Big letdown. There were some key issues with the editing of the film. Never a good thing in a feature film. The score was way over encumbering and trite. We were forced to enduring blaring vagrant harmonies and incredibly overused major seconds the entire length of the film. Just way too much and way too predictable. Enough already with the modern dark theme. After a while it isn't modern any more. I understand this is the directer's conception of Batman, but it's just gotten incredible old. Not enough BATMAN in the movie. More like a poorly thought out terrorist attack on NY movie. Go see the movie if you enjoy MASSIVE PLOT HOLES, which for the sake of those who wish to see this, I wont go into. Verdict - Incredibly unoriginal and boring.
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I would be absolutely shocked (pleasantly so) if Nolan were to come back and make another one. It's not always about the money. And as much as I have enjoyed this version, I think I'd rather see what a new crew can bring to the franchise. I'd also rather wait a good five years before any movement on a new project begins, but studios are most definitely all about the money, and they are not gonna sit on the cash cow that Batman has become. So I definitely expect to see something coming down the pipe sooner than later, with or without Nolan. If anything, he may serve as a producer or writer (with his brother).
There's a fire inside me that somehow hopes the cards fall perfectly, the Superman franchise does well (hate it though), and we get a movie based off Dark Knight Returns 20 years from now. If anyone can do it it's Nolan. And Joker being played by someone else wont be as noticeable.
Spoiler I know how long movies take in production, especially movies as complex and effects-heavy as DKR and Avengers. I was NOT implying that Avengers came out and then WB rushed DKR. I was implying that all during the production, both movies were in production at the same time, and dailies are closely watched by rival studios, if you think they are not then I am not the one who is naive The point is, it is very plausible to think that WB execs become nervous at the information they are learning from the Avengers production, and it is entirely possible that pressure was brought to bear on Nolan to 'hurry things along' in order to make absolutely sure DKR hit in the same movie season as Avengers. I am not saying that is what happened, I am just saying that it was one possible plausible explanation for how rushed DKR felt to me. And we will have to agree to disagree that my 'nitpicks' were simply me not paying attention, although since I have seen those very same 'nitpicks' singled out basically all over the internet and reviewers everywhere seem to be having a field day with them.. I don't really think they were ALL just not paying attention. Listen I already said I liked the movie, but the thing has some massive flaws, and it is silly to pretend it doesn't, or to just overlook them for some unknown reason. As for 'anonymous board member guy', I called him that because that's what he was, an anonymous board member. He is in one scene, he does one thing, and we never see him again, or care. That is about as anonymous as you can get. The fact that he has a name is completely irrelevant. As for what the board members knew BEFORE the core was turned into a bomb, what difference does THAT make? My point is that Bane needed two board members in order to access the control panel to let the scientist do his alterations to the reactor. At THAT POINT, Fox and the anonymous board member were the ONLY TWO PEOPLE other than the bad guys who knew that the bomb was going to go off no matter what - essentially that the bomb could not be disarmed. What the board members knew BEFORE that point is irrelevant. And yes I know the Spec Ops guys finally managed to sneak in and talk to Fox. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER. In a city that large, you don't think that Fox would have been trying every possible trick in the book to get word out to the military that the bomb was a time bomb, that it was going off no matter what, in about 10 weeks or so? What possible reason would he have to just sit around waiting on the off chance that someone might sneak into the city so he could tell them then? It's silly. He could have easily found a radio, or had a large message written on rooftops, something, anything. Seriously, ask yourself if you would just sit around indefinitely in a city that you knew was going to blow up in a nuclear explosion in a matter of weeks if it wasn't stopped. Would you just sit around and do or say nothing? Of course not. But no. The only reason he didn't was because the plot needed a sense of urgency, no other reason. That's what I mean about being rushed and not thinking things through very well. So many things like that all the way through. And I know how upsetting it is for some people when we love a movie and then someone comes along and trashes it. I am the same way, I am like wth is wrong with that person?? If I didn't care about it I wouldn't be picking at it. But when I found myself wondering if George Lucas was called in to consult on the story, I knew it had some real issues..
Spoiler Bane sent them back up the surface before Pavel even weaponized the reactor. Watch the movie instead of crying about **** that's explained. And when Fox briefs the special forces captain, only he and Miranda are with them. There's 0 evidence in the movie at all that anyone else at Wayne knows about any of this. The stuff about whether the guy is anonymous, what the members knew before the reactor was weaponized, and who else knows the bomb will go off, yes that all makes no difference. I actually meant to write those words that in my post: none of those things even matter because your basic premise that they didn't do enough to get the word out makes no sense. I was merely rebutting those things because you keep claiming that you're finding these fundamental flaws when in fact you're not paying attention. The Avengers production stuff you say doesn't even make sense. Tentpole movie dates are set years in advance. They need to do this not only for movie production but set up marketing, toys, sell the movie for international distribution and all kinds of things. This movie's release date was set in 2010 wtf are you talking about. Not only is it impossible that Avengers affected the post production or plot but your new claim that it affected the release date due to "spy reports" about the progress of the Avengers isn't even possible because that was set years in advance. And since you're nitpicking what difference does it make that Gotham "is a city that large?" Wouldn't being bigger actually indicate it would take longer for the CIA and army to find the needle in the haystack and track down Gordon? And your idea that Gordon would randomly send it through airwaves that there's a ticking NUCLEAR BOMB in the city is frankly r****ded? Really? You find nitpicks about Bruce having $10,000 put away so he can get back to Gotham but broadcasting over radio waves about a nuke going off passes the your critical thinking test? That's literally the last thing they would do. Gordon would 100% DIE before he let that news get out and panic the city. Your entire premise is wrong, and you again weren't watching the movie. What is the federal government going to do? How are they going to stop a mobile nuke in a truck that can be remote detonated at any time? Gordon says plainly in the movie that "we are on our own" and that they have to solve the problem "from inside." The PLAN isn't to go on airwaves panic for help and then Jesus or Obama comes to save them. The plan was to keep their heads down and keep up surveillance and try to come up with a plan. As long as the bomb hadn't gone off they had a chance. They tell the Feds, not because the feds can somehow magically take out a mobile nuke but so when they had to evacuate the national guard wouldn't shoot people leaving the island. If you were watching the movie you actually were told in multiple scenes precisely WHAT their plan was. 1) identify if and who the trigger is 2) identify and mark the location of the bomb. 3) free the cops, intercept the micro pulse to the bomb (either by taking out the trigger or blocking the signal), evacuate the citizens, take down Bane and if you watched the movie you can see that they had made progress. Blake shows the special forces guys the routes they have tracked the trucks taking. You seem to think that the solution was crying for outside help that they'd basically been wasting their time sitting on their thumbs. That's not the case at all, they were moving ahead with their own contingencies. In the movie, the President himself is heard saying in a speech that they've basically come to an agreement with Bane, although they won't negotiate with terrorists. If you liked Avengers then fine. A lot of people did so did I. But don't go making up stuff about production being hurried etc that doesn't even make sense because this movie wasn't to your liking in some way. I don't know about other people but I don't really care if people nitpick, I'm simply responding to things that people say that are clearly indicated in the movie
This isn't Batman Begins with an untested (for the action/superhero genre) Nolan. So I don't buy that argument. It was gonna make massive sums of money regardless of how good or bad it was and how good or bad Avengers turned out to be. I really think Nolan told the film he wanted to tell (post-Heath Ledger). It was massively bigger in scope than Dark Knight, which inevitably increases all the loose ends that could potentially arise. Again all those small miscues pale in comparison to the major themes being explored and brought to conclusion. It's amazing he was able to juggle so many storylines and characters as well as he did. Spoiler the whole Fox not communicating to the outside world...how do we know he didn't try other methods of contacting the military? How do we know the military didn't make other attempts to sneak in? That we didn't see it happen on screen doesn't mean it didn't happen. Just like even though we didn't see how Bruce got back to Gotham, doesn't mean it wasn't possible. Or that even though we never saw how Selina Kyle obtained her fighting skills or gadgetry, doesn't mean she didn't become a great cat burglar before we find her in the movie? Maybe the movie would have benefited from an extra hour explaining this things in greater detail. But a 3hr 45 min movie might be pushing it!
Ah, matinee with perfect seats. I loved that movie. Sure I have some quibbles. Spooner's point about the soundtrack is spot on; in our theater, it even blotted out some key dialogue. I had an easier time understanding Bane than Batman sometimes, due to soundtrack. BUT, for me it met my expectations perfectly. Just love all the Bruce stuff and references to prior movies. My main cavil / nitpick: Spoiler 1. Bomb stuff. A nuclear device that is decaying to an unstable state will be subject to exponential decay statistics, at a basic level, so without a detonator, there was no way to count down to the exact second that it would blow up, after a process that took months. It would have been more like "oh Tuesday, give or take a few days." I suspended disbelief and was okay with it. My bigger gripe is just: man, really? a bomb with a timer? I think I saw the 1960's batman do this same save-the-city routine in the bat-copter. Oh well. I know it's pretty hard to think of new ways for suspense, so meh, whatever. 2. The (small) crowd I was with started cracking up when they finally open up the truck and there is the commissioner with the bomb rolling around on him. Not sure if that was intentionally funny, but it was priceless and I feel like Oldman played it for laughs. 3. Ending happened so, so fast. Agree with those that thought Bane's demise (and replacement as ultimate evil) happened way too easily and fast, but meh, okay. 4. Alfred was over the top and kind of emblematic that the dialogue was a notch below TDK (for me at least.) He was like a nagging old mother in this movie. The scene where he describes his fantasy of going to florence was pretty nice though. Favorite stuff! A. Loved the references to the first two films -- very nicely done. With the bat swarms, characters making appearances (including Cilian Murphy as "the judge," LOL), and even the huge reference to falling down the well. Bravo! B. I liked the young cop (Gordon-Levitt or however you spell his name) subplot/story. Worked for me that Bruce finally has a new friend and he can become Robin or something. C. Catwoman was better than I expected, and I'm not an automatic Hathaway fan. She seemed like she was having fun with it too.
Sorry, these are kind of weak. Spoiler To your first point, it is homage to all that is batman that villains leave him alive for awhile. Come on. It's a superhero movie, and the whole well thing was great. He left him there with basically a broken back. As for dumb police force, I hear you. Got nothing for you there, but it made for decent cinema. It wasn't really a war movie, per se, but that could have been better. As for keeping police force alive, yes and know. They probably expected to kill more of them in the initial blasts than they did. A bigger lame twist is that one little hole let *all* of them out, from all over the city. As for surviving the blast, I don't see the problem. He figured out how to use autopilot, so he dove out of that vehicle as soon as he cleared the city and sent it out to sea. No, we didn't see him dive, but you know, he's the batman and stuff. he was no closer to the blast than anyone else, or that's what I thought was suggested with the autopilot. I was just more disappointed that there had to be a nuclear bomb. Oh well. Sorry if somebody had already addressed all of those points. I did like your amusing writing style.
Spoiler I'm thinking that the missiles he sent into the building just as he was getting out of the city might have been a diversion for him to eject. All eyes would have been on the bat wing taking the bomb out to sea, not on him sneaking away.
But they show him over the bay in the cockpit. This is the only thing I want Nolan to address. When did he jump out?!?! Lol
He made Inception in between TDK & TDKR, who by then, was very well known, so I don't think money was any issue here, or effort.
Exactly. You expect us to believe he jumped out and then what? Swam 10 miles to avoid the blast of a nuclear bomb? Within seconds? Nolan made it a point to mention the freaking eject and auto pilot at least 3 times before the actual scene. By hammering the idea into us relentlessly, any idiot should have known what was coming, no matter how terribly it was portrayed. Honestly though, that isn't even close to the biggest plot hole or personal gripe I have about this film....
I figured out how he escaped! Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mn-BYqSIDY0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
They show a shot of the bat wing over the bay and then a shot of the cockpit...the explosion before...classic misdirection imo. Considering the cycle ejected from the tumbler in DK, it's easy to think that some escape pod ejected from the main plane.
Yea thats what I figured. Maybe there is something to that toy review I posted as an actual legitimate option for escaping but it just wasn't put in the movie.
Spoiler to me, it was just camera tricks. you can't see what's happening at exactly the same time among several characters unless you do split screens. the shot of him in the cockpit could have been the moments before the bomb dropped. maybe it was the moment he realized how he would "kill" batman and himself.
