Cristo wrote:

theweatherman wrote:If the biggest fault we find with Nolan is that he struggles when directing action, I'm okay with that. Its not the action that makes the movie.

Yeah, but a lot is riding on Inception. The future of 2-D films, the future of original films, the future of film period. If the action is sub-par, then even with the best of stories, there's no way this can bring in a huge profit. That's why I'm concerned. Nolan is a great director when it comes to story, but I want his action to match.

So, no pressure on Nolan then!

theweatherman wrote:His action isn't great, but I wouldn't consider it anywhere close to being subpar. I expect it too be much improved for Inception.

Well that's the thing. For this original 2-D film to make a lot of money, it needs great action. Anything less would be sub-par. From the trailers, it looks great, but looking at Nolan's track record causes concern. I want Inception to be a movie with great acion and story...a movie where even IF the story sucked, the action would wow you. Personally I didn't care for Avatar's story, but there were points in the action where I was

If Inception can combine great action and great story, it will make a lot of money and bode well for the future of film.

Bueller wrote:

Cristo wrote:

theweatherman wrote:If the biggest fault we find with Nolan is that he struggles when directing action, I'm okay with that. Its not the action that makes the movie.

Yeah, but a lot is riding on Inception. The future of 2-D films, the future of original films, the future of film period. If the action is sub-par, then even with the best of stories, there's no way this can bring in a huge profit. That's why I'm concerned. Nolan is a great director when it comes to story, but I want his action to match.

So, no pressure on Nolan then!

I'm sure he's pressured as all heck as well he should be. "With great power comes great responsibility"

The car chasing scenes in BB and TDK were amazing.

Samuel R. Jankis wrote:The car chasing scenes in BB and TDK were amazing.

Yea, I think they are just talking about hand to hand combat which they think was subpar.

Personally, I thought TDK's hand to hand combat was great.

Let me guess, you like your fights to look like a dance? Nolan deliberately avoided having the action scenes in both Batman films being stylized to emphasize the down-to-earth reality, even stating in an interview saying he did not want them to look like something out of The Matrix.

The action scenes in Batman Begins were not very good or memorable but they were much improved in The Dark Knight. The new Batsuit allowed more mobility (he couldn't even turn his head before!) and Bale didn't have to stay in the shadows or get stuck in poses. People tend to forget that Nolan was not an action director before the Batman films and as such he's continuing to learn and improve. And although he's nowhere near one of the better action directors of today, his action scenes are still a cut above the likes of Michael Bay because he takes great strides to integrate his action scenes into the narrative and help drive the story instead of distracting from it.

With that said, I'm excited for the action scenes in Inception, they look spectacular.

Eternalist wrote:Let me guess, you like your fights to look like a dance? Nolan deliberately avoided having the action scenes in both Batman films being stylized to emphasize the down-to-earth reality, even stating in an interview saying he did not want them to look like something out of The Matrix.

The action scenes in Batman Begins were not very good or memorable but they were much improved in The Dark Knight. The new Batsuit allowed more mobility (he couldn't even turn his head before!) and Bale didn't have to stay in the shadows or get stuck in poses. People tend to forget that Nolan was not an action director before the Batman films and as such he's continuing to learn and improve. And although he's nowhere near one of the better action directors of today, his action scenes are still a cut above the likes of Michael Bay because he takes great strides to integrate his action scenes into the narrative and help drive the story instead of distracting from it.

With that said, I'm excited for the action scenes in Inception, they look spectacular.

No, I don't like my fights to look like a dance...however I do like the camera to be pulled back quite a bit. I don't want to see just heads and torsos. A person can make Matrix-esque action without it looking like a dance. And since Inception is not realistic in its premise, I would expect it to be closer action-wise to The Matrix than to the Batman films (though the car chase scenes are awesome).

And while TDK did IMPROVE, it was not great action when Batman fought. And Michael Bay's action scenes by themselves are better regardless of the narrative. Yeah, Nolan is constantly improving. Hopefully he directs action like some of the better action directors this time around.

I didn't think there was anything overly wrong with the fight scenes in The Dark Knight, a few are dodgy but they're overall good. Michael's Bay's almost worse at directing fight scenes, in the Transformers movies, for instance, the fight scenes are incomprehensible masses of visual noise. His action scenes by themselves are better, but he does not successfully integrate them into the narrative drive which is what a great action movie should do.

chee wrote:Most of the critics have only criticized the fight scenes in Batman Begins, must of them have agreed that Nolan improved the fight scenes in The Dark Knight.

The fight scenes in Batman Begins were, in my opinion, some of the best scenes ever shot by Nolan. The league of shadows training was brilliant. So I am hoping for some cut scenes like with Ras and Bruce on the ice.

The hallway fight in Inception has classic action scene potential.