The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Brooks]

I never though Batman Begins made it really clear whether Ducard was Ra's all along, or if he picked up the mantle when the old one died. I think it was open to both interpretations. In any case, whatever character Liam Neeson was playing was obviously not the first person to use the Ra's al Ghul moniker. I have to figure that, absent immortality via Lazarus pits, there have been dozens of Ra's al Ghuls leading the League throughout the centuries. Obviously the story he tells Bruce about his murdered wife is true, but he was just a mercenary then and didn't hook up with the LOS til later, and presumably he wasn't made the leader right away.
Another oddity...."Ra's al Ghul" means "The Demon's Head", and "Talia al Ghul" of course means "The Demon's Tail" (rather strange way to think of a father/daughter relationship, but whatever). "al Ghul" isn't his surname, it's part of a title. Which means Talia's mother just happened to name her Talia without ever knowing that her husband, whatever his name was at the time, would go on to become Ra's al Ghul. Pretty fantastic coincidence.

 

[MattBradley]

The movie seemed to take themes and plot points from Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns. But that's all I've read, so I could be making too much of it. How does the story compare to Bane in the comics?

Selina's friend is featured more in Batman: Year One. (She's an underage prostitute who Bruce tries to rescue and gets in a fight over) Bruce and Talia sleeping together happens in the comics leading to the birth of Damian Wayne, future Robin. Blake was a combination of Beyond Batman and different aspects of Robin. There were bits of Tim Drake (3rd Robin) scattered around.
Chris Nolan and the writers have done a really good job of throwing bits from the comics in throughout the trilogy. Joker using a crowbar on Batman is a wink to Joker killing Robin with the same weapon. The Joker's backstory of "getting in deep with the sharks" is from Deadliest Joke if I remember correctly.
Bane's story is pretty good in the comics. He comes to Gotham and keeps Batman busy by breaking criminals out of Black Gate and Arkham. He figures out who Batman is. When Bruce returns home after a very trying night of crime fighting, Bane is in his living room waiting. Bruce is so burned out that Bane takes him and breaks his back. In that comic series it is Robin who fights Bane in the sewer.

 

[Gary Seven]

Overall an excellent movie and a good way to end it. Look forward to the blu-ray. (sorry, screwed up quoting).

 

[Chris Will]

The city is bit too "New York City", I think Batman Begins got that mix right of a city that was realistic but still felt a bit comic book-ish. The last two movies have moved a bit too far away I think.

It's weird, each movie has felt like a different city to me, even though it is all suppose to be Gotham. TDK felt like Chicago, this one feels like a NYC/Chicago mesh with hint of Pittsburgh. Begins is the only one that really felt like Gotham IMO and is probably one of the reason why I like Begins the most. Still love all 3 movies but love the look of Gotham in Begins the best.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Last year one of my company's clients, who resides at PPG Place in Pittsburg, told me she saw the Tumblers rolling down the fake-snow covered streets in the middle of Summer. It was pretty surreal.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by MattBradley /t/300246/the-dark-knight-rises/330#post_3953062
Selina's friend is featured more in Batman: Year One. (She's an underage prostitute who Bruce tries to rescue and gets in a fight over) Bruce and Talia sleeping together happens in the comics leading to the birth of Damian Wayne, future Robin. Blake was a combination of Beyond Batman and different aspects of Robin. There were bits of Tim Drake (3rd Robin) scattered around.
Chris Nolan and the writers have done a really good job of throwing bits from the comics in throughout the trilogy. Joker using a crowbar on Batman is a wink to Joker killing Robin with the same weapon. The Joker's backstory of "getting in deep with the sharks" is from Deadliest Joke if I remember correctly.
Bane's story is pretty good in the comics. He comes to Gotham and keeps Batman busy by breaking criminals out of Black Gate and Arkham. He figures out who Batman is. When Bruce returns home after a very trying night of crime fighting, Bane is in his living room waiting. Bruce is so burned out that Bane takes him and breaks his back. In that comic series it is Robin who fights Bane in the sewer.

Can you recommend another must-read Batman sequence? (I like the trade paperbacks, where an entire series is compiled in paperback.)


We re-watched Batman Begins on Sunday. I think it's a better movie. It's tighter, more focused. It also has the benefit of being the first, and getting in all the best, essential Batman bits. The gadgets are new, the fighting is new, the Tumbler is new. And as bleak as it was, it didn't spend the first hour in nihilistic self-torture as Dark Knight Rises did.

Maybe get to re-watching Dark Knight this weekend. See if it's as good as I remember.

 

[Bryan^H]

FREAKING WOW!!! I loved this movie. So epic, and true to Batman. I liked it better than the first two combined.
Hope the Blu-Ray is out by Christmas.

 

[DaveF]

I found this an interesting essay. I was fascinated by the conservative themes of Batman, especially as they competed with the paternalistic attitudes:Batman must keep technology out of the hands of society so it doesn't destroy itself with it.
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/the-politics-of-the-dark-knight-rises/

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Bryan^H /t/300246/the-dark-knight-rises/360#post_3953475
FREAKING WOW!!! I loved this movie. So epic, and true to Batman. I liked it better than the first two combined.
Hope the Blu-Ray is out by Christmas.

It will be - no way WB would keep it on the shelves past the big "buying season"...

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Some subsequent thoughts about the film and the reception.
I did love the Batman's return to Gotham, with the cars and lights shutting down as he entered the tunnel during the motorcycle chase. And how "back in the swing" he got with minimal rustiness (including the nonchalance he showed at the overwhelming police interest).
I love the Bat-pod. I love the sounds it makes, I love how the wheels can rotate on both the forward and side axis. Why isn't that in a videogame yet? I'd just drive that thing around Gotham every day, all day.
I loved Bane's dialect and speaking tones. I get the frustration with his "diminishment" at the end (both in being a "henchman" and getting smoked by Catwoman and the Bat-pod weapons), but I felt that the film earned all of his moments. He wasn't a henchman. He was given an order by the woman he loved (be it romantic or otherwise - it wasn't relevant) and he was going to break it for vengeance or jealousy or hatred. He was more a willing and passionate partner, and he retained his fearsomeness throughout. As for his demise...let Catwoman get hers as well. She had reasons to hate and fear him. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Regarding the political discussion, that is the second or third piece I've seen on it. I suppose they are to be expected in such a politically charged year. TDK, released in 2008, had the same rigor (and partisanship) applied to it. I think the film, like its predecessor, is more about the ideas than the mechanics. It is more philsophical and less political. I'm amused by the fascist comments...superhero comics by their very nature are semi-fascist. People are given power (often arbitrarily), and the heroes choose to use their power to help others or stop villains, often contrary to the laws of the country and the safety of most folks. Because Batman is powered, he is an even more extreme case. It's part of the wish fulfillment. It certainly emphasizes class distinctions early on (and with clear sympathy), and even criticizes our hero (from his conscience, Alfred) that he should share his power (his tools and knowledge) with the authorities. But since the world is fiction, I think any politically-centered conclusions are fictional at best. That it can't be read a single way is a strength.
I hope to see it again, in true 70mm IMAX. Just need to find the time, since an hour plus roundtrip, an hour or more in line, and a three hour film...that necessitates a commitment.

 

[joshEH]

[VIDEO]http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I94mcCrS_w[/VIDEO]
Good for him. Seriously, a hugely-classy move from Bale.
But next, he should dress up as Batman and visit James Holmes in custody. Re-enact the interrogation-scene from The Dark Knight.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

I saw this in IMAX at the Maritime Center in Norwalk, CT. It was fantastic.
A funny incident occurred afterward. The automated parking garage meter crapped out when we were trying to leave. This created a line of slightly irate people vs. this one dumb parking attendant who didn't know what to do. We were kinda punch-drunk from the movie. One of my group jokingly muttered "People of Gotham!" in my ear but paraphrased it "People of Norwalk!" instead. Inspired by this, I ran with it. I clapped my hand over my entire face, spread my arm out and bellowed in a mumbled Bane voice, "PEOPLE OF NORWALK! REVOLT AGAINST THE PARKING MACHINE! I AM NORWALK'S RECKONING!" That got quite a laugh from the crowd.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Regarding the political discussion, that is the second or third piece I've seen on it. I suppose they are to be expected in such a politically charged year. TDK, released in 2008, had the same rigor (and partisanship) applied to it. I think the film, like its predecessor, is more about the ideas than the mechanics. It is more philsophical and less political.

If it's commenting on any politics, it's commenting on the politics of 1775-1793: Financial crisis, the collapse of the Estates-General, the storming of the Bastille and the Reign of Terror that followed.

 

[Cory S.]

Some subsequent thoughts about the film and the reception.
I did love the Batman's return to Gotham, with the cars and lights shutting down as he entered the tunnel during the motorcycle chase. And how "back in the swing" he got with minimal rustiness (including the nonchalance he showed at the overwhelming police interest).
I love the Bat-pod. I love the sounds it makes, I love how the wheels can rotate on both the forward and side axis. Why isn't that in a videogame yet? I'd just drive that thing around Gotham every day, all day.
I loved Bane's dialect and speaking tones. I get the frustration with his "diminishment" at the end (both in being a "henchman" and getting smoked by Catwoman and the Bat-pod weapons), but I felt that the film earned all of his moments. He wasn't a henchman. He was given an order by the woman he loved (be it romantic or otherwise - it wasn't relevant) and he was going to break it for vengeance or jealousy or hatred. He was more a willing and passionate partner, and he retained his fearsomeness throughout. As for his demise...let Catwoman get hers as well. She had reasons to hate and fear him. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Regarding the political discussion, that is the second or third piece I've seen on it. I suppose they are to be expected in such a politically charged year. TDK, released in 2008, had the same rigor (and partisanship) applied to it. I think the film, like its predecessor, is more about the ideas than the mechanics. It is more philsophical and less political. I'm amused by the fascist comments...superhero comics by their very nature are semi-fascist. People are given power (often arbitrarily), and the heroes choose to use their power to help others or stop villains, often contrary to the laws of the country and the safety of most folks. Because Batman is powered, he is an even more extreme case. It's part of the wish fulfillment. It certainly emphasizes class distinctions early on (and with clear sympathy), and even criticizes our hero (from his conscience, Alfred) that he should share his power (his tools and knowledge) with the authorities. But since the world is fiction, I think any politically-centered conclusions are fictional at best. That it can't be read a single way is a strength.
I hope to see it again, in true 70mm IMAX. Just need to find the time, since an hour plus roundtrip, an hour or more in line, and a three hour film...that necessitates a commitment.

Absolute yes to all of this, Chuck...especially the political accusations/discussions towards this film and Knight. Philosophical indeed.
I guess my favorite aspect of this film is the systemic way in which Wayne is taken down piece by piece. The plot of the film has been criticized (rightly or wrongly) for having too many moving parts and characters. But, in the second viewing of the film, it just sort of struck how character based Bane's plot was-thus Nolan creating a complete character centric epic for this finale.
All the machinations in the first half of the film before the Pit is about taking everything from Wayne and using it against him. Piece by piece, they leave Wayne at his most bare. So by the time he's in the Pit, the final act of destruction for Bane against Wayne is the torture of his soul. Using everything that Wayne/Batman is to destroy his city...and he has to watch.
It's the reason his "rise" and understanding of why he began this journey in the first place works so well in the second half of this picture.

 

[Tim Glover]

Lots of meaningful discussion. I've missed those on the HTF.

 

[Citizen87645]

Here are some closer looks at the costumes, in particular Selina Kyle's "visor that suggests cat ears in the up position."

http://moresay.com/2012/07/06/dark-knight-rises-international-costume-exhibition/

 

[michael deakin]

HI,
Did anyone have any problems with sound level being too high. Me and my Daughter saw the "Dark Night Rises" yesterday, And found the sound level's during the action scene's way too lound to the point of sounding distorted. And a lot of the time couldn't understand what characters were saying most notaply "Bane". It really spoiled are enjoyment of the movie.

 

[TonyD]

Michael check the rest of this topic, it was mentioned several times including me.
Most of the sound issues seemed to be people who saw it on IMAX.

 

[michael deakin]

Thanks Tony.
By the way we didn't see it in imax.

 

[Carlo_M]

I'm not going to re-hash everything that's been written in this thread, just wanted to post that I finally saw this on IMAX last night and loved it. I wondered if I'd be let down after TDK and Heath's memorable portrayal of The Joker, but I was not let down in the least. And this is one of the very few movies where I can honestly say I didn't see "the twist" at all until it hit me (and judging from the sound of gasps in the theater quite a lot of others didn't as well).
And my apologies for not reading every single post on this thread, which I'm sure has brought this up before, but I joked with my friends and girlfriend (who loved Inception but hated the ambiguous ending) that Nolan should have ended the film on Alfred looking up and smiling, Inception-style. She punched me. She needs closure so she loved the last frames.