The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

I saw this movie on opening weekend and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to review it.  I thought the movie was okay but I didn’t feel strongly enough to give a detailed review.  I remember hearing gossip about how Christopher Nolan said this would be the last Batman movie and if that’s true then this is a fitting end.

I didn’t really like Batman Begins, in fact I absolutely hated that one.  Part of it has to do with Katie Holmes' wooden acting but most of the people in this movie act really stiff.  I also really hate origin stories and Batman Begins is an entire movie devoted to its character’s origin.  The movie is packed full of b.s. symbolism and philosophy from his father to Ra’s Al Ghul and The Dark Knight Rises returns to that formulaic simplicity.

I may be over critical of Batman Begins but I absolutely loved The Dark Knight.  All the problems from the previous movie were fixed in this one.  It had a more intricate and compelling plot, better villains, it was less boring, and had no origin story.  Oh and Katie Holmes’ part was recast by a more likeable(for me at least) actress. 

For the most part The Dark Knight Rises was just boring.   I went into this fresh, actively avoiding the previews so I didn’t spoil anything for myself.  So I didn’t know what to expect, but if you were expecting action packed scenes with Batman kicking ass you will be sorely disappointed.  Batman appears in one scene towards the beginning and once again towards the end.  That’s it.  That’s all you get.  The rest of the movie features Bruce Wayne hidden away in an underground prison laying around watching tv.  Chances are you probably also heard Catwoman was going to be in this movie, even if you were trying as hard as I was to avoid Dark Knight Rises trailers.  So if you thought that Catwoman or Bane was going to pick up the slack for Batman you’ll be disappointed again.  I’m reminded of so many other superhero movies that introduce too many characters and one or more of them is completely wasted and Catwoman is wasted in this movie.  There’s just not much for her do and she adds very little to the story.

Last year I saw the Batman Year One where Frank Miller turned Catwoman into a lesbian.  It looks like they were trying to do the same thing in this one but just dropped it half way through the movie when she becomes a love interest for Bruce Wayne.  Catwoman is a self-serving character throughout most of this movie but they attempt to redeem her in the end.  She’s just poorly written and irrelevant to the story.  If she weren’t in this movie I wouldn’t miss her at all.  There’s just not much for her to do and she’s not very interesting. 

The most distracting thing for me was the macguffins*.  As a result of the end of the last movie Bruce Wayne’s leg is damaged and he has to walk around with a cane.  In one scene he uses a mechanical brace to correct this so he can go out and be batman again.  Later on he’s seen walking around without this device and not so much as limping.  Catwoman is given a macguffin as well.  Her entire subplot revolves around a computer program that erases your identity but it’s never revealed why she wants it or what’s she going to do when she uses it.

Despite my many complaints The Dark Knight Rises is not a bad movie.  It’s a little uneven at times but it’s a fitting end to series.  Disregarding everything you’ve seen before this it’s an okay movie in its own rite.  Not great or even good just simply okay 82/100 B

Macguffins aside the only thing that really bothered me is how Bane's voice sounded like a really bad Sean Connery impression. Am I the only one that picked up on that?

*If you’re confused by this industry term you’re not alone.  For the longest time I heard this word tossed around in reviews without so much as an explanation.  In my own words a macguffin is a device in a movie that is mentioned but never explained and then quickly dismissed hoping the audience will eventually forget about it.  I’ve given a few examples but according to Wikipedia the briefcase in Pulp Fiction is a good example.