Ultimate Movie Madness 2.0

[Robert McSantos]

That's twice now that series has surprised me by introducing another villain at the 11th hour. Impressive that they're still able to pull that off in the internet age (although admittedly, I wasn't following news of the movie very closely).

[stock]

I need to watch it again. I feel like I missed a few things but definitely enjoyed it.

[Ben]

Bane was just plain awful in Batman, I mean the writing for him was great, but the actual execution was just... bad. His voice when you could understand him was hilarious. He sounded like he was doing a bad sean connoroy impersonation.

[Agrajag]

Really? I liked it a lot actually. I thought it was silly at first, especially because it was so different from how it sounded in the original version they aired last year, but it grew on me.

[Ben]

I never really payed attention to the pre-movie hype so I don't know what it sounded like before hand (although I remember people saying he was uninteligable)

But his accent just sounded... fake I guess? Like it didn't sound like someone talking naturally, it sounded like someone trying to sound like sean connoroy.

Also the whole Lilly white bane thing still bugs me. I mean ok I get it that they moved the prison from central america to random middle east area to fit in with the story, but then shouldn't bane have been middle eastern? (Although so should Ra's, maybe Nolan is just really confused about what middle eastern people look like?)

[eitlobsaboo]

although I remember people saying he was uninteligable

Thats my perception of Bane..

[Robert McSantos]

Whitewashing bad guys is sort of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" problem.

[Ben]

I don't think the white washing in the batman movies really had anything to do with a conscious decision to change races or anything. I think it's got way more to do with Nolan just casting his friends in the movies instead of looking for actors that suit the role.

[Robert McSantos]

You're probably right.

[Joopac_Badur]

The Dark Knight Rises stuff:
I didn't mind Bane's accent so much as I did the mixing of it. It clearly sounded like it was all overdubbed. The whole time I was watching his scenes, all I could think of was that the lines I'm hearing were recorded in a sound studio. And I realize this happens all the time with movies, but usually it's pretty hard to notice; such was not the case with DKR.

Overall though, I did enjoy the movie. Not as good as The Dark Knight, but still a good close. My biggest gripe with the story was

Spoiler: show

There were too many characters with too many stories going on. The success of The Dark Knight was the fact that it wasn't really about Batman, but rather Harvey Dent. Sequels usually suck because there's nothing new happening with the characters development; it's just flashier special effects. Nolan circumvented this by focusing on Dent more than anyone. We saw his rise and fall. Batman and the Joker were just the charismatic, polar-opposite forces pulling Dent one way or another.

In the end, Nolan should have ditched Catwoman and focused more on Robin Blake. Because really Catwoman did little to serve the movie. Anything she did could have easily been written to be done by someone else (that said though, Hathaway did a good job as her and Catwoman was cool, but not cool enough). If the tale focused on Robin, we could see Dent pt. 2. Robin is like Dent, a man hellbent on justice but who is disillusioned by the corruptness in the law. But unlike Dent who succumbs to the Joker's temptation, Robin would resist the madness created by Bane and become the new Batman (or Nightwing or whatever), and rise where Dent had fallen.

This would tie in well with Bruce/Batman, who starts off the movie in shambles about how Dent had fallen. He slowly rebuilds his trust both in himself and the ideals he set out with Batman by seeing how Robin is rising up himself.

But instead, we get a movie that is following one too many plot lines and suffers a bit because we don't get the stronger focus like in The Dark Knight.

[stock]

hmm. I've seen the movie twice now and it all comes together much nicer now that I've sat with it for awhile. I think Bane's voice is fine, it's a bit off (could hardly understand that he says "blinding") at times but I like it, although the Dr. Killinger comparison is pretty difficult to miss. Haha, all said I think there's a lot to say about the dynamics in the movie. I had some issue with "rise" being alluded to and literally mentioned, but it's whatever. Nolan is good for that type of thing I've found.

[Joopac_Badur]

I had some issue with "rise" being alluded to and literally mentioned, but it's whatever. Nolan is good for that type of thing I've found.

It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't do it so many times. One or two scenes would have been fine, but it was like they had to say it to every character from every character.

Also, sort of nitpicking, but one reason I think TDK > TDKR is that with the Joker, every plan he had there was also a twist. You never knew what crazy shit was going to happen next. But with Bane, you pretty much knew the extent of his plot halfway through the movie. Aside from the 11th hour villain twist, the movie was pretty straightforward.

[MrSquishyDBC]

Regarding Bane's voice, I saw a comparison video of the old recording of his voice compared to the final version.

The re-recorded version definitely sounds clearer, but I think the voice fits better in the older version. I can understand the issue of balancing the two, and I guess it was a good fix.

[Kelso]

ALF movie.
I would very likely watch this.

[MrSquishyDBC]

I had a mini Wes Anderson movie marathon and watched The Darjeeling Limited and Fantastic Mr Fox. Darjeeling Limited was a little disappointing, but I liked it nonetheless. Fantastic Mr Fox I didn't expect much from since it was advertised as a family movie, but it blew me away. Easily one of my new favorite movies.