The Dark Knight Rises

Sorry, I hardly ever keep this up, and I should...but I'm finally back to share some thoughts on the new batman movie.  *warning spoilers*



Overall, I found this movie to be very mediocre. Three factors kept me from being totally underwhelmed by it: Anne Hathaway's captivating portrayal as Selina Kyle, the fun tie-ins to Batman Begins, and a really well executed ending with the proper balance of intrigue and ambiguity.

Where Dark Knight was complex and intricate, this movie was convoluted. It was unfortunately marred by a script that relied heavily on characters giving long monologues of expository dialogue, combined with too many flashbacks that consequently slowed the pace of the movie. In addition, some of the deeper philosophical themes of "mask wearing" and "pain", felt forced and thrown together, unlike the fear themes of Batman Begins which were brilliantly woven into every element of the story.

Bane should have been a menacing villain, and while I thought his initial beat down of Batman added a new level of "oh crap," his obviously ADR'd voice sounded too disembodied to be real, and kept me more aware of the process of film making then engaged in the danger his character presented.

The reveal of Talia Al Ghul at the end was something I was overjoyed to see, however it was too predictable. I suppose that by mis-leading us to think Bane was Ghul's son was a way of vamping up that twist a little more, but I saw it coming from the beggining, because without it, Miranda Tate's character would have been utterly pointless.

Finally, the film was far too dark, for far too long. I was sure that by putting us as the viewers through such a painful second act, Nolan was making sure we felt enough pain that the third act would seem even more redemptive and cathartic. However, that wasn't the case. What we got was a final battle that wrapped up too quickly, and far too easily, that the payoff for the agony and gloom of the rest of the movie didn't balance out.

It was tough for me to come to this conclusion. I thought the previous two movies were masterpieces, but unfortunately this one, even on its own just didn't hold up.