I guess I should just accept that I can’t fully accept Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe. I never hated the movies. Never even thought they were bad, per se’. Just…missing something.
It’s taken a long time to even accept the previous two entries. I quite enjoy watching Batman Begins now, and TDK, as much of a frustratingly long winded history I have with it, is just fine to me at this point.
And as much as they took to grow on me, I honestly have to say that structurally, they were both much better films.
As far as TDKR goes, it was fun, had some great moments, but just felt disjointed overall. And it suffered greatly from some painful momentary cliches that films all too often fall victim to. The cop-out heroic ending for example. I wanted it to end well, I really wanted Bruce to finally find peace in the city that brought him so much pain. And he did, just…..not in the way I was hoping. In fact, aside from Batman going on the run and taking the fall for Dent’s murders, TDK had a wonderful ending. Something along those lines would have sufficed.
The typical last minute effort spiel was totally unnecessary. And Bane was shafted in favor of a plot twist, revealing a character that in and of herself, was shafted. All because there were far too many central characters, with overlapping storylines with enough time to develop them, in the span of the film.
A lot of it just felt rushed and not properly fleshed out enough, I guess. I honestly can’t find the right words to describe it, but it certainly felt off to me, I don’t know.
Now with that said, Bane….was awesome. The Joker’s grown on me, and I quite enjoyed a lot of his moments during TDK. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of Bane for one second. He was that impressive. So much more of a threat to Bruce, in so many ways too.
Their first encounter in the sewers is arguably the best action sequence in the film. It was almost everything I would have imagined, aside from it being so one sided. But that aspect of it was what made the scene so powerful, I think. That Batman could be so vulnerable, and manhandled like he was, with no effort at all on Bane’s part, was astounding. Tom Hardy stole the show.
The newest addition to Bruce’s arsenal, The Bat, was an interesting vehicle. Finally something that flies. Although it would’ve been nice to see more of it, in favor the already overused Batpod. Oh well. Bane’s attack on the city was also another gem to watch. Nolan can really craft a suspenseful scene, that’s for sure.
Selina Kyle and John Blake were welcome additions as well. JGL played it nicely, if not a little good guy cliched. Anne Hathaway was relieving, considering she was what I was looking forward to least of all. I just can’t appreciate her like others can, but she did well.
Blake’s reveal as “Robin” was just sudden, and I don’t know man, was it really necessary? I like JGL, he’s great. But this trilogy didn’t need Robin. And the fact that it ends on that note just seemed tedious. Bruce had finally found closure it seemed, but then you’re forced to sit and think about what’s to come. I wasn’t a big fan of that.
So there it is. My honest thoughts, after having sat and thought on it for awhile. My views may very well change, but for now I’ll just settle with this:
I enjoyed it, but I really think it could’ve been a much better, well rounded film with some tweaking to the story.
