The Dark Knight Rises. There be SPOILERS here.

. .. and can't stand Bale, which doesn't help the cause.

 

Too dark and violent? Then Batman is probably the wrong character for you to see a movie about. At least the good version of Batman, not the campy stuff. Though to be fair, I did love the campy stuff when I was a kid.

 

The movie was a legendary suckfest, but the Robin costume in "Batman & Robin" could fit in the Nolan-verse with a few tweaks and a little modernization:

 

Must have been cold the day they took those press photos.

 

1. Didn't have a problem in the world with the "Robin" scene. They obviously don't mean for Blake to "be" Robin, since Batman lectured him on obscuring your identity to protect those you love. So, the last thing in the world superhero Blake will call himself is Robin. Frankly, I still think he can be Batman, since the whole point toward the end was that we could all be Batman.

2. Anne Hathaway was tremendous. Best thing about the movie. Everyone was very good.

3. Did not like the ending at all. From Caine's monologue about sitting in the cafe, it became too obvious that's where they were going. (remind anyone else of the scene in Good Will Hunting where Ben Affleck tells Matt Damon his dream is he will show up at his house one day and find him not there?). Caine, who was also very good, had one monologue too many in this movie for me----made it seem less like dialogue and more like a plot devise. Contrast that with his great scene in the second movie. (some people just like watching the world burn). And, frankly, it (the last scene) makes Bruce look like a dick for not inviting Alfred over to his table. The guy was a little more than the hired help. (in fact, one of the themes early on is to critique the way the wealthy treat hired help like shit...see the way the stockbroker throws the money at the shoeshine man working for Bane). Why be that mad at Alfred? Because he told Bruce the truth? Because he lied about Rachel? How is that different than Bruce and Gordon lying about Dent?
And, I didn't like the idea that someone as famous as Bruce Wayne could simply disappear. Not all that credible.

4. Loved the fact that the movie wrote such harsh repercussions for Gordon and Bruce lying at the end of The Dark Knight. Didn't think that their lie was entirely necessary, and the point of this movie seemed to be that it might not have been. Liked that a lot. Oldman was terrific throughout this entire series.

5. Loved Scarecrow as the judge. Wouldn't have worked with Joker as Judge, why would Joker be Bane's flunky? I do agree with the criticism someone had that he should have been mentioned although that honestly didn't bother me while watching the movie. And he would have been at Arkham, not the prison Baine attacked, so that doesn't bother me either.

6. Thought the twist at the end was damn good. Did not see that coming. (didn't read much Batman at all, although I remembered too late that Ra's kid in the comic is a girl and a lover of Batman's).

7. Way too many moments coincidence for me, most involving Blake. (no criticism of the actor, Gordon-Leavitt is terrific). Happens to see Selina Kyle while looking for Bruce Wayne, remembers her from the Congressmen's kidnapping, and mentions Bruce Wayne to her. He had no reason to think she had anything to do with that. (I guess he may have put it together that she was leaving town because she was afraid, and thus of Bane, and thus might know where Bruce was......I just couldn't get over him happening to see her randomly in Gotham). And running into the same henchmen at the Construction site that he saw at the Stock Exchange, who helpfully had the incriminating materials nearby, which was odd, because all of the explosive concrete should have been laid by then and, thus, the bad guys should have had plenty of time to dispose of those jugs.

8. Last, too many of the old standby "someone we care about is about to die..wait, it's the hero" moments for me. (Batman getting there as Blake is about to die, Catwoman showing up at the exact moment Bane is about to kill Batman, although her line was so good it made up for it.)

9. First Bane fight terrific. Thought the second one had Batman win way too easily.

 

Saw it today. Finally.

- Pleasantly surprised that the move didn't feel as long as its 2 hours, 45 minutes. Not a bad pace at all. I actually dreaded going because I didn't think there was any way I could sit still for that long. Lo and behold ...

- Hathaway was awesome. I was surprised she had it in her. Nolan has done a fine job milking all the acting chops out of some people.

- The cinematography is spectacular. Incredible.

- Thought Bane made for a more intimidating villain than the Joker. Bane was chilling.

- No need for the Robin inheriting the Bat Cave at the end. While I knew the cop was Robin all along, the sequence with him and the cave seemed botched and forced. I actually think if this move would have been 30 minutes longer, it would have made sense. There were a lot of plot holes, a lot of things rushed.

- I think the ending also would have been better if Batman had just died saving Gotham, with Alfred's vision of Bruce and Selina at the end just a figment of his imagination. Even when the whole Italy thing was brought up earlier, Alfred had always said it was just a dream sequence anyway, sort of like his vision of a perfect world with Bruce safe and happy with other people.

 

I also thought Scarecrow was great as the judge. I disagree about Joker, though. The judge wasn't really a flunkie. He was somebody taking advantage of the situation to create a little mayhem.

You raise a good point about Bruce Wayne being too famous to disappear so easily. Otherwise, as I said before, I would have liked that final scene a lot more if they had just shown Alfred looking up, smiling and nodding. Reference the earlier scene without actually showing us Bruce and Selina.