I don't know if I can use words with actual syllables in them until I see it again--but I really liked the first viewing. I thought it had some interesting contrasts with The Avengers, as well as being entirely entirely different. However, although all super bad guy plans fall apart in the light of reality, this movie at least had a plan. And this plan made me sad--I didn't just cry at the "let us rally!" bits like in Avengers (Enver! Call me!), but also at the "Oh! This is gonna be bad, huh?" bits here and there.

1 and 2 aren't that related, but this one is related to them both, so if you're foggy on either and could stand a rewatch--give it a go. It makes two movies with the same characters into a proper trilogy pretty well, in that we end up with a definite arc for Bruce, and kind of an arc for some of the other folk.

The people new to the movie worked well--I didn't doubt Anne Hathaway (or her heels--they lampshaded them acceptably) within the genre. T-Hard did really well considering the fucking hell mask--his body language was really terrifying at parts. He was just so...brrr. Menace. I liked that. And I don't know if we got the brilliant genius Bane is in the comics, but he's certainly in control of shit--not in a sly way like Loki was, but deftly none the less.

JGL fucking tore shit up. If you loved him before, your loins are still ready. He was great, just great. Convincing, solid, emotional appropriately, everything I think he needed to be. And he got a crypoint from me...when he grabbed the shotgun and went to the hospital for Gordon --he looked so fierce and capable I choked up.

I found the trailers worked well for me, because there was a bit that's a fucking crawl up to a memorable trailer scene (I don't usually remember scenes properly, but this one sticks out), and I feel each moment (each note) just ratchets things up more and more.

Politically, I have no fucking idea. I'm generally used to Batman falling on the excessive side of what is right, and the bad guys falling on the "I don't care if you have a kernel of a point, YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO GOTHAM." And it was mostly that, again.

Science you can pretty much guarantee fails and fails hard. There's no way detonating out to see doesn't end up killing lots of people and wildlile, and where exactly did Batman bail out?

I have to say--I did think that Bane was one of the older prisoners, because of how the faces were covered, but I could not work out who made the kid. So I decided he was the kid after all, because I never made it all the way to Talia DESPITE EVERY SPOILER EVER ABOUT COTILLARD'S ROLE. I felt kinda dumb after that.

On the flip side, when they made the perfectly obvious Robin reveal (I'm assuming it's a Tim-Dick amalgam if anything (hell--you can throw Jason in if you want--maybe he crossdresses and there's some Stephanie?), and they named him Robin so they don't have to match origin stories and your average non comic reader doesn't have to do the math and gets to fist pump along with us dorks I did exactly what Nolan wanted, and I felt no shame at all at being manipulated.

So, basically, I liked it, I intend to see it again at least once in the theatre though maybe not again at IMAX prices, and I'm buying it as soon as it comes out.

And it wasn't perfect, but it was mine. ALL MINE.

Oh--something that crisply compares the difference between Gotham and Earth 616--The Avengers starts with Tony casually plugging in remorse-free perfect energy, and this movie hinges on the fact that they've been hiding this potential from Gotham from years, because the moment anyone sees it, they're going to use it to blow the entire city up and leave it a nuclear wasteland.

Because that's how Gotham rolls.

Maybe he pops up at the end of Magic Mike to be all, "I'd like to talk to you about the Strippers Initiative."

That would have made the movie 769 times better. Possibly more.

NINE ELEVEN HOURS TO GO. Exactly.

t edit What the hell? I can't count when I wake up, apparently. (It's no longer 11 hours as of this edit, but I felt like I should edit the original for posterity and to own up to the fact that math is harrrrrrrd.)

JGL fucking tore shit up. If you loved him before, your loins are still ready. He was great, just great. Convincing, solid, emotional appropriately, everything I think he needed to be. And he got a crypoint from me...

Predictably, I love this.

JGL was AMAZING. I totally forgot he was in the dang thing and was pleasantly surprised when I saw him again.

ita!, I thought of the Avengers arc-reactor parallel, as well. That, and the "we must keep this kick-ass technology out of the hands of people who would not be responsible like our not-entirely-sane hero is" thing. Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne really are pretty much the same character, but boy do they do it differently in these franchises.

And, in general, what ITA w/ ita!.

JGL was AMAZING. I totally forgot he was in the dang thing and was pleasantly surprised when I saw him again.

I didn't read the full EW review, but the summary singled his character out as the best in the movie. Looking forward to seeing him!

the summary singled his character out as the best in the movie.

Really? Intriguing.

I feel like, in a lot of ways, Batman Begins is about Jim Gordon as much as Bruce Wayne.* And The Dark Knight is about Harvey Dent almost more than Batman. So I'm wondering if there's a similar character in Dark Knight Verbs.

*(The end of Batman Begins, between Jim Gordon and Batman, is one of my favorite film endings ever. "I never said thank you." "And you'll never have to.")

Where did Dark Knight Verbs come from? I'm missing the joke somewhere.