Dark Knight Ascends, The

While the I found the edits to be small, this edit accomplishes the goal of taking the weakest Nolan film and punching it up a level. While some things I still found frustrating, that's just the fault of the filmmakers. This is the edit I'll use when I watch TDKR. Well done!

This is a great edit that serves to streamline a previously slightly slow movie. Additionally, by amending Bane and Talia's backstory this edit removes what I found to be a rather unnecessary complication in an already full movie. (Though that said, this does push Talia's part in the film down, sort of brushing by her as a character in the end.) An excellent edit, when I rewatch the trilogy, I'll be going to this one!

The Dark Knight Rises was one of those films I just acknowledged. I remember seeing it once in a drive-in theater when it came out but never again. Just in little bits and pieces. After seeing a ton of reviews years later, and finally watching it again on TV I came to the quick conclusion.

It sucked.

Were there good moments? Absolutely. Were there bad? Abso-freaking-lutely. Most of the issues lied in the writing. Moments that just happen in the story and you're left to ask: "Why?"

Why does Blake just know Bruce is Batman?
Why is Talia the kid that escaped the pit? Why would Ra's do that to his own daughter? (That part specifically just felt like they needed a twist at the end)

While the Ascends edit doesn't make the movie a flawless film, there's only so much you can do with a shaky foundation, it makes the movie the best it can be. Bumping up my personal score from a 7.5-8 to a 8.5-9.

*SPOILERS TO THE EDIT*

The only flaws I have with the edit in particular are little nitpicks. One larger one is the removal of the "Robin" plot-line at the end. While I remember audibly groaning when they outright called him Robin, I thought him finding the batcave, while a little sequel-baiting, could further show that this Gotham's future is protected. And with the "Robin" moment, I'd almost want to see if either AI voice cloning or a quick little voice-edit could be used to have the woman say "Richard" instead of Robin. I feel like that wouldn't be too on-the-nose.

*SPOILER END*

Thanks DonkeyKonga for taking the time to fix what many would call a lacking finale to a trilogy and turning it into something more fitting. Highly, HIGHLY recommend to those on the fence.

When I first watched this movie in the theater, I loved it. Each time after the initial view became worse and worse. I started to think "why did I ever like this movie?" The story is such a mess. I think that since it is so well acted and shot, you initially miss some of the major issues with it on first watch. It is clear Christopher Nolan was overthinking the entire story and tried to create this comic book/drama/social commentary and it just didn't work.

I hadn't watched the movie in years and came across this edit. Thank you to Donkey for making it a movie I can actually enjoy again and also making it a worthy ending to the perfect setup of Batman Begins and Dark Knight.

First thing - removing the "guilt" that Gordon feels over hiding the facts about Dent is essential. The Dent Act put thousands of criminals in jail - why would you feel any guilt over that? And then Blake calling him out on it just always bothered me. Sure the guy became Two Face, but he still did some good.

Making Bane the child in the Pit sold this for me. I am fine with Miranda being Ra's Alghul's daughter, but the fact that she was the child in the pit just never worked for me. Bane was scary and crazy and that was his prison - he always should've been the one who escaped.

Making the timeline longer until the bomb goes off also works and makes it more believable Bruce could recover and make it back to Gotham in time.

Not showing Bruce at the end is definitely how the original movie should've ended. Seeing Alfred's smile, but not seeing what he is looking at is so much more satisfying in my opinion. Plus it removes him being there with Selena which I always thought was stupid.

This is a great edit and technically very well done and thought out. I took a nitpicky point off of the audio quality because (and while I love the intent and outcome) I feel the way Blake says Gordon was "babbling about Batman being Wayne" sounds a little weird. I did rewind it a couple times to try and catch what he was actually saying. Visually it is SOOOOO creative because he uses the shot of Blake saying "Bane" and replaces it with "Wayne" but the way he says Wayne stands out as not being part of the original dialogue. I feel this is something AI can probably eventually fix to make perfect.

Thank you Donkey for making a finale of the Dark Knight Trilogy that is worthy to what came before. It was a fun watch and highly recommended!

Some smart re-ordering yields a more straight-ahead story.

UPDATE: The editor has made several adjustments to the audio, and fixed a critical video issue, so I have raised my score on both categories.

I think there are some clever cuts here, but for me the narrative suffers, so I'll begin there.

NARRATIVE

Having Miranda just be Ra's Al Ghul's daughter works, but I think it makes her rather one-dimensional (or maybe 1.5?). Her character takes on significantly more depth as the child that leaves the pit, and she also elevates Bane's character through that revelation as well. As someone who just does a face-heel-turn in the third act, we lose an interesting layer. There's a really touching line near the end where she tells Bane, "good bye my dear friend" as Bane tears up. As her protector it's an amazing moment (in my opinion), but here it feels unearned.

The second narrative challenge I have comes at the very end with the restoration of the bat signal juxtaposed with Alfred seeing Bruce in Paris. This is a critical moment as it signals to Alfred (and us) that Bruce Wayne has hung up the cowl and retired as The Batman, but the restored bat signal that Gordon finds betrays that. It works in the original because the signal is now for Robin, but there's no Robin in this cut. I was left feeling like The Batman is back, but maybe just on vacation.

I was also a little challenged by the narrative switch at 40:25, from the stock exchange back to Bruce. There's a lot of tension in that scene, but we lose some of it by cutting away. It stops feeling like a "realtime" moment.


VISUAL EDITING

Nearly pristine except for an odd frame hitch at 1:36:17 (shot of Selina in prison).

At 28:05 there's a cut that might benefit from an interstitial shot as we zoom closer on Alfred and Bruce.

1:42:35 - I really love the new clip placement for this! It works great.

The black-out at 1:50:37 is really interesting, but I can't help but wonder if it would have worked better against the shot of Bruce leaping instead of the shot of the doctor.

1:59:07 - I think the joke removal works, but Bruce's eye roll betrays it slightly.


AUDIO EDITING

I noticed a few little things here and there.

29:34 - The word "rising" feels a bit too loud compared to the rest of Gordon's words.

1:34:25 - There's a "foom" sound on the cut. I think it might be carry-over from the van doors closing in the previous scene (original movie).

1:35:27 - The music cuts out and it makes the ambient noises sound a little strange.

1:35:45 - There's a hard cut on the audio here; a bit of a pop.

1:36:14 - Bane's line doesn't quite make sense: "...where a thousand men have languished held up to you...". In the original, Bane is talking about Dent being held up as the shining example (lots of words been "languished" and "held up"). I can't tell if you're trying to repurpose it to refer to all of the prisoners, but if so, the picture of Dent (and Bane ripping it) doesn't quite work in my opinion.

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Overall, this is still a movie I really enjoy, and that's true of your version as well. I want to thank you for keeping the shot at 18:16. For me, this is my favourite part in the entire movie and I'm happy you kept it even if we don't hear the conversation between Blake and Mark. The timing and sound on that is perfect.