Author Topic: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy  (Read 33069 times)

1SO

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #360 on: May 12, 2017, 11:15:39 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Martial Law
"People of Gotham, we have not abandoned you."

I'm speculating, but I believe this is what got Nolan most excited about making Dark Knight Rises. His last Batman was already being seen as the peak of comic book cinema and trying to top it would lead to his world tipping into the cartoonish or something closer to the weightless armies of many Marvel climaxes. However, Nolan loves to go epic, so with Bane holding all of Gotham hostage, Nolan gets to create a metropolitan-sized crisis. His sweeping skylines now have fighter jets as military hardware rolls onto the bridges. The President makes a statement, and it's free of the patriotic tone that usually comes with a moment like this.

This may all seem good to Nolan, but the film is already hurting from a lack of Batman. With Bruce Wayne laying on a cot for who knows how long, we're facing a Batman movie that's pushed out The Dark Knight. Gordon and Blake are coming up with a plan, but that's a different kind of thriller. You can argue this as a positive or a bold step. Who would have the guts to take Batman out of a very expensive Batman film? However, the idea itself is only interesting if you replace it with something just as good or even better.
Rating: * * 1/2

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #361 on: May 13, 2017, 10:47:13 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - The Symbol of Oppression
"We take Gotham from the corrupt. The rich. The oppressors of generations who have
kept you down with myths of opportunity, and we give it back to you, the people.”

Two things going on in this Chapter that will probably be forever linked with Donald Trump.

First of all there’s Gordon and Blake’s plan to get Gordon before a camera to speak out against Bane, a plan that may get Gordon killed but will certainly expose Bane as no man of the people. A plan we see fail repeatedly in our real political lives, and fail here before it starts when Bane makes a speech quoting Gordon’s lost confession speech. The surprise dramatic turn, which really undercuts this short-lived plot point, is that Blake turns against Gordon. Just a scene ago they formed a plan. Until now, Blake showed himself to be a measured and cautious officer, but in seconds he turns of Gordon without thinking through the actions that led to Gordon’s decision.


"Courts will be convened. Spoils will be enjoyed. Blood will be shed.”

I talked about not being ready for Bane the speechmaker, as played by Tom Hardy, a physical actor whose delivered many a speech but often finds a way to make the words inert. Here, Bane’s mask is a built-in megaphone for him to boom empty platitudes across the city. The vocals are full of power, and a credit to Hardy whose ability to express is limited, but I’m just hearing a lot of sound and fury. It’s the images of Gotham’s lower class taking over the high rises that resonate.
Rating: * * 1/2

sdb_1970

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #362 on: May 13, 2017, 11:16:21 PM »
I think Nolan was more contextualizing the narrative with the outside world (i.e., Occupy Wall Street, in the early 2010s) than anticipating a political movement.  I mean, we don't need Trump to remind us that populism begets authoritarianism.

What I can appreciate about the film at these points onward - in that it distinguishes itself from the previous two - is how much of the villainy is perpetrated in the light of day (literally and metaphorically).  It's a bold choice.  The night works better for Batman movies.  It just does.
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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #363 on: May 14, 2017, 10:07:20 PM »
What I can appreciate about the film at these points onward - in that it distinguishes itself from the previous two - is how much of the villainy is perpetrated in the light of day (literally and metaphorically).  It's a bold choice.  The night works better for Batman movies.  It just does.
So, if you think the night works better for Batman, and I agree, why do you appreciate how much of this takes place in the day? A bold choice, sure, but is it a good choice? Is it the right choice?

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #364 on: May 14, 2017, 10:37:06 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - The Doctor & The Mercenary
"Innocence cannot flower underground. It has to be stamped out.”

This Chapter is all explanation and backstory as Tom Conti, playing a prisoner who can fix Bruce Wayne's back, tells the story of a child born here that Bruce believes to be Bane. Conti's a fine actor, though he's no Michael Caine when it comes to telling a story. The writing a dull so that even with the visuals this is a drag, which is unfortunate because the story is important to tying in the League of Shadows and Ducard/Ra's al Ghul, plus it sets up a surprise for late in the film. Perhaps that's what trips this scene up. The story explains Bane's mask, given to him by a different prison doctor and then talks about this kid, who we should assume to be Bane so that the story can twist us later. So the mask brings up a lot of unanswered questions and the drama of the story is too brief.

Let me try to explain by writing about a film that treats a similar situation in the exact opposite way. V For Vendetta has a sequence where Natalie Portman's character is imprisoned and tortured. She survives by learning the story of two women imprisoned for being lesbian. Their story is given an unusual amount of time, stopping the main film, but the side trip is really interesting on its own and in the end it's easier to understand the impact it has on Portman and the commentary it makes on the film. It's a gamble to divert for so long, but the gamble works. Here, the story is a condensed version of that gamble, but Nolan doesn't edit it down for time, he does it so as not to give away that the kid and Bane are two different people. It's done to trick us, but more importantly in trimming the story down it loses most of the dramatic interest.
Rating: * * 1/2

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #365 on: May 15, 2017, 10:52:01 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Everyone's Home
"A child born in hell, forged from suffering, hardened by pain.
Not a man from privilege.”

A look at our heroes dealing with their unhappy situations. Selina walking through the remains of what used to be someone's residence. Gotham police, trapped underground. Gordon and a few others have set up ways to get them food and water and Blake is leading a plan to get them out. Bruce Wayne, making a failed attempt to get out of The Pit. I like the line I used for a quote because Bruce is actually all of this. Privilege doesn't exclude him from the suffering and pain of his life, and shows him to be someone who finds little comfort in the pleasures of wealth. Even if not for Gotham under siege, his biggest drive to get out would be how difficult it is to escape.
Rating: * * * - Okay

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #366 on: May 17, 2017, 01:38:06 AM »

The Dark Knight Rises – Here’s The Important Part
"I’ll die before I talk.”

Posing as an emergency relief worker, a Special Forces Captain penetrates and gets quickly up to speed with the important people of Gotham. The literal definition of a plot device, this Captain gets a bunch of new information – call them freshly knitted plot threads – and then is killed by Bane. Morgan Freeman and Marion Cotillard reappear, standing as if they were waiting all this time to deliver some lines, even if they’re late game exposition.

I like some of the editing here and the final touch of Bane having the bodies hung from one of Gotham’s bridges, but this is exactly what haters have against Nolan. A character who literally comes in for the purpose of giving even more exposition, some of which we’ve heard before. His ultimate purpose is as much of a waste as Blake, who gets the worst moment in the scene when, during Freeman’s talk, he utters my title for this Chapter, as if he knew what Freeman was going to say next.
Rating: * *

sdb_1970

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #367 on: May 17, 2017, 08:35:50 AM »
What I can appreciate about the film at these points onward - in that it distinguishes itself from the previous two - is how much of the villainy is perpetrated in the light of day (literally and metaphorically).  It's a bold choice.  The night works better for Batman movies.  It just does.
So, if you think the night works better for Batman, and I agree, why do you appreciate how much of this takes place in the day? A bold choice, sure, but is it a good choice? Is it the right choice?

I don't think it all works by any means (e.g., the stadium sequence looks awful, to me anyway).  But I think the trilogy needed to go - or end - somewhere else, and I do like how Nolan uses this aesthetic in bookending the symbolic imagery of the character (e.g., the contrast between the very first appearance of Batman, swishing around and striking mobsters from the shadows of the wearhouses, and the very last appearance, brawling in the first light of morning on the steps of city hall leading a regiment of cops against a cadre of terrorists and a militia of convicts).  For the most part, I think it works - especially the wintery Tale of Two Cities vibe that takes over, with an ostensibly revolutionary antagonist rising from the sewers to topple the aristocracy.  And in another sense, I appreciate how Nolan switches the genre references, from a riff on Heat to an ensemble war film (think deposed WWI general returning to the field to defend his homeland against a rising axis of evil and restore his honor).
« Last Edit: May 17, 2017, 08:50:34 AM by sdb_1970 »
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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #368 on: May 17, 2017, 11:17:28 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises – Out of the Pit
"I don't fear death. I fear dying in here, while my city burns.”

It's been difficult, but hopefully not pointless, writing about this film. I think we're all aware that a film can reach a point of dissatisfaction that you can't recover from, even though there may still be good moments ahead. All goodwill is burned and the glass is always half empty. I watch this Chapter and my mind leans towards the nit-picks. It's a pivotal moment, with Nolan building the score, chant and editing to its climax. There's even a moment with bats to remind Bruce how far he's come from his childhood fall. The meal is there, and I can't stop harping on the choice of dishware and cutlery.

The old doctor tells Bruce the secret of how to escape. I admire how the rope represents safety from death, and removing it gives Bruce the edge he needs. Would've been nice for Bruce to come up with it more on his own, realize his own limitations holding him back. It should be more of a moment when Bruce lets go of the wall, like in the first film when he stands surrounded by a tornado of bats. Instead, it happens half off the bottom of the screen. The jump itself should have the audience holding its breath, even though we know he's going to make it, but Nolan cuts in two reaction shots between the leap and the landing. When he cuts back, Bruce's hands are already on the ledge, pulling him up.
Rating: * * 1/2

sdb_1970

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Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #369 on: May 18, 2017, 01:07:06 AM »
I love that image right there, once again, serving as a bookend to the first film ("And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." - see post #6 on the first page of this thread)
« Last Edit: May 18, 2017, 01:08:44 AM by sdb_1970 »
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