The Movie Review Nobody Asked For: The Dark Knight Rises
With that out of the way, let us get to the actual films
*There will most likely be spoilers, if this makes you angry then STOP BEING A COWARD AND SEE THE MOVIE. GIVE CHRIS NOLAN YOUR MONEY!*
As most of you know, this is the final installment of Chris Nolan's take of the Batman mythos. The Dark Knight has been highly acclaimed and many have argued that it is one of the greatest of the current generation. I'm not here to argue what that makes The Dark Knight Rises, I'm not the one that determines that. What I will say is that TDKR was a beautiful movie in many different cases.
Those that know me do realize that it has been hard for me to look at this movie objectively for one simple reason: I am completely in love with (and have been for the past couple years) Tom Hardy, his style of acting, his physicality, his dedication to the character and just as a person overall. I first saw him in his small role as Handsome Bob in Guy Ritche's Rock n' Rolla and then could barely believe I was seeing the same guy in Bronson. From that point forward, I had high hopes for him and felt like he could be the next big thing. But rest assured, I've watched DKR twice now and have really put in some thought about it and listen to other opinions and I feel like I can finally talk about this movie without a bias character by character. Starting with the most insignificant characters and working upward to the bat.
Jen (Selina Kyle's roommate) played by Juno Temple
This was the one character that I hated. I don't know why I hated her, maybe it was the stupid look on her face or the stupid things she said. The only reason she was even necessary was to hold onto the thumbprint of Bruce Wayne for leverage for Selina. Other than that, useless.
Mayor Anthony Garcia played by Nester Carbonell
He also didn't serve much of a purpose over than to get blown up in Heinz Field. The only real reason I included him was because I wanted to reiterate that I think he uses guyliner.
Stryver played by Burn Gorman and Daggett played by Ben Mendelsohn
I grouped these two together because both could've been morphed into the same character, they even looked related. Either way, Daggett was portrayed really well as a power-hungry business man willing to do whatever he could to absorb Wayne Enterprises. To the point where he enlists Bane and is the sole purpose for Bane even being in Gotham. Eventually Bane reveals himself as the only person truly in charge and disposes of Daggett after he has served his purpose and leaves Stryver to the mercies of "the people."
Dr. Pavel played by Alon Aboutboul
He matters because, of course, he's the only person that knew how to turn the fusion reactor into a bomb and again, was merely a pawn for Bane and was disposed of after he served his purpose and to take away any hope of the bomb not exploding.
Deputy Commissioner Peter Foley played by Matthew Modine
I really should've put this guy higher up because he really was unimportant. The only reason I didn't was because he got so much screen time. This is one of the things that I had a problem with, you're made to think that this guy matters to the story because he was always talking about how the mayor was dumping Gordon and kept pushing Blake aside anytime he had a bright idea and then was the face of anyone that believed Batman murdered Harvey Dent. He did all of that only to have his legs kicked out from under him when Gordon woke up in the hospital and Blake shared all the work he had done. From that point on, Foley really wasn't needed in the story and yet he kept getting screen time.
Alfred Pennyworth played by Michael Caine
Boy did we get an emotional Alfred in this one, eh? Alfred tried so hard to be the voice of reason for Bruce to the point where you could see the emotional agony on Caine's face. Alfred could see the signs with Bruce's body deteriorating over the years. Those years in exile showed Alfred that Bruce had little regard for his life anymore and no longer feared death. And so, when Bruce decided that he wanted to get out as Batman again, Alfred was afraid that Bruce would simply see the danger of a given situation as a suitable death. Alfred eventually packs up and leaves because he just can't bare to see Bruce destroy himself by staying...basically making it Bruce's responsibility to keep himself alive. However, in the end when Bruce is believed to be dead, Alfred still can't rid himself of the guilt over the promise he made to take of Bruce. The real ending, though, was euphoric to me because it seemed like the weight was finally off Alfred's shoulder to see Bruce out of Gotham, happy and in seemingly good health. One could argue that we didn't even need to see Alfred's point of view at the cafe in the end because the reaction of what he saw told the story in itself.
Lucius Fox played by Morgan Freeman
Fox was a weird scenario for me in this film. It's like it felt like he had a huge part in this movie but we still didn't see much of him in proportion to his importance. He's still running day-to-day on Wayne Enterprises even though his hands are tied from their profits decreasing after so much the funds went to this fusion project but saw reaped no benefit from it. Fox introduced the new air vessel called The Bat, which seemed like such a weak sauce name for it and I still end up calling it Batwing anyway. Fox only real purpose in this movie is to help Batman get to his toys at the end and then wait by the reactor for them to deliver the fusion bomb.
Miranda Tate/Talia Al Ghul played by Marion Cotillard
For the vast majority of the film, we see her as Miranda, a clean energy advocate that's desperately trying to get Bruce's attention so that he could put his fusion reactor into use for the benefit of the city. After the stock market fiasco and Bruce loses all of his money and shares in Wayne Enterprises, he urges Miranda to take his place as the controlling majority of the company because Wayne trusts that she is the right hands to control the fate of the fusion reactor. During the war sequence, she reveals her true identity as Talia Al Ghul and schemed the entire attack with her protector Bane. I absolutely loved how this played out because months before the filmed came out, I had it ruined for me that Cotillard's character was really Talia. However, I was still legitimately surprised by the reveal when it happened but more so by the full explanation of the Bane origin story. It was clever and surprising because Nolan basically took the actual Bane mythos from the comics and used it to fool us into thinking the legend of the child prisoner was Bane (and Bane still could've been raised in the prison, who knows) but it was Talia. We learned that Talia was angry with her father for excommunicating Bane from the LOS but put it aside to avenge her father's death and complete the work that they all believed it, despite their differences. I thought it was a great arc from Batman Begins and gave the plot a little bit more weight.
Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway
Welcome to the glorious surprise of the movie. Hathaway played a great "cat burglar" and for some reason, this caused a stir among the Batman fan-dom. I always knew she was a great actress and I felt like this would be a good challenge for her and she presented a great version of Catwoman (although she's never address as such in the movie). There was nothing truly evil about Catwoman in the Batman story and I felt like her residing in the moral grey area in this movie was done very meticulously. By doing what she had to survive put her in with the wrong people and was desperate to find a way to wipe her slate clean and make a getaway and move on with her life. Her reaction to trapping Batman and look of horror on her face as Blake asked if "he" killed him showed her remorse and the moral battle going on her brain. Kyle's character was written so that she could have a heart but still unapologetic in her justification in self-preservation.
"Robin" John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Going into the movie, this new character would be the biggest mystery for me going into watching this for the first time. Nobody knew anything about the character and the only time the name "John Blake" was mentioned in the Batman universe was a little boy that had his report card stolen by Joker (all my friends are comic book enthusiasts, I was bound to pick up a few things). But in this, Blake is a hot-shot cop whose attention to detail and willingness to do good gets him in the good graces of Gordon. Blake is revealed to have a lot of the same convictions as Bruce Wayne and even reveals that he figured out Bruce was Batman on his own. The fact that Blake was able to deduce this seemed a bit far-fetched for a lot of people and I must admit that it seems a bit absurd with the whole "we both have the same orphan mask" notion. But, as real-life and earnest Nolan tries to make his Batman movies, it's still a super hero movie so you have to suspend a lot of disbelief so I'm willing to overlook that. In the end, Bruce leaves all his Batman-related belongings to Blake and it is revealed that his legal first name is Robin. This set a lot of (simple minded) people off in a frenzy because how dare Chris Nolan to introduce Robin and not have his real name be Dick Grayson, right? But here's the thing, by Wayne passing this along to Blake, it establishes the notion that Batman could never die and Gotham will always have it's protector. So basically, it's inferred that Blake will simply be the next Batman (should Gotham ever need him again) and not a sidekick. This is one of those things where if everything had to be exactly like the comics then there would be no new takes on Batman or any other super hero and all of those comics would've been finished and dead decades ago. The "Robin" thing was a little unnecessary but I felt like it was a wink and a nod to a bunch of people. For one, there's Christian Nolan who allegedly stated that he would refuse to be Batman ever again if he ever saw Robin in the script. Secondly, there's all the people that asked Nolan constantly if we would ever see Robin in the movie. And lastly, all the jerks that went on tirades on how much they hated Robin's character and threatened to not watch Nolan's movie if Robin was in it. All-in-all, I believe it was Nolan's way of saying "Guys, for the love of biscuits, calm down."
Commissioner Jim Gordon played by Gary Oldman
In this installment, we see Gordon as a flawed hero. He goes straight for the line of fire as if he was a younger man, giving his all as a selfless hero but at the same time, living with the guilt that he felt over painting Harvey Dent as Gotham's savior and essentially building a legend from a lie. He wrestles with telling the truth about Dent, knowing the repercussions beyond losing his job. Here's a guy that's always had the strong moral compass just as Batman has but is tangled in red tape and the legal procedure that comes with his job. But despite of essentially being a dinosaur, he sticks to his convictions and puts himself literally in the same place as the bomb.
Bane played by Tom Hardy
I mean, what can I say about this character without everyone of you jumping on me for being biased? This role was nothing short of brilliance because it was planned by the universe created by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, executed by the talent of Tom Hardy and then beautifully framed by the score of Hans Zimmer. The first thing that comes to mind (because it's the first thing we notice about Bane) is the voice. It's a surprising voice because it just isn't what anyone would expect to be coming out of a brute powerhouse like him. The more likely route would be a more simplistic and harsh tone that resembles that of a caveman (a la Batman and Robin with pokemon Bane). Another route would have been just as "evil genius" as someone who is quiet and lets his power talk for him. But instead, we got an intellectual Bond villain that has a comic disposition as if he himself is amused by the actions of every person and laughs at their simplicity and all of that is completely menacing and makes for a great villain in itself. Then you have the mask, which we learn is like a morphine delivery system and without it, he would be in complete agony but at the same time, causing him to feel very little pain at all times. After that, we notice the physicality, there seemed to be a big crossover from his UFC training for his role in Warrior. Obviously, one has to take note of the initial fight sequence between him and Batman in the sewer. Just how, Bane was unaffected by any of Bat's strengths was something we hadn't really seen. In Batman Begins, Batman both outsmarted and was unmatched physically by his villains and the same could be said in The Dark Knight, no one could match Batman's strength and intelligence. With Bane, he had Batman beat in every conceivable way and made it look so easy and was even able to go into a villain monologue during the fight. In that sequence, Bane broke Batman down to almost nothing and THEN broke his back. Once you get over the physicality of the character, you then notice the acting and the mannerisms of Bane. Because of not being able to see his mouth moving, we are forced to focus on his gestures and his eyes and there's no greater moment to do that than during his speech in front of Blackgate Prison. I was totally wrapped into this scene, and that logically made no sense because we were simply looking at a man without a visible mouth, reading his dialogue right off a letter. But it was Bane's delivery from the rest of his body that forced the audience to get caught up in the moment and not think logically. Another moment happened when Talia and Bane's origins were revealed and was the moment where Bane really didn't have to speak. She spoke of Bane protecting her as a child and getting mauled for it by the other prisoners and the pain it caused followed by the pain of obviously believing fully into the LOS' cause but was kicked out because he was a reminder to Ra's Al Ghul's pain. This whole backstory makes Bane the tragic villain because all he ever did was protect a little girl in a terrible place and then get wrapped up into an ideal. So call me biased if you want but I felt like this is a major platform for Hardy as an actor and I believe this version of Bane is truly and achievement in character development.
Batman/Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale
We begin by seeing Bruce Wayne as a cripple recluse that's a shell of his former self. As stated in the Alfred paragraph, Bruce has very little regard to himself and has few cares until he senses that Gotham needs him once more, or at least he senses that HE needs Batman once more. Bruce's mentality reflects that of Batman in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns where his inner dialogue contemplates a given circumstance as "this would be a good death." And it's like he could go at any moment and be completely alright with it because he lost Rachel, he lost his one out from Gotham and Batman. And then he's put in the prison by Bane, not given the luxury of dying and it's as if he rediscovers his desire to do all he can for the people of Gotham, as he feels it's his duty just as public works was his father's conviction. And in the prison he rediscovers his fear of death because without it, there is no urgency to survive. Batman fights his way to Gotham and brings down Talia and puts his life on the line to take the bomb as far from Gotham as he could get it. And in that moment, as Batman is flying away, we a closeup shot of Batman in the cockpit and for the first time, there's this look of relief and complete peace on his face and in his eyes as if he knows that Gotham can finally rest and be safe and that he had not failed the people. And then we get to the end, as I mentioned earlier where I stated the we didn't really need to see Alfred's point of view in the cafe...but I'm glad we did. Because we see Bruce, in good health and with Selina and we finally get to see Bruce happy. In every movie, comic, tv show, etc Bruce always ends up with the short end of the stick. Either he always takes the blame for something huge on his shoulders, he's running from police, he's always having to choose being Batman over living a happy life and free from moral obligations. It's a very selfless feature that we all love about Batman but every now and then, I would have like to see that selflessness rewarded in some way. And I know him being born a billionaire isn't exactly having it completely rough but Bruce never cared much about the money. Think about it, everything he used the money for either went to some charitable endeavor or a way to support his lifestyle as Batman and disguising that lifestyle. Just once, I would have loved to see Bruce finally get the ending that he deserved and that's exactly what we got in The Dark Knight Rises.
So that's that for The Dark Knight Rises and it's hard not to compare this film and rank it among the other Nolan Batman films, specifically The Dark Knight. Initially, I said that TDKR was better than TDK but I will admit that probably had more to do with my bias. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I just cannot compare the two. The Dark Knight was a fantastic dramatic-action movie that fires on absolutely every cylinder. The Dark Knight Rises is a very ambitious movie and some would argue that, on the surface, it's an over-ambitious movie because its a crime drama movie, an action movie, and an end-of-the-world scenario movie while also trying to wrap up the entire trilogy. Does it accomplish all of those things? I absolutely believe so but it's not like anybody asked me...
Dr. Chris
I really wasn't planning on saying anything about the Colorado shooting on this but sadly, the two may be linked for quite some time. As I stated earlier, probably in a rude way, that there were a lot of people that were scared out of going to see the movie. To those people I say this, the best way of honoring those who were killed and injured in this shooting would be to go watch this film. That's what they would want you to do and we know this because they were there to see Batman at midnight, they are Batman fans like you and I. And as Kevin Smith said in his podcast this week, when you see the movie and the credits roll, stay there during the credits, first of all to acknowledge everyone that helped make that movie possible but more importantly, in that moment keep those victims in your thoughts and honor those that will never get the chance to sit where you are and see what you just saw.
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