REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises
Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 7:29 am Category: Batman, Comics, DC, Movies, Reviews, TopFor the last two days I’ve struggled to find the right words to describe my experience with the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. It was equal parts brilliant and exasperating. It was equally inspiring and equally dull. It found a bizarre middle ground to inhabit. Sure, it’s better than most movies coming out, but I expected a whole lot more from the people who gave us The Prestige and Inception.
Where to start?
The Dark Knight Rises picks up eight years from where The Dark Knight leaves off. In all that time, Bruce hasn’t put on the mantle of the bat since then. You see, in his quest for justice that he was driven to by the death of his parents, the death of Rachel was simply too much for him to bear. This was the first thing that jumped out at me watching the movie. Despite the fact that it was so preposterously out of character for Bruce Wayne (“But not Nolan’s Wayne!” some could argue, but that argument lacks sense), I felt I had to simply swallow that bad characterization and move on to enjoy the movie. We’re given dialogue heavy exposition scenes of characters whispering about Bruce Wayne and introduced to minor characters that may or may not have needed to be in the film.
These bits of over-wrought exposition are intercut with Alfred playing Downton Abbey with the waitstaff manning the party and comes to Anne Hathaway, sending her on a dire mission to the East Wing of the house to deliver food to the reclusive Mr. Wayne.
We’re also treated to a very well-shot action sequence to introduce Bane and the opening threads of the convoluted plan to destroy Gotham once and for all.
If I’m overly harsh in the opening salvos of the film, it’s because the first hour of the film is the least good of any of the Batman movies. It’s all set up and it’s all so dour. You’re left chasing one thing after another and it’s all just so overwrought. After having watched the other two installments of the trilogy it’s easy to see that Nolan has no sense of humour whatsoever. The one liners in Batman Begins are stilted and barely work, if at all. The only thing that keeps The Dark Knight on its feet is the fact that Heath Ledger’s Joker was infusing it with a grim comedy and the character never took himself as seriously as Nolan did. The Dark Knight Rises is absent of any human warmth.
When making this movie, someone really needed to ask Nolan, “Why so serious?”
My other big problem with the film were the punches that it pulled. The big twists for Miranda Tate and John Blake were both things that should have happened about a third of the way through the movie and taken to much further conclusions than we saw. And Miranda’s twist was so ham-fisted and laughably predictable (even in just the casting choice) that I thought something more shocking would be done with it. Instead, it was simply predictable.
The standout performances in the film, however, belong to Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I wanted so much more with the both of them. Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is a perfect blend of smarts, sexiness, power, and perfection. Anne Hathaway really knocked this out of the park and I wish there had been more for her.
As far as things to love in this movie, there are so many references to all the great stories in Batman comics that it’s hard to not like it. It cannibalizes pieces of Knightfall, Knightquest, No Man’s Land, A Lonely Place of Dying, Son of the Demon, Dark Victory, and on and on and on. But in mashing them all together, it doesn’t really give us what we need for a perfect Batman film. During the No Man’s Land section of the film, the comic offered the perfect blueprint to fit thematically with the teachings of Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins. Creating a symbol would last longer than Wayne himself. He inspired those around him to act. Why weren’t they using that symbol? Blake, Levitt’s character, uses the symbol in bits of chalk here and there during the movie, but never brings it full force, or in any way that anyone but the audience can really see.
Which brings me to my next point:
I’m going to talk about the biggest spoiler in the film, so, if you want, leave now. See the movie and come back. It’s a spoiler, in a sense, but if you have half a brain you figured it out from the trailer like I did.
Ok…
Seriously. Go away if you don’t want to know.
Everybody gone?
It’s just us?
John Blake, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is Robin. A new one. Though Blake does rhyme with Drake. And Tim Drake was the third Robin and the star of the Lonely Place of Dying story. Drake (and now Blake) was a brilliant detective who divined the identity of Bruce Wayne and came to him, appealing to his better judgement. In the comics, it was to bring back a Robin to balance the darkness, in the movie it was to put the suit on again because he’d abandoned it…for some reason…
The trailer telegraphed that Blake was Robin. The movie telegraphed it. I spent the whole movie waiting for him to get into a suit and spray paint on a blue bat symbol across and become a cross between Robin and Nightwing, Dick Grayson’s current alter-ego, bringing the city the symbol of the bat while Bruce was convalescing. But no. None of it happened. He’s a costumeless Robin, a sidekick in every sense of the word but that one. Batman even tells him to get in a god-damned mask and we still don’t get to see it on screen.
This is all simply a missed opportunity.
It was so incredibly frustrating.
When they said the word “Robin” I was as giddy as a school boy. I love the Robin character. He was always my favorite as a kid. But after they said it, and didn’t really pay it off, I just got sad and angry. I know I said that if he turned out to be Robin I’d declare this the best film of the year, but I was wrong. He did turn out to be Robin and this isn’t anywhere close to the best film of the year.
I wanted this film to start in the middle of where it did, and then carry on beyond the ending, giving me something more.
I know I’m focusing a lot on the negative, and there really is a lot to like about this movie. But after the last two, I was expecting the best of the three, not the worst.
Is it better than most movies coming out? Yes. Will it make more money than the Avengers? Not on your life.
Will I go see it again? Yes. But will I rewatch it as much as I rewatch Tim Burton’s Batman film? No. Never. You know why? That film has an incredibly smart sense of humour. I said it jokingly before on twitter, that Nolan’s universe needed Robert Wuhl’s Knox character to add a charm to the movie. He’s one of the best parts of Burton’s film. He added a sense of humour. And that’s really the missing ingredient in Nolan’s world.
But somehow, my guess is there’s a huge segment of fanboys that will eat this up. Why? Because I think if there’s any group that might take itself as seriously as this movie, it’s anonymous internet fanboys, the same mouth-breathing masses who forced Rotten Tomatoes to shut down their comments for an honest assessment of a movie that isn’t as good as it should have been.
But what do I know? I’m just a guy with an opinion.
This was an ambitious film that fell short of its goal. There was a lot to love (more than anything, Zimmer’s score, which finally made me feel that Batman had a theme as iconic as Superman’s) and a lot to be disappointed by. For that, I’m giving it a 7.5 of 10.
Responses to “REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises”
I think your hopes got in the way of the film a bit, particularly regarding a particular bird character, but your 7.5/10 is just about right (I’d give it an 8, with both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight scoring 9′s). The first hour, as you have noted, is a bit messy. I don’t know that I’d want to skip it entirely, but a focused re-write might have helped.
Look on the bight side, you might get a Nightwing film in 2014.
I think it might seem as though my hopes got in the way of the film because I focused so much on the negative in this review… I did like the movie. A 7.5 isn’t bad. I just wanted to stress the things I’m not sure other people will bring up because of Nolan’s apparent sainthood.
I only skimmed through this review, reading the first sentence or two of each paragraph as I do not want the movie to be spoiled. But something caught my eye: “The worst hour of any of the Batman movies.” I don’t think that’s possible in a world where the J.S Batman movies exist. But I guess I’ll find out tonight at midnight…
I don’t think Blake was ever supposed to be the Robin we know, but instead was a pastiche of a few characters within the Bat family – including Azrael’s role during Knightfall and Cassandra Cain during No Man’s Land. I’m glad he didn’t take on the iconic role of Robin because Robin is a reminder of Golden Age pandering to children.
Robin is a reminder of how badass Robin is.
And I think “worst of any Batman movies” meant “worst of any Nolan Batman movie”
Look at Nolan’s collective work, how much humor do you see infused into any of his films? Nolan deals in subtext, character flaws and conflict to build his films…the humor, if it comes at all, is accidental (or ironic). I don’t see this as a short-coming, just a fact.
I’m not totally sure why you like Robin so much, especially when Damien Wayne has proven to be such a better character than all the previous Robins. I would have also accepted Lonnie Machin as one of the better Robins had that panned out.
I’m not totally sure why there are people who don’t like Robin. And I don’t mind Damien half as much as other people. I just like Tim. A lot. His solo book was fantastic.
I completely agree with this review. Just got done watching Batman and said all of these things to zombietron in the car. These are not superhero movies they are action movies. Superhero movies have to have humor to accept just how campy it is for people to be running around in costumes. I am a giant batman fan but this is just not the batman I grew up with. This is why the marvel movies achieve so much more…because they’re funny.
I would also mention the two HUGE shortcomings this movie has, Christian Bale as a serious no joking batman is impossible to take seriously with his stupid “batman” voice and Bane is, at times, completely incomprehensible through his mask. These two things to me are super frustrating.
I agree with you Swank except I didn’t love Zimmers score and Bane was almost inaudible whoever mixed his voice should be punished.
See, I had no trouble understanding Bane; his audio was MUCH clearer than what we heard in trailers. I do have some sizable issues here (many of which Swank covered), but I really felt there were too many loose ends left lying about.
I actually loved the movie! And mind you my expectations were pretty damn high.
This was a solid review though, from a different perspective. As for the the whole Robin thing, I agree that Robin is a badass character however I don’t think he has a place in the Nolanverse. The movie is already damn near 3 hours long, and it would take a lot of character exposition to make someone without Bruce Wayne’s resources into a believable Robin.
Speaking as someone that is not a Batman fanboy, I really loved this film. The ending was pretty spectacular. The fact that Blake doesn’t dawn a cape and cowl makes me much happier. If he had been dressing up it would’ve been way too much for me.
To me this seemed like a movie based on a Tom Clancy novel that they allowed Batman to show up and hang out in. It felt more like a bad Denzel Washington movie than a Batman movie.
Is it just me or is the villain leaving the fate of the people, up to the people, the same plot device from Dark Knight?
Me and a buddy of mine had a discussion on the ride home.
Alfred = Splinter
Blake = Donatello
Kyle = Michelangelo
Wayne/Batman = Raphael
Gordon = Leonardo
Bane = Shredder
Bane’s Gang = Foot Clan
Dark Knight Rises = Teenage Mutant Ninja Clancy
I will explain this on the next Laser Brain.
My expectations for Batman movies are just like my expectations for anything Star Wars. Are there Jedi’s doing things that Jedi’s do? I just didn’t feel like Batman was ever really IN this movie.
All that being said, the closing scene was a great way to wrap up Nolan’s trilogy. I guess I now know how all the old guys felt after seeing Phantom Menace.
I like the prequels…..
I just saw it. I rarely agree with Bryan. But I agree with his review 100%. Except the part in the review about Robin. I knew the torch had to be passed. And I think that narrative was satisfying to me.
So I guess I agree with 95% of his review.
I found the film rather satisfying. Yes i saw the Miranda Tate/John Blake reveals coming as soon as the casting was announced, but that didn’t detract from the movie for me. One thing i think you failed to mention is that although this movie is even longer than The Dark Knight, it is so much better paced and structured that it feels shorter. TDK always irked me how the last 50 minutes of the film felt like an entirely separate feature that was tacked on the end. It makes it impossible for me to watch that film in one setting. This film has a much tighter sequence where every scene leads to the next and makes it easier to watch. I also wish you would’ve mentioned that however dark and sad the ending of TDK was, This film balances it out quite a bit, and makes you appreciate TDK as the requisite dark second act before a satisfying resolution to the trilogy’s story ark. And finally, Nolan did what very VERY Few directors could, which is to make a very good third part, something that SO many filmmakers have failed to do in the past. I think a lot of your reaction had to do with your expectations, which is why i try to remain so spoiler free. You do have some valid points to mull over, so thanks as always for sharing.
I also gotta disagree regarding the humor and one liners. I think they worked very well and enjoyed them very much. i think they greatly lightened the tone of this film and kept it from being as droll as TDK often was. However you are spot on regarding human emotion. Nolan shows in all of his films from Insomnia to Inception to The Prestige that he is incapable or portraying warm, loving romantic emotion on the screen. The best relationships he has are bromances like Alfred and Bruce, Lucius and Bruce etc.
I thought the ending was predictable and a disappointment. Don’t tell me you are ending a trilogy and then end it ready for more story. The fight scenes were weak and Batman was once again the worst character of the movie. Nolan for some reason took what made Bruce/Batman cool and gave it to all the supporting characters. I for one am glad that he is done.
I’d give it an 8 out of 10. It is a GREAT mythic story from start to finish. The entire trilogy is an INCREDIBLE narrative.
I really wanted to see JGL put on the cape and cowel. I REALLY wanted to see that. *sigh* BUT, Hathaway was fantastic, I love the shot of her from behind breaking into the congressman’s safe, during the first motercycle chase. She finishes cracking the thing, and puts up her visor up on her head, and it forms the cat ear shape. I love that she wore it the rest of the way through, too, it was the costume, without the costume. Brilliant.
I’m just gonna focus on the positive for now…*sigh*
I believed it to be a poor ending to an epic franchise. There are so many plot problems and poor storytelling, and when you have no humor in your film it all leans on the story.
From Robin being in the film and we all know that it’s Robin, to the silly idea of having a nuclear warhead about to blow with none of the bad guys thinking to maybe get out of the city before it went up. Then to Bruce Wayne getting out of the prison in the Middle East…broke, but seems to show up in Gotham City two days later when no one could supposedly get in or out.
I promise you I’m not the fat guy who owns a comic book store saying “Worst Movie Ever…”, but I do believe that if this was any other movie and not a Christopher Nolan movie, a lot of people would 1 out of 4 stars and your review would be below 5 out of 10. It was disappointing.
I’m still hemorrhaging from people calling JGL’s character Robin. He’s obviously a combination of a lot of Batman’s supporting characters including Barbara Gordon and Jean-Paul Valley, and ending with the “name is Robin” was a nod to the casual fans who need to be bludgeoned over the head with information to feel like they’re “in the know.”
I think this was a better Batman film than The Dark Knight. And I loved how it tied so many of the plot points from the first film into it, and we got to see so many characters return.
There were some really good plot points, and some nice twists that left the story in a place I’m very happy with.
My only disappointment is that Heath Ledger didn’t get to play the Judge in the court room.
I still think Batman Begins is the best film of the trilogy… Not for Batman mythos, but as far as filmmaking and structure.
And maybe for Bat mythos, too…
you detractors are going to be begging that they bring Nolan back because very VERY few people in hollywood can do what he does. The chances of one of those few people getting the job as batman director is slim.
I’m really not so sure I like what it is that Nolan does. He takes all the “super” out of superheroes. It was a novel idea to ground a superhero like Batman in hyper-reality like in his Batman movies, but on some level I feel like it’s a copout. Can you imagine a Batman movie done by Darren Aronofsky? For one, I think he’d inject it with the humour needed, be able to make it delve into the super and fantastic, and carry a gravitas that Nolan could only hope to achieve. They should have let Aronofsky keep it in the first place if you ask me.
I agree with Swank. Nolan has a good eye for style, and I don’t know where he found such skill for sound design, but I have a suspicious he finds the right people.
My biggest peeve with comic book movie adaptations is that we have nearly a hundred years of comic book stories to borrow from, but many of these films demand that they be original plots, which seems unnecessary. Nolan was able to borrow a lot from the comics for Begins and Rises, Dark Knight not so much, and I think it suffered for that as a Batman film.
I think his role as producer is where he belongs, and I’m excited for Man of Steel.
To everyone who thinks The Dark Knight is such an amazing movie: go back and watch it again and imagine it without Ledger’s amazing performance as The Joker. Without him it’s a standard crime movie with nothing too special about it. It wouldn’t even be considered a good Batman movie without that performance.
Now, I’ll freely admit that i’m one of those people who thinks Nolan can do little wrong (his only movie I didn’t care for being The Prestige). Personally, I found this to be on par with the excitement I got watching Batman Begins in the theatre at midnight when there we no expectations about the film yet, only to say that someone was making a new Batman movie. But, yes, Nolan is pretty humorless. But I don’t think that’s why you go see something he’s directed though. Anyone with half a brain knows he’s dour and dark. You go because, honestly, few directors can pull off the absolutely amazing set pieces he does these days (i.e. the opening airplane scene, the chase in TDK, the hallway fight in Inception).
Suggestions on a director to take over the franchise now that Nolan is done? Rian Johnson. I guarantee that people are going to be all on his jock after seeing Looper even though he’s directed two fantastic films (Brick, The Brothers Bloom).
I digress though. Sure there were flaws in the film. Relatively easy to ignore though. My biggest problem (spoiler alert): so Miranda Tate (Talia) is the child in the pit and Bane is her protector. Well… damned if he doesn’t just look like Tom Hardy at his current age as Bane though the time lapse in order to account for the same aging we see with Miranda/Talia going from child to adult (20 to 30 years) would’ve made him probably… 40 to 50 maybe? Wow…
Yeah, I think Batman Begins is better than The Dark Knight and I think The Prestige is Nolan’s best movie, hands down and without question.
SPOILER…
I thought the reveal that his real name was Robin was kind of stupid. I think it might have been Nolan just acknowledging the character of Robin but not his way of saying that Blake actually was Robin. I would have much preferred that his real name was Dick, Jason, or Tim.
SPOILER