Deftones

Agreed. I thought he was the best part of the movie. I'm still trying to digest the movie. Saw it in Imax. Unfortunately, the sound was set to 11, so quite bit of Bane's dialogue was drowned out by the surround music and effects. I had a tough time making him out. I'm seeing it again tonight in a regular theater and will probably be able to better hear him.

As for the movie, I think it boils down to this. As a Batman action movie, I think it clearly crushes the other two movies. The action scenes and fighting scenes in this were fantastic. But, the performances in this weren't as good as the other two movies. Bane was good, but not quite as menacing as my impression of him from the comics/animated show. I'd say it's on par with BB, but not close to TDK.

As for the ending, I'm glad someone said it was Selina Kyle with Bruce at the end. I thought it was her, but it was so fast, I missed it. No way that was a dream.

reubs82

I think 'contrivance' is more of an apt description than 'coincidence', and I know it might taint them for us to have a John Blake Batman. I guess I mean that I'd like to see something like a Nightwing movie or another exploration of Batman as someone other than Bruce Wayne.

StephenX

He serves the role of support for Batman for the film, which is usually reserved for the character Robin, played by Dick Grayson. His birth name, it turns out, is actually Robin.

To the viewer, the likelihood of the 'Robin' role being more-or-less filled by a character whose legal name happens to be Robin Blake is a coincidence to the viewer. While is it purposeful, a contrivance may be a more appropriate word.

I understand the meaning quite well I believe. But of course, this being the internet....

StephenX

100% agreed. The fact we can mention all three movies in the same breathe shows how strong the trilogy as a whole is.

Solid Snake

i wouldn't go so far as an Oscar, but he was damn good. He can go emotional so well. I really loved Alfred in this one. He's the dad that's tired of his son hurting himself. And he had enough, tried to show him. He couldn't bear to see it happen. That little bit in the stairs practically had me in tears cuz of Caine. Damn him.

As would I. It'd be fresh for sure considering from what we've heard it seems we kind of won't get that IF they want Bane but...technically that "plan" that was posted could work out for Blake.

He's sensitive. He may be correct but the way he comes off isn't the most pleasing at times.

Yeah, he filled the role but he wasn't it in a literal fashion. Which again..was very original for this genre.

Nick Martin

It's funny you mention that, because while all the music on the album is in the film, the vast, and I mean VAST majority of the music in this film is taken verbatim from the previous two films, and I do mean verbatim not re-recorded or arranged. Two album tracks, "Despair" and "Rise" use portions of the previous film's scores edited into the cues.

There's more Selina Kyle music in the film left off the album, but yeah, the score was primarily Begins and TDK's scores re-used in this film. It worked out better that way because the score for this film has such a low-budget synthetic sound to it it's almost like demo material rather than final recordings.

slop101

My god, I haven't read anything that orange menace has written in years, but he seems to have gotten even worse than I recall.

Still... even though I didn't hate it as much as he did (and illiterate writing aside), I can't disagree with a lot of his points.

Basically, while I was certainly entertained by the movie, the more I chew on it, the dumber it gets.

freshticles

I agree a lot with what Knowles said, for once. I was so excited for this movie and left totally underwhelmed after watching a Batman movie where Batman is some weak, wussy guy with absolutely no vengeance in him, that just rides around in a spaceship for the entire movie. The whole thing feels long but completely rushed at the same time. I really am having a hard time figuring out what I took from it.

RoboDad

I avoided reading his review until today, but your comments sum up my reaction pretty well.

I was very entertained by the movie during the movie. Unfortunately, the more I think about it now, the next day, the more disappointing it becomes, and Knowle's points are almost all spot on.

GoldenJCJ

Hey Chris, while you were busy spending millions of dollars on the CGI for the football game sequence why not spend a little more to digitally insert more than 25 people into the stands?!

DaveyJoe

Lecithin

Rewatching the first two movies before seeing this finale really helped keep the whole storyline in mind and made me appreciate the callbacks to the first couple films.

But I never really got why, out of all the places on the planet, this ancient League of Shadows picks Gotham (where the protagonist who wandered in just happens to be from) to be the most irredeemably blighted hellscape of human existence in the world that must be eradicated from existence. Have they never heard of Detroit?

DonnachaOne

"You're not allowed to believe in coincidence."

mikehunt

just got back. My initial impressions don't have any negative thoughts on the plot, dialog, script etc
I do have complaints of a technical nature though

1. If you thought the "batman voice" was hard to understand you'll hate Bane. Bane makes the batman voice sound like a textbook example of proper English pronunciation and enunciation. I don't think I ever missed what batman was saying in any of the three movies. I missed large portions of Bane's dialog. Guess I'll have to turn the subtitles on when I get it on bluray

2. The music was unbalanced and drowned out the dialog multiple times

bluetoast

What's funny is that Bane's voice is a different and clearer mix than the IMAX preview from December.

DaveyJoe

I have some general thoughts about the film, I'll put anything major in spoiler tags but there will be minor spoilers throughout the entire post:

Okay so I saw it twice in IMAX yesterday at the Franklin Institute in Philly. It's a dome theater and I got there pretty late for the first viewing so I had terrible seats. Dome IMAX can be great, but good seats are essential, so for the second viewing I got there an hour and a half early and got the most perfect seats at the very top row in the center. I'm so glad I had the foresight to buy tickets for two showings, my second viewing was much more enjoyable, I could see everything much more clearly and I wasn't craning my neck for 3 hours.

I think the fight scenes in this film were the best out of the trilogy. I'd still like to see a Batman movie with fight scenes as fast and intense as the fights in the Raid, but with the Nolan films there is so much more to offer than just fights.

I thought it was a very impressive conclusion to the trilogy, especially considering how high the bar had been set from The Dark Knight. I think the only flaw in this is that this film suffers the most from being heavily edited compared to the last two. At several points it's obvious that entire scenes had to be cut to keep the film moving forward:



However that's not a deal breaker, because at 2 hours and 45 minutes the film really moves along at a brisk pace. I didn't feel like any parts of the film dragged, whereas I can understand some viewer complains about the final act of TDK. Like I said, I spent 6 hours watching this movie yesterday in rather uncomfortable seats(why does a premium IMAX theater have such rigid seats with very little arm and leg room??) but I never felt like the movie had to hurry up.

I think Kyle's Catwoman was a high light of the film. I knew she nailed the part from her opening scene with Wayne where she quickly goes from playing the innocent to going "Oops" then kicking his cane out from under him. While Batman was busy being brooding and tragic, Catwoman had the best one-liners of the film and was clearly enjoying being a vigilante. She was morally gray and you never knew which side she was on, true to the comics, but she had the best arc of the film and actually felt like a genuine, three-dimensional character. I also found her relationship with Batman to be kind of touching, especially at the end of the film. The kiss at the end really moved me, and Nolan has come a long way from the awkward, emotionless kiss at the end of Batman Begins.

The ending was very important for a film like this, that was the obvious end to a trilogy about a character who typically has no end. The final act was edge-of-your seat excitement. The final fight with Bane was thrilling and so much more satisfying than the final fight between Batman and Joker in TDK. Everything in the film built up to this moment, and it didn't disappoint. The fight was brutal and real, Bane's speed was impressive and I loved his fast punches leading to him breaking off pieces of the column behind Batman. There was a nice nod to the comics as Batman broke part of his mask, but I like that it didn't completely incapacitate him, but made him angrier and more reckless.

Everything from the final fight to the last shot of the film was just perfect, it was powerful, and emotional. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't teary-eyed for the final few minutes.



I don't think the ending is ambiguous as some other's may believe:



Is it as good as the Dark Knight? I'm not sure, I don't really think it's necessary. I think each film has some flaws and some strengths over the other film. TDK may have had a better villain, but TDKR unquestionably has the stronger final act. I think I'm just grateful that we have such a great trilogy about Batman, and whoever steps in for the reboot has very, very large shoes to fill.

mikehunt

agreed
if Alfred was dreaming then Fox would have had to have been too

Ghostbuster

I agree with the criticisms I've heard:

• Utter ineptitude of the police (Virtually their entire force runs right into a trap. Later they march down the street into a hail of bullets. And so on...)
• Lack of intervention by the government during a 3-month standoff (At the very least, there would be special forces such as Navy Seals swarming the island, carrying out operations.)
• Weak motives of the villains (Hi, I'm Talia. When my dad was killed by Batman, I decided to avenge him by picking up where he left off and destroying Gotham, even though I didn't like him and even though he was wrong about Gotham being hopeless and beyond repair. Hi, I'm Bane. I just do what I'm told by Talia because I love her. I also want to complete Raz Al Ghul's mission, even though the he rejected me merely because I was disfigured after being viciously attacked.)
• Quick recuperation of Wayne while in a concentration camp (What were they feeding him? Popeye's spinach?)

GoldenJCJ

Though probably still quicker than real life recuperation, Wayne was in that prison, healing for 5 months.

Mike86

I think one thing to keep in mind with some of the criticisms is at the end of the day this is still a comic book based movie. Yes Nolan had it somewhat more grounded in reality than others but not everything for sure. Some of it you just have to accept or you could nitpick it to death.

Nick Martin

I'm not one to quote so much of one's post, but I'm in total agreement about this.

The difference is, while I did notice that scene with Lucius and the software patch, I was more than just a little teary-eyed for the same amount of time you were during the film's finale. I'm still full of very raw nerves (having lost my mother at the start of this year) so I don't know if it was just a feeling of :



or if it was just the film entirely on its own. Perhaps its a little of both but that was easily the most emotional experience I've ever had watching a film. It just really hit deep and I couldn't hold it back.

Brack

Loved it. I had reserved tickets for an early morning showing. I knew about the shooting, yet didn't get freaked out and not go to the movie. I guess I just am not shocked or saddened by some idiot with a gun, and how we are going to move past all of it after a couple of weeks.

Anyway, my favorite and best movie for me this summer. A fitting ending, and I don't see why this one wouldn't get repeat business.

On a side note, someone talked about Batman killing the Joker in Burton's Batman. Not true, he just happened to wrap the Joker's leg; the Joker chose to hold onto the helicopter, which led to his death.

Nick Martin

It wasn't Batman's fault that the gargoyle statue Joker was tied to broke off.

Charlie Goose

Two questions, please don't holler at me if they've already been asked.

1) Did we see what happened to Barsad the sniper, or did I miss it?

2) Any idea from Nolan what part, if any, Joker would've played if Ledger hadn't died?

Nick Martin

It's a bit of a blur but I think Barsad was taken out during the street brawl sequence. It was interesting that when he's first shown in the opening he has a thicker, almost middle eastern accent but when speaking to the army on the bridge he was speaking with a bit of a cockney accent. The former was probably just part of playing the role to get onto the plane.

As for Joker, Nolan said before that when Ledger passed away, TDK was still in post production so there was never really any thought about a sequel at that point because in the case of both sequels, Nolan had to be pushed by both his brother Jonathan and David Goyer to want to keep telling the story if they had one worth telling. I think they always knew where Batman would end up, but it was a question of how to get there.