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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
in the first batman there's this cool razor's edge vibe in that whole pilgrimage to the himalayas or whatever but then valar morghulis and he fights some cartoonish gangsters. in the last one too the man with the weird mouth i couldn't understand, etc., batman "goes away" or maybe he's dead and it's good (ambiguity) but it's cartoons about occupy wallstreet.
the second one was indeed great not only because it was a great villain-- but because the scene in the boat, and the "good people" turning into assholes and the prisoners being the more honorable ones. that sort of ambiguity and poking at human nature and the edges of morality is what made it more than just entertainment-- the look at the "human condition" that you usually find in "serious" movies. didn't care for the ripped from the headlines pandering about surveillance though.
also, it looked great, but i don't think i saw the imax version, just the widescreen. that's always unfair to cinematography--compose in one frame and show in another. you get completely different movies.
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Well said about Dark Knight.
I think the first one (Batman Begins) worked because it was just a very succinct and efficiently told story. Remember, at the time of its release, it had been nearly 15 years since the last decent Batman adaptation (Returns), and the two previous Batman films had been so awful that some of us thought Batman would be impossible to redeem.
Nolan took a very real-world approach to the movie, but it also had an epic quality to it. I could tell when I saw the first poster that it was going to be at the very least a massive improvement over Schumacher's films. And it was. R'as Al Ghul was an excellent villain choice (no makeup, no real schtick, just a bad motherfucker terrorist assassin), and the Scarecrow scenes, where the viewers see the world through the eyes of those who are hallucinating, pushed it over the edge. Gave it a horrific and trippy quality without compromising the hard-line realism of the story.
The third film would have my respect simply because it was pretty goddamn good. I remember Nolan almost didn't make a third film after Ledger died. He was understandably wary after all that critical acclaim and box office success. But he didn't give up, and he bent the Knightfall and No Man's Land stories to his will, making them much cooler. He found a great actor to play Bane, and turned him into a genuinely sinister figure... That opening scene with the plane is just insane. I never liked Bane, but Tom Hardy clearly spent a great deal of time training his body to move with the mannerisms of someone with 100% confidence in their ability to beat the fuck out of anything. The best moments, for me, were when Bane was simply talking. And man, the way he drops through the fusilage of that upturned plane using just his arms. Fucking damn. I'm not into muscle bound dudes, but he carried himself like a fucking weapon.
The rest of the story was a bit flawed, but ultimately it delivered. It works as an ending to the story of Bruce Wayne's battle with Gotham. Catwoman was ok. Glad nobody ever called her Catwoman. Joseph Gorden-Levit was sweet, and Gary Oldman gave another great performance.
Also, each film has its own distinct color pallete. They're like seasons. Begins is orange and brown, autumnal. The Dark Knight was hard silver and cold grey, like a very long winter (or Long Halloween... anybody? Eh?) and TDK Rises had kind of a searing Ridley Scott circa-Gladiator kind of bleak summer vibe, even though much of it took place in the winter. I think each film has its own personality, but they fit together quite well. I think it's definitely one of the best trilogies ever.
But I do hope Christopher Nolan NEVER directs another superhero movie. His movies are all excellent, and his foray into the genre is unparalleled, so to revisit that would be silly. Maybe in 15 years he and Bale could reunite for a Dark Knight Returns with an old ass Batman (sans Joker), but hopefully not.
I can't wait to see his take on a WWII epic. Dunkirk is going to be incredible.
Just like Inception, Interstellar, Memento, The Prestige. The guy's the most gifted arty blockbuster maker of our time. Love him.