Rowan

some of if not the best blocking and shot compositions in recent memory. the frames within frames, the mirrors, the windows, everything about the way they shot this apartment was brilliant. i loved the performances across the board, and the comedy was very well written, uncomfortable but not to excess. and some good commentary in there about relationship dynamics.

this was totally all over the place. don’t hate the ending to the trilogy, bane was fun, what i did hate was the plot twist. nolan typically has fun plot twists, this one was pointless and added nothing and coulda been removed to make the movie shorter instead of undermining bane as a villain. i also can’t figure out if i dislike batman’s or bane’s voice more, like what are we doing. i also don’t like when the villain coulda just killed the superhero but he’s dumb and puts him in a prison that he just breaks out of. like cmon. also there were just a lot of plot holes, like right everyone just knows bruce wayne is batman now magically, and there is just a giant underground movement after 8 years of peace sure. also the whole main plot and villain motivations were just a redo of batman begins which they explain but is kinda lame. adding robin was also pretty forgettable, kinda surprised there wasn’t a spinoff. the fight scenes with bane and batman were pretty mid and a lot of grunting and not so great choreography. also the writing was pretty buns except for a few one liners, not super surprising from nolan tho. okay after that long list of complaints, if you’ve made it this far, you might be wondering why i’m even rating it even this highly. it was just really fun. batman and his cool contraptions doing cool stuff, bruce escaping from the pit, the amazing cillian murphy cameo. alfred had prob the best arc, and i actually quite like the ending, works well for the trilogy, a nice place to finish off. this movie def gets an extra half star tho bc anne hathaway is just so fine for the whole movie, wish there was more with her as cat woman 😭 finished off nolan’s filmography with this one and im off to see the odyssey!

really emotionally strong movie, surprised this wasn't talked about more last year. very strong performances by ofc cillian murphy but also jay lycurgo. i'll always appreciate directors taking a risk with cinematography and that was exactly what was done here and i liked it for the most part. some truly great shots, lots of frames within frames which i like to see in this type of movie.

too tired to do a full review rn, will do tmrw. sadly wasn’t able to see in 70mm imax, just normal imax. highlight of the movie was anne hathaway imo. okay so there is a lot to say about this as always with nolan. going into this my expectations were obviously sky high, and while i did enjoy the movie, it really did not hit those expectations. it was never going to be perfect to film a movie fully in imax, and i prob missed out on part of the appeal by not seeing it in 70mm imax, but there were a lot of issues with it. during more intimate scenes that imax would never be used in it just didnt work. there were serious issues with racking focus, or even just keeping the subject in focus. one scene where anne hathaway was talking to someone, everytime she moved her head she went out of focus and it rly took you out of it. the imax looked amazing during many scenes where it would be traditionally used and the way the landscapes were filmed, and also the ships and especially the trojan war were amazing, but it's clear to see why imax prob shouldnt be used for a whole movie. another thing that kinda got to me was the sound design. it was rly great at times, during the siren scene obv, but also during some scenes on boats, but in too many scenes it was exceedingly overwhelming to the point that it was just noise. the sound design is intentionally overwhelming at times, but there were a few moments where it really took away from the film. i also was pretty hyped for the score, and while it was pretty unique and more subtle than i thought it would be, with some clear highlights, i think it didn't get the chance to fully shine through because of the rest of the sound. the acting i was pretty happy with for the most part, anne hathaway being far and away the best imo, but rpat and damon both doing well, and most of the smaller roles were able to shine through with limited screentime. this movie kinda had an issue with its characters tho. the focus was so spread and the pace was so quick, trying to jam so much into a sub 3 hour movie sacrificed letting us feel the characters more. i wish we got more time with odysseus in the first two acts, it felt like everything was hitched upon the scene where he explained troy to penelope, which was great, but kinda came too late. my favorite part of the film apart from anne hathaway was prob the narrative style which ive heard they stuck true to the original story with (i havent read the odyssey). i thought it was definitely a strength having troy only as flashbacks, and odysseus struggling to remember the man he was. i think this is a rare movie of nearly 3 hours of length that did need to be a bit longer. this is definitely a movie to see in theaters, as all nolan movies are, and im glad i did (even if not in the format i wanted to). a very important movie to modern cinema because of the risks it took, and hopefully nolan keeps taking risks, pushing the boundaries of what cinema can be.