*spoilers ahead*
2012 was the year of the third and final Batman film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Many moviegoers and comic book fans (such as myself) were expecting an epic triumph to conclude the series...we were slightly disappointed...
The two previous Batman films did an excellent job of establishing Batman, the antagonists, and the fictional world they created. The events that took place were believable, and down to earth – in terms of the comic book world in which they existed. However, The Dark Knight Rises decided to raise the bar and see what they could get away with, in terms of far fetched ideas and action sequences.
The film starts with a slightly “outlandish” action sequence, in which the new antagonist of the film, Bane, is introduced and rescued. Who is Bane? Bane is a man who combines brains and brawns. It sounds pretty compelling, and appears to be a hefty foe for Batman...but then he speaks. Listening to Bane is almost identical to listening to Sean Connery casually speak, while occasionally transitioning into a German accent every now and again – not to mention that he was unintelligible a quarter of the time. Remember when you saw Mike Tyson? You thought “Wow. What a badass.” Then he spoke, and you didn’t actually believe that was his voice. This is what the audience had to deal with for roughly three hours. The Scarecrow and Ra’s al Ghul spoke like you would expect. The Joker and Two Face spoke like you would expect. Bane spoke like no one would expect, and left for a jarring performance throughout the film.
TDKR also came across as feeling very rushed; not just the story (which jumped ahead weeks at a time), but the production behind the film. The first half of the film had some of the worst editing I have ever seen. A scene would abruptly end, and cut away to the next scene a split second after someone finished speaking. The audio was also unfinished and under-produced. On a few occasions, especially at the climax, every piece of audio was mashed together for an incoherent mess. The sound producers decided to blast the dialogue, the sound effects, and the music all at the same volume, all at the same time. The story itself was also less personal and meaningful than the previous two films. TDKR simply made up random scenarios with no explanations for them (e.g. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character magically concludes that Bruce Wayne is Batman...based off absolutely nothing; the Gotham PD send in all their forces without a second thought; the military is apparently powerless to whole situation and can’t intervene). It may have been because this was more of a “global” threat than the previous two, but it made it feel as if the film was out of its element, and it wasn’t a film about Batman and a villain. However, one of the biggest issues in the film was its ending. TDKR made outstanding use of foreshadowing in the film. They had Alfred state what he wanted for Bruce, they had Lucius talk about the new aircraft, and then hint to the audience that there was an indeed an autopilot on the craft, and Bruce used it. This foreshadowing is then given the icing on the cake when Alfred is shown at the end of the film, looking across the patio, and smiling. This is beautiful filmmaking. Unfortunately, TDKR decides to negate all of that, and simply show the audience “Here’s Bruce, and here’s Selina. They’re alive and well. Ignore the foreshadowing, since we didn’t think you’d pick up on it”. I lost a lot of respect for Nolan after watching that sequence.
Other various issues in the film revolved around some secondary characters. Selina Kyle (Catwoman), played by Anne Hathaway, gave a great performance...if she didn’t have to do any action sequences. Watching this 110lbs. woman take down foes twice her size was cheesy to say the least. This isn’t a sexist comment either. I would always roll my eyes when reading Batman comics, as I watched teenaged Robin lay waste to full grown men.
Essentially, TDKR is a Rocky-style film, where the protagonist is suiting up for one last fight which he ultimately wins. Unfortunately for the TDKR, the effect of triumph over the villain is lost, as Batman doesn’t give that final blow after all his hard work; Catwoman strolls in and shoots Bane. Yes. It is that simple. There are some pros to TDKR, but it pales in comparison to its predecessors. When you look at it as a stand alone film, it serves fairly well as a comic book film. However, it cannot match the performances, the plot, or the realistic/believable setting that The Dark Knight delivered.
I’m a DC man myself, but even I enjoyed the Avengers ride more than The Dark Knight Rises.
7.5/10
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