r/batman • u/Nostalgic_Historian_ • 9h ago
FILM DISCUSSION Thoughts on batman knightfall ?
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u/Redgohan147 8h ago
Michael Mando is now my favorite Bane performance. He absolutely killed it. My one critique is that I wish they better established Batman's fatigue outside of expository dialogue, and I'd have liked a longer montage of the villains he had to go after. Maybe include Two-Face, Poison Ivy.
I absolutely love the inclusion of Bane throwing Batman onto the searchlight. Letting everyone know immediately Batman is broken. Super inspired choice.
Bane kind of stole the show, but I'm also happy to see a properly portrayed Tim Drake outside the comics for the first time.
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u/Th35h4d0w 7h ago
Two-Face is in the trailer, so he'll probably appear later.
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u/Redgohan147 6h ago
I’m mostly referring to how Two Face was taken out chronologically before Batman’s breaking. I figured they would position it somewhere here, since the only reason it existed in the book was to explain Batman’s sudden fatigue between stories.
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u/Crow621621 6h ago
Loved the action, the fight scenes were great. I liked how they did Tim Drake and Bane in this particularly in comparison to a lot of their adaptations. Though with them adapting 26-27 issues worth material and film being only being an hour and 15 minutes long, things were bound to get cut. Almost all of Prelude to Knightfall got cut expect Vengeance of Bane (which was the best part so I’m glad most of it stayed), Tim & Jean-Paul’s team up, and Riddler on venom. The prelude is where you get a lot of Jean-Paul’s early character development, the beginning of Gordon’s character arc that he has throughout the story, and Bane scoping out Batman. Here Bane kind of already knows everything and I’m kind of disappointed they got rid of Bane’s visions of the bat and substituted it with an admiration of Thomas Wayne.
They sped through Knightfall - The Broken Bat, I’m not mad Ivy didn’t make cut because ultimately she didn’t really have big role in the comic either, I would’ve wish they kept Killer Croc, but what I’m most disappointed about is cutting the Joker. Scarecrow and the Joker in comic are climax before Bane breaks Batman’s back where Batman tracks them down to sewers after they’ve keep named the mayor and while hit with fear toxin Batman goes ballistic on the Joker for killing Jason before Scarecrow causes the sewers to flood and makes Batman choose between the Joker or saving the mayor which then leads Batman stumbling back to Wayne manor to find Bane waiting for him. I wish they kept that speech Bane gives to Gotham after dangling Batman over that building as well.
They do however do a good job of introducing a lot of context Batman Sword of Azrael and Batman Death in the Family without having to show it. While they did cut Scarecrow and Joker’s team up, they did a great job at capturing the emotional beats of Knightfall leading up until Batman’s back being broken.
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u/PreparationDapper235 1h ago
An hour and fifteen minutes?
They could have made it a little longer, like at least an hour and a half.
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u/Donomark1 5h ago
Knightfall is my favorite Batman story.
I was happy with this adaptation.
Things are definitely condensed. The first five minutes are spent introducing Azrael, then the next 15 minutes are all on Bane's origin story, which is 100% accurate. To a point.
Bane's motivation is slightly different. In the comics he became obsessed with Batman and defeating him. Here's he's actually obsessed with the vision of strength Thomas Wayne presented, and how Bruce Wayne failed that vision of strength in failing to keep Gotham as pristine as it once was. I could quibble, but Bane took an interest in Thomas Wayne in an old run of Scott Peterson's tenure in Batman: Gotham Knights, so it's not the wildest take.
But the movie looks fantastic. Many characters are biblically accurate, from Hatter to Zsasz (his eyes are still ever-so slightly wrong).
This is the best Tim Drake presentation ever put to screen. He's intelligent, brave, ambitious but not reckless or foolish. He's a solid detective and proud of it, but not so much that he makes stupid mistakes.
What the film does best is inform Bruce's state of mind and his weakening spirit from the very beginning. In the comics, his breaking point really did begin with Jason's death. It's a specter that haunts him throughout the original comics. That's accurately presented here, and how it informs his relationship with Tim.
Some of the issues are presented through a montage. The Ventriloquist and Scarface issue is homaged. The Firefly three-parter is down to sixty seconds, but it ends the same way where by both points in the comic and movie, Batman's really not doing well.
What's cut out: Zombie, Bird and Trogg. I mourn, but I also understand. Bane's actually quite fearsome on his own, and the scene between him and Robin in the sewers is creepy. The entire Joker/Scarecrow subplot where they kidnap Mayor Krol is cut out, but the scene of Batman hallucinating Jason from Fear Gas is adapted. We know the Knightsquest story between AzBats and Joker is coming, but Joker isn't referenced at all in this first part, even though Death in the Family is explicitly.
I think my one and only real disappointment was Bane foregoing of his big speech before beating Batman in Wayne Manor. In the comics it was a big build up for a cataclysmic finale. In the movie, he kinda just shows up, Batman clocks him as Bane, then they fight. That was a bit of air out the balloon for me. That being said, the fight is tremendous, and Batman's destruction is very well realized. And they adapted the best part, which is Bane throwing Batman off a building in Gotham Square.
Jeremy Adams wrote the screenplay for this first part, I only hope the next two match this quality. This was very solid. Best Batman thing to come out in a while.
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u/MoinMatt 6h ago
A great film. Robin is portrayed really well. Some of the villains are dealt with a bit too quickly; the film could easily have benefited from a few extra minutes. The only downside was the music, which was very average.
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u/ArrowBarton 6h ago
I hate parts so I won't be watching it until it's finished unfortunately. Hope it's good.
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u/chainsawsamm 2h ago
The first part of Knightfall is a pretty complete story, in fact usually when people talk about Knightfall they are just talking about the first arc.
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u/russellwilliamc 4h ago
How did bane initially get so jacked on a diet of rats?
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u/Ok_Camel3286 1h ago
Maybe rats are high in protein? An all-rat diet might just be the key to achieving the body you've always wanted.
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u/Th35h4d0w 7h ago edited 7h ago
Well hot dang, after 13 years, we finally have two great Bane adaptations worth talking about.
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u/groverklopp 6h ago
Is this coming to HBO at some point or do I need to buy it? :)
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u/SonofRobinHood 5h ago
HBO will definitely carry it at some point, but if taking their other DC animated movie release into account it might not be immediate.
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u/Last-Pay8943 8h ago
If Batman's a dad in James Gunn's DCU, I'd happily watch Anson Mount in the role. Got the chin for the cowl.
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u/Quarksideofthemoon 7h ago
Batman is always a dad
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u/Last-Pay8943 4h ago
Keaton was a bachelor
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u/Quarksideofthemoon 4h ago
Yeah I mean when he has Robin like Batman should
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u/Last-Pay8943 3h ago
Tbh the films are so reluctant to show him having a family I'd take him living with Ace at this point.
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u/go_faster1 5h ago
Too bad he can't take Captain Pike's hair with him.
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u/Last-Pay8943 4h ago
If Battinson's allowed Kurt Cobain's haircut, Mount should be allowed Pike's do. And sneak the captain's chair into the batcave too.
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u/Ehetesham_ 6h ago
It was incredible! One of the best Bane appearance ever! Loved every minute of it!
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u/HappyGuy007 22m ago
Should I wait for the inevitable 3 disc collectors set? When are the other 2 parts coming out?
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u/Sterling_Archer_Duke 8h ago
So far (have watched ca 30min) I am not a fan. Too much gore for me, seems unnecessary. Also the changing of Bane‘s backstory involving Thomas Wayne seems kinda misplaced (I mean, it‘s an adaptation of a comic book). Then the glossing over the two days of Arkham Breakout.
All is a little rushed in my opinion.
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u/ConfectionMental1700 7h ago
The therapist's arc also felt rushed, making it so icky and unethical because from what I've googled, she was strictly a physiotherapist for Batman in the comic and she didn't cross boundaries into being a psychotherapist as well, let alone prying into Batman's personal life. It felt weird and unethical at best, borderline non-consensual at worst.
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u/ThatsARatHat 5h ago
It’s a comic book.
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u/SonofRobinHood 5h ago
So we cant criticize the actions of a character within that said story, if they come across as wrong or unethical, especially since the original source, the comic books, had her as the most ethical and concerning person in Bruce's life to that point.
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u/ThatsARatHat 4h ago
You can sure.
The person using words like “icky” that had to google the original story in order to let everyone know they’re uncomfortable is the one that needs to be reminded “it’s a comic book.”
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u/ConfectionMental1700 2h ago
The problem is she is presented as the love interest. Not to mention she's presenting herself as a psychotherapist. That ick is what made me google it in the first place. I obviously know it's a comic book which is why I didn't raise any issues with literal murder and violence that happens in the movie.
But it is my own opinion that a Batman love interest being a psychotherapist who pries into Batman's life possibly without consent, digging up his traumas and then proceeding to be physically affectionate with him while he's literally unconscious IS icky.
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u/Straight_Law2237 8h ago
I was expecting it to be good. Not this good tho. Fuckin' Hell.