EPISODE 279: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
In this episode, Tyler and David are joined by Pat Francis to discuss Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
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In this episode, Tyler and David are joined by Pat Francis to discuss Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
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Great episode, guys. I expected TDKR to get a fair bit of flogging from the both of you (I don’t know why…I just figured as much), but I was glad to hear that you both enjoyed it, caveats aside.
Now I will go on to cast my Batman franchise reboot (assuming they go for all the big villains eventually). It’s more or less a classical take on the mythology. I almost went with David’s idea of a black Batman and cast Idris Elba, but in the end I buckled and changed Gordon’s race instead. And much to Tyler’s potential chagrin, I made Riddler a woman.
Bruce Wayne/Batman – Timothy Olyphant
Dick Grayson/Robin – Kit Harington
Commissioner Gordon – Forest Whitaker
Alfred Pennyworth – Michael York
The Joker – Doug Jones
Harley Quinn – Christina Ricci
Catwoman – Emily Blunt
The Riddler – Nicole Kidman
The Penguin – Paul Giamatti (That’s for you, Tyler.)
Harvey Dent/Two-Face – Jon Hamm
Barbara Gordon/Batgirl – Jurnee Smollett
Riddler could work as a woman, to a certain extent, but I feel like his massive ego is somehow more befitting of a man.
It was a bit arbitrary, to be sure. I just thought I would try to diversify a little more (though I still ended up with mostly white folk), and I didn’t feel a gender change would work at all for Joker or Penguin or Two-Face. Thought about going with Helen Mirren as a female Alfred but realized that she pretty much already did that in the Arthur remake. There’s always a female Robin, of course.
And I know that Nicole could easily play a character with a massive ego.
Hearing you guys talk for a whole episode about one specific movie makes me wish you guys would do your own commentaries tracks for specific films like you have talked about in the past. Anyways, loved the discussion!
Yes, that would be about the greatest thing ever.
Just a couple comments on questions you brought up:
I would say since Bane is part of the league of shadows you should almost be able to expect that he would know Batman’s true identity if you assume they’re at all organized.
The rest of my post below is in response to…
SPOILERS:
I see the quick dispatching of Bane as a sort of parallel to one of the things you praised about TDK: the successful invasion of privacy in capturing the Joker. Catwoman makes a quip about it but I still do think it brings up the fact that she broke his one rule and it saved his life. It at least raises a question.
Finally, I can’t remember for sure, but does Alfred find out about the fixed autopilot in that ending montage? If so, maybe it would explain why he would still be harboring some hope for a happy ending.
I don’t think it specifically shows Alfred finding out that information.
Has anyone put anything into the thought I’ve seen roaming around that Bruce does die, and maybe that’s Alfred having a vision or something – we know he used to say he imagined Bruce sitting across from him many times — his way of coping? It’s not something that I necessarily agree with, but it’s possible, right? More possible than Batman escaping a nuclear bomb when we see him in the cockpit a few seconds before it goes off, anyway.
Holy cow. I feel like a dick for admitting that I waited on listening to this installment out of fear that you would rip the film to shreds. That said, I happily stand corrected. What a thorough dissection of The Dark Knight Rises. I also think David is spot-on with his interpretation of the ending. Besides, death has always been kind of a cheap out for a lot of the characters in this film. Harvey Dent has some line about how “there is no escape from this” and I think killing Bruce would’ve diminished his arc.
What I think this podcast has succeeded at in its discussion, and something I’d argue few others have for TDKR, is critcizing the film but divorcing those criticisms from ill will. I thought, regardless of some of the film’s problems, a great many critics were brazenly reviewing this with a negative frame that sometimes bordered on antagonistic.
So thank you, BP for showing that you can take issue with a film without being a dick.