*This will be my only critique of The Dark Knight Rises. I fully believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I believe that it's okay if many people were not blown away by the movie or if they were downright disappointed. That being said, everyone is entitled to their WRONG opinion....just kidding.
There have been arguments back and forth about whether The Dark Knight Rises is a complete success or an utter failure. Because of the success of its predecessor, fans have been foaming at the mouth (myself included) to view Christopher Nolan's swan song to the Batman franchise with the hope that the franchise will go out with a bang. I was definitely the guy who followed the Twitter feeds, looked at the spy photos, and buried up every bit of info I can find leading up to its release. Now having seen the movie multiple times (you pretty much need to), I thought the movie was a fitting conclusion to Nolan's Batman.
I'm not going to talk about the movie in detail because at this point, it would seem redundant to almost any review that's out now. I'm just going to point out some tidbits that I found was pretty noteworthy. I don't think anyone was ever convinced that Anne Hathaway can pull off Catwoman or even if the character was needed, but in many ways she steals the show. Bane was a force of nature and having seen Warrior before TDKR, I knew that Hardy could prove to be a formidable foe for the Dark Knight. The audio was hit or miss for his voice but overall, I felt it got the job done. I will always remember that line: "...do you feel like you're in control?" What nobody seems to talk about is Christian Bale's performance. There was a lot of Bruce Wayne in this movie and he delivers in almost every scene. Sure, the Batman scenes are cool but at the end of the day, I felt that we experienced the trials and tribulations of Bruce. Bruce felt that Batman was needed and argued that anyone could be Batman. **
The biggest complaint I've been hearing about the movie sans plot holes and errors of logic was that this version of Batman didn't stay true to the source material. At this point, I feel that way of thinking is inadmissible because we are viewing an interpretation of Batman through Christopher Nolan's eyes. It feels like when the good canon is there, it's great. When changes are made, it's crucified. Do you remember in Batman Begins how cool it was that Batman's spikes were incorporated into his fighting style? With each incarnation of Batman, the fundamentals are still there but there are always caviats. If people are worried about canon, let them go back to the Schumacher movies. I personally think Paul Dini's Batman is the best interpretation of him but I know future generations will come to know a new incarnation. There's a generation of kids who feel that Terry McGinnis is the definitive Batman (if you don't know who Terry is, don't worry about it) or even Adam West with the POW! BAM! SLAM!
(SPOILER PARAGRAPH) Now for Blake. Blake is the closest we'll ever see to the dynamic duo of Batman & Robin. Throughout the movie, they traded information, fought side by side, and every now and then, Batman gave him orders on what to do next...which is pretty much the dynamic of the Boy Wonder and his mentor. People are definitely complaining that Robin should not have been his legal name but instead it should have been Dick Grayson or Tim Drake (Jason always gets thrown to the curb...haha). The name drop was for the masses. It's likely that outside of the hardcore comic fans, there are people who do not know the real names of our heroes. Do you think people know who Erik Lensherr is? How about Oliver Queen, Bobby Drake, Kitty Pryde? Here's an easy one: Who is Raven Darkholme?
I enjoyed the movie. What seems to be pretty universal (at least, in my group of friends) is that it was a very cool movie that didn't top the second movie...and that's okay. Really...what could? I'm one of the few people that enjoyed Batman Begins a bit more than Dark Knight because it centered more on Bruce Wayne and his journey to becoming the legend. What I do know is that we will NEVER get superhero movies like this EVER again. And as far as the ending is concerned, I liked it a lot. Few trilogies that are out there have good endings and I feel that Nolan gave a pretty satisfying one. The Dark Knight Rises is definitely a very dark movie that reflects on what it means to be a hero. Thank you Mr. Nolan for your contribution to the franchise.
**The interesting plot hole I WILL bring up is Bruce stating to Blake that the goal was that anyone could be Batman. In The Dark Knight, Batman breaks up a drug deal between the mob and Crane (Scarecrow). In addition, he takes down copycats of himself who engaged the bad guys with guns. One copycat that is tied up asked Batman what gives him the right to do the crime-fighting and not them. "I don't wear hockey pads..." Is that the only reason, Bruce?
Sounds like a one-man show. :)
