[SPOILERS] The Dark Knight Rises (2.0)

Bale's a real good egg. He went the distance for these people. Check out the rest of the pictures at Brown's link.

Jack Wade wrote:

Chris Nolan's goodbye to Batman:

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/171933-christopher-nolans-goodbye-to-the-batman-franchise

I'm getting choked up. Best to bring some hankies when I go for second viewing in a few weeks time. :( :|

I saw THE DARK KNIGHT RISES again today (not in IMAX, and while the visual grandeur of IMAX is compelling, the sound mix is much better when it's not hampered by the overwhelming bass of IMAX speakers) and it's clear to me that this is by far the strongest of the three films.

I'm working on a review to tease out some of what I see at play here. I admire the obvious and not-so-obvious ways in which the film substantially critiques the previous two installments.

Largo's Shark wrote:

RAIDERS and THE GODFATHER for sure. Fine examples of each film getting progressively better.

Are you being sarcastic there Sharky?

Raiders is easily the best of the 4 Indy films, and Godfather 3 doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the first 2 flicks.

jet set willy wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

RAIDERS and THE GODFATHER for sure. Fine examples of each film getting progressively better.

Are you being sarcastic there Sharky?

Nope. LAST CRUSADE > TEMPLE OF DOOM > RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and THE GODFATHER PART III > THE GODFATHER PART II > THE GODFATHER.

Largo's Shark wrote:

jet set willy wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

RAIDERS and THE GODFATHER for sure. Fine examples of each film getting progressively better.

Are you being sarcastic there Sharky?

Nope. LAST CRUSADE > TEMPLE OF DOOM > RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and THE GODFATHER PART III > THE GODFATHER PART II > THE GODFATHER.

Well, you certainly don't follow the norm as far as movie tastes go.

Next you'll be saying The Phantom Menace is better than Empire Strikes Back....... ;)

jet set willy wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

jet set willy wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

RAIDERS and THE GODFATHER for sure. Fine examples of each film getting progressively better.

Are you being sarcastic there Sharky?

Nope. LAST CRUSADE > TEMPLE OF DOOM > RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and THE GODFATHER PART III > THE GODFATHER PART II > THE GODFATHER.

Well, you certainly don't follow the norm as far as movie tastes go.

Next you'll be saying The Phantom Menace is better than Empire Strikes Back....... ;)

Even I'm not that crazy. :)

I see the split on this thread just happened. Just added a link to the original thread on the first post of this one.

Indeed, looked like for a moment it was going to break the mould but the elastic sort of snapped.

New Members thread soon.

I understand it's done for storage purposes, but I miss the mega-threads.

Seem to remember the Last Bond Movie You Watched thread on old MI6 was well into the 400's by the time it was zapped. Maybe one day this forum will break the mould for truncated threads.

Having thought of it, TDKR is basically TWINE. Protagonist fighting a terrorist who feels no pain. Has a one night stand with the sexiest woman in the flick who turns out to be the mastermind behind the scheme, with the terrorist leader actually being a lackey all along.

Difference between the two is that one is actually done competently.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Having thought of it, TDKR is basically TWINE. Protagonist fighting a terrorist who feels no pain. Has a one night stand with the sexiest woman in the flick who turns out to be the mastermind behind the scheme, with the terrorist leader actually being a lackey all along.

Difference between the two is that one is actually done competently.

A bald villain who feels no pain. Very good. I didn't even think of TWINE.

And kudos for saying Marion Cotillard is the sexiest woman in the film. I think she's a good ten times sexier than Anne Hathaway. Hathaway does a fine job, and she does fit the film. But she's hardly a definitive Catwoman to me. I'll take Michelle Pfeiffer anyday over her.

The third woman in the film is Juno Temple. I find her oddly sexy in a completely different way from Cotillard. Temple looks like a fun little tart.

Nah, the character Pfeffier plays barely resembles any other form of Selina Kyle. Hathaway is the character come to life.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Nah, the character Pfeffier plays barely resembles any other form of Selina Kyle.

It resembles Tim Burton's. That's good enough for me.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Nah, the character Pfeffier plays barely resembles any other form of Selina Kyle. Hathaway is the character come to life.

This is good news, because her portrayal does ring-true with an authenticity, that I didn't quite get from Pfeiffer. Pfeiff came across as more of an edgier version of the Julie Newmar CW

Right, because Burton's such a visionary and the further he was able to take the characters from anything resembling their original form the better, 70 years of source storytelling be damned. I'm sure you'd be happy if Superman was a molesting pedophile in his next film, being as that would be a "commendable deconstruction of the laughable heroic archetype" or somesuch.

Of course, so far as you're concered it's far more important to have a good art director than a good writer.

As for Cotillard, while I didn't find her sexier than Hathaway I did indeed find her sexy. And I've never really found her attractive in any of her previous movie appearances at all, so that's a big step up for her.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Having thought of it, TDKR is basically TWINE. Protagonist fighting a terrorist who feels no pain. Has a one night stand with the sexiest woman in the flick who turns out to be the mastermind behind the scheme, with the terrorist leader actually being a lackey all along.

Difference between the two is that one is actually done competently.

You know that parallel is actually pretty close! Good eye!

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Right, because Burton's such a visionary and the further he was able to take the characters from anything resembling their original form the better. .

Exactly. He made BATMAN distinctively his own. He didn't capitulate to another comic book writer's vision, which is part of why I think WATCHMEN failed. Snyder tried too hard to dot the i's and cross the t's of Alan Moore's source, resulting in an authentic (minus calamari), but yet ultimately impersonal and uncompelling work.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Of course, so far as you're concered it's far more important to have a good art director than a good writer.

I think RETURNS has got the later, particularly in its wit. It's just not faithful to the comic books.

Δ

Largo's Shark wrote:

I think RETURNS has got the later, particularly in its wit. It's just not faithful to the comic books.

It does have good wit, but in terms of things like character motivation and basic plot structure, it's a complete mess.

I will admit that Burton's ability to make the characters his own and not be a slave to source material is great, but what I dislike is when a character is changed so much as to be near unrecognizable.
Would you laud an adaptation of GREAT GATSBY that, say, interpreted Daisy Buchanan as an opium addicted negro hooker with a peg leg?

Pfieffer's Catwoman isn't that fargone, but what I am trying to say is that I appreciate that now, after three previous live action feature film versions, we finally have a Catwoman who actually does resemble the character from the page.

Nolan's films aren't nearly as slavish to the source as Snyder's WATCHMEN, either. There's quite a lot of reinterpretation going on.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I'm sure you'd be happy if Superman was a molesting pedophile in his next film, being as that would be a "commendable deconstruction of the laughable heroic archetype" or somesuch.

That would almost be as disturbing as your avatar.

Yes, that would be disturbing

Personally I like all 7 of the big Bat films. My favourite would be Batman Begins with Bale, followed by the TDKR, with the Clooney film last and the other 4 all mixed in the middle.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I'm sure you'd be happy if Superman was a molesting pedophile in his next film, being as that would be a "commendable deconstruction of the laughable heroic archetype" or somesuch.

That would almost be as disturbing as your avatar.

You seemed to be pleased with Routh/Singer's portrayal of the character as a stalker/homewrecker/absentee father.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Pfieffer's Catwoman isn't that fargone, but what I am trying to say is that I appreciate that now, after three previous live action feature film versions, we finally have a Catwoman who actually does resemble the character from the page.

But she's bland and monotone as hell. I take Pfeiffer's personality over that.

Δ

Reeves' Superman doesn't follow Lois everywhere she goes, spying on her without her knowledge. That whole sequence where he watches her family from outside is disturbing.

Also, I don't see how Hathaway's Cat is bland or monotone. She was the biggest spark of fun and personality in the flick's otherwise dour outlook.