Like most of the world, I was very excited for The Dark Knight Rises. It took FOUR YEARS for this sequel to finally come out! The other two Christopher Nolan Batman movies were critically acclaimed, and popular with a HUGE audience. More importantly of course, I was a fan of both. The Dark Knight especially impressed me, as it was a comic book film with some actual depth- an actual message even. Also, I have a soft spot for films with great villains, and Heath Ledger's turn as the joker is probably one of the best villains of all-time. It was an incredible film, and one that would be nearly impossible to follow with an equally incredible sequel. I wanted to believe that Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise would have the ending it deserved. If this was a stand alone film, it would have been fine, on the better side of average even. But as the final chapter of this Batman trilogy, man, The Dark Knight Rises was a letdown.
Let’s just get this simple bit of business out of the way: Bane’s voice was... not good. Within the first ten minutes, my optimism for the film was murdered. The audience in my theater erupted in laughter when Bane first opened his mouth; and though I was quiet out of respect, the sentiment was shared. It was not the voice of a villain, at least not one that should be taken seriously. I don't know how that voice could have possibly escaped the director, producers, the after effects people- someone should have spoken up! But somehow, through whatever communal insanity, the voice made its way into theaters. Distracting, hilarious, confusing- yes, the voice is that bad. We may all have to suffer Bane impressions for years to come. Thanks, really Mr. Nolan. And while this voice was absolutely a poor choice (to say the least), it was not the only reason this movie didn't live up to the hype.
The movie came out well over a month ago, so let's refresh our memory. The film takes place 8 years after The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne hasn't been doing his Batman thing, and has thus begun transforming into Howard Hughes. Bane enters the scene, so Batman comes out of retirement. Catwoman, Talia al-Ghul and Blake, a young idealistic cop, are all introduced. Gotham is held hostage. Batman is again struggling with being Batman.
The first scene presented the first problem, actually the story as a whole was just a fundamental problem. It is very cliché. As far as possible catastrophes for the hero to fight against, an nuclear/atom/whatever bomb has to be the most tired. The Scarecrow's neurotoxin played well in Batman Begins, the Joker's plan for chaos in The Dark Knight, but then we have the final film pulling from the old-school comic book idea vault. Yes, the film stayed true to the comics (apparently), but this is a film. A film in 2012. A whatever bomb just doesn't play on film like it used to. It's not interesting.
The motives for using the whatever bomb weren't very interesting either. Ra's al-Ghul's daughter wants to carry on his legacy, so her motives were already explored in the first film of the trilogy. There was a slight Occupy Wall Street twist, but it was just a thinly-veiled attempt at making the film more relevant.
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was pointless. Talia al-Ghul was inserted randomly at the end. Joseph Gordon Levitt's future Robin was simple and boring. BUT we did have a semi-cool new character in Bane. His voice was horrendous of course, but once one gets over that he's not that bad. When Bane and Batman do have their intense, back-breaking confrontation, it is a great scene. The way Bane is shot, the physicality of Tom Hardy- it all combines into a pretty terrifying sequence. There is an atmosphere of dread that just belies its entirety. Batman is in trouble, and the viewer can just feel it. So Bane won me over after that. Unfortunately his character is ultimately ripped to shreds. He is not a callous, evil hulk of a villain, he is child Talia's protector. There is no reason given for him to protect her, he's just a teddy bear. When he fights Batman for the second time, Batman cuts off his supply to his pain-killing gas. Immediately Bane is rendered completely harmless and whiny. So he's not really that evil, nor is he that much of a threat given that huge vulnerability.
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| Awww how cute... he's trying to be threatening. Adorable! |
So Batman Begins was extremely disappointing, but this is probably because in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, it is in the company of a very good movie, and an amazing one. Where was there to go after The Dark Knight? Maybe there was nowhere to go but down. Way down. Keep the expectations low-- strange how that seems to be becoming the theme of this blog... --and you might enjoy it. Expect the The Dark Knight in The Dark Knight Rises and you will be disappointed.
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