The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

 

It's not easy coming up with a sequel if the previous outing was a pretty bloody good one. Hence, this one suffers for it. 

Well, there's a few other reasons why this one is less than 'The Dark Knight', but we'll get to those points soon enough. 

It's been 8 years since the Batman disappeared and Gotham is almost crime free. Yet, something stirs on the horizon, because you know the proverbial shit will hit the fan when things seem too good to be true. From some unspecified country comes a mercenary called Bane, and he wants Gotham to burn, in order to exact the vision that Ra's Al-Ghûl had set forth. 

Yes, that storyline is still a thing. 

But Batman is woefully out of shape, and to complicate matters: his company is slowly being taken over and a sexy catburglar is also throwing her spanners in the works. 

Yes, it's quite a lot to take in. Yes, that matters. Yes, that makes this film a little bloated at times. 

Our mercenary known as Bane takes over Gotham through elaborate plans and breaks the Batman's back, after which he sends him to a hellhole prison where Bane himself apparently was held and 'moulded by the darkness'. Now Bruce Wayne has to try and get back to Gotham before Bane totally destroys it with a nuclear weapon. 

If you feel a little lost or overwhelmed, that's entirely normal. Most people are the first watch. And the second one as well. But after the third... it still is a little too much at times. 

Batman being down in the dumps and having to rely more on Bruce Wayne's ingenuity is a nice touch. It's more about him now, whereas the last one was more focused on the villains, and with good reason. Christian Bale is very human this time around, which is the message. His arrogance brings him down to base level and now he has to build himself up. 

Who surprised me a lot with her take on the role, was Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle (or Catwoman, even though she is never called this in the film). She has that swagger and elegance that the classic Catwomen had (Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt). She kicks ass, cracks wise and projects a tough exterior, but she is doing it all to try and start anew. She just happens to be one of the best thieves around. 

But the next might hurt some feelings: Tom Hardy as Bane doesn't really do it for me. Yes, he is imposing, which is cool; and he is a nice foil for Batman, but his character has so little depth. But fair enough, beside the comics, Bane has never actually gotten the treatment he deserves and this is an extremely superior version to the piss poor rendition in 'Batman & Robin'. But next to the fightscenes (the one with Batman in the sewers is great) and his imposing physique, he doesn't really bring that much to the table. Heck, he's actually the stooge in the story, which is a total insult. I also don't get that bizarre, sort-of-Eastern-European accent Hardy chose to use. Okay, so he is not Hispanic, I can live with that, but his voice is so terribly distracting and doesn't fit the character at all, that he just feels forced. 

And shall we begin about the absolute insane plan Bane and his cronies have? I mean, talk about a gazillion unpredictable factors. It's just a little too much. 

You see, the reliance on chance is a little too hard to swallow. I like the leadup to the Robin character, but how does he know who Batman is? Never explained. That Bane knows through Ra's Al-Ghul: fair enough. But someone able to fix Bruce's broken back just like that? Selina Kyle always being in the right place at the right time? The person behind everything being able to steer everyone and yet dying in such a silly fashion? There's a little too much deus ex machina'ing going around, and some of the exposition is delivered in a really forced way. 

It's not a bad film, but it's too disjointed and a little too convenient at times to fully convince. A shame really, but it does have a fitting end to the trilogy, so there's always that. You'll be satisfied, and isn't that what possibly counts the most?