Author Topic: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy  (Read 33067 times)

sdb_1970

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #340 on: May 04, 2017, 07:46:34 AM »
She can demonstrate her value (and indirectly, Wayne's value) by bringing a previously written-off asset of the corporation to the realization stage.  Why is that so hard to understand?
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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #341 on: May 04, 2017, 09:50:46 AM »
Let me get this straight.
Bruce had the Clean Energy Reactor written off as flawed, but it's actually ready to go.
He let Miranda in on the secret.
Miranda tells the Board she can make the very expensive reactor work, which is enough for everyone to put her in charge.
Fox can't be in charge because it was under him that the reactor faulted.

Is that about right?


Something else.
The whole fingerprints, stock market thing was so they could create a fraud where Bruce Wayne bets big on the Stock Market and loses the fortune of Wayne Enterprises. Does that sound inconsistent to anyone else? Up until now, Bruce would make decisions to guide his company, but he never touched the investment side of the Wayne fortune. He put Alfred in charge of his assets and Fox in charge of the company, freeing him up to be the Billionaire Playboy. I'm not saying it's impossible for Bruce to have his own fingerprint ID account with the stock market, it's just peculiar.

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #342 on: May 04, 2017, 10:35:12 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Allies
"You're pure evil."
"I'm necessary evil."


I'm not going to miss Ben Mendelsohn as Daggett. (Finally looked it up.) At this point, his final scene, the performance becomes like Daenerys' brother in Game of Thrones crying for his golden crown. Tom Hardy does one of my favorite things so far in this movie when Bane casually lays an open hand on Daggett's shoulder. It couldn't be a less threatening gesture, yet coming from Bane it might as well be a Darth Vader force choke. ("Do you feel in charge?")

Meanwhile, penniless Bruce Wayne makes friends with Detective Blake by bonding over Batman and builds trust with Selina Kyle by promising to deliver that mythical Clean Slate. It's unspectacular but solid developments, as is Blake getting promoted by Gordon to investigate the tunnels under Gotham.
Rating: * * * - Okay

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #343 on: May 05, 2017, 11:39:07 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - This Way to Bane
"When I was a child we had almost nothing, but on the nights
when we had a fire we felt very rich indeed."


Another Chapter where I don't have much to say. I read somewhere that Bruce sleeping with Miranda was seen as out of place, but he's a billionaire playboy and she has plans. The only thing I have to really say about it is it's not the kind of scene you expect from Nolan, though it's filmed with his usual emotional restraint. Despite the rainy atmosphere, the scene is more a setting for exposition than a romantic interlude.

Bruce leaves Miranda so Batman can make a deal with Catwoman that will take him to Bane. They take on some goons with a couple of old Batman tricks and a new one involving muzzle flashes that's really stylish. Catwoman closes a gate on Bruce, trapping him inside with Bane, nicely setting up tomorrow's confrontation.
Rating: * * 1/2

sdb_1970

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #344 on: May 06, 2017, 08:14:05 AM »
I like the way the sequence is shot, but the Batman and Selina deal is a bit odd: Batman wants to be taken to Bane and isn't afraid of him ("I'll just fight harder, like I always have"), Bane wants Batman brought to him - so why the need for the betrayal?
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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #345 on: May 06, 2017, 10:05:07 AM »
The betrayal sets up for us the idea that this confrontation with Bane won't end with a quip, but is going to be a disaster and everyone but Batman knows it.  Up to this point, we've been given one hint of dread after another and now the picture is finished.  This will be horrible.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #346 on: May 06, 2017, 10:39:35 AM »
Until she slams the gate, Bat and Cat are taking out baddies like a buddy movie. The familiarity of the old tricks play like Batman back in his comfort zone on the way to meeting Bane on his own terms. Maybe this can be a discussion where the two opponents sniff each other out and try to understand each other's views. With the gate, Batman realizes he's now forced into a cage match with Bane on Bane's terms. He's unfamiliar with the territory which makes it difficult to use his tricks. Unless he comes up with something quick, he's going to have to fight his way out and fighting is Bane's greatest strength.

Selina springs the trap because at this point she's still hurt over the Clean Slate being a myth. Having trusted Dagget's friend she's not about to just trust some other Gotham person of money and power. She's always sided more with the street people living under Gotham.

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #347 on: May 07, 2017, 12:09:25 AM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Batman vs. Bane
"Peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you."

There's an inevitability to the outcome of this fight. Batman was taken by surprise, from the first punches it's clear that Bane is superior in every way at the moment, and it's too early in the film for Batman to defeat Bane. Nolan doesn't try to surprise us with Batman's defeat, which also works with anyone who has some basic knowledge of the comics, where Bane is the villain that breaks Batman's back. (I'm sure the circumstances are different, but it's interesting to see he does the same here.)


"You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it."

I've written for pages now about Nolan's insecurity with filming action and fights, and here he's left himself no way to hide. If he edits the scene too much, it will hinder the emotions of the moment and limit our interest in everything that happens afterwards. Just the sound of the punches tell the tale of how hard these hits are, especially one in the middle when Bane spins around and punches Batman so hard, he wobbles and falls to the ground. Even the cutaways to people in the room aren't distracting, though they are frequent. (Bane's goons mostly look on unimpressed, but Hathaway's look is like psychological projection, she does very little but appears to be giving maximum sympathy.) So the scene is effective, but hardly great. (Compare this to a similar beatdown in the middle of Rocky III, and you'll get a feel for the missing excitement of a great physical battle.)


Nothing works for Batman. He throws flashbangs and Bane doesn't even flinch. We learn that the fight is under Wayne's Applied Science center. While Batman is getting his cowl cracked open, Bane's crew begins looting all of Batman's weapons. Finally comes the back break and Bane takes the smashed mask like a trophy, looks into its empty eyes like the gravedigger scene from Hamlet before thoughtlessly discarding it.
Rating: * * * - Good

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #348 on: May 07, 2017, 10:48:08 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Cages
"You've made some mistakes, Mrs. Kyle."
"Girl's gotta eat."


I expected a dip after the big fight, but the dialogue is especially strong in the two scenes here. First, there's Selina in custody by Blake for the kidnapped congressman. The interrogation quickly turns to Bane and Bruce Wayne, and this time Selina drops her act quickly. On Bane she says cold and distant, "you should be as afraid of him as I am." When Blake mentions Bruce, you can see both of them dropping their guards.

"Did they kill him?"
"I'm not sure."

The 2nd scene introduces Bruce to The Pit, where he learns his punishment will be to watch Bane destroy Gotham.("When it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die.") This simple, escapable prison is a point of debate, but I think Bane explains rather well that it's the possibility of escape that make it such a punishment. I also really like how Bane presses down on Bruce as he stands up, much like the hand on Ro1's shoulder, it's not a direct gesture but ends up demonstrating the physical superiority effectively.

The Chapter ends with a brief moment of Selina in prison. She does a cartwheel and snaps the wrists of a fellow prisoner. It looks kind of cool, but the more I watch it, the more I think the PG-13 presentation makes it look fake. The edits on the snap don't match up. Besides, this seems more like something Harley Quinn would do.
Rating: * * * - Very Good

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #349 on: May 08, 2017, 11:21:21 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - The Legend of the Child
"Whatever it is they want you to see is happening soon."

The story moves forward towards the next big event. Bane shows up at the Boardroom of Wayne Enterprises to take three people hostage, including Lucius and Miranda in order to steal the energy device. Fox sees the infestation of his Applied Sciences. Gordon orders every available cop into the sewers to drive out Bane. Meanwhile Bruce watches somebody attempt and fail to climb out of The Pit. Nothing to say. It's all fine in terms of the filmmaking. Events are still more mysterious, but that's because it's building to something big (that was revealed by all the advertising.)
Rating: * * * - Okay

 

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