Ok, just about everyone and their grandmother may disagree with this, but I was totally disappointed in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. We saw it today after many great reviews from strangers and friends, but left the cinema wishing we’d seen something else.
I should have realized it was not going to be my cup of tea when most of the great reviews started out “I don’t usually like Batman or superhero films but . . . ” and then they’d say how great this new Batman film was. It made me think of the time I had to watch seasons of a certain “sci-fi” show for a writing job. I am a huge sci-fi and fantasy geek but this popular show also had reviews start out with “I don’t usually like sci-fi but . . . ” and then they’d go on to say how that show was the exception.
There was a reason it was the exception, and that people who “didn’t normally like sci-fi” enjoyed it. It’s because the cool stuff like techie robots and exotic otherworld feel was sucked right out of it. (I hated it.)
Likewise, with The Dark Knight Rises they’ve sucked the comic book right out of Batman. There’s no humour, no over the top painted faced Gotham city weirdos, no costumed lunatics running free from Arkham Asylum. In other words, no fun! Ok, so there are some costumes, but they are so understated and not worthy of the Batman universe. They made their villain, Bane, appear like an overly buff Hannibal Lector
The film could have used more of this!
There were no laughs in this Batman. The whole thing was as serious as a heart attack and drug on for what seemed like an eternity — 164 minutes to be exact. The plot twisted and turned but didn’t always seem to make sense either.
After seeing so many great reviews of this film I feel I may be the only one slamming it. Can’t help it though, even with the all-star cast it was boring. It wasn’t the fault of the actors, but the script. Christian Bale is great as Batman. Also, Gary Oldman plays Commissioner Gordon. Gary is one of my favourite actors ever, and he did a terrific job as usual, but even he couldn’t make this film fun.
I kind of like what Chris Nolan did with the batman story. It does not seem so bad if you think of it as one director’s interpretation of the story. After Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher gave us George Cloony as Batman in a batsuit with nipples, I liked seeing a straightforward view of Batman. How could this REALLY happen? I have not seen this last film yet though, I am sort of scared of how it may end! I do agree with you that the idea of Bane is not a very good choice of villains. There are just to many other, more fleshed out, villains to pick from. I dont think it will be long before another director gives us a whole new interpretation.
I would be happy to see another director do a take on it.