WARNING: "The Dark Knight Rises" spoilers below
Of course it's a valid criticism. "Movie time" is acceptable sometimes, but not when the plot is specifically about how little time they have. You can skip over lots of stuff, but if you establish that they have X number of hours to do something, they probably shouldn't start playing ping pong, ya' know?
And to be clear, the complaint isn't that he didn't HAVE time. It's that he wouldn't waste time doing it. And narratively speaking (and I sure hope we can still critique the narrative, at least), it seems strange to have him do it, but then not have it lead to the people of Gotham actually taking the city back. That's such a natural, perfect, obvious result, isn't it? Everything's been building towards it. Why pull that punch?
Of course it's a valid criticism. "Movie time" is acceptable sometimes, but not when the plot is specifically about how little time they have. You can skip over lots of stuff, but if you establish that they have X number of hours to do something, they probably shouldn't start playing ping pong, ya' know?
And to be clear, the complaint isn't that he didn't HAVE time. It's that he wouldn't waste time doing it. And narratively speaking (and I sure hope we can still critique the narrative, at least), it seems strange to have him do it, but then not have it lead to the people of Gotham actually taking the city back. That's such a natural, perfect, obvious result, isn't it? Everything's been building towards it. Why pull that punch?
I don't know why he didn't follow through on that. Maybe they just couldn't work it into the film. But, we understand the "why" of the action even if it was just to inspire the police force.
These discussions would be a shade friendlier if we could just discuss our disappointments and not have to be told we're imagining them.
I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff, and these movies in particular. Maybe you think I'm wrong, but I'm capable of understanding my own expectations and reflecting on films I'm excited about.
I like the movie plenty, as I keep saying. It's entirely possible to think the film is very good, and still have some complaints. And they're not huge complaints. I don't think they ruin the film; I'm more interested in how odd and unnecessary they seem. And if your position is just to say this stuff doesn't matter, okay, but why keep saying it? Obviously it matters to me, and some others, and no amount of browbeating is going to change that.
And for the record, I think the 8-year absence is great. I only wish I hadn't heard about it beforehand. That's part of the playing with time and the scale that I mentioned before. I like the audacity of it.
I didn't mean the nit-picky thing at you directly (other than about the bat symbol). I mean it at the people who's criticisms are things like "how did Wayne get back into Gotham" and "I hated how Bane sounded". So, the following rant is not directed at you; it's directed at all the people who are actively looking for reasons to not like this film.
**THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS AND I'M NOT WRAPPING IT BECAUSE YOU NIT-PICKERS NEED TO READ IT!** (plus, if you're reading this thread without having watched the film then you are looking to be spoiled on purpose)
Every criticism of this film has been completely trivial. No one has actually talked about what the film is actually about. It is called The Dark Knight Rises. In the beginning of the film we see Bruce Wayne, billionaire recluse, beaten down and depressed...because there's no fight to be had. His entire life has had purpose up until this point; that of ridding Gotham of the evil that took his parents. But, with that evil abated, he no longer finds purpose in his life. And, he cannot finish his lifelong goal of dying for the city. Yes, he does indeed want to die for the cause. Alfred sees it and tells him he won't be a part of it.
It is when a threat too huge for the Police of Gotham appears that we see Wayne come out of his shell of hiding. Because he can fulfill that purpose and fight and die for the city becoming the martyr that he feels he needs to be.
He is confronted in his journey with Alfred's honesty, a man named John Blake with a background very similar to his own, and a woman in whom he sees a bit of himself; Selina Kyle.
Bane breaks him and throws him in a hole in the ground. It is symbolic of the hole of despair he has been in his whole life. And it is only when he fears for his own safety that he is able to climb from that hole in the ground and save the city. "Why do we fall, Bruce?"
Now, if any of you would like to argue
that journey, that arc of the film, then so be it. But, there is no need to pick apart things like "how did he get back into the city?" Especially because we watched him get into a plane that was still flying in the previous film! We already know he has the means to do these things. It is the symbolic moments of his journey, the emotional growth of the character, that are important and need to appear on screen.
As I let this film sink in and as I absorb the journey of Bruce Wayne in this film, the more I think it surpasses the previous films.
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