1269 replies to this topic

[sharpshooter]

TDKR is the end of Nolan's franchise. The next series is a reboot and won't have any connection to this.

I do not see JGL as the next you know what at all. I see him as the kind of person Bruce wanted to inspire in BB.

Not the copycats or the freaks, but a regular Gotham citizen.

[thecasinoroyale]

Nice theory sharpshooter, makes sense.

I read that Gotham officials/the army destroy the Gotham bridges to contain the escaped prisoners and villains on the island, sort of like The Narrows isolation during 'Batman Begins', almost turning it into a sort of Arkham City-type locale, but I don't know how true that is mind you.

I like the idea of JGL's Blake being on the good team, another glimmer of light in a dark world. During the trailer, with his hand(s) up, it looks like he's either close to being killed or letting himself become one with something/someone?

Lots to chew over anyway!

[sharpshooter]

Nice theory sharpshooter, makes sense.

Thanks.

I read that Gotham officials/the army destroy the Gotham bridges to contain the escaped prisoners and villains on the island, sort of like The Narrows isolation during 'Batman Begins', almost turning it into a sort of Arkham City-type locale, but I don't know how true that is mind you.

Nah, I don't believe that. It's Bane's doing IMO. He has it all planned out. Make Gotham his contained ground zero to rule like a dictator.

[thecasinoroyale]

Well they are saying Bane is a man with a plan, and he's capable of anything so sounds true for his vision of keeping Gotham contained, and his for the taking.

I'm still curious however to see/learn about the traits of the Bane character, being the actual mask and body enhancing gas/drugs he is using, like the Venom replacement, and how he reacts to this, and how strong he will get, as that's a big selling point for using the actualy character, and I think people probably could forget that, so I'm hoping we see some of this either in the story or as flash-backs, maybe?

[tdalton]

I thought that the new trailer was very, very good. I only have two qualms about the trailer. The first being that I might have saved the "When Gotham is...ashes...you have my permission to die" line for this trailer rather than using it in the last one. I think that line fits in better witht his trailer and would have had an even greater impact than it did in the second trailer if they had used it instead of the "Your punishment must be more severe" line (which is also a decent line in its own right).

The second being that I'm still not sold on Hathaway as Catwoman. While I've made it no secret that I would have preferred that Nolan just leave Catwoman out of the film entirely, I'm still not sure that Hathaway is the right casting for the part. I get the feeling from this new trailer that Catwoman, at least in part of the film, takes up Batman's cause, along with Levitt's character, and leads the fight against Bane for a portion of the proceedings. With that in mind, I think an actress with a bit more of a physical or athletic presence might have been better suited. I'll wait until seeing the film to really pass judgment on that, but just as an initial observation, I'm not sure. Then again, I had similar doubts about Ledger as the Joker, and those turned out to be wrong as well, even if the performance is rather overhyped.

Bit gutted though about the lack of stand out lines from Bane. Just thinking to 'The Dark Knight' and in the trailer the lines that Joker had. Of my head...

"Why so serious?" "Let's put a smile on that face!" "Good evening....Comissioner!"

All we've had from Bane so far is "Gotham's reckoning." "Your punishment must be more severe." and "When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die."



....actually, seeing them now, they're not too bad! I can't wait to hear/see more of Bane, they are keeping him pretty contained at the minute. I think we're under-estimating him!

I actually like the lines from Bane in the two trailers more than what we heard from the Joker in most of the trailers for TDK (I did like the whole "I'm a man of my word" thing from the teaser, but could take or leave the rest of the trailer dialogue).

I really like Bane's line from the second trailer, the whole "When Gotham is...ashes...you have my permission to die" exchange with Bruce Wayne. It's menacing, to the point, and really demonstrates that Bane, at least as depicted here, is really on a different level from the other villains in Nolan's Batman films.

[thecasinoroyale]

The more I read your post tdalton, the more I turned to agree with you!

I think I'm under-estimating Bane, and how good he will be. I admit I loved the "Gotham is ashes..." quote, but it's funny we've only heard 3 lines from him in the total run of trailers, and 2 of which are from the same scene so I reckon he has a lot more great lines to let out, especially facing up against Batman, I bet he's powerful with words as he is with his fists.

I wasn't a fan of Heath Ledger when I first heard about The Joker role, I am very much a Jack Nicholson fan favourite BUT he did too win me over. Hathaway, still not sure as I can't clearly see what potential Catwoman will have in the film and what she will bring to it...better be good, but as they say, in Nolan we trust!

[coco1997]

TDKR will have a lot of game changing moments. It will be phenomenal.

Don’t read if you haven’t been following the film heavily like me and want to guess on your own.

Spoiler

Bane just doesn’t cut off the bridges, but he has a doomsday device driving around in a heavily fortified truck, a constant threat for people. And to show he really means business, a large section of Gotham is destroyed as a warning. Beforehand he attacks the stock exchange and crashes the economy. He makes people desperate, hungry for food, etc. Prisoners are busted out of Blackgate, told the truth about Harvey Dent and given guns. Most of the police are trapped in the sewers after Bane tricks them (the scene of Gordon moving away from that explosion)

It is said Bruce’s secret identity is revealed on a grand scale near the end, which turns the tide against Bane’s negative narrative of the rich, who Bane rips out of their mansions and imprisons them. The prison is apparently called ‘The Lazarus Pit’, the Nolanverse version of the supernatural rejuvenation pits from the comics. If you manage to climb out, something insanely hard to do, you emerge a new man. Bruce would have to come out and reassemble the police for his street war against Bane.

It looks likely that Batman will be presumed dead, taking up the doomsday device in the Bat flying vehicle, which goes off. The bomb could be activated by Bane close to his death, and starts to tick down quickly.

Bruce doesn’t have to die, but can be suspected to be. That’s where you get the legend aspect. I see the bat signal being shone at the end, paying tribute to him like the 9/11 light towers. Him not dying doesn’t discredit anything, because he was willing to go the whole way.

With parts of Gotham destroyed, the people unite to rebuild. The moment they realize they no longer need Batman, they are survivors and have themselves, but are inspired by his life and message. And I suspect Bruce slinks away somewhere else to live out his life, ala the end of TDK Returns.

Hey sharpshooter, any idea

Spoiler

at what point Bane 'breaks' the Bat? It appears that Bruce is in pretty bad shape after he's kidnapped and tossed into the 'Lazarus Pit'. At the same time, it looks like Batman gets pretty messed up during his encounter with Bane (i.e. the shot where Bane is dangling the shattered mask). I'm not sure it's been confirmed whether or not Bane actually breaks Batman's spine in the film (and if so, at what point in the film this occurs), so I was curious if you had any insight into this.

[thecasinoroyale]

I don't know if that will happen either coco, but lots of elements point to it...things in the trailers, as you say...very un-clear if Nolan will deliver that sucker-punch for Mr Wayne!

[S K Y F A L L]

Looks so good. I never even considered Bruce sacrificing himself. I look forward to seeing how Ra's al Ghul character is involved, from what I understand its a flash back.

JGL maybe the new Robin but I'm not seeing him as the new Bat.

[coco1997]

JGL maybe the new Robin but I'm not seeing him as the new Bat.

But Robin is meaningless in this film universe. Batman is a symbol that the citizenry of Gotham all know and look up to (and its criminals fear). If Wayne dies, and assuming the public never finds out about his alter ego, then Levitt's character could easily slip into the Batsuit and the rest of Gotham would be none the wiser. The legend could theoretically never die.

[Vauxhall]

I'd like to thank those of you who have posted your interpretations and expectations of the plot of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. I haven't been able to follow the production process as closely as I would have liked, and it's fascinating for me to catch up. Thank you.

[tdalton]

JGL maybe the new Robin but I'm not seeing him as the new Bat.

But Robin is meaningless in this film universe. Batman is a symbol that the citizenry of Gotham all know and look up to (and its criminals fear). If Wayne dies, and assuming the public never finds out about his alter ego, then Levitt's character could easily slip into the Batsuit and the rest of Gotham would be none the wiser. The legend could theoretically never die.

I'd be somewhat shocked if they didn't reveal Wayne as Batman to the Gotham public in the film. The idea of Batman revealing himself was a major part of the second act of The Dark Knight, so I would imagine that they would broach that subject again and actually follow through with it.

As for Robin, I don't see him having a part in The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps there could be a sly reference to it, by having "John Blake" actually be one of the Robin/Nightwing alter-egos.

Spoiler

This is an idea put forward by IGN's trailer review of the latest trailer, where they identify the bus that Blake is standing beside on the bridge in the trailer as saying "Home for Boys" on the side, which gave rise to their idea that perhaps he gets involved with them because he himself could potentially have been an orphan, which allow for the dual-identity. I don'tk now if there's any truth to this concept or not, but thought it might warrant a spoiler tag

. I think it would be interesting, and a good KnightFall reference, to have Blake actually be Jean Paul Valley, since it appears as though he at least partially takes up Batman's cause in his absence (or at least the trailer implies that to some degree). There's already the widely assumed notion that "Miranda Tate" is actually Talia al Ghul, so I don't see why Blake couldn't have an alter-ego as well.

[sharpshooter]

I'm still curious however to see/learn about the traits of the Bane character, being the actual mask and body enhancing gas/drugs he is using, like the Venom replacement, and how he reacts to this, and how strong he will get, as that's a big selling point for using the actualy character, and I think people probably could forget that, so I'm hoping we see some of this either in the story or as flash-backs, maybe?

Spoiler

The gas doesn't enhance his strength, but numbs his pain.

Looks so good. I never even considered Bruce sacrificing himself. I look forward to seeing how Ra's al Ghul character is involved, from what I understand its a flash back.

Spoiler

See how Bruce looks with the beard at the start of the trailer? That can't be a coincidence. I think we might see Bruce look into a mirror and cue Neeson's cameo. In BB Ras talks about rage destroying you, grieving over loved ones, etc. This segment has got to be when Bruce is 'retired' near the start.

Hey sharpshooter, any idea

Spoiler

at what point Bane 'breaks' the Bat? It appears that Bruce is in pretty bad shape after he's kidnapped and tossed into the 'Lazarus Pit'. At the same time, it looks like Batman gets pretty messed up during his encounter with Bane (i.e. the shot where Bane is dangling the shattered mask). I'm not sure it's been confirmed whether or not Bane actually breaks Batman's spine in the film (and if so, at what point in the film this occurs), so I was curious if you had any insight into this.

Spoiler

After Bane traps the majority of the police force down in the sewers (not sure if he then blows up the stadium after this to provoke Batman even more), I believe Bruce then visits Gordon in hospital who has been injured from the raid down there. He is compelled to come back, as Batman is not longer really a wanted man - as there are essentially no police left to arrest him anyway. Bane is very close from full power. So that's when Batman fights Bane in the location from the trailers (Bane dropping the mask), and Catwoman does watch proceedings. And later tries to leave Gotham, but is stopped by JGL's Blake at the airport. To my knowledge Bane does not break Batman's back. When Bruce asks what the chanting means, that's the prison and he's standing up. But he is given a thorough beating, hence why Selina says she's 'not sure'. Bane leaves Bruce down in the pit while he goes on about his business in Gotham, as well as keeping the game changing Batman secret underground. Apparently Bruce attempts to climb the wall three times, but eventually manages to get out. The Pit has different levels going up, as you can see Bruce standing on that ledge in the new trailer. The higher you get, the difficulty increases. I'm looking forward to that scene a lot, because it will showcase the determination of Batman.

I don't think the film will end with JGL as Batman, but a move away from masked vigilantes. Like Dent says in TDK, "Gotham City is proud of it's ordinary citizens standing up for what's right" - and "I'm not a hero. Gotham's finest, they're the heroes."

With no Batman at all, you get the interesting concept of Batman not attracting villains to the City to take him on. Characters like The Joker suddenly have no thrill or meaning of life, and the City is standing up for itself as well.

[007jamesbond]

I believe that JGL is playing a beat cop under Commissioner Gordon? so I guess he could become the next batman with inside information in the police force as well? or another character like Nightwinger? Robin will unlikely appear anytime soon maybe Batgirl in the future? Barbara Gordon?

[thecasinoroyale]

Great summaries sharpshooter, you have been following this film a lot! I hope a lot of what you say rings true, as it sounds great, but I'm excited at not knowing totally who is who in the film, what happens to people / places, and lots of questions still in the air!

And I love the fact the UK and US get the film on the same day, less risk of seeing anything that will ruin the film if you had to wait a week or two for it to arrive on your shore!

[sharpshooter]

I'm hoping I can manage an advanced screening somehow. If not I'll be there at a midnight showing!

[thecasinoroyale]

Good for you! I am hoping to be there on the Friday after work! You'll have to let us know any developements you come across. Hope we get a new poster soon...

I've saved my allocated day off for 'Skyfall', but 'TDKR' is just as exciting for me now, so close!

[thecasinoroyale]

World exclusive hi-res image of Bane for us all to view. Looking very sinister...

[SecretAgentFan]

If only Steve Martin in "Little Shop of Horrors" had gotten access to that kind of gassy enhancement system...

[thecasinoroyale]

Haha! "Ohhhhh mama!"

[S K Y F A L L]

I just finished re-watching the first 2 films. There isn't much I don't like about the Nolan films so I thought I would list them and a few things I do like.

BATMAN BEGINS
- I don't like the look of the poorer part of Gotham, to me it looks to 3rd world.
- When Batman calls in all the bats as “back-up,” that’s not possible is it?
- I’m not sure the Tumbler would be able to have driven on all those roof tops, Batman was lucky the church didn’t collapse when the he landed on it.
- Love the scene of the train crashing, reminds me of Speed and Money Train, although I'm not sure if that happens in those films. I think I just liked it because I believe its done with miniatures and not GCI.
- I laugh to what Ra's al Ghul says to Batman when he first sees him dressed as Batman.
- I must have found the ending moving because it always leaves me all frozen.

THE DARK KNIGHT
- The first scene seems like a throwback to "Heat," or maybe I just think that cause the guy who plays the Bank Manager was also in Heat.
- No Katie Holmes, I hate recasts like this! I'm also not an Aaron Eckhart fan.
- The Skyhook scene is awesome reminds me of what Batman does with the Jokers balloons in the Original Batman and Thunderball of course.
- A knife in the Jokers shoe? Maybe the Joker has seen From Russia With Love.
- The homeless man watching the Tumbler turn into the Batpod shoud have been the homeless man from Batman Begins. Instead of the homeless man saying, "Nice coat," he could have said, "Nice bike."
- Again IMO another powerful ending, making you wonder whats next.
- I was always disappointed that nothing like on this poster ever happened in the film.

Also I really enjoyed Inception and the OHMSS like ending as well as I've seen the 6 minute prolouge to The Dark Knight Rises and thought

Spoiler

the "Cliffhanger" like introduction was pretty cool.

Edited by S K Y F A L L, 13 May 2012 - 10:12 AM.

[thecasinoroyale]

New picture for Bane, and Christopher Nolan's view on things...




In describing how Bane compares to Heath Ledger’s iconic The Joker, the clown-faced villain who terrorized Christian Bale’s Batman and Gotham City in ‘The Dark Knight,’ Nolan said the following, ”We didn’t want to compete with Heath. We wanted more of a monster – Bane’s the man who physically breaks Batman. It’s an irresistible force versus an immovable object.”

On the topic of Bane’s military-styled clothing, Nolan revealed, “Bane dresses in military fashion. He leads a band of fanatical mercenaries who have done all kinds of horrible things and end up in Gotham. One of the influences on the script was Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, and with this overcoat we wanted to infuse the romanticism of the French Revolution mixed with World War II functionality. The essence of Bane is military power and brute force combined with revolutionary fervor.” Costume designer Lindy Hemming combined modern military gear with more old-fashioned materials like leather to give Bane’s outfit the utilitarian, proactive quality he needs. He’s always ready to fight.”

Finally, Nolan shed some light on Bane’s mask, “Bane is someone ravaged by pain from trauma suffered long ago, and the mask dispenses a type of anesthetic that keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can function. The fearsomeness of intent and intelligence Hardy conveys just through his eyes is dazzling. But we’ve taken one of the most distinctive mouths in the movie business and covered it up for the entire film!”

[Monkeyfoahead]

I saw The Avengers this weekend and had the pleasure of seeing a trailer for this glorious piece of cinema! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing this movie!!!

[hcmv007]

While I am looking forward to seeing this, I hope all the spoiler stuff is untrue.

[thecasinoroyale]

New Poster just released.


Looks a bit...photoshop to me?

But it's 100% official guys...A Fire Will Rise!

[chriso]

Not bad! Looks like the teaser poster just combined with a promo shot of Batman but it's still good looking!

[thecasinoroyale]

I'm hoping we get a powerful poster for Bane, like we did with The Joker for 'TDK'...here's hoping!

[Chief of SIS]

Lazy, lazy, lazy poster. Doesn't matter though does it? Everyone knows about the film.

Unfortunately for them, they don't have my butt fully decided on hauling its way to the theater yet. This didn't help. I don't know what my gripe is. I went and saw TDK at midnight when it came out. I loved it. I think my issue has been the marketing has almost been identical except for the fact that it has been more lazy. There have been Nolan-esque tension filled trailers. And viral snippets released here and there. And the trailers...well...while cool, they're cool because they're Batman. Bad guy talks about some moral stuff. Alfred's dialogue gives emotion insight, Batman uses cool new tech and it all looks incredibly bleak. But that's Batman isn't it? Maybe there is no other way to cut a trailer for it. Whatever the issue is, I'm not drinking the kool-aid yet.

[thecasinoroyale]

I hope they pull a few more bigger punches too for this, the "end of the legacy" and all that. I think the poster is VERY lazy. I thought it was a Photoshop fan job I saw first on Facebook...but no. Still, who are we to decide what works and doesn't? We're only the fan-base!

[SecretAgentFan]

The poster is not really a winner for me. But that does not spoil the movie either.