The Dark Knight Rises
Most of you already know that I am a hardcore Batman fanatic. I have been, since I was a young little Cruz. I own a huge collection of Batman graphic novels, comic books and an incredible amount of things Batman-related. With that being said, let me start off by saying that I absolutely love Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Batman. His vision on screen with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were superb. [unfortunately, my movie review of TDK is forever lost] Now, we have the The Dark Knight Rises, the final chapter in Nolan’s trilogy.Let me begin by saying I liked it. Keyword: Like. I didn’t love it. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t. The movie wasn’t horrifically terrible, but it also wasn’t stupendous and grand as I had hoped it would be. It’s mediocre at best. But that’s my opinion. To each his own.
So…read on to the end and be mindful of spoilers.
I can look passed the fact that there were several discrepancies in the movie compared to the comics. I won’t sit here and nit-pick the minor details — like how Bane was the one born in a prison or how Talia Al Ghūl is actually mixed Asian and Arabic or how Richard Grayson is technically the first Robin. Writers and directors often times twist stories around for the sake of making a movie better (but not always does it end up being better) or just changing them for entertainment’s sake. Whatever the reason, you need not worry — I won’t babble, “That’s not how it happened in the comic, dammit!”
However, I will say…
…one word: Overkill. I think Nolan wanted to go out with a big bang with the conclusion to this trilogy, and in doing so, he had hours of unused extra footage, condensing the movie down to 2hr 45min. How many times do we even see the caped crusader…well, in his cape? Twice maybe? There were too many characters thrown in this movie with very little character development or back story and took away from the main characters from the film. Case in point: Who the fuck is John Blake? No, he isn’t in the comics nor is he [a] Robin. Despite this, Nolan should have explored him more in the movie other than, “Hi, I work for Gotham PD, and somehow, I just knew Bruce Wayne is Batman.” I could go on about certain aspects of the film that just don’t seem believable to me (how the government didn’t negotiate with terrorists for months for example), but others would argue how, “It’s just a movie, Cruz.” Perhaps, if we can see all of that unused footage in its entirety…
Many will disagree with me, but that’s ok. I am not hating on Anne Hathaway. I like looking at her tits in Havoc and Brokeback as much as the next dude, but she just was not right for this role. Aside from being completely one dimensional, I felt like she did not exude the sexual prowess that IS Catwoman. She was “ok” as Selina, but I just was not feeling her as the cat in black. As far as her character goes in this film, they should have introduced her by way of her back story as a prostitute. What? You mean you didn’t read Batman: Year One? And is it just me, but did it almost feel like her and Batman lacked on-screen chemistry? Nothing about the two of them together felt right, especially in the two different instances in which she kisses Batman. There was no spark so to speak; it felt awkward. And where the hell was the sexual tension between her and Batman (and as Selina and Bruce)? Their love/hate relationship is one of my favorites in the comics, and I felt nothing of this watching the two. If you want to understand what I mean, just watch Michael and Michelle in Burton’s Batman. Whether it was the script, Hathaway, or the alleged 3 hours of footage edited out that is the cause of this, I suppose I’ll never know if I’d feel otherwise.
While I agree that Tom Hardy did a great job as an actor, I felt like his character wasn’t menacing enough. Bane should evoke fear. I’d like to add that I feel like Nolan should have really dug into Bane’s back story as well. Let’s pause for a moment, though. His origins in the comics is pretty good, but then, they hit us with that unexpected plot twist (no, I am not trying to nit-pick here). I mean, ya take away Bane’s insinuated purpose for doing what he’s doing (you killed my daddy, Bats! Oh wait, it’s actually Talia’s dad all of a sudden?), and it’s as though he has become second in command to the “real” villain (Talia), who isn’t exposed until the very end. Perhaps this was Nolan’s attempt at linking the first movie with the last [Talia to Rā’s Al Ghūl]. Either way, it could have been so much better!
In the final minutes of the movie, it almost seemed like they decided to throw together random shit for the ending. While some of it might have made sense, the ending felt too incredibly messy for me. Too many great characters were not fully explored. Everything happened too quickly, and shit was jam-packed into almost 3 hours. There was too many plot points and connections trying be made, but you can’t do that in one big 3 hour film. The story he was trying to tell could have been told in 3 movies! There was a lot more that I wanted to cover in this review, but I think I threw in enough to make my point.
As previously stated, I didn’t think the movie was horrendous, but it also wasn’t the most amazing Batman film I’ve ever seen. While it was entertaining and fun to watch (yes, I did say I liked it), I don’t think it’s the best of the three films. It was good, but it could have been way better. I really wanted so much to love TDKR. But even as huge of a Batman fan that I am, I can’t lie and say I thought it was epic. Batman Begins was amazing, and The Dark Knight was just pure genius (and by far my favorite of the three).
Please feel free to comment as I love hearing other people’s thoughts.
August 7, 2012 @ 1:02 PM
HEY ANNIE I LIKE IT TOO SEEN IT 3 TIMES ,BLake story would been better then i looked in your eyes and i knew you where batman. plus 8 years wo batman . i loved 1st 2 hope the next one who takes on batman will not go like 1997 lol only thing id change in TDK IS Maggie Gyllenhaal
August 7, 2012 @ 1:59 PM
I felt the same way. Although I believe Nolan is a comic book fan and he clearly references prior Batman stories (Dark Night Returns, No Mans Land, Nightfall), I believe he went for showing these eye-popping visuals at the expense of telling a good nuanced story.
I also agree on the Catwoman/Batman chemistry. Aren’t cats supposed to get close to an object they like. Where was the seductive nature of the catwoman?
I do believe they got the Bane character right but at the end they made hom out to be a sympathetic lapdog of Tahlia and in the end he gets taken out by Catwoman, WTH!!
I didn’t mind the Robin reveal. I believe this was Nolan’s attempt to make him a combination of all the Robins as opposed to the original. There are aspects of Dick Grayson (a policeman), Tim Drake (figured Batman’s idenity) and Jason Todd (criminal parents) in the Blake character.
The biggest flaw, I felt was the ending. How does a multi billionare, whose loss of money made world wide headlines, fake his death and then waltzes around in a public cafe?? How does a unemployed cop now take over the mantle of Batman?
You’re right, it could have been epic but turned out just a bit better than mediocre.
August 11, 2012 @ 9:58 PM
You have a good point on Nolan’s attempt at possibly making Blake a combination of a few Robins. While this could be true, he should have explained that character more. With supposedly so 3 hours of extra footage, I can only imagine how much was cut out that probably did explore the characters a bit more. I am wondering if the blu-ray will have this. haha It’s a longshot for that much footage gone, but damn! I really am curious as to what that all has.
August 7, 2012 @ 2:01 PM
I think this movie is just a shorter version of a possibly great 6 hour movie. You are right with no character development I feel nothing for these people, not the sense of fear or danger that this movie is supposed to invoke. Also Anne Hathaway is the worst possible choice for that role. If not Halle Berry then maybe Erica Hubbard or even yourself would make an awesome Catwoman. Much better than Anne Hathaway. Great review, I just hope they release an extended, extended version covering more eveloution of the characters backstory.
August 11, 2012 @ 10:00 PM
Yeah, I was just saying how I wonder if the blu-ray is gonna have most of the cut footage (being that there is just so much). It potentially could be its own DVD in that case haha The Dark Knight: The Lost Footage (or The Footage We Should Have Used). On another note, who is your favorite Catwoman?
August 7, 2012 @ 6:38 PM
I’d have to agree with everything you said above. It’s almost another case of Spider-Man 3 syndrome; too many bad guys & no focus. Tom Hardy is always effective as the villain of the piece (especially if he’s got a few screws loose) and seems to be relegated and dispatched much too soon. At least he got a better deal than Jeep Swenson last time we saw Bane!
Introducing Talia & Robin were good ideas, but probably best saved until the (inevitable) sequel/re-reboot. I’m beginning to think that an awful lot of modern directors have a little TOO much artistic control and should trust in an editor from time to time, rather than themselves. Not just Nolan… I’m pointing at Peter Jackson & Ridley Scott.
August 11, 2012 @ 10:03 PM
This is true for some directors. But yeah…too many characters and very little time! 🙁 Off subject, but since you mentioned Ridley Scott, I have to ask: Did you not like Prometheus as well? Curious on your answer because almost everyone and their mom LOVES that movie haha
August 8, 2012 @ 4:09 PM
Mmm where to star, I think I like the film more than u did, but ur right to say that it didn’t live up to the expectation we had of It. If my knowledge is correct, bane was a south American wrestler, but this bane of the film sounded like sean conerry, the way I see it the only thing bane from the film and the comic book shared in common was the name. As for cat woman, well u said it all. This cat woman Of the film is like the teen version of the catwoman we know. What I like about the movie was that it actually fooled me to believe that bane was Ra’s son (even though I know Ra’s had a daughter) I also like that we kept seen scare crow throught out all 3 films, kind of added continuity to me. It wasn’t epic as the 2nd film, but still pretty ep
August 11, 2012 @ 10:07 PM
I completely forgot to mention that about Bane’s accent in the movie. haha I have no idea what was with that. And you described it right with Hathaway’s Catwoman being the “teen version” we know. And I agree that I, too, was almost fooled into thinking Bane was Ra’s son even knowing he isn’t. I love Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow), so that was a fun little treat to see him in the third even for a short time as well.
August 8, 2012 @ 4:09 PM
-epic in my book.
August 13, 2012 @ 12:36 AM
I felt this was a pretty good movie, but one in which Batman as a character in the story and Christian Bale the actor were the weak links. The parts of the movie that actually focused specifically on Batman were tedious…he had zero chemistry with Selina, Commisioner Gordon or even Alfred…Anne Hathaway did a much better job than I was expecting tbh; she had Selina’s toughness and hidden vulnerability down pat, but I agree that there was no sexuality or sensuality from her. Michelle Pfeiffer was crazy sexy as the Catwoman…Hathaway just doesn’t have that energy.
Tom Hardy was great, though his voice was a real WTF decision for me…..every time he spoke, it totally took me out of the film.
All in all, I liked it much more as a movie than I liked it as a Batman movie, if that makes sense…
September 17, 2012 @ 9:05 PM
Yeah, I really agree with a lot of what you are saying. I felt kind of disappointed by this film. It was like they were throwing characters in left, right and center but not developing any of them. At one point, it actually seemed like Batman not even that important, and that milking the franchise took precedence over actually making the film.
I really disliked Anne Hathaway, who did not fit the character at all. Catwoman is sex personified. Hathaway is just an attractive girl pretending to be sexual.
As for Robin, it was like he was an after thought. Now, admittedly I am a bit harsh with scripts, being a script writer myself – but I feel that the script for the third Batman was really lacking in development, characters and even it’s focus on the Batman.