I know, "The Dark Knight Rises" has been out for a while now, and it may be a little late for a review, but Amy and I didn't get around to seeing it until fairly recently. Regardless, I thought I'd still discuss it while it's still somewhat fresh in my head!
Personally, if a super hero movie is going to keep my attention, the villian has to be equally, if not more, interesting than the hero. That's why I consider the X-Men movies (particularly the first two), perhaps my favorite super hero movies. Magneto was a fantastic villian (being played by Ian McKellan didn't hurt) who was equally as intelligent as his foe, Professor X. Watching them try and out think and out do each other was a real treat (good writing doesn't hurt either). As far as villians go, though, Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" was perhaps the best villian yet portrayed on screen. Ledger's Joker wasn't just an over-the-top kooky clown character, but a very disturbed, angry, psychopathic human being who's parental physical abuse as a child drove him over the edge, and continues to haunt him. I remember watching him and thinking this really could happen to someone. Unfortunately, the deadly shooting incident in Colorado during the premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" in July showed that perhaps it did.
And that brings me to "The Dark Knight Rises". It's villan, Bane, didn't do much for me. He was basically just an over-muscular thug. I didn't find him interesting at all. That, unfortunately, really effected my view of the movie. But it wasn't the only thing. Where were Batman's brains in this movie? The majority of the time he was reacting with his heart rather than wits. Why in the world would you attack someone in a hand-to-hand battle who you know was as skilled (or more) than you were? Let alone twice as big! And not once, but twice? Getting the tar kicked out of him the first time didn't seem to register anything in the ole Bat-brain. Didn't he have any Bat-goodies in his utility belt that would have done the job from a distance? Catwoman finally figured that out towards the end of the movie! To me, Batman was portrayed as being much weaker than in the previous two movies, which was disappointing.
Speaking about the end of the movie, that little plot twist involving the Miranda character was a little lame. A very hollywood thing to do. I couldn't help but roll my eyes when it happened. I was disappointed that the talented Christopher Nolan would resort to something like that. His plot twists are usually more subtle. The very ending was confusing to me as well. I understand that Bruce Wayne faked his death and was retired in the little Italian village Alfred had always dreamed about, but is Robin replacing Batman as Gotham City's chief crimefighter? Is Robin becoming the next Batman? Didn't get it.
I did like some things in the movie though. I thought they did a great job portraying Catwoman and her complex relationship with Batman. Gary Oldman was solid as Commissioner Gordon again. Morgan Freeman held his own. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt was actually very good. I particularly liked the cameos from Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy (both appeared in "Batman Begins").
Anyhow, that's how I felt after leaving the movie theater. Feel free to share your views and opinions on the movie if you'd like, or discuss what your all-time favorite super hero movies are and why.
JW
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