Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Jazz Inmate (R) on December 16, 2012 at 15:27:16

In Reply to: RE: what was messy about it? posted by musetap on December 14, 2012 at 12:20:37

Well... an "action" movie that takes so long to set-up the storyline in such a ponderous fashion strikes me as messy.

The action got going right away with Bain kidnapping the nuclear scientist, killing everyone onboard the plane and crashing it in one of the best choreographed scenes of the trilogy. The film did have to stand on its own, so there was some necessary reference to Dent and the reasons behind Wayne being so reclusive and Batman being absent. But I think these loose ends were handled very neatly, not a mess by any means. Taking the fall for Dent and losing one's girlfriend as Bruce Wayne did are certainly ponderous issues, and it was part of the character arc. But the action didn't suffer for it.

Add in the overuse of Bain's story told with far too many boring flashbacks, the main character laid up for most of the movie, other not-too-swift use of flashbacks and an overwhelming dirge-like heaviness of self-importance, etc., and you have
a loooooooooooong movie that could have/should have been trimmed down to something that was paced better.

I thought the pacing and editing were fine, given the challenges of the film. Bain's story wasn't really Bain's story. That was only shown near the end, when it became clear who was really fulfilling ra's al ghul's legacy, e.g., the child that escaped the pit (it wasn't Bain). And the flashbacks were relatively brief and added some intrigue to what was happening in Gotham City, especially since it turned out the child you saw in those flashbacks wasn't really who you thought it was. The entire film was edited rather tightly and you would be hard pressed to cut anything that wasn't essential to the story or the surprise at the end.

I could go on, but unlike Nolan I know when to call it quits.

By all means, go on. I like to discuss Nolan's films. They're thoughtfully made, and he spares no expense in production.

We were VERY disappointed. Am looking forward to Skyfall...

Well expectations can have a big impact. With so many superhero sequels suffering from studio interference, I wasn't expecting much of TDKR and was pleasently surprised. Compare it to the third Spiderman, for example. But after reading the reviews of Skyfall I went in expecting more and was a bit let down.

Both are fine movies, but DTKR was more epic, Bond-like and fulfilling in wrapping up the trilogy. Skyfall, in contrast, felt like the weakest of a trilogy that only served to set up a real resurgence in 007 (hopefully)--but I guess we'll have to wait for the next installment.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi