Ello.
So I saw The Dark Knight Rises at 12:01 for premier, (Yes, I realize there was a shooting in Colorado. Please don't mention it because nobody cares unless you're in Colorado) and I must say that it blew my mind out of the water. It was one helluva movie, and I figured I'll go ahead and try to give it an honest review.
Also, there may be possible spoilers, so continue at your own risk. If there is a spoiler, I will color the text the same color as the background, so you have to highlight it to read it. For Example, highlight this text to read it.
So the events of The Dark Knight Rises take place around 8 years after The Dark Knight, where Gotham is in a state of peace thanks to the Dent Act, named after Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face), who is now idolized and cherished by Gotham (Gordon kept the truth hidden to save Gotham from itself).
Alright, so the tone of the first Batman Begins movie was that of a very realistic and separate take on Batman. They used less special effects and fewer one-liners/cheesy movie cliches to satisfy the logical and reasoning audience, which I believe was the greatest thing to happen to superhero movies. Afterwards, they even further touched on that concept with The Dark Knight, in which The Joker and Two-Face were introduced and dealt with in their own ways, only this time, they managed to creep some hidden messages/morals to the story about how people are generally bad and that nothing can save humanity from itself, etc etc. These undertone sort-of prophecies were VERY entertaining to find my second or third watches through and gave new respect to the overall thought that went in to making it, yet are not as numerous in TDKR (The Dark Knight Rises).
Now, TDKR seemed to return to its roots in a way. And in that way I mean to its comic book roots. And in THAT way I mean that there are more recognizable characters from the comics, there is a bit more action that is reminiscent of comic books, and the tone/mood/dialogue can be a little too calm amidst the obvious chaos and seriousness the scenario should have inherited. Bane's role is a big factor in this, but in a very good way. His voice and accent are very characteristic and fit absolutely perfectly in the movie. When talking through his mask, Bane's voice is distorted ever so slightly, but not too much to the point of it being entirely inaudible. For example, in the theatre, there were times when I actually wouldn't be able to understand him simply because it was my first time hearing it, but it didn't bother me because the inaudible dialogue only made Bane appear more hulking and powerful. It immersed me in the movie more, rather than if he had a straight-forward British accent. Its a great addition, not to mention his dialogue itself is powerful and strong. He gives a sort of casual take on it, in the way he speaks and acts. But it's not an overly mischievous or comical way, it fits very well with the movie and respects the comic side of things. The main conflict in the movie is also a return to the first in the series. It's no longer a new player trying to ruin Gotham for his own gain (Joker), it's Bane: An ex-League Of Shadows member who seeks to fulfill Ra's Al Ghul's original goal to destroy Gotham for its wickedness. All these things make the movie appear to hint backwards to its beginnings in a comfortable way.
Aside from the mood and all, the way the movie was shot is also very entertaining. Each angle, especially in the most action filled, appear to be shot from the perspective of a bystander or onlooker simply gazing at the events taking place. It's almost as if Christopher Noland used every opportunity possible to make you feel in the action, which is often repeated by critics, but that's just the way it is. Every important scene or jaw-dropping moment is filmed in a very convincing way, and lack of CG assisted action scenes is still quite a view to marvel at and gives you, again, more respect for the movie in its entirety.
Although the movie is absolutely amazing and deserves the money paid to watch it, it's not perfect... just close to it. The few things I didn't like in the movie were almost as if the writers had to think "Hmm... should we? Well maybe if we tried to give the audi-SCREW IT, let's just do it." And these things are mostly involving Cat Woman's dialogue. Among all the other contenders in the movie, her dialogue is a bit cringing, because it drags so much down with it. Thankfully, she isn't the most important player in the movie, but when she is involved, her attitude with things are certainly not entertaining... unless you enjoy the type of talk where someone hangs another and says "Why don't you hang around..." Now I hate to be over-analytical with it, but her choreography, dialogue, and suit are a bit too much for me, and she remains as my least-favorite character in the movie. Although the movie's plot couldn't have been completed without her, the way she puts herself to be just doesn't fit with the rest of it. And the way she killed Bane, including her one-liner follow-up, were definite no-no's in my book of awesomeness. There was an intense fight scene between Batman and Bane in the middle of hundreds of Mercenaries and Policeman on Wall Street and Batman was actually winning, considering that he got his buttcheeks handed to him earlier in the movie. He was then betrayed by this *****, who shanked him and gave him to Bane, and before Bane was gonna kill him, here comes miss skin-tight leather in the Batcycle or whatever, and shoots Bane and kills him in the blink of an eye... very uneventful and dissatisfying. And to make matters worse, she says "I'm starting to disagree with your 'No guns, no killing policy.'" as she hops off the thing, and I'm just like "Nope." But other than that, every character was enjoyable.
The movie's plot progression was very comfortable. Don't get me wrong, the movie is long... a whole 2:45:00, but never did I say the movie is TOO long. It needed to be long, there were plenty of shifts in the direction everything was going, and it was all unexpected but welcomed. Although I must say there were a few bits of problem that were solved very quickly... too quickly. For example, Batman was originally impaired at the beginning of the movie, and had a cane he used to walk around. He was handicapped, and Catwoman *****-slapped the **** out of him and he was defenseless. But then, out of nowhere, he just has this mechanical brace on his legs that fixes everything for the entire movie, completely random and a bit annoying. Also, theres this girl in it that belongs to the Wayne Board of Executives or whatever, that he believes to be his friend/ally. He trusts her with his big fusion reactor thing in order to save Wayne Enterprises from being bankrupt, and she turns out to be the original kid that climbed out of a terrible prison, being helped escape by Bane. When Bane is defeated by Batman, Batman approaches her and is about to talk (or had already said something, I don't remember) and she randomly decides to stab him and reveal that she is Ra's Al Ghul's daughter, seeking revenge for the death of her father while simultaneously carrying out his dream. This, too, happens in the blink of an eye, and is by far the most plot-ruining/changing event in the entire movie. Although it's an important piece of information, I would much rather have had Bane remain as the most important bad guy, the brains of it all, yet this reveals him to be merely a sidekick puppet that just draws from the main threat. The movie could have easily done without this turn of events, and, in my opinion, had been just that much better.
Overall, the movie is absolutely spectacular. Some could argue that it was better than TDK, and they can be right. Some would say that Batman Begins was the best, and it's just as valid an argument. It all depends on preference, and that's how a good trilogy should be: each installment just as good, if not better, than any of the other two. Personally, I have a tie between TDK and TDKR and I'll have to think about it a bit more before I fully decide on which one I enjoy more.
As for you.. if you have not yet seen this movie and were contemplating it, go see it. It's a great movie in every way and its few shortcomings were easily overshadowed by the immense greatness the rest of it is. If you were a fan of any of the other two, I highly recommend you enjoy this movie while it's still in theatres.. you will not regret it.
I give it a 4.5 out of 5. Well deserved, and I plan on watching it again very soon.
To those that have already seen it... what did you think? Agree? Disagree? Neither? Discuss it, I wanna see everyone's opinion on it.
Definitely a modern classic...i could have watched another 3 hours!
I liked it alot. in my opinion, its the best batman movie ever.
yeah, catwoman was a bitbut it didnt bother me that much.
Catwomans *** in leather was spectacular.
But yeah the movie was amazing 10/10
'dat *** man, 'dat ***.Originally Posted by Euan
Wooow. What an amazing film. I liked it soo much
And by the way, the cat woman was fabulous![]()