The idea of Talia al Ghul showing up in Nolan's films was sparked the moment Ra's al Ghul showed up in Batman Begins. Bringing her into the fold for the final film -- allowing Bruce's history with the League of Shadows to come full circle -- was, on paper, a solid decision. When Internet speculation about "Miranda Tate" being Talia began at exactly the same moment Marion Cotillard was cast, expectations were set for her to have a major part in The Dark Knight Rises. But then, as the movie unfolded, Miranda Tate's highest point came when she slept with Bruce, allowing Bane to steal the show. When she finally revealed herself to be Talia, it was a case of too little too late, as it dramatically reduced Bane's character to nothing more than a puppy dog in the process and landed with a resounding thud for occurring too far into the film for Talia to be given enough to do to shine. Miranda had hardly made an impact on the audience for the twist to be as gasp-worthy as it should've been, which may have been amended had Talia actually done something beyond stabbing Bruce and dying after a chase sequence. Talia had all the potential to become a great, vengeance-fueled villain for the saga with a great actress filling her shoes, but with the presence of her character within the film ultimately serving to water down Bane and failing to provide anything truly satisfying in the end, one cant help but wonder why she was even included in the first place. As it stands, she feels as though she's in the film just because she can be and not because she should be, which is disappointing and a disservice to the viability of both the character and Cotillard.
Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!
