The TDKR Reviews/Twitter Buzz Only Thread

[hasanahmad]

Without spilling any beans, we can safely say that it lives up to all expectations and is a testament to epic storytelling.

http://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/2012/0 ... her-nolan/

[loop]

This is from Jeff Wells, but take it with a grain of salt. Some of these reactions sound like the tweets we already know:

I've spoken to three persons who attended one of the two screenings yesterday of The Dark Knight Rises in Manhattan. Without being specific or spoilery it seems fair to generally summarize at least some of what they said. So here are the main observations, starting with the most positive and working our way down:

(a) "It's going to be huge...dramatically and thematically a very powerful film," says one. "It's a special kind of blockbuster," a somewhat younger media guy says. "The Avengers is a joke next to this...I know a good movie when I see one." Another claims that "it's better than both of the Joel Schumacher [Batman] films and the two Tim Burton versions put together."

(b) One responder feels that "the best thing about it are the performances by Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon Levitt."

(c) The geekboy known as "c*mfckn*w" who tweeted after last Friday night's junket screening that "if this does not break the mold and win Best Picture, no comic-book movie ever will"...this guy is delusional, I'm told. TDKR will be a box-office behemoth, but like TDK and BB before, it's just not Best Picture material. Certainly not as the average Academy member defines that term.

(d) It's strong but quite long, and in one person's view "not that compelling...there's a really solid 115 or 120 minute drama with action in there [but Nolan] has made this huge bloated thing that runs two hours and 40 minutes."

(e) Tom Hardy's Bane is an unmistakably strong figure in and of himself, but he's no match for Heath Ledger's Joker. He just doesn't deliver the same bark and spark that Ledger gave to The Dark Knight.

The rest of the reactions are too spoilery to mention.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2012/07/ ... r_reac.php

[Barrett]

Weekend host of NPR's "All Things Considered"

just saw ‪#Batman‬ movie for interview with Chris Nolan tomorrow. One word: ‪#amazing‬. ‪#sworntosecrecy‬

https://twitter.com/nprguyraz/status/223446948508733441

[loop]

From a poster on Awardsdailyforums, the biggest Oscar forum:

Looks like at least BP nomination based on all the early reactions from the trusted people I know who seen it here in London.

The consensus here is that this one feels as a proper conclusion to the trilogy and the tone of the film is more along the lines of serious drama than your usual superhero stuff. The drama is so good that you are supposed to completely forget about silly costumes etc. Just the right balance and the right momentum for this one to get in and may be a threat for win if the film sweeps.

Strangely, Bale was praised the least while Oldman, Levitt, Hathaway all got strong buzz. So did Marion and Cain, but smaller parts. Hardy, kind of mixed. But the opinions were subjective. People felt that none of the performances truly stood out though, like in the case of Ledger. More of an ensemble piece.

http://www.awardsdailyforums.com/showpo ... stcount=36
http://www.awardsdailyforums.com/showpo ... stcount=39
http://www.awardsdailyforums.com/showpo ... stcount=41

[EctoCooler31]

Total film gives it 5/5! They have their rating up but no review yet.

http://www.totalfilm.com/the-dark-knight-rises

[Windows 7]

Total film gives it 5/5! They have their rating up but no review yet.

http://www.totalfilm.com/the-dark-knight-rises

They took the 5 star thing down. Either it was an accident, or hopefully they just didn't want to spoil their rating for it, lol

[Dragon_316ca]

http://thecultureslut.tumblr.com/post/27122725929/the-dark-knight-rises-2012

I was fortunate to attend an advanced screening of this and I knew it would be good, but WOW - Christopher Nolan has done it again.

Nolan himself said that he would not do a 3rd film in the Batman series unless the script would match or beat the script used for the Dark Knight, and TDKR lives up to that premise. Even Anne Hathaway (who, thankfully, we see allot less of that I was expecting) couldn’t taint the epic masterpiece that Nolan has created. Yeah, she is actually pretty cool in the film and I really did like her character.

Don’t want to give too much of it away, but I will say that The Dark Knight Rises is by far the most emotional of the Batman trilogy. Now I know what your thinking “that was same with spider-man 3 and it sucked!!” and it did - but TDKR builds from and excels the previous two movies in almost every way. Both the villains and the good guys are phenomenal, complex, enticing, and create memorable impressions that stick with you after the film finishes.

The cinematography was stunningly beautiful - and richly makes use of the IMAX format. If you see this film - don’t snub yourself- PLEASE pay the extra money and see it in IMAX, you won’t regret it.

The cast and characters are absolutely wonderful (with 5 oscar winners and another 3 nominees how can it not be?) Tom Hardy gives an exceptionally strong performance. The screenplay is one of the most clever and well-written things I have ever seen, and it really does 1up the Dark Knight on every level. And WOW - what an epic ending that really blew me out of the water…

I’m not exaggerating by stating that if this film does not win best picture - then no comic book film ever will.

Rating 10/10

[Bane_Fanboy]

@Christylemire: Off to Warner Bros. on this beautiful Saturday morning to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES with @chrisjlemire. Woo hoo!

https://twitter.com/christylemire/status/224177853196009472

[cesar1st]

Skip down to the review. :http://twitchfilm.com/reviews/2012/07/fear-loathing-comic-con-boozie-movies-reviews-the-dark-knight-rises.php
*I trust this one is a real one, as I usually check reviews on this site. (It seems to be that they break the embargo )
*For those who want to go in fresh: This is full of spoiler!
Review only:

THE DARK KNIGHT PUNCHES THE 99% IN THE FACE!
So here's the thing about The Dark Knight and Batman in general. Yes, Nolan's follow up to the lackluster, Goyer scripted Batman Begins was very very good, and Batman is an iconic symbol within the pantheon of American popular culture. We all love Batman. But, Batman also represents a lot of fascist, conservative America ideals we probably otherwise would like to ignore. Batman is about the threat of anarchy against the rich and powerful. Superman was a Jew, Spiderman was a geek, Captain America was patriotism, the hulk is our own struggle with our inner demons, and Batman is a powerful rich wasp protecting the establishment of other powerful rich wasps. Batman is the Republican Party. And it's unsurprising that Frank Miller made negative remarks about the occupy movement last year, because let's face it; his Batman is too macho for all of that passive protesting bullshit. This is an aristocratic white man who beats up on impoverished urban criminals. He's never able to catch the main villains, and spends most of his time knocking the teeth out of henchmen, faceless guards who aren't evil so much as desperate.

Actually, Batman Begins inspired me to write a horror superhero mash up from the perspective of a young petty African American thief being chased through the dark labyrinth of a public housing community by a racist Batmanesque hero. Let's face it, in slasher movies, the killer is the protagonist. Jason, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leather Face, they're superheroes; we go into their films rooting for them to murder those hedonistic slutty kids. I always figured if you actually called them a hero within the story, it could lead to a role reversal where they'd actually become a hated villain. For that one scene in Batman Begins, where he stalks a group of men at the docks, Batman became a feared monster of the night, I wish Nolan took that farther and turned the a tentpole superhero franchise into a horror film. But I'm ranting here, fucking bath salts.

Let's not forget that Batman in The Dark Knight was essentially a positive analogy for the Bush administration. He was the hero we deserved, not the one we needed. He was a martyr for making the tough, morally gray decisions that ultimately lead to him being vilified even though those same decisions also saved the general public. He invaded the public's privacy, he allowed innocent cops to die, and he took the blame for Harvey Dent's death. But no one wants our favorite hero to be a metaphor for one of our most despised presidents.

The Dark Knight Rises takes it so much further and while I can't agree with the politics, it's kind of brilliant. How this thing got made blows my mind.

But here's the thing, The Dark Knight isn't Batman's story, nor is it Bane's. Their conflict takes place within the background. The Dark Knight Rises is John Blake's story. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays a beat cop that is the son of dock thug #2 from Batman Begins. Don't remember him? He was only a faceless henchman that Batman pummeled. He's no criminal mastermind, and through flashbacks, we learn that he was a good man, a down and out factory worker who lost his job and took to working for the mob to provide for his family. He's not a murderer, or malicious thief, just a poor goof who took the wrong job protecting illegal shipments of drugs so he could put food on the table. But Batman ended that. Batman might not kill, but he unknowingly broke the thug's back, an act that mirrors Batman's own demise. He ruined this man's life, unable to find work or do much of anything with a broken back and no health insurance, he took his own life, orphaning his only son, John Blake, who has continued volunteering for the orphanage he was raised in.

Joseph Gordon Levitt's Blake initially blamed Carmine Falcone and became a cop to justly seek his revenge. At some point on the street, Blake is recruited by the league of shadows to purge Gotham of crime. And through Bane, he learns to blame and hate Batman just as much as Falcone. And even the children of the orphanage are enlisted in Bane's army. That's right, Batman has to fight poor children in order to maintain the order of American capitalism.

Initially, Bane indeed brings justice to Gotham, and unites the poor and underprivileged. Bane finishes D.A. Dent's work and takes out Maroni and all of the other mob bosses left unattended in the Dark Knight.

The film can be said to loosely follow the Nightfall storyline. Although, if we want to get all geeky here, Batman Begins also referenced Nightfall with the massive jailbreak at Arkham that flooded the city's streets with every criminal in the city.

Regardless, Bane breaks the bat, but you know this already.

Nolan combines and manipulates a lot of different canon story lines. On paper, it may seem overcrowded, like this could a repeat of Raimi's Spiderman 3 but it works.

Anne Hathaway shines as Selina Kyle and while she may be leather clad, she is never referred to as Catwoman. She may be a "cat" burglar who steals from the rich, but it's not diamonds she's after. Like Leonardo's character in Inception, she steals from the rich not for profit but as financial, corporate espionage. Her name is really only an alias. Selina Kyle is the alter ego, not Cat Woman. You see, she's a member of the league of shadows, she's really Thalia Al Ghoul, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghoul, and she does fall in love with Batman even though her mission is to destroy him.

Christian Bale has famously joked that Nolan better not have Robin in any of these films, and while Joseph Gordon Levitt never dons the outfit, he does becomes a bit of a surrogate for Robin. If we must use a reference point for his character since nerds love that, he could be likened to Jason Todd, the second Robin who famously died at the hands of the Joker. Todd was a character lead by anger. Although he's also technically an orphan, Levitt does end up donning a sort of armored costume that could be compared to Azrael, though that name is never used. Come to think of it, Tim Drake, the third Robin, also had a similar arc. Wait Wait Wait. John Blake. That's like some weird anagram of (J)ason Todd and Tim D(rake). Hmmmm....

And all the nerds collectively creamed their pants. Oh and Ra's Al Ghoul is indeed alive, but he hasn't been revived from the dead by a Lazarus pit, he's essentially been re-cloned and engineered into Bane.

The Joker may have represented anarchy, but Bane and the league of shadows is the evil that is socialism/communism. He is a more violent embodiment of the occupy movement. He rallies the poor against the political, capitalist machine, and Batman is symbol of that machine that must be destroyed. Joker wanted to watch the world burn, Bane simply wants to put an end to political and economic corruption. Bane attacks the Gotham stock exchange and cripples market trading leading to chaos within the business district. For much of the film, I was rooting for Bane, but then he takes out a stadium of innocent people during a football game because communists hate personal freedom and fun. There is no fun in communism, and destroying sports is representative of that. Goddamn communists.

Bearing witness to the slaughter of countless families, John Blake realizes that Bane must be stopped, but he's already broken the bat. Thalia, I mean, Selina Kyle who has now come to love and believe in Batman. She introduces Blake to Lucious Fox, who constructs an Iron Manesque suit in order to battle the seemingly invincible Bane.

Some critics compared the Dark Knight upon its release to The Godfather as a sprawling crime epic. If that's the case, The Dark Knight Rises is Gomorrah and Elite Squad. This is heady, multi-layered nihilism where there is no hero. Our government is fucked, our heroes are fucked, and so are we, corruption is imbedded within the human spirit. It's difficult to fully discern which side Nolan is on at times, although, ultimately, I guess we're supposed to root for Batman even though he's left defeated in the end. The fact there are children's popup books and Slurpee cups for this film brings a big shit eating grin to my face. I can't wait to see how the public reacts.

Or maybe I imagined the whole film. You see, it's not the bath salts themselves that cause intense hallucinations, it's the sleep deprivation that results from taking too much that leads to the much publicized dementia. All I know is that I somehow woke up in a roach motel on the outskirts of San Francisco two days later with no recollection as to how I got here and it burns when I pee.

[PapadBreaker]

"There are moments in The Dark Knight Rises that generate a furious surge of emotion that The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man combined couldn’t muster."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/14/2895351/the-dark-knight-rises-brings-the.html