tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post8274665851868771664..comments2024-02-26T00:12:37.804-08:00Comments on HOLLYWOOD BOUND AND DOWN: The Dark Knight Rises: Once More With FeelingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00187154242921742584noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post-1843205555431175272014-11-11T00:38:40.181-08:002014-11-11T00:38:40.181-08:00Either way you look at it, (death or retirement) B...Either way you look at it, (death or retirement) Bruce's journey as Batman is over. For me, that's where its power lies. Nolan has said that comic books are all second act; by which I think he means there's never any real ending because everyone has to come back next month (or next sequel). That dilutes the power. For there to be real resonance, there has to be an end. <br /><br />The likes of Kevin Smith and Harry Knowles proclaim that Batman would never retire over a woman, but worship The Dark Knight Returns, where he's been gone for a decade because he got a bit creaky. They call out the magic knee brace, but skirt around Miller's magic arm brace. They seem pissed that Rises doesn't give them the week-in, week-out Batman they know and love... But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Was Miller's Batman the one everyone knew and loved in 1986? Of course not. Nobody had dealt with him the way Miller did, and nearly thirty years later, it's become one of the touchstones.<br /><br />It's true there are a whole bunch of elements that don't really work if you give them more than scant attention, and the whole thing feels so long that I've sat down a number of times trying to figure out what I'd cut, but it's not as easy as it looks. There's nothing in there that doesn't DO something, and isn't connected to something else that would be altered irrevocably by its removal. For a 160 minute movie it's actually woven very tightly. Does every part perform the right function in the correct manner? Maybe not for you or I, but that's the nature of art, and as much as we might talk about construction and machining; this IS art. <br /><br />My initial feeling was that it's over-ambitious; on second viewing I appreciated the scale and the emotional payoff of the end of Bruce's journey much better. On the third all the flaws popped again.<br /><br />One thing's for sure; if I keep having a slightly different experience each time, I sure as hell can't argue I've not had value for money.radiantabysshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556594952872230450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post-83255452506206580452013-11-10T07:31:37.263-08:002013-11-10T07:31:37.263-08:00Enjoying TDKR requires messiah-like trust in Nolan...Enjoying TDKR requires messiah-like trust in Nolan that he'll eventually reward us, as long as we don't get too hung up on all the plot holes and leftover genre tropes.<br /><br />Grace Crawford <a href="http://www.denalilaw.com" rel="nofollow">Alaska Personal Injury Attorney Denali Law Group</a>grace crawfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08741536528167580928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post-5653839198042409762012-07-24T10:15:43.060-07:002012-07-24T10:15:43.060-07:00Nolan has also done here exactly what he did with ...Nolan has also done here exactly what he did with Inception - given us an ending that makes perfect, 100% irrefutable sense in at least two different interpretations. Did Cobb's totem stop spinning or keep going? Did Alfred really see Bruce or did he just imagine he did?<br /><br />See, for me, I could have accepted Batman's noble sacrifice right up until we saw Alfred bawling by the Waynes' gravesides. That's when I thought 'no way could they close the trilogy on a downbeat ending after something like that - we need a glimmer of hope here.' So I think the cafe scene is reality.<br /><br />Somebody sat next to me could have thought something entirely different - the beauty of a well-crafted open ending like this is that we're BOTH right. And internet trolls searching for indisputable truth in all things be damned :PMonster Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09060472590396598058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post-70506794474612160072012-07-24T10:04:43.913-07:002012-07-24T10:04:43.913-07:00Great post. But I agree with the comment above tha...Great post. But I agree with the comment above that it's his way of starting a new life. <br /><br />I could forgive the little holes in the movie too but I wasn't sure why until you nailed it. It's because I was connected to it on an emotional level.Ian Topplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17949544751169285376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39293853817763751.post-9074281500180401842012-07-24T08:28:56.784-07:002012-07-24T08:28:56.784-07:00For the sighting with Bruce, Bruce was with "...For the sighting with Bruce, Bruce was with "cat woman". I see it as they started a new life and wanted to give Alfred a happy feeling after the misery of of leaving then having to bury him again.<br /><br />But I also see him having jumped out of the Bat and leaving coordinates for robin as an open ending to be able to extend the series. Sure it won't be with Christopher Nolan but hey... they just need to find someone close to his acting and a script as dark as the three that just finished.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450756907817381568noreply@blogger.com