[M] The Dark Knight Rises (SPOILERS) - Page 56

executing the 1% yet. Also the exact quote from Dickens is a pretty good indicator.

The 5 minutes without music where he broke the bat was absolutely stunning to watch. Batman's recovery in the Pit was handled pretty perfectly, I definitely got goosebumps when he started climbing without the rope. Also for people complaining about his recovery, he didn't have a broken back, he had a protruding disc which takes a few weeks to heal. Really the only criticism that sticks for me is the Talia reveal, seemed a bit unnecessary to the story.

The guy on the plane was the nuclear scientist who wrote the paper about turning a fusion reactor into a nuclear weapon. He tried to escape from bane by going w/ the CIA, but Bane ended up on the plane w/ him. He proceeded to draw his blood and leave 1 of his people behind to leave a DNA sample(hence why he was drawing the blood) to convince the world that the scientist was dead. This kidnapped scientist is the guy who later turns the reactor into weapon and gets his neck snapped by bane @ the football stadium.

the sudden jump after batman escapes the pit to when he arrives in the city goes from about 3 weeks to the bomb to holy shit it's tomorrow without any noticeable indication. Plus this moment is also a plot hole in how he gets from the pit to Gotham with no money, no passport, nothing and then how he even gets into gotham itself.

... the moment that validates Nolan and Brady's characterization of Bane, and the power of Batman as a cultural icon and symbol -- is when Bane immediately greets Batman as 'Mr. Wayne.'

It's one thing to see Batman stoic or angry or pissed off as we've seen so often in the previous two films, but there is something disarming and disturbing about seeing Batman's eyes light up with terror and vulnerability.

He's been unmasked, and any power his presence once had is stripped. At that moment everyone in the theatre realizes, "Uh oh. Batman is fucked."

Batman Begins

League of Shadows wants to destroy Gotham because Gotham is a crime infested cesspit and Ra's Al Ghul wants to burn the forest down so it can grow again: build up a new city over the ashes of the current Gotham.

Dark Knight Rises

Gotham is doing GREAT! The mob's been put away, and there's so little crime that Blake jokes about going after late library rentals. Batman hasn't been needed in years (Joker is never mentioned) and this is a time of "peace."

But... Talia Al Ghul, at the head of the League of Shadows (which somehow lost its affinity for ninjas, sadly), wants to destroy Gotham... why? Uh, because she's pissed off her daddy died.

Also... the entire put-the-Gotham-people-into-a-horrible-predicament-and-watch-them-kill-themselves was soooo much better done by the Joker. The entire "some people just want to watch the world burn" thing was done well in Dark Knight. In Rises, Bain is just kinda "meh"... he is scary at times, and I love the scene where he breaks Batman's back, but I felt like the final fight with Bane SUCKS, they're just punching at each other senselessly (as opposed to the final fight with Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins, where Batman gets to show off a new gadget or two, and the choreography was more interesting, and there was the entire "I won't kill you but I don't have to save you") and then Batman starts yelling in that ridiculous tone (which didn't bother me in ANY of the movies up until that point)

Batman climbing out of the pit was awesome, but I think it was just too late in the movie. He has to surpass ridiculous obstacles but it feels like it's all scrunched up into a ridiculous amount of time (even though it's supposed to be six months, it doesn't feel like it), and his plan to stop the nuke (or the alternate version that he used) was a Terry Pratchett chance in a million

AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaand lastly... like Harry Potter, Batman should have died. They could have ended it with Alfred's tearful mourning (the saddest thing I've ever seen) and Gordon Levitt's ascension, and it would have been an amazing tragedy... but they had to go Hollywood happy ending with it

And why did Bruce sleep with Talia? That seemed completely random. The two barely know each other, and I know Bruce probably hasn't been laid in forever so he'd jump on any chance he gets with anyone, but why is Talia so willing to sleep with her father's murderer? She hates Bruce with a passion

I know there were ridiculously high expectations for this movie, so it's not a surprise I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to, but I came into the movie doubting how well Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway would deliver their performances... and while they both did great jobs, their characters just weren't outstanding enough. It sucks to have a villain whose face you can't see, and catwoman wasn't quite as catwoman-y as I hoped...

I'm sorry for the rambling rant, but I think the unorganized nature of my complaining sort of reflects how I feel about the movie: I can't figure out where the movie fell short most (besides the Talia's motivation thing). I guess maybe it was "disappointingly clunky, bombastic"...

...but Michael Caine and Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman and Christian Bale were all amazing, and Comissioner Gordon is the real hero of the series, and I'm grateful to Nolan for the ride

Bruce's reclusion for seven or eight years.

I didn't even realize I felt this way when I was watching the movie, because I was too busy trying to figure out what was going on, but now I know... I don't believe that Bruce Wayne, Batman, would let himself be a recluse for years.

This is NEVER explained.

Bruce would be sad about losing Rachel, but he'd also be happy that Gotham's doing well, and he would have the spirit to go out and help people more, without the mask of Batman. And if he didn't find that spirit, Alfred would find it for him.

But instead, we start off the movie being greeted by a Batman that's moping around (when he should be busy finding a wifey, I'm with Alfred on this one, pre-Bane) and throughout the first half of the movie I'm wondering if his limp was caused by his back being broken by Bane because Bane has already broken his spirit, and they're going to show us the back breaking scene in a flashback, and for some reason Bane left for years, but now he's back. Or something like that. I was soooo confused... and then I find out that, no, he was just limping from previous injuries (was he injured at the end of Dark Knight? I don't remember him limping), but they never explain why Bruce wasted so many years

TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

Besides that, I agree, his voice was pretty awesome sounding, and Tom Hardy did his mannerisms perfectly. It's... just... so... frustrating... having a villain who's face you can't see, because as expressive as he might have been with his eyes, NOBODY can be expressive enough with just their eyes (Imaging if Heath Ledger had 80% of his face blocked during all of Dark Knight)

Bane was a good villain, to be sure. The Joker's just still too fresh in our minds (Rest in peace, Heath)

On the stock exchange scene: that was one of those moments that confused me at first, then I figured it would make sense later, and then I forgot about it, and only 'till now did I realize that it never made sense.

Completely agree with Talia + Bruce's death