TF Views

JediTricks wrote:The end of The Dark Knight Rises is crap in a hat, they set up mountains of foundation saying Bruce Wayne cannot survive the explosion at any distance he could reasonably get to, they show him in the cockpit on the scene just before it blows up - the only half-plausible argument out there is that he's in a remote control cockpit, having separated from the ship earlier, but the visuals prove that can't be the case with a shot of the city moving background through the cockpit window AFTER the last chance to eject over land in the exploded building, and worse, moving lights over the cockpit and Bruce from the front a moment before the bomb goes up, the autopilot argument the film makes later is failed by this false dramatic "no way out" foundation they laid through visual statements.

It's also entirely possible that Bruce Wayne did not survive, and what we see at the end is Alfred's wish, not reality. It could be him imagining that Bruce had finally put the past behind him and moved on with life. I keep wondering about that, honestly, because the movie foreshadows Bruce's death several times, most notably when Selina tells him that he's already given everything to Gotham and he replies "No, not everything. Not yet."

So, there's a little ambiguity in that character ending as well.

Anyway, you make an interesting argument overall, I read the whole thing but only quoted the stuff I really could add thoughts to. I think you and I are in a "shades of gray" scenario here (using that metaphor a lot lately) where we agree on a lot of this stuff, just at different levels we're willing to tolerate certain things.

I think so. Because I generally agree that killing a character off and then bringing them back miraculously is a cheat and renders the drama of their death null, and that it's an overused dramatic device in comics, but I also think there are exceptions to that rule.

andersonh1 wrote:It's also entirely possible that Bruce Wayne did not survive, and what we see at the end is Alfred's wish, not reality. It could be him imagining that Bruce had finally put the past behind him and moved on with life. I keep wondering about that, honestly, because the movie foreshadows Bruce's death several times, most notably when Selina tells him that he's already given everything to Gotham and he replies "No, not everything. Not yet."

So, there's a little ambiguity in that character ending as well.

I think a lot of that ambiguity is because Nolan's previous film, Inception, left audiences to question that on purpose - is the top still spinning, and if so, does it even matter?

But having Selina in the ending I think cements that he survived, no reason she had to be the one in Alfred's mind.Goyer has said that's the ending he and the Nolan boys talked about when they started making the first film but whether he means that Bruce survives and hands the mantle of responsibility for Gotham off to others or causes Alfred to outlive Bruce is not specified in what I read.

I think a lot of that ambiguity is because Nolan's previous film, Inception, left audiences to question that on purpose - is the top still spinning, and if so, does it even matter?

I hate when people bring this up, so please excuse me while I blow your fucking mind:

Cobb's totem isn't the top. It was Mal's totem. Cobb's totem is his wedding ring. In the dream sequences, he's wearing it. In real life, he isn't. At the end, he isn't wearing his wedding ring--hence, he isn't dreaming, and the end of the movie takes place in reality.

I got nothing for Batman though--you're entirely right. The only thing I can say about it is to refer to Nolan's other movie, The Prestige. A magic trick has three parts. Show the audience something ordinary (Batman), make it disappear (bomb), but then make it come back (the ending to TDKR). The coming back, that's the part that impresses people; not the disappearing part. (It still doesn't excuse the fact that it makes no sense how he actually does it, and I won't pretend to defend it.)

You are mistaken about the ring, it cannot be his totem because he doesn't have it in the real world anymore. The totem must have a feeling that is unique to the dreamer in both reality and dream while in that moment, with Mal dead there is nobody else alive who could claim the top as their own except Cobb. Cobb has it and not the ring in reality, hence he gave up the ring when his wife died and adopted her totem. At the end, he walks away from the totem content with where he is, at home with his kids, not concerned about whether the top falls, thus that is his totem.

As for the Prestige, keep in mind that turned out to be a trick, a lie told to someone who already knew the answer and couldn't believe it was so simple. If the ending to tdkr is a trick, it's a shoddy one, it's not even showmanship, just a lie.

Roberts interviews more than any man I know. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=44799

Hah, I told you Magnus wasn't dead yet. http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/tr ... t94066.php

Which is not to say he isn't terminal and won't be killed off, but hey... maybe not.

And is that

Spoiler

Overlord floating in space

? I think so. No sign of

Spoiler

Rewind

though.

Onslaught Six wrote:Roberts interviews more than any man I know. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=44799

That Trailcutter spotlight premise sounds... not good. And Spotlight Hoist has ticking down to 4 deaths, seems like this idea has been done in a way.

At least he's talking about paying off the last year and a half of small-scale storytelling in MTMTE.

andersonh1 wrote:Hah, I told you Magnus wasn't dead yet. http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/tr ... t94066.php

Which is not to say he isn't terminal and won't be killed off, but hey... maybe not.

And is that

Spoiler

Overlord floating in space

? I think so. No sign of

Spoiler

Rewind

though.

Why did I click on that? I knew I shouldn't click on that.

Spoiler

Great, now we know where the "other" Ultra Magnus smile is, kind of a letdown.

Does anyone know if IDW will be offering any freebie TF comics on the first week of May?

Tigermegatron wrote:Does anyone know if IDW will be offering any freebie TF comics on the first week of May?

You mean for Free Comic Book Day? This year IDW is offering "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Animated Adventures" and "Judge Dredd Classics" but no Transformers titles.

Sparky Prime wrote:

Tigermegatron wrote:Does anyone know if IDW will be offering any freebie TF comics on the first week of May?

You mean for Free Comic Book Day? This year IDW is offering "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Animated Adventures" and "Judge Dredd Classics" but no Transformers titles.

Thanks for the info.