Welcome, dear readers, to another instalment of 'Stuff wha' I 'ave watched 'n' wha' I faw abaiiii'. And for once - possibly just this once - I'm reviewing something that is actually up-to-date and still in cinemas. Thus, bravely taking the risk of being remotely relevant, let us take a look at Christopher Nolan's trilogy-ending blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises.
Honestly, I hate to not be more glowing. I wish I could love seven colourful shades of living jelly out of this movie, but it's one of those films that comes with so many niggles as to mar the overall satisfaction of its viewing. I left the cinema in that awkward place between being completely pumped and massively deflated. Spoilers follow, so, you know: SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! Understood? Good.
My main criticisms lie pretty heavily with the final act of the film, particularly the last few shots. But let's begin a little earlier. Let's begin with Batman Begins. I'll say it straight out - honest opinion - this one was the best. As a film, as a superhero movie, as a Batman movie, and as the first in a trilogy, it was and remains extraordinary. What BB did so well was not only tell the origin story of its central hero, but it justified that origin in a context that should have made it unjustifiable. In a gritty, realistic world, an orphan does not seek to avenge his parents by donning high-tech, animal-themed costume clothes and swooping about the city at night. Other incarnations of the caped crusader either sidestep this problem completely or establish the context of their stories in goofy/stylised/comic book ways to allow for this. BB triumphed because it remembered that behind the mask is a man, and a man needs a good reason to take up that mask. Though it played out in what essentially comes down to an hour long training montage, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne actually developed into the role. There were ideas that formed a framework from which The Dark Knight could justifiably rise.
This, I'm afraid, falls apart in TDKR. When Bale dons the cape and cowl in this third instalment, he looks ridiculous. He looks like a man dressed up as a bat, not The Batman. So what changed? For me it comes down to a conflict between spectacle and story. The hints were there from the final act of BB, and it was the major problem of the middle sister of Nolan's trilogy, The Dark Knight. Though it was held together by some terrific ideas, TDK was a string of impressive set-pieces with visible seams. The desire for bigger, more-intense scenes led to clumsier, more-obvious plotholes. Excellent acting spurred the whole thing forward, but could not completely cover the fact that the creators seemed to have forgotten that they were telling a story. By the time we reach TDKR, the justification for Wayne's getup is lost through the lens of "Wow! That jump over thirty police cars was cool, wasn't it?!".
I do not mean to dismiss the action part of the action movie so completely. The chase and combat scenes were exciting and visually stunning. But the best action films make the action part of the story. TDKR failed to keep the story and spectacle aligned. It's a shame, because they tried so very hard. Some might complain that it takes most of the first act for Bale to get back in the suit in the first place. I wish I could defend this, saying that the time was used to re-establish the framework of ideas, as well as the new conflicts, that lead up to (and make significant) Batman's return. But I can't. Michael Caine does his best to lend these early scenes substance, but I didn't feel anything of the same impression, the true spectacle, of seeing Bale take up the suit that I did in BB. The ideas were gone, and so too, therefore, was the seriousness with which I could take the guy in the pointy black ears and heavy eye makeup, speaking like he's been massaging his throat with sandpaper.
It's odd, because every other character, even at their most dressed up, was substantially more 'real'. I loved Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, who (ignoring the inexplicably high-tech goggles that did what exactly?) owned both the character and her catsuit admirably. Tom Hardy's Bane was a commanding villain (though there are problems I will address shortly), Gary Oldman continued to be a wonderfully complex if under-used Gordon, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cottilard both made compelling efforts as new characters who needed establishing and developing in a short time, - though with varied success on the script's part. For such a determined attempt at a 'realistic' Batman, it was the Dark Knight himself who came out looking the most ridiculous, and, therefore, the most out of place in the film.
To continue with Bane for a moment, I have four points to make. 1) The voice was a surprise. I was expecting something as gruff and guttural as Bale's impression of an angry dog; but Hardy's smooth, calm address was beautifully sinister. It was a little too obvious that additional audio work had been done in post-production, especially in the opening plane scene, where immersion was suspended just a little by Bane's voice ringing out clear like it originated outside of his body; but it was still excellent. 2) The mask did the same thing to Hardy as Batman's mask did to Bale. With a limited number of visible features, they were both left trying to act with their eyes (though Bale did have the luxury of a mouth), which led to a bit of unintentional eyebrow comedy. 3) The one-on-one brawl in the sewers was the best action scene in the film. The close, brutal physicality lent it more substance than any number of high-speed chases or big explosions could. It was superbly done. 4) Bane was dealt a massive disservice by his ending.
I'm not going to say that the reveal of Talia al Ghul was obvious as if that reduces the film, because for some it was a genuine surprise, and I'm more interested in the quality of the story than its predictability. I also knew, for example, how the film would end before going in, but that didn't at all stop me being excited about it. No, the problem with the Talia reveal is what it relied on and what it did. It relied on a character who had only just been introduced. It relied on her being established and developed in a meaningful way before the twist. It relied on her story being well-told. Ultimately, it relied on more than the script gave us. It was hollow, and, because of this, Bane's character was unfairly reduced. As a rule, you should only introduce a new Big Bad if they are a BIGGER BAD. The peril must increase. Instead, Bane was stripped of his real power; his threat was substantially minimised for no good reason; and then he was offed in a painfully belittling way, in a manner completely antithetical to the Batman ethos. For shame!
Let's look at the relationship between Batman and Bane in more detail. Bane stands up in the film as a true opposite to Batman. He's callously apathetic when it comes to human life, snapping at least one neck in every scene like a man with an obsessive need to unscrew bottle-caps, and he's physically dominating, easily handling Bats who, though beefy, has to rely on more than his strength to defeat his opponents. Locking Batman in a one-on-one brawl where gadgets and wits are of little use exposes the Dark Knight's physical vulnerability. He's not fit for this battle. And, more importantly, he never should have been.
Though it's understandable that a Batman film needs a certain amount of Batman in it, I continue my previous argument that the return lacked impact. Wayne recovers from his injuries and pops on the suit far too willingly for someone who has retired. It was too easy, and the threat wasn't great enough. It should have been an act of desperation. Gotham really should have needed him. He should have believed that ONLY Batman could help. I argue that the first time he put the suit back on should have been for the brawl with Bane. Underground, secret, hidden from public view. No collateral. No mind-games. Just one force against another. I mean, for someone vilified for killing Harvey Dent, Batman's return to the streets is surprisingly casual. Sure, he gets chased by cops, but, after one getaway, they seem to give up and accept him. Isn't he meant to be a wanted criminal in hiding? The brawl with Bane could have been the moment he was forced back into the suit, hoping that this might be the last time, the final, unseen, unacknowledged rescue. What Gotham needed was its silent guardian - emphasis on the silent. What it got was a show-off with some new toys. And postponing Batman's return until that one fight would have made his defeat even more terrible. For all he had given, Gotham still needed him, but he just wasn't good enough. He was too old, too tired, too hurt, too broken. He entered that fight destined to lose because so much depended on his victory.
And then he'd wake up in that pit with his spirit truly broken. What we got was a second act committed to Wayne's unreasonably fast physical recovery and a lot of pretentious waffle about anger and fear. What we should have had was the crisis of a man who doesn't know if he can be what Gotham needs any more and - in seeing the city tear itself apart - doesn't really know if Gotham is worth saving. The criminally underused ghost of Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul should have had a much greater presence. The shadows of Ra's and The Joker and Dent and Rachel should have haunted Wayne, until finally he would remember the ideas that had given birth to The Batman in the first place, as well as his father, so that he could finally pull himself out of that pit - battered, bruised, but not yet broken.
When Batman returns to Gotham, things only get worse with the whole spectacle over story problem. It's all very impressive and thrilling, but the film has truly lost sight of its origins. Though there are little flashbacks of BB, it's as if TDKR has to remind itself that it's a sequel.
And what does Bats actually do when he gets back? He sets up a giant flaming bat-symbol on the side of a building, even when there's a bomb set to go off in a few hours, and then punches Bane a few times until the fellow falls down. Spectacle! WOO! Story? F*boop* that noise! Batman physically dominating Bane makes no sense. Bane is indomitable. That's the point! Batman wins because his will is stronger, his need is greater, and his wits are sharper, not because he's done more push-ups! What happened to the gadgets? Where was the bat call from the first film - you know, the one which would have helped disperse the gangs and cops from the scene, bringing it down to just the two of them again? Did Bruce suffer some serious brain damage or did he just forget that he's more than his muscles?
I'll say it again. It wasn't Batman. It was a guy in a batsuit. And when he finally gets Bane to submit and uses Bane's own horrifying line against him, he's become every part the angry, merciless vigilante he promised he wouldn't be. Having Bane get taken out by an off-screen gunshot and Batman leave the scene without a second glance captures every last speck of integrity lost from the story. Batman is immortal, not as an idea, but because he's a muscleman with a cool cape. Life and mercy and justice mean less to him than getting even and proving he's a tough son-of-a-bitch. Frankly, he's no longer fit to be Batman, and it's for all the wrong reasons. It was a hollow triumph.
'Cheap' is the word that sums this all up best, and I really wish I didn't have to say it, but it's true. For something worth millions of dollars, it was cheap. And the ending was the cheapest part. Super cheap. Really cheap. Hollywood happy ending cheap. Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep.
I can forgive the film most of its plotholes (of which it has many). I can forgive it much of its bad dialogue and general stupidity, a chronic problem of Nolan's. I mean, BB was hardly perfect, but it had humour and charm and intelligence enough to let it go. The same for TDK. But I cannot forgive the ending of TDKR, because it is so thoughtless, and it makes a mockery of any claim that Nolan treats his audience as if they are intelligent human beings.
Wayne survives. And that undoes everything his death is supposed to symbolise. There is no noble sacrifice. No desperate, maybe even resentful, last deed. I for one thought he should have died not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne. Instead, both live. It's not explained. It's not justified. It's just dumb. (Okay, so it's obviously something to do with the auto-pilot. I mean, they couldn't stop harping on about it. BUT STILL!)
Forcing a romantic relationship with Selina Kyle only makes it worse. Her story was about the choice between Gotham's security and her own. Going off with Bruce for a lot of gruff, leather-clad sex undermines that choice. And Bruce's equally-forced and plot-convenient romance with Talia cheapens all of these relationships further, including his relationship with Rachel.
Lastly, and perhaps leastly, I have one personal grievance. I sat through the 164 minute run of this film, waiting with unadulterated excitement to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt ascend to the podium with the suit rising to meet him, and then finish, stood on the highest rooftop of Gotham, fully-clad, with Catwoman beside him and Gordon behind him, the streaming light of the bat signal pouring over their heads into the sky. God. Damn. I. Want. That. Shot. ... please? I guess I'll have to accept that they ran out of budget with all those exploding tanks and cop cars.
With everything I've said, I hope I can still be allowed to say that it was overall a very enjoyable movie. Seriously, it wasn't bad. Not at all. Compared to half the superhero movies that have stained the screens in the last two decades, it was a triumph. So much of it was good, but I just don't think I can say it was great without feeling as though I'm wilfully ignoring huge disappointments. It aimed for epic and succeeded, but it lost sight of so very much on the way.
TL;DR:
1) Was TDKR a good movie? Yes.
2) Was TDKR a good action movie? Yes.
3) Was TDKR a good superhero movie? Yes.
4) Was TDKR a good Batman movie? No.
5) Was TDKR a good sequel? Not really.
6) Was Nolan's trilogy any good? A thousand times yes!
7) Will I be buying TDKR when it comes out? Sure. But BB remains my favourite, and ...
I'mma let you finish, but Batman: The Animated Series was the best Batman incarnation of all time! Of all time!
... I'd best end it there.
