I made a few articles and countless comments, showing my support of Nolan's decision to include Bane, and sometimes encountered backlash from fans who wished for a different villain to give Batman hell in the final installment. Everybody kept wondering about Bane's appearance, and if Hardy could pull of the look and capture the feel of the character , and then finally, a still was released giving the CBM community and the rest of the world our first look at Hardy's Bane. As I hit the jump to finally see what I had been wanting to, there it was...a very mysterious, yet very creepy look at the character. Bane looked unbelievably fantastic In my opinion, and the still received a large amount of positive acclaim from other CBM users who commented on the article as well as every one else who saw it.
I wanted to read the story that made Bane famous among Batman's rogues, so I picked up a copy of Batman: Knightfall vol. 1 "Broken Bat" and I must say, I saw Bane in a whole different light than what I did when seeing some portrayals in the cartoons and that ridiculous Schumacher garbage. Bane was the best match for Batman, wearing him down until there was nothing left, and then after breaking him emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, he simply picked Batman up, and physically 'broke' him by snapping his spine. The conclusion to the graphic novel left me in awe, as it ended with the last panel showing the bloodied and torn down face of Batman, with Bane as the victor, menacingly standing over his beaten body. I wanted to see Hardy's portrayal of Bane more than ever.
I waited and waited until finally, the film was released and the reviews started pouring in like heavy rain. I noticed that the majority of people enjoyed Hardy's performance as the back-breaker, but not as much as the late Heath Ledger's iconic portrayal of The Joker in the previous installment, The Dark Knight. I was able to see the film for myself, and I must say, all those comments I made, and all those editorials I posted concerning Bane and my support of him, made me feel very accurate about my predictions. Bane was cold, calculating and best of all, just simply brutal, which was the strong point of Hardy's role.
As I watched the film, Hardy won me over just in the prologue. I sat and watched his performance as Bane and more and more did I get that eerie feeling that this villain was going to be the worst that Batman has ever faced. The menace was quick and fluid in his movements, creepy and emotionless in his words, and terrifying and relentless in his actions. The sewer scene in the film as shown in the trailer (which depicts a violent showdown between Batman and Bane), was hands down one of the best moments on CBM history in my opinion. The fight was choreographed excellently and was nothing short of epic. In the heat of the battle, came the moment I was waiting for: The breaking of Batman via Bane. As displayed in Batman: Knightfall, Bane lifted Batman up in the air, and dropped Batman to his knee, dislocating his spine. I was speechless.
As for the rest of the film, Bane was as great as he was in the first half of the film, save the part when it was time for him to go. As soon as Catwoman blasted Bane off-screen, that was the last time he was seen in the film. At that, I was a little underwhelmed that Bane was built up to be such a formidable and memorable movie villain, only to suffer a quick and ineffective death scene just to basically get him out of the way. Besides the rushed death of Bane, Hardy's portrayal as the villain was one of the best interpretations of a comic book villain onscreen, and definitely washed the horrible taste of Batman and Robin's Bane out of our mouths. This may have not been that exact Bane from the comic books, but the spiritual essence of the character was kept, and to me, that's all that mattered.
To finish this off, as stated in an editorial I wrote last year, Bane WAS safe in Nolan's hands. The world witnessed a Bane worthy of being called Bane, and now hopefully everyone can forget about that other one. I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did writing it.
As a form of review, I would give Hardy's performance as Bane a 10/10.
The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hardy, and Anne Hathaway, and is directed by Christopher Nolan. The film can now be seen at your local theater.