OT: Just saw TDKR, all I can say...WOW

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 24, 2012

I know Batman hasn't received a lot of love lately in here, and I understand that the tragedy in Aurora is absolutely mind-numbingly awful, but just for a second, I have to say, I saw The Dark Knight Rises today...and, just WOW...

That truly was the best movie of the year, hands-down. The Avengers was empty, mindless, silly, banal, and felt so goofy as well as colorless. The Dark Knight Rises has so many layers to it, it's like an onion. It has so much plot, such rich themes, amazing characters, and it's downright inspiring. For all the haters who slam the violence (who just don't "get" Batman), there is just so much hopefulness and inspiration in this flick.

The mind of Nolan (I should say, plural, Nolans) in this script and the directorship of this movie....it's phenomenal. I am still in awe....

I can't say enough about this film. If you haven't seen it, check it out. If you hate superheroes (as has been made clear by several folks lately), just don't post on this! LOL

I was wondering if anyone else saw this movie and was impressed? Here I went into summer counting the days to Avengers and left the theatre reeling in disappointment, not looking forward to TDKR as much, and I came out of there with the feeling I had hoped to have with Avengers. What a flick!

Kate liked the first too movies "ok," but she was blown-away impressed, too. The kids loved it. What a blast.

beardedone · Jul 25, 2012

Honestly, I thought it was the worst of the three--but still a pretty good flick. I thought it was fairly predictable. I wish I could explain that but I don't want to spoil it for anybody. Also, I thought they could have done more with Catwoman. There are things within the movie that made me uneasy but there were also things within the movie that were very positive. All in all, it was a good movie, probably the best one of the year so far, but not sure that is saying much in how poor movies have become in the last several years. I, personally, am really looking forward to the next Bourne movie.

Atwood45 · Jul 25, 2012

beardedone said:
Honestly, I thought it was the worst of the three--but still a pretty good flick. I thought it was fairly predictable. I wish I could explain that but I don't want to spoil it for anybody. Also, I thought they could have done more with Catwoman. There are things within the movie that made me uneasy but there were also things within the movie that were very positive. All in all, it was a good movie, probably the best one of the year so far, but not sure that is saying much in how poor movies have become in the last several years. I, personally, am really looking forward to the next Bourne movie.

HOW? IT WAS SPECTACULAR LOL! everything was unpredictable to me lol, batman honestly to me seemed to be dead, that chick being the real child who escaped, it was full of action and I guess i am not good at predicting stuff but IMO it was the most suspenseful un-predictable superhero movie I have ever seen.

Before this i wasn't a big batman fan either I didn't like the first 2 lol.

Dorothea · Jul 25, 2012

I'll let my hubby know.

He likes the Batman movies...well, the ones that Nolan has directed. He probably won't see it til it comes out on Red Box or something, though.

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

I'm with you, Atwood. I must be a dufus, but I was surprised right and left and it kept me going. I was surprised at every turn. The thing with who was behind the takeover of Gotham, the Catwoman, the "ending" and Blake, and I thought a couple times that it was over for Batman....

I thought it was the best of the three films, utterly spectacular as well. That flick is EVERYTHING a movie should be. And I'm NOT an Anne Hathaway fan. I have never liked her a bit, but have to say she was pretty amazing in it. Everyone was at the top of their game---most especially the Nolans with the writing!!!

Atwood45 said:
HOW? IT WAS SPECTACULAR LOL! everything was unpredictable to me lol, batman honestly to me seemed to be dead, that chick being the real child who escaped, it was full of action and I guess i am not good at predicting stuff but IMO it was the most suspenseful un-predictable superhero movie I have ever seen.

Before this i wasn't a big batman fan either I didn't like the first 2 lol.

Gxg (G²) · Jul 25, 2012

Truthfully, I liked it...although I had a headache going into the film and found it hard to focus.

I especially thought the way they showed Bane was doing the character justice. Although I liked Bane, I wished I could have understood more of what he said apart from his mask getting in the way of his voice being clear. When it comes out on video, sub-titles will be appreciated since he was very articulate/brilliant in how he conveyed things....and I hated feeling like I could only catch part of that. But yeah, Bane was cool and then did an excellent job making him as realistic as possible compared to the comics. Always will be one of the DARK Knight's most intelligent foes---and a revolutionary. Seeing him in action, I kept thinking of figures like Hugo Chavez , Ernesto "Che" Guevara ...Lenin or Pablo Escobar (who terrorized the people even though they loved him because he supported them at certain points).

Speaking of revolutions, the theme of social upheaval via the poor coming against the rich was brilliant--especially in light of Bane showing himself as a "hero" for Gotham in "liberating" it from corruption/pointing to things that were lies promoted by Batman and Gordon...and yet, his solution (anarchy) was just as evil/messed up (if not more so). Truly a powerful political message. And the ways Batman rose to the occassion to defeat him, I was thankful.

I will say that my favorite person was Catwoman. Hands DOWN--and IMHO, perhaps the best incarnation of the character yet. Very realistic and someone you could truly relate to when seeing where she came from and how she chose to relate to others in the world. She was just very captivating and the musical score to show her in action was so fitting

Although I still think the Dark Knight is better, I realized in hindsight after seeing the film that you'd never enjoy the latest one if trying to compare it to the former. Because the "Dark Knight" was showing the Joker breaking Batman/Gotham in multiple ways mentally (and with good points that forced Batman to lose somewhat even when they "won" in the end)....and with all of the sheer chaos in that film, the film was naturally DARKER. TDKR film was more so lighter in many ways... and similar to the first one...and in a differing category (as a Trilogy should be, like Starwars having "The Empire Strikes Back" be more dark/intensive than "Return of the Jedi" because of the themes). There were many points I sat in the theater thinking "I'm not really intimidated as much as I was with the Joker"...

On a humorous note, part of me throughout the film kept thinking Joker could easily take over things with Bane around....and do so with class.

gzt · Jul 25, 2012

I liked it, it was fun, but it was definitely a "Return of the Jedi" in the trilogy.

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

I disagree. I think it lived up to the hype. I liked it better than TDK personally.

gzt said:
I liked it, it was fun, but it was definitely a "Return of the Jedi" in the trilogy.

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

Yeah, the one hole left was not going into Bane's story. He has a fascinating origin, a depressing one at that. They didn't mention the prison using him as a guinea pig for the "venom" compound injected into him that gave him the absurd strength. That explains the mask, the need to continually circulate the toxin into his body. When he loses the Venom compound, he hallucinates, becomes dillusional, and endures horrendous pain. Bane was forced to live the life of a prisoner for his father's crimes in Santa Prisca, a fictional south american island. he had to grow up watching brutality and being brutalized himself endlessly. He learned foreign languages in the prison, studied with a Jesuit, and became ultra strong because of his challenges....he didn't go to meet with Ra's Al-Gul until later in life. The movie didn't do a good job with that. But I think we comic geeks know this stuff so we're cool. But I wish they'd have SHOWN his upbringing. Sounds crazy to say it, but I think the audience would have some measure of sympathy or empathy had they known the brutal suffering this man endured and why he is so bitterly angry. Only real criticism of the movie.

I was reading online yesterday that they'd originally wanted Leonardo Di Caprio to play THE RIDDLER in the third installment. Nolan summarily rejected it in favor of Bane. Thanks be to God! LOL

My wife and I are big Di Caprio fans. I think he's a phenomenal, gifted actor, but....as the Riddler? LOL

Easy G (G²);61051769 said:
Truthfully, I liked it...although I had a headache going into the film and found it hard to focus.

I especially thought the way they showed Bane was doing the character justice. Although I liked Bane, I wished I could have understood more of what he said apart from his mask getting in the way of his voice being clear. When it comes out on video, sub-titles will be appreciated since he was very articulate/brilliant in how he conveyed things....and I hated feeling like I could only catch part of that. But yeah, Bane was cool and then did an excellent job making him as realistic as possible compared to the comics. Always will be one of the DARK Knight's most intelligent foes---and a revolutionary. Seeing him in action, I kept thinking of figures like Hugo Chavez , Ernesto "Che" Guevara ...Lenin or Pablo Escobar (who terrorized the people even though they loved him because he supported them at certain points).

Speaking of revolutions, the theme of social upheaval via the poor coming against the rich was brilliant--especially in light of Bane showing himself as a "hero" for Gotham in "liberating" it from corruption/pointing to things that were lies promoted by Batman and Gordon...and yet, his solution (anarchy) was just as evil/messed up (if not more so). Truly a powerful political message. And the ways Batman rose to the occassion to defeat him, I was thankful.

I will say that my favorite person was Catwoman. Hands DOWN--and IMHO, perhaps the best incarnation of the character yet. Very realistic and someone you could truly relate to when seeing where she came from and how she chose to relate to others in the world. She was just very captivating and the musical score to show her in action was so fitting

Although I still think the Dark Knight is better, I realized in hindsight after seeing the film that you'd never enjoy the latest one if trying to compare it to the former. Because the "Dark Knight" was showing the Joker breaking Batman/Gotham in multiple ways mentally (and with good points that forced Batman to lose somewhat even when they "won" in the end)....and with all of the sheer chaos in that film, the film was naturally DARKER. TDKR film was more so lighter in many ways and similar to the first one...and in a differing category (as a Trilogy should be, like Starwars having "The Empire Strikes Back" be more dark/intensive than "Return of the Jedi" because of the themes).

On a humorous note, part of me throughout the film kept thinking Joker could easily take over things with Bane around....and do so with class.

Ortho_Cat · Jul 25, 2012

I heard catwoman was sizzling...

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

Funny thing, I have always HATED skinny women visually. Anne Hathaway is so bone skinny and those eyes drive my wife nuts. "Her huge eyeballs bug me!" LOL my wife always says. i'm no fan of Hathaway's and I don't see what the huge attraction is...but her acting was first-rate and she was perfect for the role. Scarlette Johansenn is so much better-looking but her acting stinks and she was terrible in the Avengers. I was shocked that I liked Hathaway that much in the flick. She was great. She just needs to gain 20 lbs lOL

Ortho_Cat said:
I heard catwoman was sizzling...

Ortho_Cat · Jul 25, 2012

gurneyhalleck1 said:
Funny thing, I have always HATED skinny women visually. Anne Hathaway is so bone skinny and those eyes drive my wife nuts. "Her huge eyeballs bug me!" LOL my wife always says. i'm no fan of Hathaway's and I don't see what the huge attraction is...but her acting was first-rate and she was perfect for the role. Scarlette Johansenn is so much better-looking but her acting stinks and she was terrible in the Avengers. I was shocked that I liked Hathaway that much in the flick. She was great. She just needs to gain 20 lbs lOL

Mark Ruffalo stole the show as Hulk in Avengers, imo. He was always so conflicted, you could just feel it. I don't have any issues with Scarlette or her acting...but then again it's quite possible i'm just blinded by her beauty :angel:

ArmyMatt · Jul 25, 2012

there were some small mistakes in TDKR (like bad fight choreography), but all in all I really enjoyed the film. not as much as TDK, but still up there.

Gxg (G²) · Jul 25, 2012

gurneyhalleck1 said:
Yeah, the one hole left was not going into Bane's story. He has a fascinating origin, a depressing one at that. They didn't mention the prison using him as a guinea pig for the "venom" compound injected into him that gave him the absurd strength. That explains the mask, the need to continually circulate the toxin into his body. When he loses the Venom compound, he hallucinates, becomes dillusional, and endures horrendous pain.

Bane was forced to live the life of a prisoner for his father's crimes in Santa Prisca, a fictional south american island. he had to grow up watching brutality and being brutalized himself endlessly. He learned foreign languages in the prison, studied with a Jesuit, and became ultra strong because of his challenges....he didn't go to meet with Ra's Al-Gul until later in life.

I liked what they did in the movie with the mask being needed to relieve severe pain since he was messed up in surgery...and at one point, it seemed that mask not only gave him a gas that was like a pain-killer---but in some ways, enhanced his strength (As seen when they were fighting near the end and he managed to punch through a wall)...for without feeling immense pain, he could probably do alot more as if on adreneline.

As another said best:

Costume designer Lindy Hemming revealed some details of Banes mask: He was injured early in his story. Hes suffering from pain and he needs gas to survive. He Cannot survive the pain without the mask. The pipes from the mask go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at the back where there are two canisters of what ever it is the anesthetic. This sounds like a variation on the venom steroid that the comic book version of Bane uses to pump up his physical strength to greater levels. In all likelihood, the onscreen version of Bane will have a similar ability though it sounds like instead of making his muscles big, the gas will make him impervious to pain. Its also an interesting twist that will make Bane a more complex and somewhat tragic villain (the idea of a guy who only knows pain, and therefore has little compassion when it comes to inflicting pain on others). Good to know that costume is function as much as it is fashion.

The idea of Bane needing to feel no pain, and what that numbness (physical and emotional) does to him as a man, makes for a richer and more complex character in many ways.

To my knowledge, from what I remember from Bane's backstory (as I just read it again at the bookstore), his mask wasn't used to give him venom since he was often shown with it off and him still being able to use venom. It seemed the mask was for intimidation purposes only....and he eventually was able to get off of venom later in the comics after being beaten by Batman's successor (Azrael). But he was still extremely stronger than Batman even without the drug since he trained extensively/used his abilities to train---matching the Dark Knights intellect and even impressing Ra's Al Ghoul in the series (as he loved Ra's daughter and was considered as a successor equal to Batman).

I didn't like how in the comics he killed the Jesuit priest he studied under, as it seemed pointless and made me respect him a lot less than before...but later in the comics, especially during the "No Man's Land" saga where an earthquake hit Gotham/wrecked it, it was cool to see him and Batman team up...and even later on, to see how they portrayed him as an anti-villian/one who actually wanted to be and replace Batman...COMPLEX!

His background was very captivating seeing where he came from and the horrors he grew up with...and yet came out of it strong, inventing differing styles of fighting and being a self-trained genius. In many ways, he was a mirror to the Dark Knight.

I think it'd be hard for them to get his origins exactly as they did in the Dark Knight.....TOO MANY details, just as it was with the Joker in his background.

The movie didn't do a good job with that. But I think we comic geeks know this stuff so we're cool. But I wish they'd have SHOWN his upbringing. Sounds crazy to say it, but I think the audience would have some measure of sympathy or empathy had they known the brutal suffering this man endured and why he is so bitterly angry.

I agree. He wasn't just destroying things for the sake of it, although it seemed in the movies like they tried to give him some level of empathy near the end when revealing why he did as he did..

Only real criticism of the movie.

I was reading online yesterday that they'd originally wanted Leonardo Di Caprio to play THE RIDDLER in the third installment. Nolan summarily rejected it in favor of Bane. Thanks be to God! LOL

:o

Thank goodness they chose against that decision....

My wife and I are big Di Caprio fans. I think he's a phenomenal, gifted actor, but....as the Riddler? LOL

At one point, Johnny Deep was considered..

Gxg (G²) · Jul 25, 2012

ArmyMatt said:
there were some small mistakes in TDKR (like bad fight choreography), but all in all I really enjoyed the film. not as much as TDK, but still up there.

The fight scenes with Batman got on my nerve somewhat, as I was wanting to really get in the movie (as Batman) and just beat down the villian for REAL...as the man seemed so slow and I was like "You've done better than this, Bruce. Drop the self-restraint/form and just be brutal in giving a sincere BEAT-Down."

Dorothea · Jul 25, 2012

gurneyhalleck1 said:
Funny thing, I have always HATED skinny women visually. Anne Hathaway is so bone skinny and those eyes drive my wife nuts. "Her huge eyeballs bug me!" LOL my wife always says. i'm no fan of Hathaway's and I don't see what the huge attraction is...but her acting was first-rate and she was perfect for the role. Scarlette Johansenn is so much better-looking but her acting stinks and she was terrible in the Avengers. I was shocked that I liked Hathaway that much in the flick. She was great. She just needs to gain 20 lbs lOL

You sound like my husband. Whenever he sees a terribly skinny woman, he'll say something like "she needs a sandwich!" He feels that way about many of the skinny actresses out there. Maybe that's why he always liked Salma Hayek. She was never skin and bones.

ProScribe · Jul 25, 2012

I've been known to throw a Ninja dart or two

MrJim · Jul 25, 2012

Ortho_Cat said:
Mark Ruffalo stole the show as Hulk in Avengers, imo. He was always so conflicted, you could just feel it. I don't have any issues with Scarlette or her acting...but then again it's quite possible i'm just blinded by her beauty

Black Widow without Russian accent was a fail anyway.

Haven't seen the batman movie yet...

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

Yeah, and outside the days of the Soviet Union and without the Russian accent, Black Widow isn't as Widowish as back then....

Add to that the fact that Hawkeye was terrible (he didn't act ANYTHING like the comics. In the comics he was sarcastic, rude, iconoclastic, and ill-tempered, always pushing Captain America's buttons and jockying to be the leader) and Iron Man was about as annoying as ever, I was bummed. Oddly enough, Ruffalo's Bruce Banner was the best character in the movie! LOL....Thor fell flat and Loki is the lamest baddie ever....

You MUST go see TDKR...good stuff

MrJim said:
Black Widow without Russian accent was a fail anyway.

Haven't seen the batman movie yet...

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 25, 2012

When Bane escaped that Pena Dura prison, he stole some of the Venom and kept a supply. Every 12 hours he needs to have it pumped directly into his brain. There is a tube fed from the Venom stash into the back of his head through the mask somehow. I double-checked it after what you said. But, yeah, he went into severe withdrawals but kicked the addiction to the stuff.

Easy G (G²);61052412 said:
To my knowledge, from what I remember from Bane's backstory (as I just read it again at the bookstore), his mask wasn't used to give him venom since he was often shown with it off and him still being able to use venom. It seemed the mask was for intimidation purposes only....and he eventually was able to get off of venom later in the comics after being beaten by Batman's successor (Azrael). But he was still extremely stronger than Batman even without the drug since he trained extensively/used his abilities to train---matching the Dark Knights intellect and even impressing Ra's Al Ghoul in the series (as he loved Ra's daughter and was considered as a successor equal to Batman).

..

OT: Just saw TDKR, all I can say...WOW

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