Thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises
So, we went and saw "The Dark Knight Rises", which is supposed to be the last Christopher Nolan Batman movie, "the last in the trilogy" as people are saying. Right off the top, I gotta say that if it is a trilogy, it peaked with "The Dark Knight". tDKR isn't BAD, but it isn't great either. It seems to combine major elements of "Knightfall" (obviously) and "No Man's Land" (a bit more surprising, altho Nolan seems REALLY fond of saying "no one gets in or out of Gotham when it all hits the fan", since all three movies do that to some extent.
I have two major complaints and various nitpicks. I'll note the two major problems and maybe pick nits, we'll see how it goes.
Problem #1, the movie "dumbs down" Batman again. He goes from being a really great detective and an incredible planner in the previous movies, into a guy that can't see the major (or even "minor") plot building up around him. Case in point, when the buy-out was in gear, he'd been boxed in. In and of itself, that's not the issue. In Knightfall, Bane proves himself an incredibly cunning adversary and it makes sense that Bruce Wayne would be hit, HARD. My issue is that while he sees the gun pointed at his head he doesn't note the knife in his back (Talia). I grant that he wouldn't know she WAS Talia, my issue is that he couldn't see that he was herded into giving her control of Wayne Corp. (you can argue that he's rusty because he has been "retired" for 8 yrs, which leaves me asking the obvious question: WHY THE **** DOES BATMAN EVER RETIRE?" That just makes zero sense and I hate that it shrinks it into a more straight-up "action" movie. It also makes the movie really drag in the middle as they go from "Knightfall" into his return. (I also laughed when he's in "the pit" and told Galena halfway through his first climb "You'll know when he's gonna make it, because he won't be wearing the rope")
Problem #2, TOO MANY PEOPLE DIE! The DARK Knight is all "edgy, I get that. But Edd, if you ever read this, if you thought "Batman Begins" was bad because Batman let's Ras Al Ghul die... what do you think of tDKR? (If you've read this far and haven't seen it, in the final parts, several henchmen get GUNNED DOWN by him, to say nothing of the main antagonists) I get that they raised the stakes insanely high with a nuclear bomb, but C'MON! That's why he's BATMAN. The guy wouldn't even kill the Joker in tDK, so it just seems crazy in tDKR.
Really, the whole first half is overlong, they waste a long chunk showing Bruce Wayne returning from self-imposed exile... for no discernible reason. Then they spend a LONG stretch in the middle with Bane nominally "ruling" Gotham just to have the crazy return from the Pit. I assume that Nolan just loved parts of "Knightfall" (obviously either saying he couldn't FIT Bane's methodical wear down of Bruce, or just not 'getting' the necessity) and built a story that allows for Bruce to return from having his back broken. But the choice is cluttered and clunky. Oddly, Selina Kyle fits in pretty well IMO. Her motivations largely make sense and her part fits together well into a semi-heroic arc. I like the "No Man's Land" shout-out to her territory. Would've been cool if she had a logo.
I didn't get the misguided(?) cop. Early on he seems like he could be a traitor, late he seems like a coward, in the end, he dies .. bravely(?) I dunno, his whole character arc was confusing and largely pointless. "Robin" was pretty good, I'm glad he doesn't join Batman directly at any point in the movie tho. I did say afterwards that it could be compelling to see him in a "Dick Grayson as Batman"-esque sequel. Alfred seemed... "off" tho. I don't see him just quitting on Bruce, and that made the whole muddling around just that much more odd. I don't really see why it was necessary narratively speaking unless it was all building to the final shot. ("woo" *sarcastic finger twirl*)
I dunno, in the end, it's an entertaining 3 hrs, but not a great "Batman" movie. There's also a few bits that felt like editing mistakes, they COULD have been done intentionally given how the movie was going, but if so, they weren't done... WELL, from a writing perspective. Anyway, feel free to share your opinions in the comments.