Whilst the dust settles on Christopher Nolan’s final Batman films release and the true horrors of the nerdgasm apocalypse that has stricken down the majority of mankind is realised; it is time for us at WhatCulture towers to take our retrospectives on the most anticipated ending of a trilogy since Star Wars.
Whilst many of my compatriots in the noble art of opinion giving have lauded The Dark Knight Rises and focused on its many mysteries I have taken a more pessimistic angle with my view of The Dark Knight Rises, whilst also maintaining the core belief that this film is one of the greatest comic book films ever. Everything has its flaws, and this has a few ones, but The Dark Knight Rises is just as strong and loveable because of them as much as they could put you off.
Fair warning: There will be spoilers; and a little bit of self ego massage at the end.
Low Point 1: The Opening Act
Now I’m not going so far as to say that the entire first hour of TDKR is an unenjoyable experience however it comes across as a haphazardly put together blur filled with erratic character appearances, motivations and as many anti-capitalism lines as you can shake a stick at.
This section is meant to be a whirlwind of new events that sweep you off your feet but comes across as an unwanted addition there to fill in the gaps before the first Bane/Batman confrontation and the story Nolan clearly has more interesting in telling begins and the film really begins to soar.
Selina Kyle (Catwoman) is given little development other than a taste for anarchy and willingness to do a lot of things with her feet and the Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) – Bruce Wayne love angle is so botched, rushed and unimpressive that when the film latter plays this as a big emotional edge it is incomprehensible how a loveless one night stand could cause such emotions.
Low Point 2: Batman’s Arrival
Bruce Wayne appears in the Batman suit poignantly two times; and both times they are handled with the majesty of a dog scratching itself in public.
As opposed to playing on the epic fact that audiences are, at the beginning, wanting to see him return and, at the end wanting, him to come save the world and would happily buy in to Nolan marking these arrivals with the circumstance of the second coming of Christ.
Instead it’s ever so slightly disregarded as unimportant; of course this story isn’t just about Batman it’s about the people of Gotham. But the audiences want their protector, they want him back and instead of marking these moments of arrival with pant wetting awe, it’s more of a ‘…Oh hey Batman when did you get here?!’
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20 Comments
I disagree with your negative points except the disappearance of Alfred. I actually though Bane’s voice was perfect. it sounded like he was mocking things because for the most part he was.
I loved the movie and I agree with all your points, I felt the same.
Bane’s voice is far too crisp and clear, they fixed it too much sounds like its just floating around and kinda takes away from Hardy’s performance.
Still loved the hell out of it.
loved the movie but a couple of things bugged me.
1) how did bruce wayne get back and into gotham?
2) how did batman manage to stand on “thin ice” with gordon?
3) Miranda Tate, really bad acting in last scene. Agree?
really trying to phrase these questions as non-spoilers
I was also left bothered by your # 2 and 3 points. Miranda Tate’s last scene actually made me laugh out loud.
To number one, the secret service agents got in too. I really doubt that those men could have blocked every way in to a gigantic city. Two, Maybe it was a particularly strong section.
I agree on all 3 points. But can forgive the 1st and 2nd ones.
That final scene – it wasn’t just the acting, it’s the writing. Listen to what she’s saying. She’s basically an overpowered bond girl. Her motivation is cliche at best – avenging her father (or was it finishing his work? The fact that I’m not may say something.)
Also, notice how she was acting great up till then. There may just not be many easy ways to say ‘It was me all along’ in the straightforward, villainous way, without sounding like something out of a second-generation disney film.
“loveless one night stand”? I agree that it felt somewhat rushed – a major problem with the film is that character development takes a back seat to all the 10 thousand things happening at once – however, they make it clear that Bruce does care about Miranda and that he’s contemplating a life with her.
In fact, if anything was a negative in the love triangle, it was how quickly Batman moved on (and kissed Selina) just moments after Miranda died. It just seemed distasteful and I don’t think either relationship waas handled well. Selina did bad things to Bruce and yet he just shrugged them off. Selina’s whole storyarc seemed to end up revolving around Bruce *needing* a ‘happy ending’ of sorts, so the whole of that relationship seemed rushed. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the final scene where they’re at the cafe together.
A bad thing about the movie was (yet again) the lack of Cillian Murphy. Same issue with TDK, except this time, he wasn’t even playing the same character. Disappointed with how Nolan handled Murphy’s screen-time.
Bane was pretty much the strong point of the movie. Fierce and relentless. Hardy really impressed me.
On your comment about Murphy’s appearance… You said he doesn’t even play the same character, how do you figure? That was Crane. They call him Crane, he looks just like Crane, and he is even wearing the same stuff he normally does, just without the mask. It was an awesome appearance with him being the judge. It fit. So I’m not sure where the disappointment went.
I love the fact that he even keeps villains throughout the movies. Save for the Joker for obvious reasons of HEath’s passing, every other villain has been featured in the following movies. Scarecrow was in Begins, TDK, and TDKR. Ra’s made another appearance. Dent was a big plot point and shown. So yeah…to be disappointed just because Crane didn’t play huge parts in the following 2, I don’t know what else you’d expect. It plays up that these villains are a constant threat just as they are in the comics, but not every one can always be the focal point.
Why do you think the Joker was so left out? True, Ledger can’t reappear but his character was not even mentioned. They could have at least acknowledged what happened with him. Harvey’s picture was all over the place.
I would lose the John Blake/orphanage stuff and focus on the Dagget arc a bit more. Gordon and Co. “special forces” mission should have been a lot more important and played out parallel to Bruce’s road to recovery (i.e., Bruce Wayne training for the climb as Gordon and Co. run reconnaissance and strategize, both men failing their big moment, then Bruce failing to rise some more while ALL of Gordon’s gang are being put to death). Gordon eventually walks the ice to fall as Bruce rises from the pit. Gordon goes under the ice and just before he succumbs to the water Batman (tricky non-linear storytelling used here) saves him.
I agree on the John Blake point. I loved the character – but the orphanage just didn’t measure up to the scope of the city. It didn’t make sense to give it so much screen time. You’re sitting there like “Yeah, there’s a bus full of orphans…but there’s also city full of a hundred billion people about to blow up!”
I hate to say it, but – my thoughts exactly.
I’d add that there were several confusing points. To name 2 or 3:
How strong is Bruce when we first see him? (seems like a dry leaf, but becomes batman in virtually no time and no training.) Then – what really changes him and makes him ‘darker’ or tougher than bane?
What does Bane really want – vs. what is his declared philosophy (-which seems to be the Joker’s, just not as eloquently put)
One can’t help but wonder as all the explosiveness of the finale just too much for them to handle…? Unfortunately the ‘Bane’ of so many films is the themes – major and detail – not having been thought out enough. And this seems to be the case.
Of course, it is still a masterpiece in its own way, and the most epic film I’ve seen since the lord of the rings.
Bruce was vigorously and for a long time trained by the League of Shadows remember? Also before that he was deep in the prison system picking fights with criminals. After that he would exercise all the time, doing the push-ups right when he woke up. What changed fight wise was the punch to the mask. Bane was in huge amounts of agony when his mask was broken and kept trying to fix it during the fight.
Connor –
Yes. I know how he became Batman, and have seen the other films several times,
But my question was – how strong is Bruce at the start of *this* film. Because he seems very weak. So much so that there is reason to believe he’s lost his touch for now, as Alfred says ‘…It takes time to get back into the swing of things’ and – ‘You’re not the Batman anymore’.
So I kind of want to see him training at the start of this film too – because he doesn’t appear to have been working out for 8 years, as far as the plot is concerned…And if he has kept in shape – then show it. Prove it to the audience, because they can’t guess. Not when Catwoman gets the best of him so easy. Twice.
Regarding your second point – I am aware that the mask was how Batman beat him. But that wasn’t where I was coming from, and may actually be part of the problem.
…The level I was talking about was this: There must be some change Batman as a character goes through – having lost the battle and won the second. The filmmakers were sure going for that, the change being escaping from the prison.
It was a perfect set up. Batman is darkness, and now comes a man BORN in darkness who beats him. But the solution… wasn’t as great. You’d expect them to show how Bruce finds he’s even darker than Bane after all (thus the ‘dark knight – rises’), or else had another advantage that Bane didn’t have. This, in effect, would have been the heart and soul of the tale of Batman’s triumph. What we got instead, though, was mostly confusion as to what empowered him. Something along the lines of overcoming fear but still having fear, …made way too complicated – so much so that you end up being confused whether fear is his strength or weakness, or both, and also confused as to how – bottom line – does he make it out of there?
This, then, is actually made worse if you think Batman ultimately beat Bane by the technicality of his mask. If it’s just a matter of hitting the mask then – what exactly has Batman learned, or how has he strengthened himself internally enough to beat him? What, in other words, is the point of that story?
Of course, it wasn’t just the mask, the direction of Bruce overcoming weakness was clear. But the execution ultimately left something to be missed.
It was ‘almost’ but not quite. And that’s pretty much how I see this movie as a whole.
It suffers from the ‘Bane’ of the finales, but still ‘Rises’ way above any superhero franchise ever.
Chris I agree with you 100%. My friends told me that because I don’t like TDKR that I am now gay (they’re in their mid-20s not their teens so it’s even more ludicrous) I was also told I should be publicly flogged for not liking. It’s nice to see someone with a similar point
The police getaway was pretty disappointing. 3 seconds of dialouge informing all units The Batman MUST be taken in ALIVE would’ve helped that chase play out a little better. The way-too-early use of “The Bat” seemed like a cop out ending to that scene and made that odd rooftop fight sequence that followed very cheesy and a little too convenient. At least there was no romantic flight scene above Gotham City after they escaped.
@Dingle Berry were you replying to a commenter or the article? What didn’t you find clear?
THANKS!!!
Hated the movie… there were too many characters and the protagonist (Batman) showed up just to get his behind kicked.
Mayor let down.
I agree with your low points. In particular Bane’s voice. I saw it first at Imax and then a regular cinema. I saw it a second time because I could barely understand anything that was said in the airplane scene at the start, and most of the time I could not understand what Bane was saying. (I don’t usually have problems understanding any dialogue in films). The voice effect that put on Bane may have been part of the problem, but your comment made me realise it may have been his tone.
I was hoping there would be a few more instalments before this version of Batman ended. In particular I had hoped for a “Riddler” villain.
I think Nolan just wants to move on but he wanted to complete the circle on this version of Batman.
If anything for me it would be more fun to go back to the time between Batman Begins and Dark Knight and do a few films back then, so we can have Christian Bale kicking butt with some of the other Batman villains.
Marion Cotillard in TDKR was awful overall, the death scene was a perfect example of her dreadful acting. She’s a decent actor away from this though. Can’t help but think Nolan’s original choices of Naomi Watts or Rachel Weisz would’ve been better, Nicole Kidman would’ve nailed it but I know Nolan doesn’t like casting the right people for the right roles.