The Dark Knight Rises

[EWB's Best Poster.]

7.5 out of 10. The amount of plot holes were just a tad too many. Also the straight out misleading crap near the end was insulting.

[GoGo Yubari]

I don't think any of the misleading stuff was insulting so much as so obvious that I actually came up with more complicated answers in my head and then was like "... oh" when it was more straightforward than I thought.

[C-MIL]

That's a fair score. I didn't really notice any set-ups left obscenely hanging though, outside of maybe the mask... but even that they glossed over in the first act sufficiently.

Payoffs were all way too weak, but that's sort of the way this particular trilogy goes where the entire theme is about redeeming the villain. Sort of anxious to see that trend go away...

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, I wasn't into the payoffs at all.

I just rolled my eyes at Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character becoming Robin because it was so completely unsubtle that I was convinced that there was going to be some killer twist with him, and there wasn't. He was just boringly, generically good. Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah "I learned to fake smiling" blah blah blah. That's not a character flaw.

[C-MIL]

Eh, I kind of liked that one. Not that I want to see a feature-length (especially considering what these people consider "feature-length" to be) story about it, but it was a nice dotdotdotquestionmark to tack onto the end.

[Dingle]

Saw it last night, was awesome except for one thing that really bothered me and I wish they hadn't done.

Fair enough Bane isn't this child of Ra's Al Ghul, but I felt like Miranda's part was so minor that she reduced Bane's awesomeness by being there. Her death got an audible laugh from people around me and I agree it was pretty shitty acting, but that isn't my issue with it. As soon as they dropped that bombshell - which I didnt particularly care about - Bane just doesn't seem as important. Besides, why would she go through everything she did after Bruce had just given her the device to do with it as she pleased? Ehh, maybe she wanted to see Gotham burn too, but it just doesn't fit logically even when I look back on it. I'm gonna go watch it again next week and see if it makes sense, but this is the only thing that bothered me about the film.

Oh and that too many people think tight outfit = super crazy hot. Go to a nightclub and you'll see that everywhere you look. Don't get me wrong, Hathaway is beautiful, but I can't say I creamed myself over her appearance like so many seemed to.

Huge fan of Tom Hardy and I'm very happy to see him triumph here too. A phenomenal actor that shouldn't suit being so big, but he bosses it. Bale was great as expected, Caine blew me away, JGL was the best I've ever seen from him and I think I may have enjoyed this as a film more than TDK. Although I didnt get to see TDK before watching this, so that opinion could be completely skewed until I see both again and get some distance from my excitement. Awesome ending to a fantastic trilogy that, despite pretty much seeing the ending coming as soon as the bridge blew up, is now my favourite trilogy ever, beating out the Matrix by having more than just one awesome film and a few extra awesome fight scenes in the other films.

[Katsuya]

Yeah, I saw it last night too. I loved it, but I didn't love it as much as I loved The Dark Knight. I think the only reason I can think of as to why I didn't like it as much though is because I came out of this one, after the initial ending shocks, thinking about all the quite obvious plot holes. Like:

How did Bruce get back in to the city without anyone noticing and so quickly? I mean, he was imprisoned in some hellish prison in the middle of nowhere in the middle east; he gets to the city in the distance and then has like, 18 hours (based on what Gordon said, I think, in the previous scene) to get from there back in to Gotham. Except he has absolutely no money to his name - he couldn't even afford electricity, let's face it - let alone any documents or anything to get on a plane. And then when he does get back to the US, how the hell is he meant to get back in to Gotham and just manage to find Catwoman without being spotted by anyone else?

I'm sure there were plot holes in TDK as well, but the film as a whole is just so incredibly good that you probably don't notice them. Here, they're coming to the forefront more and more in my head.

Also, having seen the original version of the opening scene on the plane with Bane, his voice felt jarring for a good part of the movie to me. It felt like it was really badly dubbed over, his voice was so much louder and sounded like it had been added on in a studio, rather than done there and then. Unavoidable, I guess, but surely they could have worked it in a bit better.

[Dingle]

To Kats:

A few people have mentioned his voice and how it sounded, but it was absolutely fine to me. I saw that initial plane scene too and was worried that I wouldn't be able to understand anything he said, but aside from the odd word here and there, I heard everything he said. For me, it sounded misplaced but for the right reasons, as weird as that may seem. I loved his voice and whilst it pales in comparison to the awesomeness of the film, I quite liked it. Others have complained about audio issues, so maybe that's what it was? Just depending on the audio balance perhaps.

[Katsuya]

To Kats:

A few people have mentioned his voice and how it sounded, but it was absolutely fine to me. I saw that initial plane scene too and was worried that I wouldn't be able to understand anything he said, but aside from the odd word here and there, I heard everything he said. For me, it sounded misplaced but for the right reasons, as weird as that may seem. I loved his voice and whilst it pales in comparison to the awesomeness of the film, I quite liked it. Others have complained about audio issues, so maybe that's what it was? Just depending on the audio balance perhaps.

Oh no, I understood everything he said - I couldn't hear half of what he said in the original version - but it was the fact the voice seemed to be coming from a completely different source that bothered me. It was like he was louder than everyone else, it got me wondering "why does he need the megaphone" at one point

[Dingle]

To Kats:

A few people have mentioned his voice and how it sounded, but it was absolutely fine to me. I saw that initial plane scene too and was worried that I wouldn't be able to understand anything he said, but aside from the odd word here and there, I heard everything he said. For me, it sounded misplaced but for the right reasons, as weird as that may seem. I loved his voice and whilst it pales in comparison to the awesomeness of the film, I quite liked it. Others have complained about audio issues, so maybe that's what it was? Just depending on the audio balance perhaps.

Oh no, I understood everything he said - I couldn't hear half of what he said in the original version - but it was the fact the voice seemed to be coming from a completely different source that bothered me. It was like he was louder than everyone else, it got me wondering "why does he need the megaphone" at one point

Ahhhhh right, totally misread that. I had that exact thought when he grabbed the megaphone, although I didn't really notice any obvious dubbing with the voice, but I don't tend to pick up on anything bad on first viewing unless the film is obviously shit >_>. Will have to listen for it next time I go see it.

Anyone able to explain why they did the whole blood transfusion on the plane at the start? I mean, I know they ended up thinking the doctor was one of the dead bodies, but they didn't really look much alike ¬_¬.

[Katsuya]

To Kats:

A few people have mentioned his voice and how it sounded, but it was absolutely fine to me. I saw that initial plane scene too and was worried that I wouldn't be able to understand anything he said, but aside from the odd word here and there, I heard everything he said. For me, it sounded misplaced but for the right reasons, as weird as that may seem. I loved his voice and whilst it pales in comparison to the awesomeness of the film, I quite liked it. Others have complained about audio issues, so maybe that's what it was? Just depending on the audio balance perhaps.

Oh no, I understood everything he said - I couldn't hear half of what he said in the original version - but it was the fact the voice seemed to be coming from a completely different source that bothered me. It was like he was louder than everyone else, it got me wondering "why does he need the megaphone" at one point

Ahhhhh right, totally misread that. I had that exact thought when he grabbed the megaphone, although I didn't really notice any obvious dubbing with the voice, but I don't tend to pick up on anything bad on first viewing unless the film is obviously shit >_>. Will have to listen for it next time I go see it.

Anyone able to explain why they did the whole blood transfusion on the plane at the start? I mean, I know they ended up thinking the doctor was one of the dead bodies, but they didn't really look much alike ¬_¬.

I imagine that they probably drained the other guy of blood and then the only way of identifying the body (presuming the crash made the body recognisable) would have been to check if there was blood. They knew he was on the plane since they called it in, at least.

Although now I've just noticed another plot hole, in that Bane confidently said he was the only guy who knew how to disarm the bomb, yet both Lucius and Talia knew how to do it at least (and Bruce probably did too).

And, yeah, Jim Gordon should be dead from massive radiation poisoning.

[Dingle]

I dunno, the bomb was still sealed and if all decay occurred inside the shell then it should be fine really. Otherwise the truck would've been spewing out radiation every single day since it had been removed from it's nuclear reactor (or whatever they called it).

Edited July 26, 2012 by Devil In Jouzy City

[Katsuya]

I dunno, the bomb was still sealed and if all decay occurred inside the shell then it should be fine really. Otherwise the truck would've been spewing out radiation every single day since it had been removed from it's nuclear reactor (or whatever they called it).

I thought that it was spewing out radiation though, hence why it was a lead top roof on the truck and why they were checking the trucks to see how much radiation it was giving off with the geiger counters (Jim definitely said "if it spikes up to x number" to Miranda, so it must have been giving off some radiation).

[C-MIL]

I think when it comes to nuclear physics theories, it's okay to have a plot hole or two...

The whole thing was predicated on the idea that as the fuel cells degenerated, the nuclear material became unstable. Presumably, the machine they had it hooked up to for however long was capable of providing fuel to it, thus stabilizing it. That was their plan, anyway. The "bomb" part sort of got dealt with once they jammed the remote controller. From then on, it was just hazardous waste with a helpful timer for cinematic purposes...

Besides, heels are allowed to lie.

[Rainiac]

Anyone able to explain why they did the whole blood transfusion on the plane at the start? I mean, I know they ended up thinking the doctor was one of the dead bodies, but they didn't really look much alike ¬_¬.

Having seen the film last night, I simply thought that they did the blood transfusion to fool everyone into thinking Dr Pavel died in the plane crash. Considering the corpse's face would likely have been destroyed beyond recognition in the impact, the CIA/Special Forces/whoever could only use the blood to determine the identity of the corpse. It was much the same reason why that random guy stayed in the plane when it crashed; to 'substitute' for Bane's body. Although that raises a couple of other plotholes, such as why they didn't just do an DNA test on the bodies to found out who they really were

[Dingle]

I dunno, the bomb was still sealed and if all decay occurred inside the shell then it should be fine really. Otherwise the truck would've been spewing out radiation every single day since it had been removed from it's nuclear reactor (or whatever they called it).

I thought that it was spewing out radiation though, hence why it was a lead top roof on the truck and why they were checking the trucks to see how much radiation it was giving off with the geiger counters (Jim definitely said "if it spikes up to x number" to Miranda, so it must have been giving off some radiation).

Right you are. I recall him saying that too.

Although, radiation doesn't equal radiation sickness. In fact, you would probably get a reading if you held a Geiger counter in your bedroom, but it's just background radiation. I don't know exact numbers (I think Jim said 200 count, maybe?) to say what type of radiation it was, but if it was giving out constant harmful radiation then the town would have experienced it in those six months (or however long Batman was gone for). I imagine they just played fast with the facts and just threw it in there. There's 3 (or 4 if you count neutron decay) types of radiation, a piece of paper can stop alpha, piece of plastic stops alpha and beta, and a thick piece of lead can stop 99% of all radiation, so yeah... probably a bit of this and a bit of that with a few inconsistencies along the way. I tend to suspend any knowledge of Physics for action films because it would ruin things >_>.

[C-MIL]

I don't think the guy was supposed to be identified as Bane, more just to explain why the law enforcement guys on board got shot. If there was no shooter on board, the investigation would steer towards "how'd he get off the plane before it crashed?" The way it happened, it could be written off as a terrorist kamikaze mission. They needed a suicidal agent to support that theory though, not necessarily a particular one.

[Jimmy]

Wasn't it because they'd called in that they had one of Bane's henchman on the plane who needed to be accounted for in order to keep suspicion low?

Also, watching it for a second time, Miranda, on a few occasions, says a few things which is plucked right out of the league of shadows handbook which you only notice second time round.

[Dingle]

Anyone able to explain why they did the whole blood transfusion on the plane at the start? I mean, I know they ended up thinking the doctor was one of the dead bodies, but they didn't really look much alike ¬_¬.

Having seen the film last night, I simply thought that they did the blood transfusion to fool everyone into thinking Dr Pavel died in the plane crash. Considering the corpse's face would likely have been destroyed beyond recognition in the impact, the CIA/Special Forces/whoever could only use the blood to determine the identity of the corpse. It was much the same reason why that random guy stayed in the plane when it crashed; to 'substitute' for Bane's body. Although that raises a couple of other plotholes, such as why they didn't just do an DNA test on the bodies to found out who they really were

Yeahh, the plotholes don't affect my enjoyment of the film because I can suspend them for the overall worth of the story, but it certainly got my interest. If you can't identify a body by it's appearance, you can use the dental records (often used), DNA testing (simply replacing blood wouldn't change his DNA) and I'm sure there are other ways too. I assumed they were just going for "This dead guy is Pavel and Bane's guy who stays is just there so that they have someone to blame for the murder and destruction of the plane."

Did we ever find out why Bane's followers were so loyal to him? I remember a few comments about this in the film.

[EndOfAnEra]

Wasn't it because they'd called in that they had one of Bane's henchman on the plane who needed to be accounted for in order to keep suspicion low?

Also, watching it for a second time, Miranda, on a few occasions, says a few things which is plucked right out of the league of shadows handbook which you only notice second time round.

what did you notice? I noticed one time where her eyes start darting nervously and figured something was up with her.