This is a vague question to say the least. Essentially, we're discussing the 'Best Picture' category when it comes to
The Dark Knight Rises because it's a film that wants to be taken seriously, no matter what its source material may be. It will pick up some nominations in some of the more technical categories; I fully expect Wally Pfister's efforts as the film's cinematographer to get some recognition but with a flurry of critically praised films being released at the back-end of 2012, even he may lose out on what appeared to be a sure-fire nomination. The film's predecessor,
The Dark Knight, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two of them (Best Supporting Actor for
Heath Ledger and Best Sound Editing for
Richard King, who worked with Nolan again on
...Rises). Whilst this doesn't tell us which way the Academy will vote this time around, it needs to be said that critics and fans, whilst very commendable to Nolan's third and final Bat film, perhaps didn't see it on the same sort of level as
The Dark Knight, making it hard to see the film pick up a Best Picture nomination this time around. But then again, this is the Academy who last year nominated
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as one of the best 10 films of the year... However, aside from my recent forays into Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, there are certain aspects in the film's favour. I'm going to come out immediately and say that none of the actors will pick up any recognition for it. Michael Caine would perhaps be the closest but it would certainly be a shocker; Anne Hathway seems to be a strong favourite but rather for her work on
Les Miserables than as Selina Kyle. However, the American Film Institute (the author of everyone's favourite AFI All Time Lists...) have recently released their top 10 films of 2012; have a look at 'em: Argo Beasts Of The Southern Wild The Dark Knight Rises Django Unchained Les Miserables Life of Pi Lincoln Moonrise Kingdom Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty I assume you all saw it. This certainly isn't an indicator for the Oscars but it's worth noting. Many of these films, if not all of them, have been consistently labeled as the hot favourites for the Oscars and the fact that Nolan's film is up there surely means that,
yes, it IS a contender. As the AFI article on the top 10 films claims, it's certainly a jolt of 'adrenaline' for
The Dark Knight Rises to be up there with such highly esteemed films (the list is chosen by film scholars and other fancy ladies and gents from the worlds of TV and Film) but one must also note the absence of other talked-about films that will also be jockeying for a place on that renowned nomination sheet;
The Master,
Cloud Atlas,
Skyfall. There's
a very good article elsewhere on WhatCulture! that argues why the movie
should be nominated; mainly due to its expansive label as the year's biggest blockbuster and its ability to achieve so much in terms of its ambitious scope, direction and narrative. It's a story of sublime sophistication and craft that warrants its place at the upper echelons of Hollywood's 2012 offerings. The post ends by claiming it would be good for the Academy to break the mould a little bit and steer away from the traditional 'Oscar-bait' that perhaps reared its head with the previous two winners (
The King's Speech and
The Artist; both fantastic films though!). Of course, the comment box threw out the usual counterpoints with one post claiming that at an Academy screening earlier in the year, the general reaction was one of ambivalence. Not quite the X factor it was hoping for then...
Let's address a few other things: the critics. We love to criticise their opinions (everyone remember the RT fiasco when one specific critic dared paint
The Dark Knight Rises in a negative light?) but these are the men and women who know more about the art than anyone else and their salary dictates that. As the year ends, many of them love to publish their top-10 movies of the year so I thought I'd take a look and see how often The Dark Knight Rises popped up. Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone found a spot at number 10 for the movie and Richard Corliss of
Time placed the movie at number 5 on his list. Whilst not every critic has released their list yet, both these critics are considered 'Top Critics' on...yes, Rotten Tomatoes...and their views definitely carry a bit of weight. It shows the movie has made an impact on some and again, can be considered a contender. A lot of the films on their lists will show up again countless times as critics start releasing their own choices so I think we can use this as an indicator that Christian Bale's gravel voice did him no harm third time around. From what I've seen from a brief spot of research, the film is up there in terms of critical appreciation and I imagine will certainly be considered. It's true that the traditional views of the Academy tend to ignore films of this genre but as many have so prevalently claimed over the last few years, Nolan has attempted vigorously to move away from this outlook, bringing Batman to life in a gritty, realistic, almost noir style which has won him a lot of new fans. That brings me onto my final point: Nolan.
The film is a contender for an Oscar (though it won't, I can assure you, win Best Picture) but my own unique feeling is that it won't be included in the final 10. However, whilst many will perhaps agree that the film, which may also be the weakest of the trilogy, doesn't deserve a nomination, I imagine more will argue that Nolan has achieved a lot more this time around in terms of direction and may even get his name on that sacred envelope this year. Yes, again I'd argue he's a contender and that his efforts for
The Dark Knight Rises were astounding. However, you have to look at his competition this year: Bigelow, Tarantino, Spielberg, Li, Thomas Anderson, Affleck etc. The competition in terms of directorial achievement is immense! Hell, I could probably give you a few good points why Joss Whedon is a contender, but I won't... To conclude, it would be foolish to dismiss the movie because you 'didn't think it was very good' - I thought a few of the films nominated last year were quite naff (
War Horse, Extremely Loud...) yet both received nominations. However, 2012 has been majestic in terms of movie magic and a whole lot greater than 2011. Will
The Dark Knight Rises win the Oscar? Perhaps. Will Christopher Nolan finally nudge his way into the Academy's good books? Maybe. Will the Academy decide to go with tradition and completely ignore Nolan and his Batman trilogy once more? Ask again later...