Dark Knight Fails to Rise High Enough

I’ve always loved Batman.

From watching reruns of Adam West’s campy caped crusader at my grandma’s house (and not realizing that the Joker had a painted-over mustache) to Tim Burton’s two dark visits to Gotham City to the awesome animated Batman of weekday afternoons, I’ve devoured every incarnation of Batman and his crime-fighting exploits. Heck, I was excited about Batman Forever back in the day and even saw Batman and Robin in the theater.

But when I saw Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I was completely blown away. I’m not sure how I would have handled the incredibly convoluted plots, deep ideas and somewhat disturbing subject matter if I had seen these movies as a young bat fan, but seeing them as an adult, they seemed to be the most realistic and thought-provoking interpretation of a superhero that has one of the most disturbing and realistic stories of any of his heroic brethren: He’s a mortal man who channels his anger and fear from a tragic and scarring childhood event to become a positive force in the world. Christopher Nolan’s forays into the world of Gotham do a fantastic job of staying true to all the cool stuff about Batman–awesome gadgets, intriguing villains, incredible action sequences–while also delving into the psyche and motivation of the man under the cowl.

Needless to say, I was counting the days until the release of The Dark Knight Rises and finally saw the film tonight. I’m sure my expectations were far too high for a movie that had to follow The Dark Knight, but I must admit that I was a little disappointed with this one. Here are some not-at-all-deep, random thoughts I’ve had since the credits rolled. SPOILER ALERT: I’m assuming you’ve seen the movie if you’re reading this. If you have not yet seen it, it probably won’t make much sense to you anyway, so come back and read this afterward. You’ve been warned.

Everyone in this movie seems to know that Batman is Bruce Wayne.
So why does he have to keep doing the Batman voice? With as hobbled as Batman is throughout the film, you’d think he would at least spare his vocal chords.

To limp or not to limp?
Sometimes Bruce doesn’t have any cartilage in his knee and sometimes he can slow dance with Selena Kyle like he’s Gene Kelly. During his post-reclusive period, there was no rhyme or reason to whether or not he was faking the extent of his injuries. There’s also no explanation for why he’s so injured if he’s been in hiding for eight years and Batman hasn’t hit the streets since Harvey Dent’s death. Really intense push-ups?

The movie is filled with impossible things.
“It’s a Batman movie! Of course it is!” Sorry, I’m usually pretty forgiving in this department and can easily suspend disbelief, but I can only watch a live nuclear reactor roll over in a truck and bounce on the ground so many times before I’m taken out of the movie. Also, Batman and Lucius Fox both died. In Fox’s case, we saw him moments before he drowned, but somehow he dried out in time for Bruce Wayne’s fake funeral. Don’t get me started on Bruce’s miraculously fast recovery after the “doctor” in the prison popped a protruding vertebra back into his back. Reread that sentence and try not to laugh.

The Bane of Bane
Aside from being impossible to understand and sounding a bit like SNL’s Sean Connery, I thought Bane was a pretty imposing villain–until they revealed that he’s quite a bit older than we were led to believe and that he was Miranda’s wet nurse back in prison. I liked the twist, but it really derailed any scariness they had previously crafted throughout the movie. In fact, he becomes so immediately inessential that he is somewhat randomly killed off by Catwoman in the service of a jokey quip about using guns. (that actually seems grim in light of current events)

Stop hitting me over the head with a two-by-four.
“You should use your full name: ROBIN!” Nolan is done with this franchise, so you don’t need to spell things out, especially with dumb lines like that. Speaking of dumb lines, “Who put in this software patch that fixed the autopilot? BRUCE WAYNE!” He’s still alive! He used his Bat Deus Ex Machina! Lucius Fox’s greatest invention to date!

Batman probably should have died.
Again, I know this is a weird thing to say, but one of the things I loved about Nolan’s first two bat films was their underlying message about good/evil/fear/heroism/sacrifice/etc. This movie lacked much of that emotional depth. If Batman actually sacrificed himself for Gotham rather than somehow fixing the autopilot in time to somehow eject from the Batplane in time to somehow miss inhaling the mushroom cloud, there might have been more of a point to the last two-and-a-half hours. No one wants to see the hero die, but maybe that would have been more provocative. Or leave us hanging in a way that the audience gets to decide a la Inception. Why can’t you wow me every time, Chris Nolan? I’ve come to demand it!

The Scarecrow? Why?
The film is moving rapidly toward its climax and then out of the blue…it’s the Scarecrow! Except Cillian Murphy made the artistic decision to not use the same voice he used for the Scarecrow in the previous two Batman movies. and there is zero explanation provided for his presence as Judge Judy in Bane’s courtroom. I know Christopher Nolan thinks there are only six actors in the world that can appear in his movies, but I thought this was just weirdly out of place. The only thing more surprising would have been a Stan Lee cameo.

Anne Hathaway, I’m waiting for you.
Turns out you were born one day before me. We can turn 30 together. It’ll be great.

OK, I didn’t actually dislike the movie, I was just hoping for a little better wrap-up for what has easily become my favorite interpretation of The Batman. Maybe it will grow on me after a second viewing…most things look better when viewed in IMAX. If you saw the movie, I’d love to hear what you think!