You can't put Batman mythology into a 3-Film 'Trilogy'...

[thecolorsblend]

A theme I'm seeing with TDKR apologists is "people conjured up what they wanted to see and that's why they were disappointed."

Doesn't that go both ways? That the apologists are projecting things onto the film that simply aren't there? Most people didn't find this excuse convincing when it used to defend the Star Wars prequels (where it arguably has better application) so why would it work with Nolan? If anything, most fans had an agenda to accept whatever they were given. It's telling that a lot of his vocal supporters backed off from TDKRises (Harry Knowles, I'm looking pretty much right at you).

[The Dark Knight]

^ And that's very true. Good perspective. One of the reasons why I like posting here.

[ElCuervoMuerto]

I don't care how arrogant this sounds, but frankly yes, people on this board could have written TDKR better than what we received. How? Just by watching the previous two movies. For example the tonal shift of TDK's ending with Gordon saying Batman's a badass that can endure anything – and then picking up with Bruce as a bearded recluse. It felt off.

Gotham apparently needing a hero with a face, to Bruce handing over to a pipsqueak vigilante and advising him to wear a mask. Again, it's off. We were led down a path of certain expectation and then it was taken away from us. But apparently that's our fault. All we did was watch the previous two movies. It makes one feel hollow as if the true conclusion hasn't been reached.

Couldn't agree more. Hell if the film where basically the same, but at first we see Bruce and battered because he's been battling crime and the cops for 8 years instead because he's sad he's retired it would've fixed a lot with me. That and giving me a logical explanation on how he got back from the pit with no funds...

[thecolorsblend]

Sad, really. The movie has a lot of good ideas but it comes off like Nolan is desperate to talk about anything other than Batman. There's an amazing Batman movie lurking around there somewhere underneath all the puffed up speeches, Blake figuring out Batman's identity based on nothing and Occupy Gotham bloat. You could make a very powerful film about a man and his city each clawing their way back from their respective personal hells from the raw elements of TDKRises... but every time that aspect of the story is about to get some attention, we cut to The Have Nots wreaking havoc on The Haves, GCPD pissing in the wind or whatever else. It's maddening.

[thecolorsblend]

Sad, really. The movie has a lot of good ideas but it comes off like Nolan is desperate to talk about anything other than Batman. There's an amazing Batman movie lurking around there somewhere underneath all the puffed up speeches, Blake figuring out Batman's identity based on nothing and Occupy Gotham bloat. You could make a very powerful film about a man and his city each clawing their way back from their respective personal hells from the raw elements of TDKRises... but every time that aspect of the story is about to get some attention, we cut to The Have Nots wreaking havoc on The Haves, GCPD pissing in the wind or whatever else. It's maddening.

Coming back to this.

The Nolan trilogy is over. Done with. On balance, there are a lot of good ideas at work in each movie. Frankly, TDKRises doesn't hit a false note until about the time Batman comes back. And from there, the movie never recovers until after Batman somehow survives a nuclear fvcking explosion. In my opinion, anyway. But the stuff that works in his movies WORKS. There's a lot to enjoy. I've come off a bit anti-Nolan in a lot of my posts... and, sadly, a great big part of that is because of obnoxious behavior from the Nolan lovers (particularly the owner of another Batman web page/message board and his little band of Hitler Youths). What I guess I'm saying is that I'm backing off a little when it comes to criticizing Nolan's movies. Is his Batman "my" Batman? No. But there are some good ideas therein and I find I enjoy Batman Begins more now than I did in the years following its release. End of the day, it's Batman. Nothing more, nothing less. No reason his version can't take its place along side Adam West, Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, the animated stuff and all the rest.

Nothing's perfect and there are things that probably could've been executed better but it's time to make peace.

[Azrael]

Great post, I especially agree with

I've come off a bit anti-Nolan in a lot of my posts... a great big part of that is because of obnoxious behavior from the Nolan lovers (particularly the owner of another Batman web page/message board and his little band of Hitler Youths)

[Travesty]

Gotham apparently needing a hero with a face, to Bruce handing over to a pipsqueak vigilante and advising him to wear a mask. Again, it's off. We were led down a path of certain expectation and then it was taken away from us. But apparently that's our fault. All we did was watch the previous two movies. It makes one feel hollow as if the true conclusion hasn't been reached.

This happened a lot in the movie, and something I noticed on my first viewing. The biggest contradiction to the other movies that I noticed, was in TDK, Alfred tells Bruce there's been more copycat Batman sightings, and then he tells Alfred "that's not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire", and then cut to then end of the TDKR, and Batman tells Gordon that "that's the point of Batman, anybody can be him". WTF?

[The Dark Knight]

^ Indeed. And I made this just now for fun, and to highlight a point:

[thecolorsblend]

Great post, I especially agree with

I've come off a bit anti-Nolan in a lot of my posts... a great big part of that is because of obnoxious behavior from the Nolan lovers (particularly the owner of another Batman web page/message board and his little band of Hitler Youths)

Well, it's God's truth, isn't it? When I rant about the Nolan Nazis, the True Believers of the Church of Realism, I'm not referring to the rank and file batfan who just so happens to think Nolan got right more than he got wrong. It's about a certain nameless webmaster who shall not be named and his nameless minions without names (and their ilk) behaving as though Nolan either created this character or, for damn sure, perfected him while burning anybody in effigy who has a different opinion a different opinion. Mankind is good at going to war over land, oil, economics or any number of other causes but a false conflict over who the best Batman director should be very near the bottom of the list, yes?

[Azrael]

Nolan Nazis, LOL, this is catchy. I wonder if it falls under "Goodwin's Law".