The DC Film Universe

**Merlin1958** · 07-22-2012 07:33 AM

Was it just me or, did anyone else hear Sean Connery's voice every time Bane spoke? LOL I closed my eyes and listened and would have swore it was Connery not Hardy!! LOL

**Shannon** · 07-22-2012 08:34 AM

I heard it too. Sometimes it was stronger than others.

**Ka-mai** · 07-22-2012 09:13 AM

I KNEW Bane's voice reminded me of something. You're totally right.

Positives:

Spoiler:

Negatives:

Spoiler:

Lastly, I love that Aidan Gillen was in it, if only briefly.

**Ricky** · 07-22-2012 09:43 AM

I'm still thinking about the film, and one negative that I keep coming back to is that the stakes weren't high enough, meaning I never felt worried for Alfred, Fox, Selina, or the people of Gotham (seriously, where were they), except at the football game. For the amount of destruction and terror that Bane was inflicting on Gotham, I wanted to really feel the horror of the people of Gotham and that anyone could be at risk.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

I would have liked to see exactly what she did to screw up her life so badly

This is exactly what I wanted. I seemed like they were building up to a reveal, but it never got there.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

Spoiler:

The more I think about it, the more I think that the

Spoiler:

would've been perfect for the Joker. Makes you wonder what Nolan had in mind for his character before Heath's death.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

Negatives:

Spoiler:

I agree with all these points. Definitely not enough Batman. I understand that this was more about Bruce Wayne than Batman, but there were way too many instances where Batman was absent for long periods of time.

**Ka-mai** · 07-22-2012 10:03 AM

It shouldn't be about Bruce! The whole thing with superheroes is that they are completely boring people who have badass alter egos. We love them because they left their mundane lives and became awesome, as we'd all like to do. We don't want to watch a movie about the boring normal life. Or at least I don't.

**sgc1999** · 07-22-2012 10:18 AM

I loved it! A bit worried about what happened the night before so i kept looking around the theatre a few times but it kind of added to the suspense of the movie. Seriously, your not safe anywhere anymore.
Sick!

Spoiler:

**pathoftheturtle** · 07-22-2012 10:38 AM

I'm also disappointed that the REAL message was so hard to pick up on, even after they went to all the trouble of building that huge anti-Mitt Romney conspiracy.

**Ricky** · 07-22-2012 12:12 PM

Bane=Bain Capital! Rush is right!

**Empath of the White** · 07-22-2012 12:42 PM

Food for thought gais: Bane was imprisoned for his father's crimes in the comics. Mitt Romney has been attacked for being born into wealth. Both have suffered due to their fathers.

hmy:

Edit: Got my tickets for tomorrow afternoon! Time for a BB-TDK marathon.

**Merlin1958** · 07-22-2012 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by Ricky

I'm still thinking about the film, and one negative that I keep coming back to is that the stakes weren't high enough, meaning I never felt worried for Alfred, Fox, Selina, or the people of Gotham (seriously, where were they), except at the football game. For the amount of destruction and terror that Bane was inflicting on Gotham, I wanted to really feel the horror of the people of Gotham and that anyone could be at risk.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

I would have liked to see exactly what she did to screw up her life so badly

This is exactly what I wanted. I seemed like they were building up to a reveal, but it never got there.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

Spoiler:

The more I think about it, the more I think that the

Spoiler:

would've been perfect for the Joker. Makes you wonder what Nolan had in mind for his character before Heath's death.

Originally Posted by Ka-mai

Negatives:

Spoiler:

I agree with all these points. Definitely not enough Batman. I understand that this was more about Bruce Wayne than Batman, but there were way too many instances where Batman was absent for long periods of time.

My understanding is that Dolan vowed no references to "The Joker" as an homage to Heath Ledger.

Politics? really? it's a comic book movie!!! Just enjoy it. Don't over analyze it, no? It was made for enjoyment not politically motivated agenda's!!! JMHO

Unless of course, that's what really floats you boat, I suppose.

**Empath of the White** · 07-22-2012 05:56 PM

If it helps, recall that the National Guard was called in to deal with someone who'd blown up a hospital, killed a judge and the police comissioner. I'm certain that the Joker was taken into federal custody after he was untied. It seems a reasonable explanation, aside from Nolan's decision.

**Merlin1958** · 07-22-2012 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by Empath of the White

If it helps, recall that the National Guard was called in to deal with someone who'd blown up a hospital, killed a judge and the police comissioner. I'm certain that the Joker was taken into federal custody after he was untied. It seems a reasonable explanation, aside from Nolan's decision.

Plus, again purely from a "plot standpoint" no way The Joker would've played second fiddle. Dolan's homage aside.

**Robert Fulman** · 07-23-2012 06:04 AM

Saw it, and liked it. My wife and I watched all three movies this weekend, and we're very glad we caught up before TDKR. I am not one for deep analysis of movies. There was tons of stuff that didn't really make any sense, but it wasn't enough to offset the amount of awesome that the movie contained.

**pathoftheturtle** · 07-23-2012 06:23 AM

Originally Posted by Merlin1958

Politics? really? it's a comic book movie!!! Just enjoy it. Don't over analyze it, no? It was made for enjoyment not politically motivated agenda's!!! JMHO

Unless of course, that's what really floats you boat, I suppose.

I'm pretty sure you're right: it wasn't made for any politically motivated agenda. But I do get some enjoyment from ridiculing the ridiculous. -- link: rush-limbaugh-creates-political-debate-over-bane-in-dark-knight

**Ricky** · 07-23-2012 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by Merlin1958

My understanding is that Dolan vowed no references to "The Joker" as an homage to Heath Ledger.

This is one point where I drastically disagree with Nolan. I understand that he doesn't want to drive the knife any deeper, so to speak, but I really think that the way to honor Heath and the legacy of his character, would be to at least mention the Joker sometime in the film, whether a brief mention of his name or what he's up to (is he in custody? Roaming the streets? Dead?)

**fernandito** · 07-23-2012 07:41 AM

I'll preface my analysis by saying that although the film has a couple of notable flaws, I absolutely LOVED it. It wasn't as airtight as TDK but as a spectacle and as a capstone to one of the greatest trilogies ever - in my humble opinion of course - it's everything I could have hoped for. I exited the theater trembling in excitement and adrenaline, seemingly unable to form coherent thought. Me and my friends went to grab a bite to eat afterwards and we just could not shut up about it lol. That's the sign of a good film I think.

Now, down to the nitty gritty - The film is almost three hours long, but it didn't feel three hours long, it moved along at a very quick pace ... too quick at times, I'd say. I wish we could have gotten a bit more backstory on Bane, but it wouldn't really be fair to dock points off that when there was virtually no backstory given for Joker in TDK outside of his questionable anecdotes.

Speaking of Bane - wow, just wow. Hardy was 'handicapped' (so to speak) as an actor having his face covered up, but the degree of intensity that he was able to convey with his eyes and body language alone is phenomenal. He is definitely the films' cataclysmic force and he delivered a tour de force performance. His introduction is probably one of my favorite scenes of any film ever.

My biggest problem with the film was that it required one too many leaps of faith, especially considering that 'realism' is Nolan's pedigree. Bruce getting back to Gotham with - no passport, no money, no form of identification, and with the island quarantined - within 19 hours? Clunky storytelling.

Also, I'm still wrestling my thoughts as to how I feel about Talia's inclusion ... could have the film worked out perfectly fine without her? I would have been completely content with Bane being the only villian of the piece, his motivation to carry out Ra's prophecy would have sufficed for me.

I loved that the emotional stakes were upped for this one. The conversations between Alfred and Bruce were very heartfelt and poignant. If he had a bit more screentime, I'm certain Michael Caine could possibly have picked up a Best Supporting Actord nomination. You can really feel Alfred's soul deteriorate as he realizes that Bruce no longer has the will to live.

Also, how fantastic was Christian Bale this time? In the past two films he was simply adequate/decent, but this time he really embodied the somber nature of Bruce Wayne. Amazing, amazing performance.

The action sequences, although sparse, were equally as amazing. My favorite is the 1 v 1 between Bane and Batman in the sewers. They were very visceral, very brutal .. you could feel each punch and kick and bone crushing blow. A detail that really stood out for me was the Wayne yelled in frustration as he realized that he would not be able to physically best the battering ram that was Hardy's Bane.

I'm sure more things will come to me throughout the day. I'll summarize this by restating that I absolutely loved this film, and can't wait to see it a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 100th time. I'm actually going back to the theater today to watch it, so I'll looking out for all of the stuff that I missed.

**Ricky** · 07-23-2012 08:26 AM

I enjoyed it as well, but I think my thoughts/feelings when leaving the theater were opposite to yours. Yes, the action and the emotion was captivating and really amped-up this time around, but when all a film is story and has the "clunky storytelling," that you spoke of, the film gets some points knocked off for that. Another point, as I've said before, is the Reactor. As much as it honestly pains me to say it, it was just lazy scriptwriting (which I noticed way too much, unfortunately) and not something I'd expect from a storyteller of Nolan's caliber. I do admire Nolan's ambition and the overall scope of the film, but there were many aspects of the film (editing, story, etc.) that just weren't up to the standards that he set for himself, Batman film-related or otherwise.

I don't mean to come across as bashing the film, because as I've said before, there are a ton of great scenes, both character-wise and action/spectacle-wise, that demonstrate the fufillment of Nolan's vision. It's just kind of disappointing to me because it's perfectly obvious that this had the potential to be one of the best films of the decade, or all time, and I'm sure for some, it is. I just wish I could feel that way. Unlike many of my favorite films, I feel the need to go back and see it again less because I'm excited and thrilled to see the plot and character dynamics unfold on screen again, but more for the need to solidify my opinion of the film as a whole.

**fernandito** · 07-23-2012 08:45 AM

I agree, the nuclear-reactor aspect was lazy. The laziness was negated a bit me thinks with the 'have Gotham tear itself apart', just as Ra's had always intended. But yeah, definitely not a big fan of the nuclear reactor.

One thing to keep in mind though was that Nolan had always intended for the Joker to be the central villain for the third film, so Ledger's untimely and unfortunate death forced Nolan to resort to Plan B.

**Ka-mai** · 07-23-2012 09:17 AM

Will someone please explain to me why Bane wanted Bruce's fingerprints? I probably missed that part while I was shushing literally seven different people.

**Robert Fulman** · 07-23-2012 09:44 AM

Stole the fingerprints, broke into the stock exchange, used the fingerprints to authorize trades that bankrupted Bruce Wayne. Bane knew that Wayne was Batman.

**Robert Fulman** · 07-23-2012 09:48 AM

Wayne loses ownership of Wayne Enterprises. Control is given to Tate. Tate is Talia al Ghul. Tate gets control of the bomb.

**fernandito** · 07-23-2012 09:51 AM

Spot on, Robert.

**BigSchu22** · 07-23-2012 10:27 AM

Feve, I just saw the movie last night and you took the words right out of my mouth with your longer post on the last page.

The reactor was obviously a MacGuffin to move certain elements of the movie along, which kind of threw me off considering Nolan's track record, but it wasn't enough to ruin the movie overall.

I would have loved to have seen more of the war and situation inside Gotham since it's such a huge part of Bane's plot and is a pretty big theme in itself, especially since we had nearly 2 hours building up to it. It was a little jarring the way they cut from a few months to a few hours left for the bomb to explode without any real development of the state of Gotham and I had to stop and explain what was going on to my wife a few times. Definitely had some editing issues.

Oh, and I would have liked to see more finesse in the Bane/Batman fight scenes. I know Bruce was off his game, but they kind of just ran around punching eachother when Bruce is a martial arts master and Bane was trained by the league as well. I guess the slug-fest fits the tone of the movie though, Bruce has been "beaten" down by life and the events of the last two films.

Overall though, amazing movie. Great work, Nolan. Keep your integrity intact and keep fighting Hollywood-corporate intervention.

**Ricky** · 07-23-2012 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by feverishparade

the 'have Gotham tear itself apart', just as Ra's had always intended.

I loved that connection and that Bane/Talia were attempting to fufill Ra's master plan, so it makes me wish that there would've been more focus on this instead of the reactor. I thought it actually, in a way, distracted from Bane's motives.

Originally Posted by feverishparade

One thing to keep in mind though was that Nolan had always intended for the Joker to be the central villain for the third film, so Ledger's untimely and unfortunate death forced Nolan to resort to Plan B.

It makes you wonder how the movie turned out in an alternate universe where Ledger survived.

**Merlin1958** · 07-23-2012 11:00 AM

Ricky, I thought that the focus on the reactor was kinda cool in that at the end the twist was that Bane was kinda the foil of Talia or, at least not the single "big baddie" if ya know what I mean.

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