1. Batman
Despite recognising the fact that TDKR is a movie and not a comic book and as such needs to develop its character over a finite arc, I still think that Nolan has taken too many liberties. To me, TDKR Batman is just not Batman. He doesnt think; he just runs into conflict head on. In the comics he was bested by Bane in his own home after being forced to round up a slew of Arkham escapees while he had the flu no less. He was beaten by superior tactics. In TDKR though, Batman was beaten initially by his own underestimation of the foe he faced. By the fact that he seems to spend so little time planning, investigating and thinking pro-actively and so much time head-butting Bane in the fist. Hes slow, sluggish, reactive and lacks practically anything that makes the source material Batman such an unstoppable force for justice. I wasnt surprised that Bane was victorious in their first encounter, and even though I knew it was coming, I should have been. I wasnt shocked or amazed by the clever way in which Bane was able to outsmart the Worlds Greatest Detective; in fact Batman's defeat seemed like a forgone conclusion, given the fact that he was so willing to simply trade punches like a gorilla. Not exactly what I'd expect from a tactical mastermind. Of course in theory all of my gripes here can be brushed off in one motion by saying that Nolan had artistic license over the character, therefore his trilogy represents a new take thats not necessarily representative of Batman from the comics. While as an aficionado if film I can sort of accept that, as a fan of faithful adaptations I cant help but feel Ive been slapped in the face by someone who only half understands the character hes presenting to us. And I think that that was masked in Batman Begins owing to its roots in the origin, that it started showing itself in The Dark Knight with the decision to have Batman accept responsibility for Two Faces murders, but becomes blaringly obvious with TDKRs lore-defying departure from the Batman we know and love. Once again I find myself disenfranchised from the Batman movie property. Of course it was much worse when Schumacher was the perp, but I still cant shake these feelings of empty disappointment. With The Avengers representing such a perfectly adapted version of the Marvel Universe I really had high hopes going in to TDKR. But Im one of the few youll meet who feels that this time, Nolan really dropped the Bat. Now that you've read my venomous take on the film,
click here to reveal our spoilerific run-through of the twelve biggest plot-points of Nolan's trilogy-ender, reviewing each point in depth along the way... Rant over.