7 Problems I Have With The Dark Knight Trilogy

7 Problems I Have With The Dark Knight Trilogy

Today I take a look at one of my favorite movie series ever, and talk about what I personally don't like about it.

Feature Opinion
By googleplex - Aug 06, 2012 11:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

In the short time I've been on this site I've made it quite clear that I love Christopher Nolan's take on Batman (as if my avatar could fool you there). In fact I love this franchise so much that I ended up in a little debate with some readers in the comment section on my last article. There they attempted to prove that the films failed because they based their opinion on the modern Batman comics. This complaint doesn't bother me but I will admit there are things about these movies that I don't like. So I've constructed this list to show that even though these are great movies in my eyes there are problems I have with them.

Now how I'm doing this list is that it isn't a straight forward top 10 list. Instead I'll analyze 2 problems I have with each individual movie as well as a single complaint I have with this take on Batman as a whole totaling 7 (I would have made it 99 but I've been too busy having a life). Also keep in mind that I'll talk about the movies in great detail so SPOILERS may be present. So sit back and enjoy my list of problems I have with the Dark Knight trilogy.

BATMAN BEGINS

1) TOO TRADITIONAL SECOND HALF

This is a common complaint with this movie and one I'm bothered by as well. In the movie Nolan was sure to take his time developing Bruce Wayne showing his training and the motivation that it took for him to eventually decide to become a crime fighter...then for the second half they rush to get him in the Batman costume. It almost feels like Tim Burton threw in a couple of pages of his next Batman movie into the script. The problem becomes more apparent when you factor in how distinctly different the movie feels compared to the rest of the franchise as well.

Now a lot of this was probably studio interference since they wanted Batman to have a significant role in the movie (for obvious reasons). But the final product feels like they gave up on an original movie idea and just changed it to a traditional Batman movie.

2) THE ACTION

This sort of goes along with the other point but it's worth mentioning as an independent complaint. The action is hard to make out and ridiculously up-close causing us to have a hard time making out exactly what was happening. Nolan showed us that this was his first attempt at an actual action movie and it shows with how he staged these action sequences.

Many of you are probably wondering why I'm including this as a point for Batman Begins and not the entire trilogy, well that's because I felt Nolan really improved over time with the action. In the Dark Knight it got to the point where it served the purpose that action scenes are supposed to (not great but ok) and by the Dark Knight Rises it got pretty impressive. But I'm complaining about the franchise here so I'll say that in the first movie it is a major fault.

THE DARK KNIGHT

1) LAU KIDNAPPING SCENE

I'm not talking about the scene itself but rather questioning it's point in the overall movie. On its own it's actually pretty well done and shows Batman can use strategy instead of just going in all ninja like. What I'm complaining about is that it's only in the movie to create a subtle reference to Guantanimo Bay.

Really think about it, it starts off with Lau moving to Hong Kong where the Gotham police have no jurisdiction (fair enough). But then they send Batman after him, which makes no sense as they don't know he has the resources to do it. Then the movie devotes a good length of the movie to show us all the steps it took for them to get him back, and only the fact that Lau is now in the custody of the police and Lucius established the sonar (I'll get to that but it could have been brought up anywhere else, especially since it doesn't do much in this scene) it adds nothing to the movie.

Now I don't know if that was Nolan's intention to make a statement of Guantanimo but considering all the comparisons between this movie and the war on terror it's pretty hard not to see that statement.

2) BAT-SONAR

Here's an example of when a more realistic interpretation can make your job as a writer much harder. During the Lau scene Lucius shows Bruce a device that can use a cell phone signal to create a sonar effect for mapping a room. By the climax of the movie Batman applies this to every cell phone in the city which enables him to spy on all of Gotham.

The problem is that pretty ridiculous for the more realistic Batman. The idea itself is sort of cool as it gives Batman a gadget that works the same way that bats operate in the wild. In a more sci fi version of Batman that could allow other heroes like Superman and Flash to exist this would work but here it sort of removes suspension of disbelief for a while.

Not to mention it makes the ending action scene a bit nausiating as you have the constantly vibrating sonar on screen for the action. Maybe if they did it like detective mode in the Arkhamverse it would of been cool and easier to watch but it still would be out of place in the Nolanverse.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

1) BRUCE CRIPPLED

Here's something I never understood about the movie. In the Dark Knight Rises, one of the reasons Bruce can't immediately don the cape and cowl is that he damaged his leg beyond repair and needs a cane in order to get around. It's also rendered pointless when he slaps on a robotic brace that enables him to run around and kick brick pillars (those evil evil pillars). It's just a time waster that amounts to nothing for the rest of the movie except maybe to make him look like old Bruce from Batman Beyond.

Now this has nothing to do with how quickly Bruce gets healed from his back breaking (I just amounted that to a lack of indication on the time it took to recover). I'm just saying that if they at least had Lucius talk about the brace and how it works (or you know let him not be crippled) or even if they just explained what happened to his leg since he seemed fine by the end of the Dark Knight it would have been fine.

2) THE TWIST ENDING (SPOILER)

Anyone who saw this movie knows this twist all too well. At the end of a second epic fight with Bane it's revealed that he was actually working for Talia Al Ghul who was under the disguise of...Miranda Tate, who we barely got to know up to that point. Not only that and the fact most fans were able to see it coming but it also made Bane look more like a henchman then a great antagonist (though I do still believe much of the plan he came up with).

Also this reveal didn't do that much since in order to keep her cover at Wayne Enterprise there's really nothing she could have done to effect the plan. Bane was talking to Daggett about ruining the company while she was trying to get it up and running. Her role couldn't have been to tell them where the weapons were stored since those were off the books and she couldn't have given too many orders since she had a full time job as a cover then after the bombs blew up she was spending time forming a plan with the police with Lucius. She couldn't have contacted Bane without raising suspicion.

A much better twist in my mind would have John Blake as the double agent (though not turning out to be Talia, we don't want kids thinking about how that would work). Think about it, his back story is only what we are told, he's become close to Bruce with only knowing him for a few weeks, and his operation of planning an escape for the cops would have worked with Bane's plan to raise hope in Gotham before having it crash down.

ALL IN ALL

EXPOSITION

There's really not much to say here that hasn't been said before but Nolan has a tendency to show rather than tell. Pretty much everything is analyzed by the characters in these movies. It leads to great speeches like when Alfred talks about the man who stole the gems but others feel like conversations the audience should be having at the end of the movie. Again many people bring up this complaint but it's also something that Nolan hasn't had too much of an improvement on.

And those are my complaints for the Dark Knight trilogy and you know what, I still love these movies. All movies have pretty major plot holes from the submarine scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark to the fact that no one was in the room when Kane said his last word in Citizen Kane. Even contrived moments can be forgiven since these movies need to add those moments to make them exciting.

The concept of whether you like the movie or not is if you can forgive these mistakes and leaps in logic to enjoy this fun movie. Anyone can find a multitude of errors in movies but none of that should matter if you as an individual enjoys it (except if it's Batman and Robin in which case I don't know you). Keep this in mind the next time you read a negative review on your favorite movie.

There's my list on complaints of the Dark Knight trilogy. Like if you like and comment below on your thoughts. Also please make some suggestions about what kind of articles you'd like me to write. See you next time.

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Bane2099
Bane2099 - 8/6/2012, 12:59 PM
Theres an answer to a statement u made under " BRUCE CRIPPLED ", u say that there was no mention of how there was a lack of indication on the time it took to recover...not true

When Bane cripples Batman, they show him being taken to the prison, Bane makes his speech to him about destroying Gotham then travels back { u can make an rough estimate how long it will take to travel from Gotham to the prison and back to Gotham }. He then has Dr Pavel turn Waynes enviromental machine into the bomb, and when Bane asks to have the core pulled out, Pavel says it will decay in a matter of months, to where Bane responds " 5, by my calculations ".

So Batman had about 5 months , maybe a bit more from having his vertebrae pushed back in place to heal and escape The Pit and get back to Gotham.
Bane2099
Bane2099 - 8/6/2012, 1:24 PM
As for the THE TWIST ENDING...also not true

Though Tate was revealed to be Thalia and people thought this just Bane seem like he was just a lowley henchman of hers, I dont see it that way at all.

If that were true then she could've just got any of the other members of TLOS to carry out the plan, but she didnt. She knew Bane was smart enough, brutal enough and calculating that she could leave the planning his hands and he would carry it out without any problems or input by her while she worked in the background.

@googleplex...I agree with u, I believe most of the plan he came up with himself, it was just Thalia's idea to want to finish what her father couldn't and head back to destroy Gotham while she took the time and built herself up to being the good enviromentalist board member.

googleplex
googleplex - 8/6/2012, 1:33 PM
@bane2099, thanks but what i was refering to with bruce being crippled was how quickly it seemed like bruce was healed from his back injury. from what it looked like he got pulled on the rope, punched in the spine, then waits the night on the rope to be healed. it probably took a couple of weeks but there needed to be a better indication of that. also i see it that bane made up at least most of the actual plan but no matter what the twist still underminded bane in the movie...still love it though.
KalEl26
KalEl26 - 8/6/2012, 1:39 PM
Regarding the Lau kidnapping paragraph. Batman was never sent to capture Lau, he offered to do it. Therefore, your point of them not knowing his resources doesn't fit.
KalEl26
KalEl26 - 8/6/2012, 1:41 PM
@googleplex I agree that the twist undermined Bane even though it can be assumed that he was the one who had a heavy influence on the plan
Knightrider
Knightrider - 8/6/2012, 6:13 PM
I didn't think the twist undermined Bane, I felt that it showed he had empathy. As we hear in the movie, that it appears, he too was also either born or placed in the pit at a young age, hence why he protects Talia because of shared circumstance, which was an reoccurring theme in the film, with Blake sharing a shared circumstance with bruce.

Anyways I felt that it didn't relegate him to "Henchman" he was the leader of the Army, like a general would be. He would do the battle plans etc. However, Talia was more like a "Royal family member" someone whose name had given them power.

So Talia would want revenge and a way to destroy Gotham, but it would be Bane who would form a way to do it and organize his troops to carry out said goal.

jjk2814
jjk2814 - 8/6/2012, 6:26 PM
Lau's kidnapping resulted in one of the most important plot developments of the movie( and later the whole series) His interrogation is how Rachel and Harvey determine they can use the Rico Act to arrest the entire mob. How else would the movie explain away the arrest of the ENTIRE MOB, without a move like that?
jjk2814
jjk2814 - 8/6/2012, 6:28 PM
And any mention of Guantanimo as a metapho is a HUGE stretch!
googleplex
googleplex - 8/6/2012, 7:27 PM
dude it's not the fact that lau was interrogated it's just the whole extended scene with bruce planning to kidnap him overseas when they could have just as easily had him in a u.s. city like new york or metropolis for an easter egg. maybe i shouldn't have used guantanimo but what i was going for was the idea of forcibly relocating international criminals, you know what i'm saying?
googleplex
googleplex - 8/6/2012, 7:29 PM
also i like to think bane came up with most of the plan at least. again guys i love these movies, in fact they are some of my favorite movies (the dark knight being my absolute favorite). what i was going for was to show that none of these problems ruin the movie for me but i can still admit they have flaws. every movie has them, even the avengers.
jjk2814
jjk2814 - 8/6/2012, 7:45 PM
Okay, I sorta get your problem then. Its clearly just an excuse to show off some new gadgets and Bruce's ingenuity, which you didn't like, and you're entitled to that. I was just countering the comment that it didn't add anything to the movie.

Judging from your icon, its clear you like the trilogy. I'm just curious what the fascination is with pointing out flaws? I'm not singling you out with that question, everybody does it. Your argument is far more respectable than most of these anti-whatever diatribes that keep popping up. Not to say you're "anti-Dark Knight," you're clearly not.

Every movie DOES have flaws. We all know that. I'm REALLY not trying to criticize you in any way or cause trouble; just open this up to another discussion.

What's the point in pointing out what you didn't like?

Sorry, that 99 problems b.s. sorta set me off.

googleplex
googleplex - 8/6/2012, 8:42 PM
@jjk2814, yeah i hated that 99 problems too. in fact if you look in the article i wrote a little joke about it. anyway i wanted to show that i can admit to the movie's faults so i won't seem biased in the future. and thanks to you and everyone else for being respectful in this discussion.
jjk2814
jjk2814 - 8/6/2012, 8:48 PM
I can dig that, and yeah, I caught the joke. Thanks for leaving it at six points.
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