2) It Won't Be Better Than The Avengers... At What The Avengers Does
The "Avengers vs. Rises" debate mystifies me. Endless snark fights litter every movie website. But the more you try and compare the two blockbusters, the more ridiculous it sounds in your head. Example: "The Dark Knight Rises" has a major American city being overrun by a mob of economically dispossessed human beings; "The Avengers" has a major American city being overrun by giant floating space slugs that attack by rather ineffectively rubbing themselves against the sides of buildings. Not that I don't love space slugs. I do. I love space slugs. Joss Whedon even pitched his own vision of Batman before Nolan stepped in, and it would have spent a lot more time with the angry, orphaned 12 year old Bruce. Even if he had got the chance to make his vision of Batman, I guarantee it wouldn't be
anything like "The Avengers", a giddy, escapist fun. To my mind it's the closest anyone has come to putting the feeling of a comic book up onscreen (right down to each Avenger kicking butt in one long continuous shot, the cinematic equivalent of a "splash page"). There's fun to be had in Batman films too ("a little by accident" as Alfred would say), but it always takes a backseat to the story. A grim story And that's how we like it. Nolan's Batman is all about suffering. In "The Avengers" reference is made to 80 people being killed as the setup to a goofy one-liner; in "The Dark Knight Rises" we'll see civilians trampled and whole chunks of Gotham falling into the sea. The filmmakers have been quoted saying that the central theme of "The Dark Knight Rises" is "pain", and the trailers suggest that Bruce Wayne will spend a large portion of his time at the bottom of a deep dark hole. Oh, and that's not a metaphor, we're talking about a
literal deep dark hole in the actual ground. "The Avengers" is like a cinematic pic 'n' mix; Sweet, sugar-rushed, all the colours of the 'bow and there's something for everyone (right down to the giant jelly snakes). 2008's "The Dark Knight" was like a good hearty steak; Tough on the outside, meaty on the inside, perhaps a little fatty round the edges but decidedly well done. Plus, it wasn't for everyone (There are plenty of Nolanverse vegetarians, and that's no bad thing either). "The Dark Knight Rises" looks to be the same again, only bigger and even tougher on the outside. It's a good thing that comic book fans have superhero movies that suit our various moods. Right now we
need "The Avengers" to be fun and we
need "The Dark Knight Rises" to be dark. And lucky for us, we have both. See? The world can be a happy place.