The Dark Knight Rises |OT| The Legend Ends (Warning: Unmarked Spoilers Within)

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artist said:
Four. Still bomba, right? rite?
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Just for reference, Ebert gave the first two films 4/4

I agree with Ebert about half of the time, but at least he usually justifies his opinions. I agree with him less on superhero flicks though, so not sure what to make of this review. One one hand, he loves Batman. On the other, he has disliked or like superhero films that I felt the opposite way about to some extent. Pretty sure Watchmen got a 4/4 from him for instance.
 
I think it's worth point out that despite the fact that TDKR is below TDK right now in terms of the RottenTomatoes percentage, TDKR is actually beating TDK in the average score (8.7 vs 8.4).

I thought that was interesting.
 
Eberts review
The Dark Knight Rises" leaves the fanciful early days of the superhero genre far behind, and moves into a doom-shrouded, apocalyptic future that seems uncomfortably close to today's headlines. As urban terrorism and class warfare envelop Gotham and its infrastructure is ripped apart, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) emerges reluctantly from years of seclusion in Wayne Manor and faces a soulless villain as powerful as he is. The film begins slowly with a murky plot and too many new characters, but builds to a sensational climax.

The result, in Christopher Nolan's conclusion to his Batman trilogy, is an ambitious superhero movie with two surprises: It isn't very much fun, and it doesn't have very much Batman. I'm thinking of the over-the-top action sequences of the earlier films that had a subcurrent of humor, and the exhilarating performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. This movie is all serious drama, with a villain named Bane whose Hannibal Lecterish face-muzzle robs him of personality. And although we see a good deal of Bruce Wayne, his alter-ego Batman makes only a few brief appearances before the all-out climax.

Bane, played by Tom Hardy in a performance evoking a homicidal pro wrestler, is a mystery because it's hard to say what motivates him. He releases thousands of Gotham's criminals in a scenario resembling the storming of the Bastille. As they face off against most of the city police force in street warfare, Bane's goal seems to be the overthrow of the ruling classes.

Bane stages two other sensational set pieces, involving destroying the Stock Exchange and blowing up a football stadium, that seemed aimed at our society's twin gods of money and pro sports. No attempt is made to account for Bane's funding and resources, ... it involves an anticlimactic fist-fight. He blows up the city's bridges and to top that lands a right hook on Batman's jaw?

Bane is the least charismatic of the Batman villains, but comes close to matching Bruce Wayne and Batman in screen time. The film also supplies a heroic young cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), two potential romantic partners for Wayne, and lots of screen time for series regulars Alfred the Butler (Michael Caine, remarkably effective in several trenchant scenes), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the genius inventor Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

One of the women is the always enigmatic Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), and the other is Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a millionaire who may be able to rescue Wayne Enterprises after Bane's stock market mischief wipes out Wayne financially. Catwoman is a freelance burglar who's always looking out for number one, and Miranda is a do-gooder environmentalist; both are drawn irresistibly to Bruce, who is not only still a bachelor but has spent the last eight years as a hermit, walled up in Wayne Manor with the loyal Alfred.

All of these characters and their activities produce stretches in the first half of the film during which, frankly, I was not entirely sure who was doing what and with which and to whom.

This is a dark and heavy film; it tests the weight a superhero movie can bear. That Nolan is able to combine civil anarchy, mass destruction and a Batcycle with exercise-ball tires is remarkable. That he does it without using 3D is admirable. That much of it was shot in the 70mm IMAX format allows it to make that giant screen its own. That it concludes the trilogy is inevitable; how much deeper can Nolan dig? It lacks the near-perfection of "The Dark Knight" (2008), it needs more clarity and a better villain, but it's an honorable finale.
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Read this, I cut it down to the best of my 'what is a spoiler' ability
 
Ebert's review in a spoiler free nutshell:

He didn't really like Bane (complains about the mask particularly), wanted more Batman, and really liked the second half.
 
Kud Dukan said:
I think it's worth point out that despite the fact that TDKR is below TDK right now in terms of the RottenTomatoes percentage, TDKR is actually beating TDK in the average score (8.7 vs 8.4).

I thought that was interesting.
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Average review scores almost always go down as more reviews come in. Even if the tomato meter stays the same. The Social Network was originally sitting at a 9.5 near the beginning for instance. It ended up with a lower, but still steller 9/10. TDKR's average could drop 0.3 points (it was at 9/10 yesterday), but at least it should stay in the 8s which is a good sign.
 
Will you guys shut the fuck up?

Why oh why would Ebert's review even be posted in this thread? His is the review we've been dreading. Nothing good can come from it.
 
Ebert gave 3/4 to both Memento and Prestige (GAF's favourites).

He also seems pissed at WB's embargo/screening fumble, along with all the fanboy extremism. Hope he didn't let that taint his thoughts on the film itself.
 
Secret_Riddle said:
Ebert gave 3/4 to both Memento and Prestige (GAF's favourites).

He also seems pissed at WB's embargo/screening fumble, along with all the fanboy extremism. Hope he didn't let that taint his thoughts on the film itself.
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Interestingly, his Prestige review is one of the few times I've vehemently disagreed with him.
 
Scullibundo said:
Will you guys shut the fuck up?

Why oh why would Ebert's review even be posted in this thread? His is the review we've been dreading. Nothing good can come from it.
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Not that I would suggest you read of course, but it wasn't very spoilery as a whole, and Dany M edited it down from there even.


Wingfan19 said:
Didn't Ebert give Amazing Spider-Man 3.5/4?
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Yep. Amazing Spider-man the better movie, confirmed.
 
He also gave the horrendous Men In Black 3 3/4, so... let's just all agree opinions are subjective as usual and Ebert's review matters no more than a hobo's.
 
Scullibundo said:
Will you guys shut the fuck up?

Why oh why would Ebert's review even be posted in this thread? His is the review we've been dreading. Nothing good can come from it.
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You know, some people just do things. Bat-fans have plans. The general audience has plans. Solo's got plans, you know... they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. Ebert's not a schemer. He tries to show how pathetic the schemers' attempt to control things really are.

Secret_Riddle said:
Ebert gave 3/4 to both Memento and Prestige (GAF's favourites).

He also seems pissed at WB's embargo/screening fumble, along with all the fanboy extremism. Hope he didn't let that taint his thoughts on the film itself.
Click to expand...

His anger gives him great power. But if he lets it, it will destroy him.
 
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