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ok the non spoiler review as well as dodging the mouseover text:
The first hour is really disappointing, the last hour is great and the rest is kind of in the middle...
wait for it, oh yeah, I can actually hear the eye's rolling and the faces hitting the palms. That's the good stuff.
But honestly that about sums it up. After the movie is over and I see all the plot layed out I can appreciate the first hour a little more but during that start I kept asking why is this character in the movie, why can't the action start, are you just copying and pasting the script from Batman Begins?
So one thing I need to say, can we just stop saying The Batman and just say Batman?
Characters:
Ok so the four returning from the previous movies were pretty much the same. Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine are all awesome and play their parts amazingly and there's not much to say. Michael Caine especially gets some wonderful moments.
Christain Bale is still awesome and to be honest I've never had a problem with his voice in this or Batman Begins, when they digitally altered it for Dark Knight they took it too far. The issue is the stupid look on his face when he won't close his lips. Aside from that though I think he's made a great Batman and continues to do so here.
The new characters
First is Anne Hathaway as Catwoman: amazing, she's beautiful, cunning, sexy and all around awesome. Anyone who had issues with her playing catwoman can kindly shut the hell up. A couple things to mention, never once do they call her catwoman and I'm good with that, the ears she wears, never commented on and I'm good with that, and for the love of god thank you Mr. Nolan SHE DOESN'T PURR. Look it was fine in the Adam West show, and even in Batman Returns where she was playing a psychopath it kind of fit however when she's being written the way she should be as just a burglar with a bit of flair, this is how you do it. She's wonderful in the role and exactly how catwoman should be.
Next we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robin (ugh) John Blake: I have mixed feelings about this character, first off he is played very well and when the shit hits the fan he actually plays a major role and is essential to the plot however in the first hour I kept wondering why we are focusing on him so much and honestly he's the hero more than batman sometimes. Here's my gripes with him, first he knows who batman is, it's ok the explanation but he basically comes out of nowhere in this film series and knows who Batman is. Next is his name, so basically the film ends with him basically being passed the torch to be batman, and I didnt' know his name until the very end either they didn't say it or I missed but he goes by John Blake and there's a little nod and wink when they reveal his name is Robin John Blake, ok first who the hell names a kid that, but my main gripe is first honestly FUCK YOU CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, you want to make his name a reference or joke? then here's some suggestions that would make much more sense: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Jean Paul Valley, Damian Wayne and Terri Mcginness. Honestly this felt like a big middle finger, it's not intended that way and I get it but come on seriously? One last thing, they kept calling him a hothead but that started off a simple comment and was a stupid thing.
Marion Cotillard or should I say Talia al Ghul: ok first I saw it coming, not her being Talia but her being with Bane. rather than comment on her character or how well she was played I'll just summarize her role in the movie. She asks to see Bruce and is turned away, apparently Wayne enterprises did some major project with her to make a nuclear reactor that cost the company billions and then was shut down a couple years ago. Fox and Alfred both comment that she is a wonderful lady for bruce to get freaky with even though he hasn't seen her in a couple years. he has a conversation where they insult each other then she shows up at his house and they have spontaneous sex. then later she literally stabs bruce in the back and reveals that she's talia al ghul and wants revenge on Bruce and Gotham. Ok bringing in Talia, good call, decent actress but honestly this was kind of forced. Oh and Bruce randomly hands over Wayne Enterprises to her because he's about to be ousted as they stole all his money and framed him. Apparently this super nuclear reactor can be too easily turned into a bomb and he trusts her. SHOW don't TELL NOLAN.
Tom Hardy as Bane: ok honestly this was weird. First much better showing than Batman and Robin. There seems to be this tendency with Bane in video games and cartoons to make him look ridiculous, I mean in Arkham City he's as big as a house with tubes and canisters all over him. This movie however the mask is apparently something that helps with the extreme pain he's in because years ago he was beat savagely by an entire prison. No mention is made of Venom at all and I like this because honestly aside from the comics everybody always makes him about the venom and nothing else in the games and movies and tv show, in the comics he kicks the habit and fights without venom for years. In regards to the movie version here first off his voice is my main complaint about him he has this weird accent that's almost british that looks nothing like him and is much louder than it should be behind a mask. Also he doesn't carry himself like a man with his history would, he keeps resting his hands on his vest like a man wearing a suit would while puffing themselves up proudly. Honestly living in the sewer and acting all high and mighty like this were they trying to write the penguin? Honestly he is physically imposing and his backstory is kind of interesting but his voice is just so jarring, it's like they've tried to merge two characters into one but I don't know who the other character is.
Nameless mobsters and corrupt businessmen: the movie acts like I should know these people but I honestly don't.
Fighting scenes: the fast paced scenes where they attack people and take them down quickly are really good especially when batman and catwoman work together but the fight scenes with Bane need work, the first fight Bane kicks his ass like he should but the second fight Batman takes him down way to easily. This is the big fight, look Batman doesn't good up against superpowers all that often in his own rogues gallery but to be honest there aren't that many villains who are supposed to have the fighting prowess he does, they are challenging but we don't really get to see Batman's fighting skill unless he's taking on Shiva, Ra's al Ghul or Bane, and Bane is the guy who beat him (by cheating) so when he gets the movie treatment the fight needs to be EPIC, and it's not, it's good but honestly the best fight of the entire series for skill has to be the swordfight on the ice in Begins. The climaxes of the other two films were good because of all the action going on around them at the time for example look at the train, that wasn't much of a fight but it sure was a great action scene. Here though the fight scenes just aren't the same, the movie as a whole feels like it's missing something.
Love interest: there are a lot of movies with multiple love interests that pull it off well but here it just didn't work, honestly they shouldn't have gone for the Talia love angle and just have it be a business relationship and then play up the catwoman one more especially considering the ending.
The Cops: first when the commisioner tells you he was kidnapped by someone that is heavily armed and has an army you fucking listen and don't make fun him, also those guys had machine guns and tanks, you marched down the one street directly at them, you should have been slaughtered, not victorious, use some tactics, at least try to flank them.
The macguffin: ok so superreactor gets made into nuke by the one scientist in the world who can do it and is then killed, then it's disconnected from the main system and will explode in a month. honestly this is just the microwave emitter from Begins all over again. It's just a plot device, and kind of a silly one. Honestly though it's never the macguffin but how the macguffin is used and it sets up a lot of good stuff and gives us several tense scenes and honestly makes the no man's land plot they went for more sensible than in the comics.
The storylines referenced: let's go through the list
Retired for 8 years and noone's seen him: Dark Knight Returns check
Bane fighting batman and the Iconic image of the backsnap: Knightfall check
Blowing up the bridges and cutting gotham off and having the cops fight criminals to reclaim the city: No Man's Land check
Batman coming back and retraining: Stella got her groove back check (actually this reminds me more of Iroh's retraining in Airbender.)
Selina living with an unnamed Blonde and in the ghetto: Batman Year One check.
Alfred quitting for Bruce's own safety: I forget honestly but I know it's there somewhere.
The ending: really good torch passing to Tommy from 3rd Rock, (at least it wasn't shia lebouf), finally we get to see Gordon know who Batman is and it was done it a really touching way, Batman fakes his death and retires in Paris with Catwoman after the Wayne fortune is destroyed by Bane. Catwoman shot Bane with the Batpod bike gun but they never say either way whether he's dead (I'm going with dead as it's rare for a batman villain to survive a movie).
I haven't gone over the plot itself but you have access to wikipedia so I skipped it. The film is actually really good, there's some excellent callback to Batman Begins, the movie honestly feels like more of a sequel to it than to Dark Knight. Honestly the film just takes too long to get to the good part but when it does it's great. I definitely recommend it even after ripping it apart here. honestly from what I understood Nolan almost didn't want to do a third film, and it shows but I've yet to see anything by this guy I don't like.
The first hour is really disappointing, the last hour is great and the rest is kind of in the middle...
wait for it, oh yeah, I can actually hear the eye's rolling and the faces hitting the palms. That's the good stuff.
But honestly that about sums it up. After the movie is over and I see all the plot layed out I can appreciate the first hour a little more but during that start I kept asking why is this character in the movie, why can't the action start, are you just copying and pasting the script from Batman Begins?
So one thing I need to say, can we just stop saying The Batman and just say Batman?
Characters:
Ok so the four returning from the previous movies were pretty much the same. Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine are all awesome and play their parts amazingly and there's not much to say. Michael Caine especially gets some wonderful moments.
Christain Bale is still awesome and to be honest I've never had a problem with his voice in this or Batman Begins, when they digitally altered it for Dark Knight they took it too far. The issue is the stupid look on his face when he won't close his lips. Aside from that though I think he's made a great Batman and continues to do so here.
The new characters
First is Anne Hathaway as Catwoman: amazing, she's beautiful, cunning, sexy and all around awesome. Anyone who had issues with her playing catwoman can kindly shut the hell up. A couple things to mention, never once do they call her catwoman and I'm good with that, the ears she wears, never commented on and I'm good with that, and for the love of god thank you Mr. Nolan SHE DOESN'T PURR. Look it was fine in the Adam West show, and even in Batman Returns where she was playing a psychopath it kind of fit however when she's being written the way she should be as just a burglar with a bit of flair, this is how you do it. She's wonderful in the role and exactly how catwoman should be.
Next we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robin (ugh) John Blake: I have mixed feelings about this character, first off he is played very well and when the shit hits the fan he actually plays a major role and is essential to the plot however in the first hour I kept wondering why we are focusing on him so much and honestly he's the hero more than batman sometimes. Here's my gripes with him, first he knows who batman is, it's ok the explanation but he basically comes out of nowhere in this film series and knows who Batman is. Next is his name, so basically the film ends with him basically being passed the torch to be batman, and I didnt' know his name until the very end either they didn't say it or I missed but he goes by John Blake and there's a little nod and wink when they reveal his name is Robin John Blake, ok first who the hell names a kid that, but my main gripe is first honestly FUCK YOU CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, you want to make his name a reference or joke? then here's some suggestions that would make much more sense: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Jean Paul Valley, Damian Wayne and Terri Mcginness. Honestly this felt like a big middle finger, it's not intended that way and I get it but come on seriously? One last thing, they kept calling him a hothead but that started off a simple comment and was a stupid thing.
Marion Cotillard or should I say Talia al Ghul: ok first I saw it coming, not her being Talia but her being with Bane. rather than comment on her character or how well she was played I'll just summarize her role in the movie. She asks to see Bruce and is turned away, apparently Wayne enterprises did some major project with her to make a nuclear reactor that cost the company billions and then was shut down a couple years ago. Fox and Alfred both comment that she is a wonderful lady for bruce to get freaky with even though he hasn't seen her in a couple years. he has a conversation where they insult each other then she shows up at his house and they have spontaneous sex. then later she literally stabs bruce in the back and reveals that she's talia al ghul and wants revenge on Bruce and Gotham. Ok bringing in Talia, good call, decent actress but honestly this was kind of forced. Oh and Bruce randomly hands over Wayne Enterprises to her because he's about to be ousted as they stole all his money and framed him. Apparently this super nuclear reactor can be too easily turned into a bomb and he trusts her. SHOW don't TELL NOLAN.
Tom Hardy as Bane: ok honestly this was weird. First much better showing than Batman and Robin. There seems to be this tendency with Bane in video games and cartoons to make him look ridiculous, I mean in Arkham City he's as big as a house with tubes and canisters all over him. This movie however the mask is apparently something that helps with the extreme pain he's in because years ago he was beat savagely by an entire prison. No mention is made of Venom at all and I like this because honestly aside from the comics everybody always makes him about the venom and nothing else in the games and movies and tv show, in the comics he kicks the habit and fights without venom for years. In regards to the movie version here first off his voice is my main complaint about him he has this weird accent that's almost british that looks nothing like him and is much louder than it should be behind a mask. Also he doesn't carry himself like a man with his history would, he keeps resting his hands on his vest like a man wearing a suit would while puffing themselves up proudly. Honestly living in the sewer and acting all high and mighty like this were they trying to write the penguin? Honestly he is physically imposing and his backstory is kind of interesting but his voice is just so jarring, it's like they've tried to merge two characters into one but I don't know who the other character is.
Nameless mobsters and corrupt businessmen: the movie acts like I should know these people but I honestly don't.
Fighting scenes: the fast paced scenes where they attack people and take them down quickly are really good especially when batman and catwoman work together but the fight scenes with Bane need work, the first fight Bane kicks his ass like he should but the second fight Batman takes him down way to easily. This is the big fight, look Batman doesn't good up against superpowers all that often in his own rogues gallery but to be honest there aren't that many villains who are supposed to have the fighting prowess he does, they are challenging but we don't really get to see Batman's fighting skill unless he's taking on Shiva, Ra's al Ghul or Bane, and Bane is the guy who beat him (by cheating) so when he gets the movie treatment the fight needs to be EPIC, and it's not, it's good but honestly the best fight of the entire series for skill has to be the swordfight on the ice in Begins. The climaxes of the other two films were good because of all the action going on around them at the time for example look at the train, that wasn't much of a fight but it sure was a great action scene. Here though the fight scenes just aren't the same, the movie as a whole feels like it's missing something.
Love interest: there are a lot of movies with multiple love interests that pull it off well but here it just didn't work, honestly they shouldn't have gone for the Talia love angle and just have it be a business relationship and then play up the catwoman one more especially considering the ending.
The Cops: first when the commisioner tells you he was kidnapped by someone that is heavily armed and has an army you fucking listen and don't make fun him, also those guys had machine guns and tanks, you marched down the one street directly at them, you should have been slaughtered, not victorious, use some tactics, at least try to flank them.
The macguffin: ok so superreactor gets made into nuke by the one scientist in the world who can do it and is then killed, then it's disconnected from the main system and will explode in a month. honestly this is just the microwave emitter from Begins all over again. It's just a plot device, and kind of a silly one. Honestly though it's never the macguffin but how the macguffin is used and it sets up a lot of good stuff and gives us several tense scenes and honestly makes the no man's land plot they went for more sensible than in the comics.
The storylines referenced: let's go through the list
Retired for 8 years and noone's seen him: Dark Knight Returns check
Bane fighting batman and the Iconic image of the backsnap: Knightfall check
Blowing up the bridges and cutting gotham off and having the cops fight criminals to reclaim the city: No Man's Land check
Batman coming back and retraining: Stella got her groove back check (actually this reminds me more of Iroh's retraining in Airbender.)
Selina living with an unnamed Blonde and in the ghetto: Batman Year One check.
Alfred quitting for Bruce's own safety: I forget honestly but I know it's there somewhere.
The ending: really good torch passing to Tommy from 3rd Rock, (at least it wasn't shia lebouf), finally we get to see Gordon know who Batman is and it was done it a really touching way, Batman fakes his death and retires in Paris with Catwoman after the Wayne fortune is destroyed by Bane. Catwoman shot Bane with the Batpod bike gun but they never say either way whether he's dead (I'm going with dead as it's rare for a batman villain to survive a movie).
I haven't gone over the plot itself but you have access to wikipedia so I skipped it. The film is actually really good, there's some excellent callback to Batman Begins, the movie honestly feels like more of a sequel to it than to Dark Knight. Honestly the film just takes too long to get to the good part but when it does it's great. I definitely recommend it even after ripping it apart here. honestly from what I understood Nolan almost didn't want to do a third film, and it shows but I've yet to see anything by this guy I don't like.
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