[Merlin1958]

Yeah, I think there were some definite editing issues. One big example is

Spoiler:

one minute, Bane's setting the bomb, and the next minute we hear Gordon say that 3 months have passed?! The transition (or lack of) was very poor, and also makes you wonder from a plot standpoint, what happened in those 3 months?

Just off the top of my head, here's some things that stood out for me:

Spoiler:

Positives:

- Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine performances. Wow. Easily the best (and my favorite) acting in the film. Perfect.

- Bruce climbing up from the Pit with Zimmer's Why Do We Fall blaring in the background. Probably in my top 5 favorite scenes from the series.

- Bruce's Batman-related comments such as "so that's what that feels like." Provides comedic relief while also giving Bruce the opportunity to feel what others' do by his presence.

- Bruce subtley revealing to Gordon that he is Batman. That little bit of dialogue really packed a lot of emotional punch.

Negatives:

- Probably the big negative of the film for me: the Reactor. From it not being introduced in a past film, it just kind of seemed "oh, here's something cool that could also be terrible for Gotham. Let's revolve the whole plot around this Reactor." It just didn't sit well with me. I've seen the "bomb's going to explode/have to save the city" plotline in way too many films before.

- Not enough Catwoman backstory. Anne did a fantastic job with what she was given, and she was given a great deal, however her story needed more, I thought. There were continual hints/mentionings about her past and how she wanted the Clean Slate program, but what I wanted to know was why?

- Blake being Robin. Just felt like a forced inclusion to please the comics fans. Maybe I'll think differently on a second viewing?

- Some of the editing, as I said earlier. The overall movie didn't need to be cut shorter or longer, just more focused.

That's what I've got for now. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts.

You know what, Ricky? Mark this date cause I think you and I are pretty much in agreement!!!!!!!

Some of the scenes that could have been edited could have been devoted to more "Selena Kyle" back story. Plus as you pointed out, there were some editing mis-ques you wouldn't expect from Nolan in his "Grand Finale" and a few parts were well, contrived. Overall, not quite as tight knit as TDK, but in the end a very well done finale to the series!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it, but may have enjoyed "The Avengers" just a tad more.

Spoiler:

Oh, and even though they mentioned "Robin" (I don't read the comics) I absolutely came away thinking if there was a DK IV there was going to be a new "Batman" not a "Robin" MHO

[Empath of the White]

Wow. I was expecting

Spoiler:

the 3 month takeover of Gotham to be where we'd see Catwoman's turn. I guess that happens while Bruce is incarcerated?

[Merlin1958]

Now why the heck did the forum do that ^^^^^????? LOL I posted outside the "Quotes"???? LOL

[Merlin1958]

Wow. I was expecting

Spoiler:

the 3 month takeover of Gotham to be where we'd see Catwoman's turn. I guess that happens while Bruce is incarcerated?

I thought that...

Spoiler:

She always had a basically "good", if you will, nature that Bruce saw in her and brought out in the end, IMHO

[Ricky]

Some of the scenes that could have been edited could have been devoted to more "Selena Kyle" back story. Plus as you pointed out, there were some editing mis-ques you wouldn't expect from Nolan in his "Grand Finale" and a few parts were well, contrived. Overall, not quite as tight knit as TDK, but in the end a very well done finale to the series!!!!

I agree with all of this. "Tight knit" is exactly the wording I was looking for.

Wow. I was expecting

Spoiler:

the 3 month takeover of Gotham to be where we'd see Catwoman's turn. I guess that happens while Bruce is incarcerated?

I really wish we would've gotten to see that. That's probably the only big thing that I missed from Selina's story. Otherwise, a fantastic character and performance from Anne.

It also would have been nice to see more

Spoiler:

of how the people of Gotham reacted to Bane's "liberation", aside from the few minute we got of Selina's friend saying how great it was.

I thought that...

Spoiler:

She always had a basically "good", if you will, nature that Bruce saw in her and brought out in the end, IMHO

That's what I took away from it, too.

[Brice]

Now why the heck did the forum do that ^^^^^????? LOL I posted outside the "Quotes"???? LOL

I looked and I don't see why. I have seen it happen on occasion before though. I don't know why.

[Merlin1958]

Now why the heck did the forum do that ^^^^^????? LOL I posted outside the "Quotes"???? LOL

I looked and I don't see why. I have seen it happen on occasion before though. I don't know why.

No "Biggee" !! LOL

I'm going to see it again on Sunday!!!!

[Empath of the White]

So would you say it is still a good threequel, then? I mean, its not Spider-Man 3 bore or X-Men 3 bad?

I read that

Spoiler:

Bane sort of adopted young Talia while they were in prison together. That sounds good.

[Merlin1958]

So would you say it is still a good threequel, then? I mean, its not Spider-Man 3 bore or X-Men 3 bad?

I read that

Spoiler:

Bane sort of adopted young Talia while they were in prison together. That sounds good.

Dude, IMHO it was EXCELLENT!!!!!

[Ricky]

So would you say it is still a good threequel, then? I mean, its not Spider-Man 3 bore or X-Men 3 bad?

Wait, I thought you saw it?!

I would say it's a very good threequel. And no, defintely not even close to being Spider-Man 3 bad. I think right now I'm focusing more on the negatives since I kind of went in expecting Nolan perfection. It definitely wasn't perfect, but it was a damn good film.

[Empath of the White]

No, but don't worry! Last night I made the mistake of clicking one-JUST ONE-spoiler tag elsewhere and my eyes, once they started, they wouldn't stop eating it up. :/

[Ricky]

Get off the Internet! Nowhere is safe!

[Brice]

Now why the heck did the forum do that ^^^^^????? LOL I posted outside the "Quotes"???? LOL

I looked and I don't see why. I have seen it happen on occasion before though. I don't know why.

No "Biggee" !! LOL

I'm going to see it again on Sunday!!!!

I think I'll exploit the fact that my good friend runs the projection booth at the local theater.

[pathoftheturtle]

I didn't mind the length, though I did think there were some editing issues that would have helped the story flow.

Well, maybe "too long" weren't the right words. I was just trying to say that I know what Ricky was talking about. Perhaps, though, that "something... more" we wanted was simply Heath Ledger. Or him + Aaron Eckhart. This was a far better Bane than Shumacher's, but still more mask than human.

So would you say it is still a good threequel, then? I mean, its not Spider-Man 3 bore or X-Men 3 bad?

Wait, I thought you saw it?!

I would say it's a very good threequel. And no, defintely not even close to being Spider-Man 3 bad. I think right now I'm focusing more on the negatives since I kind of went in expecting Nolan perfection. It definitely wasn't perfect, but it was a damn good film.

Yes. Unlike those examples, this movie all by itself could have been a truly fine sequel to Batman Begins. Hard to complain about the middle one just being too good.

Spoiler:

- Blake being Robin. Just felt like a forced inclusion to please the comics fans. Maybe I'll think differently on a second viewing?

I liked that. Made me feel better about

Spoiler:

him getting more screen time than Bruce

And more the point

Spoiler:

if Batman really retired there had BETTER be some new Dark Knight.

In many other ways, however, this indeed catered too much to fans. I guess C. Nolan & co. let the vocal minorrity between films influence them, enough that this one might as well have been comics. Even better actually: that would have let them develop backstory, interim sequences, and done the rest the stuff you folks have mentioned, whereas commercial motives are the only ones I can see for why this really had to be live action.

[Empath of the White]

So would you say it moves along at a pace similar to TDK after the stuff with Lau (which was fairly slow, imo).

[Ricky]

Well, maybe "too long" weren't the right words. I was just trying to say that I know what Ricky was talking about. Perhaps, though, that "something... more" we wanted was simply Heath Ledger. Or him + Aaron Eckhart.

I've been thinking about what the "more" was. I think Heath Ledger definitely set the bar high for whatever villain would've been next, so it's hard not to compare the Joker to Bane. I definitely understand and am okay with the fact that the two are totally different both in appearance, looks, and objectives (to a point), but for me, the Joker was a more fleshed-out character than Bane, as much as I loved the physical challenge he posed to Batman.

The Joker had very minimal backstory, but that fit with his character and is acceptable, solidified by the hints that not even he knows his own story anymore. However, for Bane, I think the script was definitely flawed in not paying enough attention to his story and his humanity, aside from his brief moments with

Spoiler:

Talia.

Looking back on it now, I would have no problem if the film was an extra 30 minutes. I think that would've drastically helped the pacing, emotional overtones, and given Nolan the time that he really needed to pay more attention to some underused characters.

[DoctorDodge]

Saw it, and my, my, did I enjoy it! Very emotional and very satisfying end to the trilogy. Not perfect, but not Spiderman 3, either. What I especially loved is how it felt like the final part of a story and tying into the first installment really nicely, rather than feeling like just another sequel. I'll try and post some more thoughts later, but overall, a pretty epic film.

[Shannon]

The Dark Knight Rises
Shannon (first time viewing): 3/5
Amber (first time viewing): 4/5

Spoiler:

I teetered and tottered between rating this movie as a three or as a four. What it comes down to is that as a movie, it was a three and a half, and as a Nolan's Batman movie it was a three. So, I settled on a three. LONG, dull, too many third-tier characters having too much screen time, not enough Bruce Wayne/Batman, not enough Catwoman storyline (besides being Bruce's "happy ending", she did very little to aid the plot of the movie), Bane being too super-human while still supposed to be a normal, strong guy, etc. I mean, seriously, I understand Batman was weak from his time off, but for him to repeatedly punch Bane straight in the face and for Bane to act as if he was hit by a child? No way.

I have a question ... it MIGHT have just been my theatre, but I'm not so sure ... Were the sound effects sometimes a little ... off? Maybe not "off", but ... weak? There were a few too many gunshots deafened (the prologue scene where the guyis shot right before he was almost pushed out of the plane), too many punches deafened (the scene where Batman punches the motorcyclist in the helmet, breaking the faceshield is the best example, as well as the first fight between Bane and Batman) ... it came off as weak ... toned down ... anything, anyone?

I liked the twist with Talia being the one who escaped the prison. I liked the entire ending, with Bruce and Selina getting their happy ending, with the Robin reveal, as well as the Robin becoming the new Batman foreshadowing. Very well done. But the ending doesn't make up for the other two and a half hours. Not for me.

[Empath of the White]

@Shannon: Did they address Bane's

Spoiler:

anesthetic? His mask is supposed to supply him with the stuff; it keeps the pain from a past injury at a tolerable level. He may have taken a couple of shots.

[Shannon]

Empath, you're ruining the movie by reading about it before watching it, but yes, they did address it. But to me, pain medication just means you won't feel it so much when Batman caves your face in with a single punch, not "Ha, you call that a punch!?"