Disagree. I was satisfied with just the Joker's rise purely because it was adequately done. Obviously if the Joker had just turned up at the end with none of the other stuff happening, I'd have been more peeved. Also, Harvey was shown as a good guy, shown how he left things to chance/had a dark side that the Joker exploited etc.

I thought there was just enough back story for those two, though maybe Harv got a bit short-changed dramatically-speaking at the end. They're heavily influenced by the arcs of the comics, and IIRC the Joker isn't sure of his own origin anymore

With TDKR, if they absolutely had to include Miranda she could have been handled better by either having her appear dramatically or giving her real screen time. Knowing next to nothing about Bane just made you inadvertently focus on the hammy voice and mask which don't get explained really.

This is what got cut from the film.

Mark

There was one thing I knew about Bane before watching the film and that is he broke Batmans back in the comi... sorry, graphic novel. Colour me not surprised when it happened in the film.

First off, I'm not as comic nerdy as the rest of you. I recognized the Dark Phoenix reference at the end of X2, but not from years of reading, but probably a cartoon. As with most other comic based movies, I know enough about characters and abilities from some comics as a kid and cartoons. That's it. I don't generally know major arcs and I think that's much better from a movie-watching perspective.

With that said, can I have a show of hands how many people here loved The Prestige and/or Inception? Coz everything this guy has made (with the exception of Insomnia, during which I fell asleep and need to do again soon) - I've loved. Are the problems we're talking about endemic for you lot, or just the Bat trilogy?

Prof has an argument, but I disagree. Most of the characters were fleshed out fully in TDK. The problem you have is a living, breathing world crammed into less than 3hrs. There was A LOT of detail there and that's difficult. So that could be argued.

Now for these:



1. The characters are what make Nolan's verse come alive. Is it hard to cram into a 3hr movie? Sure. But better than going without IMO.
2. The reason there is so much going on is because there HAS to be in order to bring Bats out of "retirement" and provide a fitting climax to the trilogy.
3. I'm not sure what you were expecting? This is a final film. I could sit here and moan about how ROTJ didn't show Luke and Leia establish a new Jedi order and give rise to a further 3 eps, but that'd be pointless. Some things are always gonna be left. That doesn't have to be bad (unless you're a closet American and you have to have a hollywood ending). Look at the end of ROTK with our heroes heading off into the west and not getting the girl/living happily ever after, for a reference point.
4. Batman was never the point of these films. Bruce Wayne is. That's the genius of these films. They're more about his rage, issues and inability to use his money/intelligence/philanthropy to make up for the death of his parents and rampant crime that caused that.
5. I don't think it was pants, but I'll grant you that the opening sequence of TDK is an all-time great.
6. The reason for less theatrics is the fact that they're both trained in the same arts. This is explained perfectly well. Fighting thugs is more dramatic to look at, because Bats can employ all his fear inducing training (which looks great on screen). Bane is explained as being League of Shadows trained and between that and his physical presence he simply can't be handled in the same way.
7. Can't really argue except to say pedantry and you're missing Prof's point here with a comparison that's TOO direct to TDK IMO.
8. What's your actual problem here? That too many people know? Didn't make the film "bad" IMO, maybe it's a purist comic thing...?
9. The Bat was build for real, like the toys before it, but couldn't actually fly. With a lot of scenes requiring it to be flown by cable I can imagine that'll be why. Either way, I though it looked amazing. Each to their own.

This film is emotional, I've said it before. I think a lot of people are looking at this with the same critical eye as Quantum of Solace and saying "it's not as good as TDK, it's not got enough Batman" etc. just like the same people say that QoS wasn't "Bond" enough. Have an open mind, see each film as simply that and you enjoy them more.

Maybe that's just me...? I'm gonna try for a second viewing next week whilst my ankle is healing up.

With regards to your last comments there Oke, I still wanted to punch the air and whoop like an American at the end , but I still think it's structure's off. And that's whether you're comparing it to the others or just Nolan's previous work.

I've been looking for my review of the second Batman movie - I suspect it's been lost in the cull of The Other Place.
Basically, I felt it would've benefitted from focusing solely on the Joker, and being shorter.
Squeezing in Two Face didn't do him justice, and turned what should've been an amazing film between the Joker and Batman into an over long mediocre movie. Give the story of Two Face his own movie, he's an interesting character, explore him. Lots of room for development instead of 'here's a nice guy, oh no, now's he's horribly disfigured and psychotic what a pity.'
Nolan did it again this time - over long and lacking in focus in places. It needed to be more concise, instead of a sprawling marathon. Then it would've been great. If you're going to take that much time to tell the story, then you'd better be certain it's joined up and there aren't the holes in the story.

FWIW, I loved The Prestige - his best work to my mind. Inception was great too, but that final sequence was a little over cooked for my tastes.

Didn't know where to post this so posted it here:

http://comicbook.com/blog/2012/08/04/th ... fy-ending/

Just the thought of that

How The Dark Knight Rises Should Have Ended
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLyoog562x4

New Batman to appear after JL movie?

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/new-batma ... ly-as-2015

Make sure you click the source link too... My fear is that we'll get 'box-office Batman' over a more considered take. Though tbf, it'll probably be a while before anyone tries to follow Nolan's style.

...

TDKR(eturns) Part One movie clip

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/57993

Batmobile toys through the ages

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/01/the ... s_ever.php

The '89 vehicles were brilliant. That Brave... one looks fun

Hotwheels have did a cheaper scale model of the '89 version, but it's a bit of a mixture of the original film and Returns in places

That is by no means all of them.
I had a '60s Batmobile that was about a foot and a half long, fired plastic 'missiles' out of the tubes behind the seats and had a hidden battering ram in the front that flipped down at the press of a button.
That was a brilliant toy.

Mark

And that was just a couple of years ago

Forgot to mention I have the Lego one there