***SPOILERS***
Loves!!
Anne Hathaway was absolutely purrfect (sorry, couldn't resist) as Selina Kyle. No smarmy heart-tugging backstory to show why she became "evil." Just a pragmatic woman trying to survive. As for the folks who wanted a big fight seen between her and Bane? Get real! Selina wouldn't be stupid enough to get into hand-to-hand with someone stronger with better skills than her. She would shoot his ass. (Honestly, the folks that want the fight scene just wanted an excuse for Batman to save her, instead of the other way around.)
I'm not sure what other people bitched about when it came to Tom Hardy's voice through the mask, but I understood Bane just fine. And Tom brought Bane back to his comic book roots when he was a worthy physical and intellectual foe for Batman.
I can't say enough about Joseph Gordon Levitt's portrayal of Detective Blake, so I'm not even going to try. (Seriously, he had the best male performance in the movie!)
And Nolan FINALLY brought in Talia! I was beginning to worry. A little bit. C'mon, how can you start the movie series with Ra's al Ghul and NOT bring in his daughter? A perfect coda to the trilogy.
Also, I'm a huge Steelers's fan so Hines Ward's cameo sent a chill through me. Dammit, Hines, we're going to miss you this season. Funny, how Gotham's football team colors are black and gold. *snicker* (Yes, I know where the stadium scene was set. Where else are you going to get rabid football fans?)
Gripes. (C'mon, you knew I'd have a couple. Okay more than a couple.)
Alfred abandoning Bruce. Um, no. Mr. Pennyworth is, and always has been, loyal to a fault. And he wouldn't stand by and do nothing with Bruce missing and Bane torturing the city for five months. Sorry, no, had a real hard time suspending disbelief on that one. And if you want to talk about not understanding someone's speech--here's where the real problem lay.
Jim Gordon ordering every single police officer into the Gotham sewers. *facedesk* Again, Gordon's a lot of things, but being this incredibly stupid is not one of them. Gary Oldman's always been one to fight for his characters, and I can't believe he didn't say SOMEthing to writer/director Christopher Nolan before or during shooting of the film.
Speaking of the police trapped in the sewers, who the HELL was in charge of continuity? When men are trapped with only food and water being delivered, what happens to their face? Don't they grow hair? As in, beards? Actually all the police, including the female officers, pouring out of sewer once they were freed, looked a little too clean.
The ending. Another reviewer said the ending was what the series deserved, but not what the audience deserved (and if I remember who said that, I'll link to it). The reviewer was right, but for the wrong reasons. Personally, I thought Christopher Nolan was too heavy-handed, but then I totally got Paul Verhoeven's subtlety in Basic Instinct, and most other folks I talked to--didn't.
I hate the fact that American audiences need to be spoon-fed. It annoys me, and it says a lot about our collective intelligence. So, in a way, I understand why Nolan did what he did. It doesn't mean I liked it.
If it'd been me editing the film, I would have ended with Robin in the Batcave and Alfred at the cafe in France, smiling. But that's me.
Finally, I wish I could say something deep and meaningful about what happened in Aurora, CO. I can't. As the lights came up and the rest of the viewers shuffled out, I realized I sat in a theater very similar to the one in Aurora. Stadium seating. One main exit other than the emergency one by the screen. A family paused near the main exit, watching the credits. If they had guns, there was no fucking way I could make it to the emergency exit.
I'll never know the terror those people in Colorado felt, the horror as their loved ones dead in senseless violence, the utter despair in the realization you can't escape. I can't know without experiencing it, and there's a selfish, little part of me that hopes I never do.
Haven't seen it yet, Suz, but did read the novelization. Agree with your assessment of Alfred, but can sort of see his POV; there's a difference between quitting and having had enough. Still, I cannot imagine him turning his back on Bruce, but people do funny things sometimes.
ReplyDeleteLoved the last scenes, when we find out who Blake really is.... or who he will be..:) It's on the To Be Seen list, maybe this weekend!
Will, the difference between the novelization and the edited movie may be the problem. The writer starts working from the orginal script long before film editing is complete. There's probably dialogue or whole scenes that were cut in the film that makes more sense of Alfred's decision.
ReplyDeleteKind of like Luke's intense reaction to Biggs's death during the Battle of Yavin makes very little sense because all the scenes with the two of them on Tatooine were cut. If George wanted to make the special edition of STAR WARS really special, he would have restored those scenes.