6. Bane and Talia
The problem with releasing almost episodic superhero movies, as is the current trend, is that until the inevitable reboot gets green lit, each movie requires a new villain. Thankfully TDKR avoided the trap Spider-Man 3 fell into and Nolan saw sense to not throw as many villains at the screen as will stick, ultimately diluting the threat to the hero. Prior to being made, Spider-Man 3s and TDKR had a shared problem, how to follow part 2. When the middle film of a trilogy has a highly threatening, hugely iconic antagonist how does the third film follow that? Nolan stuck to the one villain formula with Bane and it largely paid off, though a few aspects couldnt help but underwhelm. Where Bane succeeds, at least in the first two thirds of the movie is that hes an immediate and legitimate threat to Batman. As iconic as Ledgers Joker was, The Joker is essentially playing one big game with no end goal other than to cause as much chaos as possible whilst poking the bat and hoping for a reaction. Bane is different; Bane is straight down to business. Hes got a plan and hes not playing games, if someone, anyone, tries to get in his way hell remove them from his path. In his first meeting with Batman, what was exciting was not just the efficiency and brutality with which he beat Batman down, but the fact that in a superhero movie, the superhero was given a pummelling and at no point did it feel like he stood a chance. Bane succeeded as a villain because he brought Batman out of his comfort zone, he didnt hide and operated at street level, meaning Batman had to do the same, no sneaking around using mobile phone sonar this time. Some have criticised Nolans technique when shooting action sequences when really theyre a breath of fresh air. With the typical action blockbuster climax usually involving a confusing CGI-fest of lasers, loud noises and giant robots, Nolans stripped down brawl involving Batman and Bane was impressively visceral. The casting of Tom Hardy as Bane worked very well. Coming off the back of Bronson and Warrior, Hardys physical presence was key to his imposing performance. A performance that didnt afford the grandstanding opportunities of someone like The Joker, nor should it. Banes demise in the film is in line with Banes demise as an effective villain. For what must have been 80-90% of the film, Bane is the treat, yet in a matter of moments Bane is quickly rendered useless (damaging the mask), undermined as the central villain (Talias reveal) and disposed of off-screen (Selenas arrival on the Batpod). Although this doesnt, by a long shot, ruin the film, the reveal of Bane as basically Talias bodyguard/puppet does undermine his character, making his demise rather anticlimactic. Clearly this isnt an accident on Nolans part, the climax here lies with the fate of Gotham City, but his reveal does retroactively remove some of the tangible dread. The reveal of Talia is obviously key to this. The fact that her relationship with Bruce garnered very little screen time meant that not only Banes demise, but hers too is not only anticlimactic, but almost brushed aside. Being someone with Nolans expertise and Batman not being just another superhero movie, none of this is accidental, the way they are dispatched is befitting of Batmans style, they are a small part of a larger whole, yet to approach the villains in this way is a bold move on Nolans part, if a little surprising.