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[Miss Cat Ears]

But if they were really concerned about people leaving the city, wouldn't they be equally concerned with people going in?  Even if he just hopped on a plane I would think he'd've had problems getting in town.

[Thad]

I assume he came across the ice.  Obviously he'd been there to leave the flare and flammable Bat Signal.

As for how he avoided detection long enough to tag the bridge, well, that's a BIT of a stretch but I got the impression the guys guarding the ice weren't the Best-and-Brightest "I'll Die Before I Talk" squad.

[NexAdruin]

I didn't know about Talia or even Ra's because I don't know shit about Batman AND I didn't watch Batman Begins (oh come on that movie is boring). I could still feel the 99% vibe thing coming from her and I knew she had to at least sympathize with Bane's men if not be a co-conspirator.

[Thad]

It's not really related to the movie adaptations at all but it's well worth it to give the Batman: TAS 2-parter The Demon's Quest a look.  It's a retelling of the original Ra's story as adapted by its original writer, and for my money is superior to the original comic version (which started strong but ran too long and kind of lost the plot after awhile).

Really pretty much the entirety of Batman: TAS deserves a viewing.  But if you want to just pick out the definitive Ra's al Ghul story, that's the one.

[NexAdruin]

I've actually been watching Batman: TAS and once I've finished with it I want to start Batman Beyond. My biggest gripe about the series is that there isn't enough detective work. I really want to see a Batman that plays out like a classic noir, but it's hard to do that in 22 minutes.

[Thad]

Demon's Quest is actually one of the better examples of Batman sussing things out from evidence he's given, in a fair mystery that the audience can also follow.  (And it's subtler than the original comic, which had 1970's narrative boxes that actually said things like "The Batman has realized something!  Can you tell what it is?" -- I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist; in the cartoon Batman just gives a subtle little smirk at the same spot.)

Batman-as-detective is unfortunately ignored too often.  Even in Detective Comics.  (Unfortunately the most detective-y the Nolan films got was that bullet-reconstruction nonsense.  Though I suppose Bruce working out that Selina broke into his safe to get his fingerprints was pretty detective-y.)

My recollection is that Dini did a decent job making Detective an actual detective series (in contrast with Morrison's Batman as the action book of the pair), and he did a particularly good job with the Riddler, who he recast as a reformed private detective and rival for Batman.  My favorite sequence in the run involves a messageboard where all the DCU detectives (Batman, Riddler, Detective Chimp, whoever) hang out and pseudonymously compare notes.

[Miss Cat Ears]

I assume he came across the ice.  Obviously he'd been there to leave the flare and flammable Bat Signal.

[Ocksi]

Regarding Bruce getting back into the city: I'm sure it'll be in the deleted scenes, but even if it's not: one of the Big Moments between Ras and Bruce in Begins happens when they're training on thin ice and Bruce falls through; presumably further training taught Batman to ninja his way across ice without falling in.

The flaming bat signal remains a mystery.

[Thad]

Good catch; forgot about that.

[Ocksi]

We had all forgotten about it and in our post-movie discussion about what stood out as good/bad/off, I happened to remember. Apparently no one else in the world remembers that scene, though. I had to check youtube to make sure it wasn't a fever dream.

[Thad]

(ADDING: Of course, feds DID manage to sneak into the city, and presumably only got caught because they went straight to Talia.  Bruce chose the OTHER femme fatale to confide in.)

[Thad]

Also, yeah, it is kinda funny that the endgame is BATMAN CAN'T GET RID OF A BOMB

You know, I just watched Batman '66, and I'd forgotten just how many different instances of exploding marine life it had, too.

[Ziiro]

We had all forgotten about it and in our post-movie discussion about what stood out as good/bad/off, I happened to remember. Apparently no one else in the world remembers that scene, though. I had to check youtube to make sure it wasn't a fever dream.

It was in the training montage. It's also when he gives him shit for not being aware of his surroundings (which he follows up on by trapping him under the burning beam in the mansion.) I remember it clearly - I actually went to a full trilogy showing in one sitting. It was pretty cool. (First two movies, then Rises at midnight.)

[Brentai]

Finally got to this.

The best part about the ending is that the fucking Scarecrow is still at large.

Jonathon Crane is secretly behind all of it.  Every thing.

• My real name IS ROBIN.................... What? Come on you can do better than that man, that's pretty fucking weak.

Could have been played way better.  "Here you are, Mr. Grayson," or something.

Otoh Robin being his real name precludes him using Robin as his masked name, so maybe they're just slipping us a bone under the table.

Also, if you're in charge of half the exposition of the movie, maybe you shouldn't have the voice of the Grand Galactic Inquisitor.

When I first heard it I thought Sir Ian MacKellen was going to be under that mask.

AHAHAHAHAHA I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt this way. I know that Batman fails the reality test really hard if anybody trained with a firearm actually points and shoots at him with anything resembling accuracy but I was really hoping they'd cover that up either Arkham style(intense combat, but I guess that'd ruin this series' style) or like, Sherlock Holmes style(disable the shit that kills you before you fight them goons.)

Yeah I was disappointed when I kept thinking "Oh no how are they going to get out of this predicament?" and the answer turns out to be by punching everyone.  The cleverest hero trick in the movie was early on by Catwoman, and even that one hinged on her punching out half the people in the room.

[François]

I saw the French dub, and Bane sounded perfectly intelligible, if also perfectly inappropriate. His voice would have sounded better on Mr Freeze; it didn't work at all and completely undermined everything he said. Also there were no accents whatsoever so I probably have an excuse not have caught on to the Talia thing. (Plus I hardly know anything about any Batman villains that weren't in the Adam West show... though I did finish Arkham City literally the day before.)

[TA]

So, I guess I'm the only person who had no trouble understanding Bane and thought the booming echoey voice greatly contributed to him being a thoroughly awesome villain?

[Ted Belmont]

 

[Royal☭]

I loved his voice. I feel Tom Hardy is under-appreciated in reviews of the film, if only because everyone has to compare him to Heath Ledger. His kind of casual attitude towards everything becomes kind of this creepy whimsy thanks to his mask. It's probably the only time that a mask has helped a character rather than hurt. Plus the way he talk just adds to the little bits, like him thanking the guy holding his motorcycle helmet (even villains practice proper road safety!) and the way he just kind of leans back and listens to the British choir kid singing the national anthem.

That said, this film keeps getting crappier and crappier every time I go over it in my head. The actors nail the performances, but for the first time the film doesn't feel like the final draft of the script. Plus, I'd hate Nolan's political opinions in the film if they didn't seem so inept.

[Thad]

I loved his voice. I feel Tom Hardy is under-appreciated in reviews of the film, if only because everyone has to compare him to Heath Ledger. His kind of casual attitude towards everything becomes kind of this creepy whimsy thanks to his mask.

I love how articulate he is considering he's (1) huge, (2) damaged, and (3) grew up in a pit.

It's probably the only time that a mask has helped a character rather than hurt.

And it's an interesting followthrough on the "Bruce as mask, Batman as the real person" metaphor.  Yeah, he lays it right out there in the very first scene, but it's that kind of movie.

Really, it IS a film where everybody shouts the themes at each other in dialogue but manages to get away with it because they're all so damn good.

Plus the way he talk just adds to the little bits, like him thanking the guy holding his motorcycle helmet (even villains practice proper road safety!)

I love that he wears something that identifies himself to the audience.

That said, this film keeps getting crappier and crappier every time I go over it in my head. The actors nail the performances, but for the first time the film doesn't feel like the final draft of the script.

It doesn't really stand on its own; it's most definitely the conclusion of what's been set up in the first two movies.

And it handwaves that a bit, too; the beginning of this movie absolutely DOES NOT follow logically from the end of the previous.  Granted, they couldn't follow through on the Joker's promise that they'd keep doing this forever, but still and all, Batman retiring is totally not the thing that the second movie indicates is going to happen.

Plus, I'd hate Nolan's political opinions in the film if they didn't seem so inept.

I don't think it's ENTIRELY fair to say these are "Nolan's political opinions" -- d'you think he's really a right-winger, or is that just his interpretation of Batman?

Because let's be honest, Batman is a story about a rich guy who beats up the mentally ill.

(I DO find Bane's death to be facile and a violation of the rules, in the same way that those two bits in the first film are.  You know the ones I'm talking about.)

Although I also think that there's a key moment of compassion that sets the tone for the whole thing:

It's not Bane that gets Bruce to come out of retirement.  It's the realization that the orphanage is in trouble.

[Brentai]

Plus, I'd hate Nolan's political opinions in the film if they didn't seem so inept.

Yeah the glorification of the police and privileged feels a little bit tone-deaf if you're not given to glorifying the police and the privileged (which, unfortunately, Batman writers seem to tend to be).  I actually kind of wanted to sum the whole thing up with that panel from Wonderella where she says "Privileged whites CAN make a difference!" but I couldn't figure out which strip that was, so pretend I posted it.

Also Catwoman's line about guns is a little wrenching, you know, in context.

I love how articulate he is considering he's (1) huge, (2) damaged, and (3) grew up in a pit.

But... he didn't grow up in a pit.  He's just a big kindhearted guy who ended up there and... got facestabbed trying to keep a child from getting raped and became a nihilistic terrorist, I guess.

Or there's the alternate interpretation that Bane has no real interest in blowing up Gotham or any of this shit, he just wants to make Talia happy by any means possible, even if it involves killing himself, her, and millions of people in a big pointless explosion.  His reaction to the singing kid is the only time we see him thinking about anything other than His Work.

Really, it IS a film where everybody shouts the themes at each other in dialogue but manages to get away with it because they're all so damn good.

Eh, one of the problems I had coming away from it is that every single piece of dialogue seemed to involve the main characters shouting philosophies at each other, Metal Gear style.  Especially Alfred, whose job is usually to cut past all the nonsense.

(Also, I'll be disappointed if the HISHE for this movie doesn't turn out exactly like the one for Spiderman 3.)