THR are reporting that there are those at Warner Bros. who are just as worried about Bane's (Tom Hardy) voice in The Dark Knight Rises as some fans are. According to their sources some have even urged Christopher Nolan to alter the character's dialog so it is easier to understand. The director is apparently adamant that no direct changes will be made, but he will be tweaking the sound slightly.
Here is an excerpt from THR's report..
Sources close to the movie say Warner Bros. is very aware of the sound issue. One source working on the film says he is “scared to death” about “the Bane problem.” And with good reason. The last Batman film, 2008’s The Dark Knight, grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, and the studio doesn’t want anything to tamper with Rise’s chances for success.
Sources also say some at Warners would like Nolan to change the sound mix, but the filmmaker, whose autonomy is well-earned (his Inception earned the studio more than $800 million and two Oscar nominations), has informed executives that he plans only to alter the sound slightly, not to rework it completely.
“Chris wants the audience to catch up and participate rather than push everything at them. He doesn't dumb things down," says one high-level exec, declining to be named. “You've got to pedal faster to keep up.”
Apparently Nolan said something similar to THR at a press event recently, stating that it was
"OK for a moviegoer not to understand what was said at times, as long as the overall idea was conveyed". Fair enough, but in regards to the quotes above, I really don't see how making a character easier to understand counts as "dumbing things down". Having said that, I'm probably in the minority that understood Bane perfectly well in the prologue, aside from one or two words at the very end but even then I made a (correct) guess at them. I think it was more to do with the background noise than anything else so if Nolan intends to change the sound mix in any way I think that is where he should look. Did you understand Bane or would you prefer some re-dubbing? And what do you think of Nolan's decision to leave things as they are?
Click the link below to read the full article at THR.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.