After two fantastic films, The Dark Knight Rises had a great deal of weight on it's shoulders. Especially following a film with one of the best villains of this century. During this article, I will go through the good and the bad. I will start off by getting the bad out of the way first, so the article ends on a positive note.
The Bad :
As I am sure most of you are aware by now, this is the third and final act to Nolan's Bat trilogy. The story of this film all in all is about Bruce Wayne and learning to let go of the past and this was one of my gripes with the film.
In Batman Begins, Rachel states that Bruce Wayne is the mask and Batman is his real identity. This was the main theme of the first two Bat films and it felt forced to seem them undo everything. The moment his parents die, is the moment Bruce Wayne ceases to exist. He becomes Batman from that moment on and I found it hard to believe that he could give up Batman just like that. In essence, he is giving up himself and it was difficult to swallow. It also felt forced because through the first 20 minutes of the film we see that Bruce is depressed because he can no longer be Batman and he is obviously craving to put the cowl back on again. We follow his journey to become Batman and then he drops it all in the final act. It just didn't add up to me. It is these kind of contradictions that makes the film drop down a couple of points, in my opinion.
Another problem I had was the fact that he didn't die at the end. I thought it killed the emotional impact of the film by keeping him alive. I was very choked up when we see the Bat explode in the nuclear inferno. That moment gave me chills because he was sacrificing himself for what he believed in and I had smile on my face during this bittersweet sequence. Now what they could have done and should have done, in my opinion, with the Cafe scene, is just have Alfred look up with a reassuring smile and then cut to John Blake in the Bat Cave. It would have left the ending ambiguous and far more interesting. I felt it cheapened everything, by literally showing the audience that Bruce was alive. We had already been given enough information that he might have survived, during the scene where Lucius Fox finds out the auto pilot was fixed by Bruce. So this again felt forced.
My final gripe and then I will move onto the positives. I promise !
The reveal of Talia, I found to be disappointing and not because of the twist but the fact that Bane basically became her b***h at the end. I really didn't like this because I felt that Bane was a scary opponent who was suddenly cheapened. It upsets me because until that point Bane was neck and neck with The Joker for me. The moment he became Talia's dog I lost all interest in the character. Bane deserved more than this.
The Good :
There were certain areas in the film that made up for it's miss givings. The chemistry between Batman and Catwoman was electrifying and Bane brought great screen presence, though I did feel there was not enough of him. He was not utilised quite as well as The Joker was in The Dark Knight, but when he was on screen you could feel the character's intensity. Kudos to Tom Hardy because it was a difficult role, considering most of his facial features were covered.
Anne Hathaway nailed the role as Catwoman. Whenever she was in costume, I found her very sexy and seductive. If you were not in love with her after this film, then you never will be. Many people were unsure as to whether Hathaway could pull it off and fortunately she did, for me at least.
JGL was also a fantastic addition. I have been following this actor for the past few years and he is going from strength to strength. The thing I really loved about this film is the fact he was Robin the whole time. I thought it was a great way to introduce the character and it felt fresh. I know many people who were not too impressed with this reveal but I really liked it and felt that it was the best way they could have handled "Robin" in the Nolan universe.
Also, seeing Bane break Batman was an extremely, exciting and absorbing sequence. The dialogue in this scene is spectacular and you can really feel a sense of urgency and suspense. Watching Bane practically toy with Batman physically was enthralling because we had not seen something like this in the previous films.
The Bruce Wayne and Alfred scenes were very touching, showing us, the audience, how much of a father figure Alfred was to Bruce. You could sense that he really cared for his well being and only wanted the best for him, like most parents would. Seeing Alfred crying at Bruce's grave at the end was emotional and impactive.
Conclusion :
Look I am going to be brutally honest here. This was a good film but was not great. It is definitely the weakest of the trilogy but in no way is it a bad film. It could have been much better and I feel that if certain things had been avoided that were in my complaints, it may have received a better reaction from me. The problem with a conclusive chapter of any story, is the audience normally have made up their own ending before seeing it. They then leave disappointed because it was not the ending they were expecting. Lost and Sopranos are great examples of this. This was Nolan's ending and even though I don't agree with it, I respect it. What the film handled well, it did so fantastically and this is still a great addition to the trilogy. I think what is important to note, is that, it is not a failure like most third films are. It just could have been slightly better and I think if most of us are honest with ourselves, it should have been. This will still go down as the best CBM trilogy so far, for me but it definitely slipped up on the final stretch.
Anyways. What did you think ? Could this have been better or were you satisfied ?
Also, as a little present for reading. I recently put together a Dark Knight Trilogy Tribute, to honour the films. Enjoy !