The Dark Knight Rises

[Agent-S]

I went to see this film this week. I've seen all the Batman movies now, although I probably prefer the older 4 to the newer ones. I don't really think that Christian Bale is the right Batman, that growl he makes really annoys me! I found some of the scenes to be a bit unrealistic, e.g. Bruce would use a walking stick to walk, and then all of a sudden as Batman he could fight like he was so many years younger lol! Also, there was less than 2 minutes for the bomb to blow, and Batman was going so slow, surely the bomb would have exploded before he got all the way over the sea? And how did he survive the bomb exploding? That scene reminded me of Resident Evil: Afterlife a bit there with Wesker surviving the bomb exploding on the plane. As well, I found the Bane accent to be a big problem. He started off well, and I could understand what he was saying, and then at times during the film, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. But having listened to the early screen test of the opening Bane scene, they've improved his dialogue massively, as I couldn't understand anything he said! Overall, I think it was a good film, not great, I don't agree with the 5 stars that i've seen from a lot of reviewers. There was also a lot of talking in the film, 2 1/2 hours is too long for a film in my opinion. So overall, i'd give it a 3.5/5.

[The Sparrow]

I went to see this film this week. I've seen all the Batman movies now, although I probably prefer the older 4 to the newer ones. I don't really think that Christian Bale is the right Batman, that growl he makes really annoys me! I found some of the scenes to be a bit unrealistic, e.g. Bruce would use a walking stick to walk, and then all of a sudden as Batman he could fight like he was so many years younger lol! Also, there was less than 2 minutes for the bomb to blow, and Batman was going so slow, surely the bomb would have exploded before he got all the way over the sea? And how did he survive the bomb exploding? That scene reminded me of Resident Evil: Afterlife a bit there with Wesker surviving the bomb exploding on the plane. As well, I found the Bane accent to be a big problem. He started off well, and I could understand what he was saying, and then at times during the film, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. But having listened to the early screen test of the opening Bane scene, they've improved his dialogue massively, as I couldn't understand anything he said! Overall, I think it was a good film, not great, I don't agree with the 5 stars that i've seen from a lot of reviewers. There was also a lot of talking in the film, 2 1/2 hours is too long for a film in my opinion. So overall, i'd give it a 3.5/5.

Batman was able to fight because [spoiler]of the brace on his leg. Remember him asking if Alfred wanted to try it?[/spoiler]

Did you see all of the film? It was actually 2 hours 44minutes

[weliveandbreathewords]

And how did he survive the bomb exploding?

[spoiler]During the aftermath scenes, it is clearly stated that Bruce Wayne had sucessfuly run a patch/software update to FIX the auto pilot on the Bat.[/spoiler]

[Agent-S]

And how did he survive the bomb exploding?

[spoiler]During the aftermath scenes, it is clearly stated that Bruce Wayne had sucessfuly run a patch/software update to FIX the auto pilot on the Bat.[/spoiler]

This was supposed to be a nuclear bomb that was supposed to destroy Gotham. How could it not have affected him? He only had 2 minutes, and he was going too slow, and you clearly saw him there in the bat at 3 seconds before it exploded. He would have died. He wasn't superhuman, he was just a man in a suit.

[The Sparrow]

And how did he survive the bomb exploding?

[spoiler]During the aftermath scenes, it is clearly stated that Bruce Wayne had sucessfuly run a patch/software update to FIX the auto pilot on the Bat.[/spoiler]

This was supposed to be a nuclear bomb that was supposed to destroy Gotham. How could it not have affected him? He only had 2 minutes, and he was going too slow, and you clearly saw him there in the bat at 3 seconds before it exploded. He would have died. He wasn't superhuman, he was just a man in a suit.

[spoiler]but was it the same bat? He deliberately presses a button which sets off an explosion while over land, that's when he escapes.[/spoiler]

[weliveandbreathewords]

Exactly the scenes up to the bomb going off are to instill that doubt, that's what Nolan does

[Jayman]

[spoiler]but was it the same bat? He deliberately presses a button which sets off an explosion while over land, that's when he escapes.[/spoiler]

Wait, wait, wait....so lemme get this right. [spoiler]He hops into The Bat with everyone watching him carry the bomb, sets off the decoy explosion, activates the autopilot, jumps out and lands into ...erm....another Bat, and then sits there while waiting for the bomb to go off. Right, that's perfectly plausible.

Why's he sitting there? Except of course to throw us off. They don't mention anything about one Bat being able to remote control another so there's really no need for him to be there at all. If anything, this whole scene is a hark back to those old Captain America TV shows where at the end of the one episode (for example) during an intense chase sequence, Cap would crash his bike into a truck leading to an insane explosion and the show would end with the audience thinking he's dead. Then the following week, they'd show the same scene except this time there'd be an extra bit showing Cap jumping off his bike at the eleventh hour.

It's a cheat. Plain and simple.[/spoiler]
Tonight I had the fine honour of seeing the movie again at the BFI IMAX. Aside from the Alfred's cafe scenes during which I really pa*d as much attention as humanly possible, it gave me a chance to appreciate the audio and visual aesthetics...and the verdict is nothing more than a humble WOW! The elongated ratio works incredibly well, particularly during the opening, the climax and the football scene, although I did find it distracting in certain parts where it switched rapidly between 2:1.35 and 1.44:1. I'd love to know why the movie couldn't have been filmed in its entirety in the preferred ratio. Beautiful visuals aside, I found myself completely taken aback by Hans Zimmer's pulse-racing soundtrack over the 11,600 watt speaker system. A pitch-perfect composition, even during the weaker points of the movie (*cough* The Pit *cough*).

The movie held up extremely well on a second viewing. I would go as far as to say that I actually enjoyed it a great deal more this time, going completely against my personal opinion of repeat viewings limiting the surprise element.

The bad: Bane's voice...it's a great voice and a great accent, but the sheer loudness makes it sound more like a continuity presenter's voice rather than an on-screen character. I can't think how this could have been improved but as it stands, it's far from perfect.

Lastly, the theatre screwed up by leaving on two luminescent blue lights close to the top left of the screen, only bothering to switch them off 2.5 hours later during the end-credits. I found that extremely irritating.

Overall, £18.75 well spent and definitely a one-of-a-kind experience absolutely impossible to replicate on the small-screen. Glad I didn't hawk my ticket on eBay :-)