The Official 'The Dark Knight Rises' Spoiler Discussion Thread...

[FutileBreadMachine]

Read on IGN about one of the costume designers saying about the origin of Bane in the film and hoping it wasn't cut (why she hadn't seen the film was odd), but she went into some detail saying what was shot and it sound slike it would have made a few people a bit happier about Bane.

Yeah this is what I mentioned in my earlier post. I pictured the prison as a complete hellhole with Bane emerging from it like a demon after defeating everyone in it, especially after the scene here is squeezing the guy's face (?) and the guy starts freaking out and says "You're...evil!". It was like he realised he wasn't a man. But then they showed the prison and it didn't seem that bad, it just showed Bruce's cell and then the "well" and the ground right next to it, which was all very well lit and clean. And Bruce managed to stay in great shape on the prison diet. And when they rescued Bane he was just sitting there looking sorry for himself, not very scary.

 

[Jono8]

Yeah this is what I mentioned in my earlier post. I pictured the prison as a complete hellhole with Bane emerging from it like a demon after defeating everyone in it, especially after the scene here is squeezing the guy's face (?) and the guy starts freaking out and says "You're...evil!". It was like he realised he wasn't a man. But then they showed the prison and it didn't seem that bad, it just showed Bruce's cell and then the "well" and the ground right next to it, which was all very well lit and clean. And Bruce managed to stay in great shape on the prison diet. And when they rescued Bane he was just sitting there looking sorry for himself, not very scary.

Totally agree.

The film is ruined by 'totally stupid villain syndrome'. How was that prison a hell hole? He was clearly well fed, the guards and inmates were all nice to him and were cheering him on. When talia knew batman was back and the police were let loose why dId she not blow Gotham up then? Why wait the full 5 months, like literally minutes before the core went critical to press the detonator? When were they going to tell Gotham that all hope is lost and therefore complete Banes own philosophy?

It really wasn't well thought out.

 

[THMRK]

There's a difference between suspending one's disbelief and a work of art in which the verisimilitude is broken. People would do well to differentiate between the two.

 

[feedtheram]

I loved it.

I think they went OTT with his injuries. Basically they wanted to make him seem weaker so when Bane destroys him in the first fight people understand why he is defeated. They could have just made him a bit out of shape.

The back injury was also a bit much. I know in the comics he breaks his back - i think - so they probably wanted to include it but it just seemed a bit silly.

Saying that - i generally take these things with a pinch of salt anyway. Even though Bruce is supposedly a normal human he clearly has well above average physical abilities and recovery so i can buy the recovery.

The prison was good and bad. Loved the idea of it but the segment did seem a bit rushed and it didnt seem dark enough.

My main gripe was the opening sequence. Seemed really over the top and unecessary.

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

That reminds me about the opening sequence - what was the point of bringing in the corpse and pumping some of the doctor's blood into it? The corpse was obviously so that they would find the correct number of bodies for the passengers, but why pump some of his blood in? They match bodies on dental records, so they just needed to make some fake dental records for him. If they were going to do a DNA match they would use a tissue sample right? And the quantity they managed to pump in was tiny.

And Bane's voice sounded particularly like Doctor Evil there - "Now I'm going to crash this plane..." *raises pinky to lip* "...with no survivors!". At other points he sounded like Patrick Stewart and Sean Connery .

 

[Owenb]

Saw it at the weekend and was certainly disappointed. It was always going to be hard to get Bane's character across given that he is a masked villain with a distorted voice didn't help. As mentioned above all the small holes in the story didn't help either- like Bruce been a cripple yet still been built like a tank.

OTOH I think Anne Hathaway nailed Catwoman but Catwoman isn't a strong enough character to carry the movie- unlike Harvey Dent whom I thought stole the show in TDK.

 

[feedtheram]

That reminds me about the opening sequence - what was the point of bringing in the corpse and pumping some of the doctor's blood into it? The corpse was obviously so that they would find the correct number of bodies for the passengers, but why pump some of his blood in? They match bodies on dental records, so they just needed to make some fake dental records for him. If they were going to do a DNA match they would use a tissue sample right? And the quantity they managed to pump in was tiny.

It felt like they had an idea about a scene that would be cool so worked it into the film rather than think about what the point of the scene was...if that makes sense. The fact that Bane was hooded suggests someone put the hood on - didn't they think to mention it was Bane...or how about check who these random people are before putting them on the plane? Just silly.

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

It felt like they had an idea about a scene that would be cool so worked it into the film rather than think about what the point of the scene was...if that makes sense. The fact that Bane was hooded suggests someone put the hood on - didn't they think to mention it was Bane...or how about check who these random people are before putting them on the plane? Just silly.

Yeah it was a bit contrived how they didn't take their hoods off before loading them on board, since they took Bane's hood off anyway as soon as he spoke to them. I am pretty sure the guy who brought them to the CIA was working for Bane. That was his whole plan to get on the plane and see what the doctor had told them. Although I'm not sure what he actually found out, since the doctor just said "I told them nothing.", which is what if would say anyway if Bane asked him. Maybe I missed something.

 

[Jimz]

Also Did the Start of the movie just seem strange for the showing I was seeing in Imax I remember it just started straight away with no warnings or anything. It just cut to the Harvey dieing scene with Commissioner Gordan speaking then it cut to the plane scene. I was thinking this was a trailer at first...

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

Hah, yeah same, I saw it in IMAX and it just showed ice breaking and then the speech and then the plane scene. TDK opened with the blue flame explosion, but I can't remember how BB started. Maybe there was a bat shape in the ice-cracks? Not sure what the point of it was, the only other reference to ice was when they were exiled.

On another note, for a movie I was very disappointed by, I sure am posting a lot about it . I have been a huge Nolan fan since I first saw Memento in 2001, and it's still my favourite film, so I expected to be floored by TDKR.

 

[Somnambulist]

I see, cheers for the additional info. Regarding Foley, Talia specifically says "Shoot them. Shoot all of them.", something like that, then you hear the gun fire and they drive off and he's lying there dead. Or maybe I misheard and she said "Drive through them."?

I know they don't refer to the child as Bane, since obviously the whole thing was set up for the twist, but Bruce believes it was Bane, and it was just odd them showing the kid completely fine but us having the impression it was supposed to be Bane. I would have preferred if they didn't show the kid's face at all, or if we saw it as Bruce imagined, with the kid wearing a mask, then at the end having no mask.

I actually was hoping the whole limping Bruce thing was an act to excuse his sudden withdrawal from society. I thought it would show him chuck the cane when he was alone and start working out, like the whole time he was just keeping in training until Gotham needed Batman again. Unfortunately they specifically showed him at the doctor being told his joints were ruined, so it couldn't be an act or in his head .

That made me wonder how his joints got destroyed. Between the first and 2nd films can't have been that long, since he gets the Joker's card at the end of BB and says he will look in to it, and then he quits being Batman after Dent dies right? So he wasn't actually Batman for a long time. I read something like he actually continued being Batman for a few years after Dent died, but I don't know how that could be possible with all the cops after him.

Edit: To clarify regarding the mask, I am sure Talia says the doctor in the prison gave Bane the mask to cope with the pain? And she should have rescued him since he saved Bane's life.

There's a picture online of Foley being run over, I'm too lazy to search for it though but it's a candid on set shot. The Tumbler has a shielded bit so the stuntman (or actor, I can't remember) could safely perform it. I can see why they cut it out, but it does make the editing look a bit awkward. Talia does say shoot them, but Foley specifically gets a head-on.

Yes his body was ravaged but the implication is by sitting about feeling sorry for himself he made things worse than they needed to be. He's weak and out of shape until the prison montage. As for the prison itself, although it's physically the same, the inmates themselves seem very different from when Bruce is in there and when Bane is in there.

The chronology is a little bit vague but I believe the official books and things state he was Batman for around 5-6 years, then he took the sabbatical (last 'confirmed' sighting was 8 years but we know Bruce was active in society for the first 4 trying to do the philanthropy/clean energy thing before going into hiding for another 4) as he didn't believe Batman was needed and didn't have a life outside of Batman any more either.

 

[Vonhelmet]

I did think the prison was a bit odd. They talked about it like the triple-max prisons in Pitch Black, but it didn't really appear that way. That would have been awesome.

 

[Jono8]

Yeah it was a bit contrived how they didn't take their hoods off before loading them on board, .

The whole film was contrived in my opinion.

The Dark Knight was so much more intelligent, well thought out, coherent and just....well..better.

TDKR was definitely the worst of the three...by far.

 

[i-bert]

I thought TDK was the worst of the three.

I'm off to watch this again tomorrow at IMAX.

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

One thing that really irks me about TDK is the end where he takes the blame for Dent. They could have blamed it on The Joker or the Joker's henchmen! Batman would already have a reputation for not killing people, so why would he walk into a bar and shoot a cop in the face? And the Latino woman cop knew the truth, so how did they stop her talking? And even if the Joker denied it, who would believe him? And how'd Harvey get around town without anyone seeing him?

Ever since first seeing it I have been trying to justify the end, but I still can't. I really liked the ending monologue though, and him riding the batpod into the light, that was epic.

 

[wedgie]

You say that is if there's no question Batman wouldn't have a problem with framing someone for murder. Does anything along those lines ever occur in the comics, because I've seen no suggestion he'd be willing to cross that line in any Batman film to date, or maybe my memory is being dodgy?

Also, the location of the Joker at the time of Dent's death really wasn't a secret was it.

I didn't actually like TDK's ending either, but not for those reasons.

 

[Vonhelmet]

TDKR was definitely the worst of the three...by far.

Maybe, but the trilogy as a whole is still a towering achievement.

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

You say that is if there's no question Batman wouldn't have a problem with framing someone for murder. Does anything along those lines ever occur in the comics, because I've seen no suggestion he'd be willing to cross that line in any Batman film to date, or maybe my memory is being dodgy?

Also, the location of the Joker at the time of Dent's death really wasn't a secret was it.

I didn't actually like TDK's ending either, but not for those reasons.

Ah good point! If he tried to pin it on the Joker he would look like a right sneaky git. Never thought of it in the context of his character. I always just thought of what a regular person would do, but he's honourable even with evil people.

 

[scottomus0]

took me over an hour read all the replies in this thread lol!!

I really enjoyed the film for what it was. Its only reading all your responses it makes me think about it as a whole and question scenes.

Definatly need to watch it a second time!!!!!!!

 

[Jono8]

Maybe, but the trilogy as a whole is still a towering achievement.

True.

Maybe i am sounding a little harsh. It was still a good film. It had good moments. As a trilogy it is great as well but i was expecting so much more from the last one.