Marvel and DC movies
A two for one! The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises, for you reading pleasure. Obviously there will be spoilers.
1. Trailers:
Oh my gosh I was the most obnoxious fangirl watching the trailers in front of this movie. Because! We had The Hobbit, which I squeed quietly for. And we had a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which I squeed very loudly for and bounced up and down in my seat.
And THEN we had a trailer for Breaking Dawn Part Two and I again squeed very loudly and bounced up and down in my seat and clapped like the fangirl I am.
AAAHAAAHSFALKSFALFSKH!
2. Cinematography.
Pretty decent. No complaints really. Except the prologue was a little too shadowed in places so I couldn't quite tell what was going on.
Costumes were great. The Spidersuit especially looked really awesome. And uh... kind of appreciated how good Peter's butt looked in it.
...Don't judge me.
3. Music:
James Horner provided the music for this round. The score overall was not as memorable as Danny Elfman's work on the previous Spiderman trilogy. There weren't any really distinguishable themes or cues I could pick out. (James Horner tends to have this problem a LOT for me actually. Like, his score for Avatar was about the most memorable I think his work has ever been for me. For me, if a score isn't memorable, if after the movie I can't remember or pick out a single cue, or if during the film I just plain don't notice that the film has a score at all, then it hasn't done its job right. Tangent.)
Except for this ONE really REALLY beautiful bit near the end when Spiderman has to swing injured over to the labs and a helpful civilian orders his people to swing their cranes that way to help him out. Gorgeous cue. Wanted way more of that. There were too many pop songs used in lieu of score.
4. Characters:
Andrew Garfield did an amazing (ha ha) Spiderman. Not too shabby as Peter Parker either, though in some places it felt like he was a little TOO awkward and dorky and nerdy.
Ben was good (I SWORE it was the same actor as last time though) but I was a little weirded out by Aunt May. I dunno... maybe it's because I thought the previous actress did such a great job that my mental picture of Aunt May is pretty much her and this lady looked too... young? The non-gray hair just didn't feel right to me. But maybe that's the make-up department's fault and not hers. But I think I'm pretty comfortable in saying she didn't quite have enough warmth as Aunt May for me.
GWEN. OH GWEN DARLING LET ME LOVE YOU. Even though Peter and MJ are OTP to end all Spiderman OTPs (DAMN YOU QUESADAAAAAAAAA!), I adored how cute you were and how smart you were and holy cats how useful and non-Damsel in Distress you were. Gwen got into a little bit of peril, yes, near the climax, but that was because she was brewing an antidote for the lizard mutagen and hiding the important plot device from the villain and during said event she tried to fend him off with a make-shift flame-thrower. Also it did not last long and next we see her she's coming out of the building herself and is out of the situation.
The actress, however, has said some not-nice Die For Our Ship things about MJ. I do not like her for this.
Dr. Conners/The Lizard was really great. Very sympathetic. No complaints.
Gwen's dad needed more to do before he got stuffed in the fridge. The rest of her family was cute but didn't really do much.
Um... who else? Wasn't really anyone else.
5. The Story:
Ooookay so apparently a lot of people hated/didn't like this movie? I dunno that's the buzz I'm hearing around the interwebs. But I really enjoyed it.
Which isn't to say it was without its flaws. Ben's death, for example, doesn't pack as much emotional punch as in the other triology. It was a rushed plot point and Ben wasn't shown being enough of a supportive, caring uncle-figure whom we could love and care about before he got kiboshed. I really only remember him nagging at Peter like a mother. The uh... subplot about Lizard's revenge on that one oily dude seems to get forgotten about, along with his character. We're never shown that Lizard killed him. We never even see him after the fact. The subplot about Spiderman trying to find Ben's killer felt like it got forgotten about too. I guess after the bridge incident and saving the kid Peter realized he liked using his powers to help the innocent more than his personal revenge vendetta but still, a confrontation would have been nice.
Other than that though, I got no complaints. I liked how they played things very straight and serious, with less goofy campy stuff. The villain was genuinely menacing. Gwen was competent and capable. No bullshit "I have to push you away to save you." plotline at the end.
I have NO IDEA what that last scene after the credits was supposed to be though. So weird. I do not know who that guy in the cell with Lizard was.
Conclusion:
Overall a really fun ride.
1. Trailers:
I honestly don't remember anything besides the Hobbit trailer. Darn.
2. Cinematography.
HOLY CATS THIS MOVIE WAS SO PRETTY. The film was beautifully shot. Landscapes looked amazing. The last battle in snow wow just gorgeous. Wonderfully done camerawork. Just... EVERYTHING WAS SO PRETTY.
It was a different kind of pretty than The Avengers. There the pretty mostly came from the bright colors and how shiny everything was. How like a comic book it was. This film, on the other hand, had a more muted color palate, but also a very rich one. If that makes sense.
Whatever, pretty.
3. Music:
Music of course was amazing, though apparently Hans Zimmer was alone this go-around and did not have his partner-in-composing James Newton Howard with him, as for the other two films. I missed seeing James Newton Howard’s name in the credits. Sadface.
4. Characters:
I'm copying most of this over from my Tumblr review of the film, since my thoughts are pretty much unchanged.
Jim Gordon got a raw deal for most of the film. Not in terms of the narrative, just that he went through a lot of crap over the course of the film and it was hilarious. Most of it. Except for the part where someone says, “His wife left and took the kids with her to Cleaveland.” LIES AND BALDERDASH, JIM JUST SENT THEM AWAY TO BE SAFE BECAUSE HE KNEW IN HIS GUT SOMETHING TERRIBLE WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO GOTHAM SOON. SHUT UP THIS IS MY HEADCANON AND YOU CAN’T TAKE IT FROM ME.
No seriously, what the crap. I know Nolan hates the sidekicks and he’s terrible at making women important to his stories but why deny me my precious Babs so thoroughly?
That aside, no complaints. Jim Gordon was an awesome badass, as usual. I especially loved the bit where they finally stopped the truck with the bomb and the doors swing open and he just looks so tired. Jim Gordon was not having the best day that day. Or, well, any day really.
Anne Hathaway did amazing as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and she was flawless. The costume was a little dorky and impractical in places (the heels) but I liked that they lampshaded it and turned it into an implement of power for her. Bringing back back my earlier point about Nolan not writing women well, I was pleasantly surprised at his handling of Selina and the other ladies. Yeah, ladies plural that was nice, after only having Rachel as our one lady in a cast of mostly dudes. (Though Nolan still had a lingering emphasis on dudes and boys and their feelings and pain. Like, all the orphans being boys? Slightly annoying. Though I was kind of hoping one of them would turn out to be Dick Grayson DON’T JUDGE ME.) Anyway, back to Selina’s handling. Pretty good actually. She was competent, she had a lot of agency, she wasn’t over-sexualized, and her motivations made sense. And she kicked a lot of ass. And had a female friend! Apparently she’s Holly somebody from the comics? Whatevs, she was cool and I liked that Selina had a teammate.
Miranda Tate/Talia. Holy cats it’s a miracle I managed to avoid that spoiler. No seriously. It genuinely caught me off guard that that’s who she was. REALLY good twist there. Also she was awesome. I kind of briefly shipped her and Bruce when I thought she was still Miranda and they had that night by the fire.
As for Alfred, well... THERE WAS NOTHING THAT CAME OUT OF HIS MOUTH THAT DID NOT YANK MY HEARTSTRINGS OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS AND SHRED THEM INTO ITTY BITTY PIECES.
WHEN HE LEFT BECAUSE HE COULDN’T WATCH BRUCE DESTROY HIMSELF?
AND THEN AT BRUCE’S FUNERAL WHEN HE SPEAKS TO THOMAS AND MARTHA’S GRAVES, RIGHT BESIDES THEIR SONS?
ALL THE FEELS.
Lucius Fox had the best line in the film: “And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black.” Lulz.
Now for the mildly controversial John Blake. I actually liked him. He was pretty cool. Had an interesting backstory and totally apropos that he’s becoming the next Batman at the end. But the weird thing where his legal birth name was Robin was still kitschy and gimmicky. It was like, paying a fanservicey nod to the idea of Robin, of Batman having a friend who knew his secret and would help him out… but without it actually being one of the Robins. Since Nolan apparently hates the sidekicks so much. If we’re going to imply Robin I want one of the actual Robins dammit.
Diiiiiiiiiiick why were you not in this movie? *cries*
As for our protagonist, the impeccable Bruce Wayne... OH HOLY CHEEZITS IT WAS SO HARD TO WATCH HIM STUMBLE AROUND AND HAVE TO USE A CANE AND JUST BE WORN OUT AND WORN DOWN AND DAMAGED. AND IT GOT BETTER FOR A LITTLE BIT WHEN HE PUT ON THE COWL AGAIN AND SHAVED AND GOT OUT ON THE STREETS OF GOTHAM AGAIN, FIGHTING CRIME AND STUFF. BUT THEN HE FACED BANE. AND GOT CURB-STOMPED AND DUMPED INTO THE PRISON PIT.
OW MY FEELS.
I literally squeaked and hid behind my hands when Bane cracked him over his knee ow ow ow never ever going to like that bit. Of course, all that suffering just made it SO MUCH MORE TRIUMPHANT when Bruce crawled out of the hole and came roaring back. And then sacrificed himself to save the city he loved. (Only not really because he survived the blast AND WENT ON TO RETIRE AND RUN OFF WITH SELINA SQUEEEEE HAPPY HAPPY ENDINGS!)
Best acting we’ve had from Christian Bale so far. I think he really got comfortable with the role.
5. The Story:
I’m going to go ahead and say that this one was my favorite of the trilogy. Mostly because of the happy positive ending. Until now I preferred Batman Begins over The Dark Knight for the same reason. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the STUFFING out of The Dark Knight, I think it was brilliant and excellent and had great action scenes and Joker was perfect and everything. But, well… it just went a little… TOO dark for me. A little TOO depressing and bleak. I mean, holy cheezits that downer ending ugh. It was a very grim movie and I just couldn’t really enjoy it as much.
(Also, due to the fact that we were operating out of an auxiliary Bat shelter and Gotham looked very obviously like Chicago in places, it didn’t quite “feel” like a Batman movie in a weirdish sort of way in places. Returning to the Batcave, among other things, made this movie feel much more like a Batman movie.)
I’m actually really glad they addressed the ending of The Dark Knight in this one, and showed that Batman and Gordon’s actions in covering up Harvey’s crimes had serious consequences. All the lies came out into the open in this movie. That was refreshing.
Action scenes weren’t quite as high octane as in The Dark Knight, or at least there weren’t as many moments that made me gape in awe and want to pump my fist. Still quite a few though. Like every time the Batplane made an appearance. HOLY COWAASFERAHSLFKAHSFA! Think you’ve got Batman trapped like a rat? Think again, HE’S GOT A FREAKING PLANE. Lolololol.
I felt the punches a lot more in this movie. Ow.
Also, the scene where Bane bombs the city and cuts Gotham off from the rest of everything and bombs a football field and traps the whole police force underground was terrifying. Same kind of horror I felt at most of the Joker’s terrorism. Only with added uncomfortable reality subtext. (Ugh, the bit with the kid singing the national anthem, especially the verse, “And the rocket’s red glare/the bombs bursting in air” SO UNCOMFORTABLE even more so than the shooting up the stock exchange for me, I dunno why.)
Themes and messages woven excellently and again I liked that we addressed and fixed the flaws with the previous film’s ending. I was never completely comfortable with Batman and Gordon lying to the public and letting Batman take the fall for Harvey’s crimes. (They totally could’ve pinned them on the Joker. C’mon, he’s a better scapegoat than Bats.) Or with Alfred lying to Bruce about Rachel.
I’d been a little worried that this movie might be even darker than The Dark Knight and I don’t know if I could have handled it if it was. But fortunately, we lightened up a bit. This movie didn’t feel as bleak. There was a lot more hope in the tone, a lot more triumph and victory and the good guys actually winning.
There did seem to be an awful lot going on though. I think some of the subplots could have been written tighter, or trimmed to smooth the overall flow out. Like, we didn’t need that bit with the special forces coming in only to get slaughtered. Useless overall, except as motivation for Random White Cop Captain Whose Name I Don’t Know And Who I Don’t Care About to be a ‘fraidy cat and hide indoors when Gordon needed him and then see the Bat signal and come out to fight only to get killed.
…In hindsight he was pretty useless too. That bit should have been cut as well. Less cops, more Batman, basically, is my only nitpicky issue.
As I said before, the Talia twist genuinely surprised me. I liked that we tied everything back to Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows. That was how it all began, it seems fitting that that’s how it all ends.
Bruce and Selina had a nice rapport. Pretty good chemistry between them, I thought, in-costume and out. And of course, they ran off together to be free of their sordid, complicated pasts in the end. After everything that Bruce has been through in the whole trilogy especially in this movie oh my gosh THAT WAS SO SATISFYING TO SEE.
I’m sorry. I… I have a thing about earned happy endings okay? I just adore it when characters can have a little bit of joy and peace and quiet after they go through hell.
Conclusion:
ASHFLAKSFHALSFKHAF! Screw it. I loved Avengers okay, but THIS was my superhero movie for the year. I want to roll around in the themes and beauty and just spread its wonderfulness all over my body. DAT HAPPY ENDING LIEK WOAH OH MY GOSH ASLAKSHFLSAKFHF!
So yeah. I really loved watching this one. It was great and you should go see it.
1. Trailers:
Oh my gosh I was the most obnoxious fangirl watching the trailers in front of this movie. Because! We had The Hobbit, which I squeed quietly for. And we had a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which I squeed very loudly for and bounced up and down in my seat.
And THEN we had a trailer for Breaking Dawn Part Two and I again squeed very loudly and bounced up and down in my seat and clapped like the fangirl I am.
Click to viewAAAHAAAHSFALKSFALFSKH!
2. Cinematography.
Pretty decent. No complaints really. Except the prologue was a little too shadowed in places so I couldn't quite tell what was going on.
Costumes were great. The Spidersuit especially looked really awesome. And uh... kind of appreciated how good Peter's butt looked in it.
...Don't judge me.
3. Music:
James Horner provided the music for this round. The score overall was not as memorable as Danny Elfman's work on the previous Spiderman trilogy. There weren't any really distinguishable themes or cues I could pick out. (James Horner tends to have this problem a LOT for me actually. Like, his score for Avatar was about the most memorable I think his work has ever been for me. For me, if a score isn't memorable, if after the movie I can't remember or pick out a single cue, or if during the film I just plain don't notice that the film has a score at all, then it hasn't done its job right. Tangent.)
Except for this ONE really REALLY beautiful bit near the end when Spiderman has to swing injured over to the labs and a helpful civilian orders his people to swing their cranes that way to help him out. Gorgeous cue. Wanted way more of that. There were too many pop songs used in lieu of score.
4. Characters:
Andrew Garfield did an amazing (ha ha) Spiderman. Not too shabby as Peter Parker either, though in some places it felt like he was a little TOO awkward and dorky and nerdy.
Ben was good (I SWORE it was the same actor as last time though) but I was a little weirded out by Aunt May. I dunno... maybe it's because I thought the previous actress did such a great job that my mental picture of Aunt May is pretty much her and this lady looked too... young? The non-gray hair just didn't feel right to me. But maybe that's the make-up department's fault and not hers. But I think I'm pretty comfortable in saying she didn't quite have enough warmth as Aunt May for me.
GWEN. OH GWEN DARLING LET ME LOVE YOU. Even though Peter and MJ are OTP to end all Spiderman OTPs (DAMN YOU QUESADAAAAAAAAA!), I adored how cute you were and how smart you were and holy cats how useful and non-Damsel in Distress you were. Gwen got into a little bit of peril, yes, near the climax, but that was because she was brewing an antidote for the lizard mutagen and hiding the important plot device from the villain and during said event she tried to fend him off with a make-shift flame-thrower. Also it did not last long and next we see her she's coming out of the building herself and is out of the situation.
The actress, however, has said some not-nice Die For Our Ship things about MJ. I do not like her for this.
Dr. Conners/The Lizard was really great. Very sympathetic. No complaints.
Gwen's dad needed more to do before he got stuffed in the fridge. The rest of her family was cute but didn't really do much.
Um... who else? Wasn't really anyone else.
5. The Story:
Ooookay so apparently a lot of people hated/didn't like this movie? I dunno that's the buzz I'm hearing around the interwebs. But I really enjoyed it.
Which isn't to say it was without its flaws. Ben's death, for example, doesn't pack as much emotional punch as in the other triology. It was a rushed plot point and Ben wasn't shown being enough of a supportive, caring uncle-figure whom we could love and care about before he got kiboshed. I really only remember him nagging at Peter like a mother. The uh... subplot about Lizard's revenge on that one oily dude seems to get forgotten about, along with his character. We're never shown that Lizard killed him. We never even see him after the fact. The subplot about Spiderman trying to find Ben's killer felt like it got forgotten about too. I guess after the bridge incident and saving the kid Peter realized he liked using his powers to help the innocent more than his personal revenge vendetta but still, a confrontation would have been nice.
Other than that though, I got no complaints. I liked how they played things very straight and serious, with less goofy campy stuff. The villain was genuinely menacing. Gwen was competent and capable. No bullshit "I have to push you away to save you." plotline at the end.
I have NO IDEA what that last scene after the credits was supposed to be though. So weird. I do not know who that guy in the cell with Lizard was.
Conclusion:
Overall a really fun ride.
1. Trailers:
I honestly don't remember anything besides the Hobbit trailer. Darn.
2. Cinematography.
HOLY CATS THIS MOVIE WAS SO PRETTY. The film was beautifully shot. Landscapes looked amazing. The last battle in snow wow just gorgeous. Wonderfully done camerawork. Just... EVERYTHING WAS SO PRETTY.
It was a different kind of pretty than The Avengers. There the pretty mostly came from the bright colors and how shiny everything was. How like a comic book it was. This film, on the other hand, had a more muted color palate, but also a very rich one. If that makes sense.
Whatever, pretty.
3. Music:
Music of course was amazing, though apparently Hans Zimmer was alone this go-around and did not have his partner-in-composing James Newton Howard with him, as for the other two films. I missed seeing James Newton Howard’s name in the credits. Sadface.
4. Characters:
I'm copying most of this over from my Tumblr review of the film, since my thoughts are pretty much unchanged.
Jim Gordon got a raw deal for most of the film. Not in terms of the narrative, just that he went through a lot of crap over the course of the film and it was hilarious. Most of it. Except for the part where someone says, “His wife left and took the kids with her to Cleaveland.” LIES AND BALDERDASH, JIM JUST SENT THEM AWAY TO BE SAFE BECAUSE HE KNEW IN HIS GUT SOMETHING TERRIBLE WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO GOTHAM SOON. SHUT UP THIS IS MY HEADCANON AND YOU CAN’T TAKE IT FROM ME.
No seriously, what the crap. I know Nolan hates the sidekicks and he’s terrible at making women important to his stories but why deny me my precious Babs so thoroughly?
That aside, no complaints. Jim Gordon was an awesome badass, as usual. I especially loved the bit where they finally stopped the truck with the bomb and the doors swing open and he just looks so tired. Jim Gordon was not having the best day that day. Or, well, any day really.
Anne Hathaway did amazing as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and she was flawless. The costume was a little dorky and impractical in places (the heels) but I liked that they lampshaded it and turned it into an implement of power for her. Bringing back back my earlier point about Nolan not writing women well, I was pleasantly surprised at his handling of Selina and the other ladies. Yeah, ladies plural that was nice, after only having Rachel as our one lady in a cast of mostly dudes. (Though Nolan still had a lingering emphasis on dudes and boys and their feelings and pain. Like, all the orphans being boys? Slightly annoying. Though I was kind of hoping one of them would turn out to be Dick Grayson DON’T JUDGE ME.) Anyway, back to Selina’s handling. Pretty good actually. She was competent, she had a lot of agency, she wasn’t over-sexualized, and her motivations made sense. And she kicked a lot of ass. And had a female friend! Apparently she’s Holly somebody from the comics? Whatevs, she was cool and I liked that Selina had a teammate.
Miranda Tate/Talia. Holy cats it’s a miracle I managed to avoid that spoiler. No seriously. It genuinely caught me off guard that that’s who she was. REALLY good twist there. Also she was awesome. I kind of briefly shipped her and Bruce when I thought she was still Miranda and they had that night by the fire.
As for Alfred, well... THERE WAS NOTHING THAT CAME OUT OF HIS MOUTH THAT DID NOT YANK MY HEARTSTRINGS OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS AND SHRED THEM INTO ITTY BITTY PIECES.
WHEN HE LEFT BECAUSE HE COULDN’T WATCH BRUCE DESTROY HIMSELF?
AND THEN AT BRUCE’S FUNERAL WHEN HE SPEAKS TO THOMAS AND MARTHA’S GRAVES, RIGHT BESIDES THEIR SONS?
ALL THE FEELS.
Lucius Fox had the best line in the film: “And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black.” Lulz.
Now for the mildly controversial John Blake. I actually liked him. He was pretty cool. Had an interesting backstory and totally apropos that he’s becoming the next Batman at the end. But the weird thing where his legal birth name was Robin was still kitschy and gimmicky. It was like, paying a fanservicey nod to the idea of Robin, of Batman having a friend who knew his secret and would help him out… but without it actually being one of the Robins. Since Nolan apparently hates the sidekicks so much. If we’re going to imply Robin I want one of the actual Robins dammit.
Diiiiiiiiiiick why were you not in this movie? *cries*
As for our protagonist, the impeccable Bruce Wayne... OH HOLY CHEEZITS IT WAS SO HARD TO WATCH HIM STUMBLE AROUND AND HAVE TO USE A CANE AND JUST BE WORN OUT AND WORN DOWN AND DAMAGED. AND IT GOT BETTER FOR A LITTLE BIT WHEN HE PUT ON THE COWL AGAIN AND SHAVED AND GOT OUT ON THE STREETS OF GOTHAM AGAIN, FIGHTING CRIME AND STUFF. BUT THEN HE FACED BANE. AND GOT CURB-STOMPED AND DUMPED INTO THE PRISON PIT.
OW MY FEELS.
I literally squeaked and hid behind my hands when Bane cracked him over his knee ow ow ow never ever going to like that bit. Of course, all that suffering just made it SO MUCH MORE TRIUMPHANT when Bruce crawled out of the hole and came roaring back. And then sacrificed himself to save the city he loved. (Only not really because he survived the blast AND WENT ON TO RETIRE AND RUN OFF WITH SELINA SQUEEEEE HAPPY HAPPY ENDINGS!)
Best acting we’ve had from Christian Bale so far. I think he really got comfortable with the role.
5. The Story:
I’m going to go ahead and say that this one was my favorite of the trilogy. Mostly because of the happy positive ending. Until now I preferred Batman Begins over The Dark Knight for the same reason. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the STUFFING out of The Dark Knight, I think it was brilliant and excellent and had great action scenes and Joker was perfect and everything. But, well… it just went a little… TOO dark for me. A little TOO depressing and bleak. I mean, holy cheezits that downer ending ugh. It was a very grim movie and I just couldn’t really enjoy it as much.
(Also, due to the fact that we were operating out of an auxiliary Bat shelter and Gotham looked very obviously like Chicago in places, it didn’t quite “feel” like a Batman movie in a weirdish sort of way in places. Returning to the Batcave, among other things, made this movie feel much more like a Batman movie.)
I’m actually really glad they addressed the ending of The Dark Knight in this one, and showed that Batman and Gordon’s actions in covering up Harvey’s crimes had serious consequences. All the lies came out into the open in this movie. That was refreshing.
Action scenes weren’t quite as high octane as in The Dark Knight, or at least there weren’t as many moments that made me gape in awe and want to pump my fist. Still quite a few though. Like every time the Batplane made an appearance. HOLY COWAASFERAHSLFKAHSFA! Think you’ve got Batman trapped like a rat? Think again, HE’S GOT A FREAKING PLANE. Lolololol.
I felt the punches a lot more in this movie. Ow.
Also, the scene where Bane bombs the city and cuts Gotham off from the rest of everything and bombs a football field and traps the whole police force underground was terrifying. Same kind of horror I felt at most of the Joker’s terrorism. Only with added uncomfortable reality subtext. (Ugh, the bit with the kid singing the national anthem, especially the verse, “And the rocket’s red glare/the bombs bursting in air” SO UNCOMFORTABLE even more so than the shooting up the stock exchange for me, I dunno why.)
Themes and messages woven excellently and again I liked that we addressed and fixed the flaws with the previous film’s ending. I was never completely comfortable with Batman and Gordon lying to the public and letting Batman take the fall for Harvey’s crimes. (They totally could’ve pinned them on the Joker. C’mon, he’s a better scapegoat than Bats.) Or with Alfred lying to Bruce about Rachel.
I’d been a little worried that this movie might be even darker than The Dark Knight and I don’t know if I could have handled it if it was. But fortunately, we lightened up a bit. This movie didn’t feel as bleak. There was a lot more hope in the tone, a lot more triumph and victory and the good guys actually winning.
There did seem to be an awful lot going on though. I think some of the subplots could have been written tighter, or trimmed to smooth the overall flow out. Like, we didn’t need that bit with the special forces coming in only to get slaughtered. Useless overall, except as motivation for Random White Cop Captain Whose Name I Don’t Know And Who I Don’t Care About to be a ‘fraidy cat and hide indoors when Gordon needed him and then see the Bat signal and come out to fight only to get killed.
…In hindsight he was pretty useless too. That bit should have been cut as well. Less cops, more Batman, basically, is my only nitpicky issue.
As I said before, the Talia twist genuinely surprised me. I liked that we tied everything back to Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows. That was how it all began, it seems fitting that that’s how it all ends.
Bruce and Selina had a nice rapport. Pretty good chemistry between them, I thought, in-costume and out. And of course, they ran off together to be free of their sordid, complicated pasts in the end. After everything that Bruce has been through in the whole trilogy especially in this movie oh my gosh THAT WAS SO SATISFYING TO SEE.
I’m sorry. I… I have a thing about earned happy endings okay? I just adore it when characters can have a little bit of joy and peace and quiet after they go through hell.
Conclusion:
ASHFLAKSFHALSFKHAF! Screw it. I loved Avengers okay, but THIS was my superhero movie for the year. I want to roll around in the themes and beauty and just spread its wonderfulness all over my body. DAT HAPPY ENDING LIEK WOAH OH MY GOSH ASLAKSHFLSAKFHF!
So yeah. I really loved watching this one. It was great and you should go see it.