Do not read on if you haven't watched the movie yet. You should! It's awesome. Well, I went to watch the Dark Knight yesterday, and I was mightily impressed. Nolan is an awesome director, but I didn't think he could pull off another good Batman. He did. Even though I consider it the weakest of the trilogy, it was well worth my money. What I liked was the imagery and mostly the characterization of both villains and heroes, though Catwoman felt kinda out of place. I was sad when Alfred left, and I feared for Gordon. I also liked Bane a lot. He's not the joker, and that's the whole point. He's not insane, he is quite clear-minded. I'd say he is less menacing than the Joker, who had this aura of madness and unpredicatability around him. Bane feels more... subtle, though he is much more imposing. German voice acting was crap for him though I really liked the fights for the most parts, well choreographed and with good people going down, not wuhu everyone is happy! Gotham takes heavy damage, it really feels as if it were on the brink of destruction. Now, what I disliked... Glaring plot holes. Where of a sudden does Miranda Tate come from? Why the hell is Bruce Wayne giving her total control in a few hours? Come on. I also didn't like the way that she was suddenly the villain and the child of Raz al'Ghul - I thought it was a far stretch that Bane was his son, but then this? Nah. Especially since no child was ever mentioned in Batman Begins ( I think). Then, the prison. No guards? No nothing? How do they get food then? And how does he get back to Gotham so quickly? Most of those are minor, what pissed me off most was the ending. Making out with Catwoman 1.30 before the bomb goes off. Yep. And if it weren't for the making out part, why with Catwoman? Didn't see any spark there before. But then... Why is he not dead? It would have been a fitting conclusion, it would have moved me. It would have been an end. But this? Blatantly opening the way for yet another sequel? Ok, opening the door for Robin would be tolerable, but then having Batman survive... And not even subtle. The ending pissed me off majorly and I hope Nolan was forced to do so by the studio. Oh well, overall it was a very good movie though
Are you me? I share the same views of the movie - weakest of the trilogy but still good. And as for the ending, they probably want to leave it open for a Justice League film to compete with Avengers, and tie it to the Nolan Batman universe for credibility.
Yeah I guess... I just hope that Nolan protested against that ending, I rather think he did, thinking of Inception... Did anyone else think that is was kinda Batception with all the actors from Inception suddenly appearing? I also forgot that I love the actor who portrays Jonathan Crane, Cilian Murphy is a true badass
It's not uncommon for Directors to give actors / actresses that they like another role in a movie, but yes, it did get a little ridiculous in Dark Knight Rises. And yes Cillian Murphy is awesome. 28 Days Later and Sunshine are some of my favorite flicks.
Danny Boyle is awesome as well 28 Days later is one of my all-time favourites, it rather seems we have a similar taste And that strip sums it up perfectly, had forgotten about Watanabe being in BB... And we shouldn't forget about Hans Zimmer, but he's everywhere anyway
I (obviously) have Still have to see Slumdog Millionaire though, my parents have it at home. Did you see Event Horizon? It's like the trashy, horror older brother of Sunshine, with a lot less thinking. I just noticed that "Bane" was also in Rock'n'Rolla and L4yer Cake, but wow, what a change. He's like 20 kg heavier as Bane
I've seen Slumdog Millionaire and Event Horizon. Love 'em both. Speaking about Event Horizon and Sunshine - I have a particular fondness for "dealing with shit that happens on a space ship" plots. Don't know why, but I gravitate towards them.
I saw DKR as well and I agree that it is the weakest of the trilogy, but still well-worth seeing. I disagree about a few things though. 1. I kind of liked Cat Woman and that she was necessary as kind of a foil to Batman, one who is redeemed in the end -- she exists to show that Batman is correct in a lot of ways. She really illustrates the conscience of the film, sort of as a counter-example to Batman. She never was the villain because she actually has a conscience, and that's important. 2. Bane (and by proxy, Miranda) I thought were weak links in the film in some ways. Don't get me wrong, I liked that Bane was physically superior to Batman (with one fatal flaw) -- that was necessary in order to give him menace. What I didn't like were his motives. You have to look back at the previous films to see, by contrast, why Bane is an inferior villain. Gotham clearly is a corrupt and decrepit place when the trilogy starts, and only gets somewhat better by the time the Joker comes in. It's no surprise then that Ras Al Ghoul (sp?) should think that it's worth destroying (Joker was not in the Brotherhood and had different motives so he isn't relevant to the comparison). However, we have been told, and it is also apparent that by the time the third movie starts, Gotham is a very different place. So my question is, what is it about Gotham that makes Bane think that it is the moral Cesspool that he (and Miranda) sees? What's so awful about Gotham now, that every other city on earth is of a lower priority to destroy? The movie, in order to make Bane believable, needs to show what that is, and it never does. That, I feel, is a big problem. Villains either need to have understandable motives (power, greed,, etc.) or need to be insane nihilists (like the Joker). All you know about Bane and Miranda is that they are fanatics, but even fanatics need to have discernible motives to make good villains. Still, the movie kept me engaged, which is good, considering that I've fallen asleep in too many other movies that I've gone to see lately.
I loved Slumdog Millionaire. Event Horizon was worth seeing but wasn't great, imho. STill, it was better than the reviews that it got, imho. I didn't care that much for Sunshine, though.
You're obviously right about Bane's motives, I kind of forgot that in my plot hole list Tbh, I liked Harvey Dent more than Bane, evidently I just admire apeshit mad characters
Sunshine is a great movie, but I agree Event Horizon wasn't the best of flicks. It just happens to be one that clicks with me.
I've seen a couple of lengthy deconstructions about how Batman Begins is a retelling of the Soddom and Gomorrah story - with god/religion as the bad guy(Raz Al Ghul). Perhaps the bad guys in this movie make more sense in this context as well?
I'm not complaining too much about the Story of BB, Raz al Ghul might have been slightly exaggerating but he was understandable. I mean, it was his whole life. But Bane and Talia in the modern Gotham? Not so much.
Exactly. You could argue that the old Gotham represented Sodom and/or Gomorrah, but not the modern Gotham. That's my main problem with Tallia/Bane as villains as well. Batman Begins: Ras Al Ghoul: "Gotham is Corrupt, it should be destroyed" Batman: "It is Corrupt, but I'll fix it" The Dark Knight: The Joker: "Batman is trying to fix Gotham, but I'll show him that you can't fix it because people are inherently Corrupt" Batman: "I just proved that with two exceptions, (You and the new Harvey Dent),everything you said is untrue." The Dark Knight Rises Bane/Tallia: "Gotham is still corrupt. It still needs to be destroyed" Batman "Huh? Harvey Dent and Joker are gone, Ras Al Ghoul is dead, and there is no more organized crime. Come again?" Bane/Tallia: "Ummm... yeah... I didn't notice that... OK, maybe we should destroy Detroit instead? Or a time machine! yeah that's the ticket!.
Bane/Talia sound like religious zealots. It's dogma that Gotham is corrupt and therefore must be destroyed, the actual state of Gotham doesn't matter, because dogma. Kind of like the people living today that still believe the earth is six thousand years old and/or flat.
But the point is, they don't seem like dogmatical fanatics, which means they are not believable. They seem too rational and well-informed to not see how the modern Gotham is. The only other explanation I have is that Talia is doing it for her father - but she hated him. Bane as well, since he was thrown out by Raz al Ghul.
Possibly. But that still makes them less interesting as villains than they would normally be. "Goodfellas" spoilers ahead -- don't read if you haven't seen this AWESOME movie: One of my all-time favorite films is "Goodfellas" -- I think it's one of the greatest crime movies since "The Godfather" (1 or 2) and arguably, is equally good, or possibly better than either. EVERY important character in the film is a villain, pretty much. BUT they are all fascinating. The movie shows you in great detail, the benefits of the gangster lifestyle. People treat you better, even with what passes for Respect in that subculture. You can afford to dress well, you get great seats at shows, you can treat your wife AND your mistress with fur coats and jewelry and expensive cars. Sure, sometimes you have to kill someone or beat someone up or steal a little. But it's all part of the game. And if you are lucky, you can gain even more status by being invited to the big kid's table (by being made), which means even more freedom to do what you want, because as a made man no one (or almost no one) is going to mess with you. But what makes Goodfellas even more interesting as a mob movie is that it shows that loyalty and friendship takes a back seat to the bottom line -- money and staying out of prison so you can enjoy that money. That means that people rat on each other. It also shows that people with power are more likely to do great violence for small gain or settling even petty wrongs, insults which are perceived to damage ones status, and so on. And it's even more fascinating since the characters are loosely based on real people, which adds even more to the believability. OK, I get that Bane is a comic book villain. ALL THE MORE NEED for them to be believable, because if I'm going to buy into a costumed villain wanting to destroy a city, I'd better be convinced that he has a reasonable reason for it, or all of that suspension of disbelief is going to hit a brick wall.
