Author Topic: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy  (Read 33063 times)

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #370 on: May 18, 2017, 01:24:58 AM »
Yes. I don't even mind that Nolan puts the image from the first film into this moment, which works like the bats at the top of the pit to give this feeling of coming full circle. Also, all previous climbs put the climber in the center so the opening gets cut off by the frame. This is the first time the camera is focused on the light above.

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #371 on: May 18, 2017, 11:09:52 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises – Crane's Court
"Call Bane. I am one of you.”
"Bane has no authority here. This is merely a sentencing hearing."

This is a scene that always stuck out to me, so much so that I'm surprised how short it is. Ro1's friend is put on trial in a kangaroo court judged by Dr. Crane. It's a surreal scene, the art direction of the room has paper strewn everywhere and Crane,  unshaven and clothes torn, sits behind a stack of desks. It's like a scene from a Terry Gilliam film, minus the internal logic. I'd love to see or read how this was set up, how Crane ended up in such a position and how the criminals came up with the exile across the ice.

I understand that not every detail requires explanation and a bit of surrealism can add that splash of color to a director's vision, but like I said about Gilliam, by not grasping the internal logic - what is the purpose of including this part of the story, including bringing back Crane for an even more pointless cameo than he had in The Dark Knight - I'm left baffled. I'm willing to say this one is on me for not embracing the weirdness.
Rating: * * 1/2

sdb_1970

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2294
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #372 on: May 19, 2017, 11:24:25 AM »
I get the point of the court in terms of showing how "revolution" can lead to authoritarianism and portraying the level of oppression at play, but yeah, when I watched it for the first time, I thought "oh, so the Scarecrow is going to be a trilogy-wide motif."  His appearance had a purpose The Dark Knoght (tying up the lose ends from the end of Batman Begins); but here, it doesn't make much sense (other than the "League of Shadows" rewards loyalty?)
letterboxd

[insert pithy expression of false modesty here]

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #373 on: May 19, 2017, 12:33:26 PM »
I thought it was just clearly tying in the darkest part of the French Revolution to this alternate Occupy movement.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

goodguy

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2099
  • Colleen West was here.
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #374 on: May 19, 2017, 01:40:08 PM »
You can't have a positive spin on revolution in American mainstream movies - see also Step Up Revolution from the same year.


1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #375 on: May 19, 2017, 11:08:49 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises – 18 Hours
"Never steal anything from someone you can't outrun."

This Chapter begins with Gordon telling everyone the bomb goes off in 18 hours. Seems like the climax came up quick. I'm surprised Gordon had to tell everyone else in the room when I'd figure all of Gotham would have a countdown clock running. Also surprised at Gordon's instruction, "mark the truck, get a GPS on it so we can start to figure out how to bring it down." This is something the Special Forces Captain and Blake were doing 3 Chapters ago. Now it's down to the final hours and they're still looking for the truck?

Hooray for the return of Selina Kyle, because her part of the Chapter lifts the film right up. She enters with quips and slick fight moves then sticks around for a meeting with Bruce Wayne, back in Gotham. It's the best scene involving two characters since Michael Caine left. Bale exudes an inner calm we haven't seen from the tortured Bruce Wayne before (or the usually brooding Bale.) Makes me wish the two had more scenes to play, which would've been better for the ending too.
Rating: * * * - Okay

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #376 on: May 20, 2017, 10:59:38 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises – Marking the Truck
"I like your girlfriend, Mr. Wayne."

Marking the truck is something that was never meant to be analyzed in this kind of close scrutiny. Giving the Fast & Furious series this treatment would be a horrendous mistake. Some films just aren't meant to go under the microscope, but this project is about my lost love for Christopher Nolan and I'm finding plenty of proof as to why, but few answers about how it got to be so bad. And this is the film that followed Inception, a film which would holdup extremely well to this treatment, but would take too long to follow all the threads of possibility.

So what's my beef with the truck? After 5 months of slow decay, Gordon and his men have no trouble tagging the truck once they're in the final hours. The scene between Gordon and Crane, they're sentenced to Death by Exile, which is some half-hearted ironic joke. You hold this scene up to the Nolan who worked on The Prestige, Inception and Batman Begins, and it's like night and day.

More Catwoman goodness, but there's only so many times she can rescue a scene. It's a brief flicker of entertainment before Morgan Freeman drowns in technospeak. "Infrared doesn't have the range. It'll have to be a microburst. Longwave. But I'll need the EMP cannon guidance mount from the Bat." All hopes for this film rest on that screenshot. Batman is coming, hopefully to redeem some of this movie.
Rating: * *

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #377 on: May 22, 2017, 12:19:54 AM »

The Dark Knight Rises – Batman Returns
"Don't thank me yet."
"I might not get a chance later."

My mention of Fast & Furious last night seems even more fitting here, moments that are the expected superhero cool by themselves, but apply the slightest amount of intelligence and these moments are silly. Batman's official return to the film begins cool with the mysterious flare and Crane's enforcers dropping to the ground. I like the flare's red and blue lighting and how the fire is meant to be a version to the Bat Signal to let all of Gotham know The Dark Knight has indeed returned, but it's silly to think Batman took the time to set all this up, not to mention the risk of getting noticed. (Bane comments, "Impossible," which I'm sure is referring to Bruce escaping from The Pit, but I also think he's referring to the odds of setting up this fire stunt.)

It's nice for Blake that Batman shows up when he does, but that's typical superhero last minute tension. Suggesting a mask for Blake also screams that he's supposed to be Robin, though we're over two hours in and Nolan is still guarding that as a secret. The F&F silliness is that in just over 5 seconds, Batman runs away from Blake and returns with The Bat plane. Also none of the police think twice about Batman as they leave, even though for years he was the killer of Harvey Dent and last seen still being pursued. I get that priorities have shifted since Bane took over, but they don't even look at him, and Batman refers to them as his "army".
Rating: * * 1/2

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #378 on: May 22, 2017, 11:27:06 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - Open Fire
"You don't owe these people anymore. You've given them everything."
"Not everything. Not yet."


The two images I remember most are both in this Chapter. First is the one pictured above where, already depressed over this movie, I saw this as Nolan shamelessly taking a page from the Michael Bay playbook. The other (which doesn't need to be posted) shows that when Catwoman straddles the Bat Pod in her leather outfit, it also looks like something from a Michael Bay move. (Is this why Batman has a cape?) I'll admit I'm not entirely against the 2nd image, it's just surprising to see from the usually highbrow filmmaker.

Something's been lost in giving this film a more global message. Batman has always been a part of Gotham, like Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. The first two films showed his journey to right what was wrong in his city. The quote suggests he's ready to give it all to Gotham, but the story comes off like he's here to salvage his pride and beat Bane in a rematch. He's hardly interested in the big picture, but goes searching for Bane specifically through the battle between cops and Bane's mercenaries.


"So, you came back to die with your city."
"No. I came back to stop you."

This brings up a more complicated issue. A battle begins on the streets of Gotham between cops, some of which have guns drawn, and Bane's army, nearly all of which has heavy firepower. In truth, a situation like this would be a massacre because Bane's people wouldn't need to charge the cops. They could pick them off from a safe distance. (It's laughable how many miss the cops thickly crowding the street, and how many trade punches while still armed with machine guns.) The only real weapon is The Bat, but Batman's not about to fire heavy artillery to kill Bane and his men, even though it would be so easy. This must be why Batman is seem out of his plane moments after the battle begins.

All that said, there's a good amount of macho excitement here. I like the smooth way Bane throws off his coat, the image of Batman walking through the smoke and the light snow giving the scene an epic touch. Also the score here pumps up the excitement like it's Fury Road.
Rating: * * * - Okay
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 10:40:41 PM by 1SO »

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: One Chapter At A Time - The Dark Knight Trilogy
« Reply #379 on: May 23, 2017, 11:34:52 PM »

The Dark Knight Rises - The Trigger
"Tell me where the trigger is. Then, you have my permission to die."

The score is in a fury by now, making Gordon and his team appear desperate to find that bomb. After months of careful searching, they're now making all-out assaults on suspect trucks. Meanwhile, Batman faces Bane once more, using no tricks to stop the villain who previously broke his back. The doctor's report from the beginning of the film seems like a lie seeing how well Bruce takes Bane's hits. I have to wonder why Batman never went for Bane's obvious weakness (his mask tubing) until now. Maybe he's afraid to accidentally kill because he doesn't understand. I wish I knew more about the mask at this point. Does popping the tube make him weaker, or fill him with inhuman rage? It certainly shifts the momentum to Batman. More importantly, when fights scenes are Nolan's weakness, why is it the center of the climax to his trilogy?

I don't know how I feel about the reveal of Miranda being the trigger and the real child of Ra's al Ghul. It becomes rather obvious right before the reveal, seems like an unnecessary twist. The real benefit is that it gives some humanity to Bane, who not only looks defeated, but looks like he's dying. After all his bluster, Bane is now reframed as a victim in a more sinister plot.
Rating: * * 1/2