235. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Aug 19, 2013 11:09

Now's not the time for fear. That comes later.

Title: The Dark Knight Rises
Date Watched: 8/18/2013
Original Ranking Out of 10: 4
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 6

Synopsis: In the final part of the Dark Knight trilogy, Batman faces off against a deadly mercenary bent on bringing anarchy to Gotham.

The Good: A lot of really clever bits and universally good performances. Batman is just cool and Nolan's vision of him is still the best ever brought to the silver screen. Beautiful IMAX photography.

The Bad: Crappy villain. Selina Kyle backstabs or cooperates depending only on the needs of the screenplay. Terribly filmed action sequences. Overly convoluted plot. Endorsement of chiropractic medicine.

Why Do I Own This Movie?: Cheap on Amazon and enough people told me to rewatch it that I thought I owed it another chance. They were right, I guess.

Should I Still Own This Movie?: Yeah, whatever. It completes the trilogy.

What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: I don't know if Batman's costume changed between parts 2 and 3, but it looks a lot sillier this time around. I guess I also came away with a better understanding of the plot, which still makes little to no sense as far as I'm concerned.

Other Impressions: The Dark Knight Rises was probably the movie I anticipated most for last year (though it could just have easily been The Master or Django Unchained) and I went to see it by myself while people were fixing my air conditioner last summer (another story for another time). And I wanted to see it by myself to take it all in and not miss a moment.

Of course, with my expectations set so high, the movie let me down. There are a number of really major problems. For starters, the villain sucks. Bane is neither interesting nor a formidable foe for the Bat (especially after the Joker). Yes, he's physically strong, but we don't go to the Nolan movies to see Batman fist fight the villains -- he shouldn't have to. He sticks to the shadows, taking out criminals before they even realize that he's there. The supervillains are more psychological enemies than anything else. The Scarecrow, for instance, isn't particularly strong, but he has a plan to turn the city against itself (Bane has a similar plan, but it still basically just comes down to a fist fight). Same with Joker and, in his own way, Two-Face.

We also have a slew of unnecessary characters. I think Anne Hathaway is great in this movie, considering what she has to work with, but she's also completely unnecessary and could easily have been rewritten out of the plot. We know that Marion Cotillard is up to something because why else would she be in this? And isn't it funny how Nolan can't really come up with much more to do with them than make them potential romantic interests?

Bane's plan makes no sense and I'm pretty sure everything to do with the nuclear bomb is silly. Also, the whole "breaking the bat" isn't much more than a minor set-back because the movie never really commits to it. I didn't read the comic book arc, but I do remember hearing that the recovery was a bit more difficult than what happens in the movie.

But, despite the flaws (and I didn't even get started on the incoherent action sequences), there's something here. I like the character of Batman and I like the universe that he inhabits. I like Nolan's vision of the character, allowing him to be dark and, though still living in a comic book universe, have a sense of reality to him. This isn't the grand slam that I was hoping for to finish off the trilogy, but it's a solid conclusion that provides an appropriate, if underwhelming, ending.

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