I think the pace drops out and it lacks a real focus. Too little actual Batman in it- he's retired at the start and given Bats seemed to only be getting started at the end of the last movie, I felt we missed his prime years.
It's a fine film, but not as good as TDK, which is probably the real issue
I think it doesn't hang together very well. And the Gotham plot doesn't make sense and not in a way you can handwave. It has too much going on without a strong throughline
my dad said “if you just stop thinking about how the plot logistics don’t make sense, thematically it’s one of the greatest superhero movies i’ve ever seen” and i think about that every time i watch it
I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, but TDK is a hard act to follow. When I revisited TDKR a few years back I was surprised by how weird it is, and at how strange the editing is. Weird is good to me, but not to plenty of other folks.
It's hard to balance a movie that people who like real movies will enjoy and a movie that grown men with an obsessive interest in children's fantasy characters will accept. Dark Knight hit it perfectly, and DKR got maybe too ambitious for fans who just wanted to see Batman doing awesome stuff
if you ever do THE DARK KNIGHT RISES on the podcast, you need to have on @johngary.bsky.social. He celebrates that film the way I celebrate SUPERMAN RETURNS.
I enjoyed it, but parts of it lacked focus & he was trying to cram too much in.
Why people hate it, I don't know. TDK was so huge, that it was bound to get that reaction from the crowd.
Plus, dunking on Nolan, like all artists who hit & fans grumble when the next project happens no matter what.
Honestly it's my favorite of the three cause Nolan mainly dropped all attempts at making a serious movie and figured to go as big and wild as possible. It's a graphic novel movie.
(I think it was considered a disappointment cause there was really no way to top what Ledger did in The Dark Knight)
The whole point of Bane is that Batman CANT just beat him up. He has to use his mind to beat him. They even demonstrate this with Bane beating Batman and breaking him.
He punches Bane even harder this time, and it breaks his stupid mouth thingies. It’s not any kind of plan. It’s just him punching him harder than he punched him before.
Nolan was obviously tired of making Batman movies and he strains credibility to the breaking point, even for a superhero movies. It’s too much and too little works.
Yeah. Looking at Nolan's career, this is the one where I just don't see him in it. Batman Begins and Dark Knight, he had something to prove and things that clearly interested him. I personally don't feel that in DKR (although him getting to use Imax cameras turned out great for all of us).
It felt to me frustratingly sloppy, especially in the story department. There's a repetitive structure in that he starts injured (in a way no one who saw Dark Knight really thought it would start), and then he gets his back broken and has to recover again. And a slew of odd holes in logic.
Absolutely love TDKR, remains one of the few sequels I went into with unrealistically high expectations and those expectations were surpassed, shame Nolan hasn’t made a film I’ve liked since
There’s a lot of issues with it, but what I’ll never get over is the Pit scene, where it seems to be leading up to Bruce figuring out the clever solution to an impossible task that only one other person achieved, only for the answer to ultimately be “jump harder.”
i think it was a case of cinemasins disease and way too many people focusing in plot details that didn't matter. the hype from the previous movie probably didn't help
I have a special relationship with that movie where I think the good parts of it are great and the bad parts are hilarious so I kind of love the whole thing. TDK is the best one, obviously, but sometimes I think Rises might be my favorite. Emphasis on “might.”
I remember someone years ago on Slashfilm ranking Nolan's filmography and praising it as weird and experimental which, frankly, may be why I've always appreciated it. It is the right level of dark tone with over the top antics.
I found it unnecessarily complicated. Felt like it was taking itself too seriously, the ending didn't work.
But a lot of culture imitated the tone that felt fresh with Dark Knight before DKR came out. Internet fan culture had too much at stake with it. And Avengers just came out. Lots of factors.
At least that's how I felt at 21. But I've had a hard time returning to it. Its just not fun. Love Hathaway as Catwoman though.
But I've never subscribed to the "this actor is doing a specific voice, therefore they're brilliant" mindset. So Bane didn't play for me as well as he did for others.
Well for me, it’s the insistent music in every scene and over all the dialog. Otherwise? I think some found it disjointed and overlong. And the music was too goddamn loud.
I very much like The Dark Knight but I don't think it's a particularly good Batman movie. It's too much Heat, too little title character. And as a Batman obsessive that hurts it for me.
Similar to where I'm at with The Shining. It's a great movie, but as a King fan first I can't always get past the fact that it's a really bad adaptation of the book. Still watch it most years for the filmmaking mastery.
I’ve always been a RISES advocate/defender. At the time, I think people got annoyed by the plot holes ™️
I don’t agree but I think that’s what the thinking was.
It’s bloated. It takes the worst things about The Dark Knight (dumb characters) and pretends to have a real twist (connecting it to Batman Begins). Marion Cotillard is a better villain in Inception than this. And for a franchise that wants to be set in the real world, Bane’s death is comical.
What bothers me most is being from the Pittsburgh area, all I see is Pittsburgh instead of Gotham City. The Gotham Raiders are the Steelers in costume. And Nolan didn’t even bother to scrub the UPMC logos from advertisements. It takes me out of the story every time.
For me, DKR works as Nolan’s end to his storyline, which is okay, but a difficult to accept for some Batman fans. I don’t not like the movie, but it strays far from the comic books, particularly at the end. Although I do like that Selina’s wearing Martha Wayne’s necklace at the outdoor restaurant.
I don't hate it, it's overall fun, but it definitely made some weird decisions.
Like TDK ends with the implication that Batman's gonna keep doing his Batman thing but now also hunted by the cops. And TDKR starts by saying "haha jk, he immediately stopped being Batman because he hurt his knee"
Mostly just overstuffed. It's trying to do THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, KNIGHTFALL, and NO MAN'S LAND adaptations while also being a sequel to BEGINS / TDK, and is unfocused and unwieldy in a way the previous 2 weren't.
I never have and never will listen to critics of film. Why? Because I don't need to know what they thought of a film. The only important thing is what I think of the film.
Okay, basic answer: it didn't have anything as totemic as Heath playing The Joker
Less basic answer: wonky structure (we meet Bruce on a Batman break, watch him build up, get torn down, built again). Unsatisfyingly predicable twist with Talia. Pulled it's punches (no major deaths)
It’s enjoyable enough, but it starts with Batman actively not wanting to be Batman anymore, coming back as Batman momentarily, getting thrown down a pit where he’s not really Batman-ing, coming back as Batman, saving the day, and then quitting as Batman again. It’s a bit of an odd character arc.
Came after “TDK,” it was doomed to be disappointing. Beyond that, a lot of people have a lot of different issues with it, I don’t know what the consensus would be. The sprawl of the story, maybe, and the surprise villain of Talia taking agency from Bane.
The Dark Knight was *such* a commercial and critical success that anything following it was going to have an uphill battle. That plus Nolan overstuffed the movie with all his Batman ideas because he was eager to move on and the film was marred by a mass shooting and an odd performance from Hardy.
A Batman movie that was functionally ashamed to be a Batman movie. Villain’s plot was lame (we’re gonna drive a nuke around Gotham in circles for months). Bane having his agency removed in the third act with the revelation that he did everything because Talia gave him a boner. Half-assed Robin.
Baleman doesn't know how to climb up a wall using a rope. That alone is unpardonable. That's Batmanning 101, right after Stoic Grimacing but before Bataranging.
Nuke plot makes no sense.
Bane turns out to be a sidekick.
The Talia reveal doesn't work because any average Batman fan could guess who she was.
It sidelines Batman for most of it.
The whole thing feels like Nolan fulfilling a contract after losing interest when Ledger passed.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's one of those movies where the most prominent protagonist (Anarchist Bane) was actually extremely correct, but they had to make up some ridiculous shit with nukes or something as some half-assed attempt to discredit his broader agenda.
I don’t know what to tell you if your take from that movie was “Bane was right if you just forget about the nuke thing” lmao the dude wanted to burn Gotham to the ground for the ideological purposes of an extremist cult that kicked him out
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2. Gotham being held hostage for too long.
3. The literalness of Wayne/Batman rising.
It's a fine film, but not as good as TDK, which is probably the real issue
(To be clear, I think that's a silly and ridiculous complaint)
Why people hate it, I don't know. TDK was so huge, that it was bound to get that reaction from the crowd.
Plus, dunking on Nolan, like all artists who hit & fans grumble when the next project happens no matter what.
(I think it was considered a disappointment cause there was really no way to top what Ledger did in The Dark Knight)
The whole point of Bane is that Batman CANT just beat him up. He has to use his mind to beat him. They even demonstrate this with Bane beating Batman and breaking him.
So what does Batman do?
He comes back and punches Bane harder.
Lame.
1) It’s about 45 minutes too long
2) Moving Gotham from Chicago to Pittsburgh is jarring. ChiTown made the perfect Nolan Gotham City
But a lot of culture imitated the tone that felt fresh with Dark Knight before DKR came out. Internet fan culture had too much at stake with it. And Avengers just came out. Lots of factors.
But I've never subscribed to the "this actor is doing a specific voice, therefore they're brilliant" mindset. So Bane didn't play for me as well as he did for others.
I don’t agree but I think that’s what the thinking was.
Like TDK ends with the implication that Batman's gonna keep doing his Batman thing but now also hunted by the cops. And TDKR starts by saying "haha jk, he immediately stopped being Batman because he hurt his knee"
And later after Bane breaks his back, that's cured by a dude popping his back and giving him a pep talk. Instantly healed, never comes up again.
Still a blast, tho.
Less basic answer: wonky structure (we meet Bruce on a Batman break, watch him build up, get torn down, built again). Unsatisfyingly predicable twist with Talia. Pulled it's punches (no major deaths)
I think it whips ass. Goofball brutalism.
The whole theme of Nolans Batman is that he needed to inspire Gotham to be better. He couldn’t just be a man, he needed to be a symbol.
But then it ends with some copaganda bs and a really weak retcon.
Bane turns out to be a sidekick.
The Talia reveal doesn't work because any average Batman fan could guess who she was.
It sidelines Batman for most of it.
The whole thing feels like Nolan fulfilling a contract after losing interest when Ledger passed.
1) The time skip/mini Dark Knight Returns didn't make Bruce sympathetic, it made him seem like a quitter.
2) The movie felt bloated, like it had too many moving parts.
4) "Robin" could have been handled with more awareness of the character's history.
These are just some personal criticisms that I had about the film, and overall it felt like a weaker follow up.