As a disclaimer, I did warn you that there would be Spoilers here. So, if you continue reading, you accept that you're reading on your own free will knowing very well that I have given you adequate Spoiler alert.
Okay, so here we go. Writing this will be a little difficult for me simply because I am a very structured person by nature (On the MBTI, my highest % is the J portion) but my thoughts on the movie are currently all over the place. I can't form a natural cohesive line of thought. You have no idea how much this kills me.
To (finally) begin, I have a very strong bias towards movies that are dark and somber in tone. That's not to say I don't appreciate happy, shiny, fun stuff. But I just have a stronger preference to the opposite (it's why I dislike the sun and always prefer gloomy days). For tone and overall melancholia, TDKR 99% nailed it. I can hardly remember a point of the movie where I thought, "Damn, things look a bit sunny and hopeful for our heroes." No, it was always a consistent throb of particles of light trying to break the darkness. So, I thought the tone was done very well. Most crime/drama movies (I think it's a bit thick to consider TDKR as only a superhero movie, particularly after the Dark Knight) work best when the general tone of the movie is dark. Think The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, Insomnia, Mystic River, Se7en and so on.
The reason I said that TDKR nailed it 99% was because the remaining 1%, the ending (probably the 1% that governs 40% of how people feel about a movie (see what I'm trying to do here)) didn't sit right with me. Yes, I agree it covered up all loose ends and was a very neat ending to the Trilogy (more on this later). But to me, it's a bit too neat. At the end of the movie, Bane was defeated. Talia Al'Ghul was defeated. Gotham was saved. Lucius Fox got what he wanted. Alfred got what he wanted. John Blake got what he wanted. James Gordon got what he wanted. Bruce Wayne got what he wanted. Hell, even Selina Kyle got what she wanted. But how likely is this? In a world where I can suspend belief to believe that the Batman is real, I'm still finding it difficult to believe that after an epic war/battle such as this one, all the major 'good guys' got happy endings.
No one fell from grace. No one died. No one faced a moral dilemma and came out of it for the worse. In short, no one lost anything. I have never been in a war. Fine. But I find it hard to believe that everyone, even the "good guys" can come out of it never having lost anything. Even if it's just a little part of themselves. How is it that all the "good guys" can just move on so easily? Yes, I know Rachel died in The Dark Knight but that was a different "war". I'm talking about the "war" just in the context of TDKR. How can you go through so much sacrifice without it having a Dent on who you are? It was just too neat for me. I would have liked to have seen an ending like in the Godfather series, particularly in Godfather 2 - Michael Corleone sitting in his cabin at Lake Tahoe, on top of the world but bitterly alone (before you crucify me on a spoiler for Godfather 2, the movie has been out for 38 years. It's your fault if I spoiled anything for you). Sure, the man got what he wanted, but not without losing a huge part of himself.
For the other 99%, I was pretty happy about how it all went down. The story started out pretty slowly. But to be fair to it, it was building up to a crescendo. While I understand that some may not prefer slow builds, I think it's okay as long as the foundation built is meaningful and strong. That means no wasted scenes and it all has to make sense at the end. TDKR did that. I don't necessarily like how it jumped from scene to scene at the early going (a bit disconnected) but at least all the scenes meant something.
A puzzle I had though - Jonathan Crane presided over the Kangaroo Court that was established after Bane took over Gotham City. Crane was in Arkham Asylum at last check. Presumably, so would the Joker be. So, where the hell was the Joker in all of this? Wouldn't you think that he'd be around, trying to pull something off? Yes, I know Heath Ledger died. I'm not saying, "Why isn't this movie based around the Joker?" I'm saying that an explanation of why the Joker wasn't around should have been put forth.
Another great thing about TDKR was the cinematography. Some of the coolest scenes I've seen. Absolutely worthwhile to watch the TDKR on IMAX. My personal favourite scene, cinematographically (is this even a word), was where the ground crumbled as the football game was being played. Just to see how the players fell to the earth while the kick return fella was scoring a touchdown. That was brilliant. And right after the national anthem too. A very chilling effect. Another great scene, I thought, was when the explosives started going out around Gotham and the movie cut to the aerial view as things were blowing to hell and high water. Pulled off with amazing panache.
As someone who's generally fascinated with this 99% 1% kind of thing, I thought it was brilliant that one of the key machinations of Bane's strategy was to turn the underprivileged against the privileged. Isn't it so easy? The people who, rightly or wrongly, believe (rightly or wrongly) that they deserve more going for the people who (rightly or wrongly) have more. I think Karl Marx was right in that history has been a series of clashes based on class warfare. I think it's true even in Malaysia. It really is a class thing, not a caste thing. And, of course, when the 99% have no legal restraints over reclaiming the wealth owned by the 1%, I think the movie did a decent job of showing what can happen. Anarchy can reign and communism may prevail. While I think this was overplayed a little, as in they tried maybe a bit too hard to explicate these bits, I think it's great that they did this. I'm always a fan of social commentary in movies and trying to illustrate both the feelings of the 99% (unfairness of an elite class) and the 1% (how society could descend into anarchy) was a very worthy thing. After all, it is empirically proven that inequality breeds economic instability (which usually leads to political instability).
And omgwtfbbq (the only kind of BBQ that is worthy of God, according to Urban Dictionary), the acting was overall magnificent. My movie kakis make a good point that the dialog was a bit lacking, but that aside though, the acting was brilliant. Christian Bale played a wonderful tormented Bruce Wayne and Michael Caine definitely moved a few tear ducts or two in the theater as Alfred. And, of course, Gary Oldman does yet another spectacular job as James Gordon. It's a bit difficult, however, to tell how well Tom Hardy did as Bane because he's behind that mask all the time and plus, it's really quite unfair to compare him to Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. And Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. Purr-fect. (Couldn't help it, I apologise).
So, to conclude, putting TDKR into perspective as the third series in the Dark Knight trilogy, beginning with Batman Begins and following that up with the Dark Knight, I think TDKR fits well. It does tie up loose ends (but not to my complete liking) and there are no huge missing plot points (except what happened to the Joker after he dropped Rachel out the window in the Dark Knight). I think it will be remembered as one of the top trilogies out there, with all 3 movies being very solid, if not all spectacular. The thing that will drive it over the top is the utterly magnificent Dark Knight, which transforms the trilogy from being very, very good to great. In my mind, it's the best of the 3. Here's why - If you were to tell anybody to watch only 1 of these 3 films, you would tell them to watch the Dark Knight. Why? To catch Heath Ledger as the Joker. I will entertain no arguments about this.
To put it in context, if we think of the Batman trilogy as the Chicago Bulls of 1996, the Dark Knight is Michael Jordan, TDKR is Scottie Pippen (not a pantheon level player but still a Level 4 one nonetheless) and Batman Begins would be Dennis Rodman (an absolutely necessary player who did an excellent job in his role for the team). And so, along basketball lines, here are who I think the top 3 MVP candidates are for the trilogy:-
MVP:- Heath Ledger as the Joker
The guy who transforms the trilogy from very, very good to great has to be the MVP, regardless of longevity. That said, I can understand if you disagree with this argument. It's just a personal preference - I'd rather have a guy who played great basketball for 2 years versus a guy who played very, very good basketball for 10 years but was never great - I can catch lightning in a bottle and win the NBA championship, guaranteed, with that guy if I have him for those 2 years, but I might never win the NBA championship with the guy who's very, very good even if I have him for those 10 years. Greatness will out.
MVP Runner Up:- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne
I want to make the distinction here. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne worked. From Batman Begins all the way to TDKR. From being a tormented soul to being a billionaire playboy to being a nonchalant business owner to being a fighter to whatever. He was Al Pacino's Michael Corleone to Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone.
MVP 2nd Runner Up:- Gary Oldman as James Gordon
I can't state enough how much I loved Gary Oldman's portrayal of Jim Gordon throughout the series. As the guy who is unwaveringly incorruptible despite all the crap that went on at Gotham PD. Can you imagine being him? How many people can be inside such a corrupt system and yet, continue to fight for that system? Yes, he did lie about Harvey Dent's death, but so what? If Bruce Wayne is Al Pacino and Heath Ledger is Marlon Brando in the Godfather series, then Gary Oldman is Robert Duvall's Tom Hagen.
All in all, an excellent showing by everyone involved. As a movie, TDKR gets an 8.5/10 from me. As a series, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy gets a 9/10 from me.
 |
| RISE! |
To (finally) begin, I have a very strong bias towards movies that are dark and somber in tone. That's not to say I don't appreciate happy, shiny, fun stuff. But I just have a stronger preference to the opposite (it's why I dislike the sun and always prefer gloomy days). For tone and overall melancholia, TDKR 99% nailed it. I can hardly remember a point of the movie where I thought, "Damn, things look a bit sunny and hopeful for our heroes." No, it was always a consistent throb of particles of light trying to break the darkness. So, I thought the tone was done very well. Most crime/drama movies (I think it's a bit thick to consider TDKR as only a superhero movie, particularly after the Dark Knight) work best when the general tone of the movie is dark. Think The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, Insomnia, Mystic River, Se7en and so on.
The reason I said that TDKR nailed it 99% was because the remaining 1%, the ending (probably the 1% that governs 40% of how people feel about a movie (see what I'm trying to do here)) didn't sit right with me. Yes, I agree it covered up all loose ends and was a very neat ending to the Trilogy (more on this later). But to me, it's a bit too neat. At the end of the movie, Bane was defeated. Talia Al'Ghul was defeated. Gotham was saved. Lucius Fox got what he wanted. Alfred got what he wanted. John Blake got what he wanted. James Gordon got what he wanted. Bruce Wayne got what he wanted. Hell, even Selina Kyle got what she wanted. But how likely is this? In a world where I can suspend belief to believe that the Batman is real, I'm still finding it difficult to believe that after an epic war/battle such as this one, all the major 'good guys' got happy endings.
No one fell from grace. No one died. No one faced a moral dilemma and came out of it for the worse. In short, no one lost anything. I have never been in a war. Fine. But I find it hard to believe that everyone, even the "good guys" can come out of it never having lost anything. Even if it's just a little part of themselves. How is it that all the "good guys" can just move on so easily? Yes, I know Rachel died in The Dark Knight but that was a different "war". I'm talking about the "war" just in the context of TDKR. How can you go through so much sacrifice without it having a Dent on who you are? It was just too neat for me. I would have liked to have seen an ending like in the Godfather series, particularly in Godfather 2 - Michael Corleone sitting in his cabin at Lake Tahoe, on top of the world but bitterly alone (before you crucify me on a spoiler for Godfather 2, the movie has been out for 38 years. It's your fault if I spoiled anything for you). Sure, the man got what he wanted, but not without losing a huge part of himself.
For the other 99%, I was pretty happy about how it all went down. The story started out pretty slowly. But to be fair to it, it was building up to a crescendo. While I understand that some may not prefer slow builds, I think it's okay as long as the foundation built is meaningful and strong. That means no wasted scenes and it all has to make sense at the end. TDKR did that. I don't necessarily like how it jumped from scene to scene at the early going (a bit disconnected) but at least all the scenes meant something.
A puzzle I had though - Jonathan Crane presided over the Kangaroo Court that was established after Bane took over Gotham City. Crane was in Arkham Asylum at last check. Presumably, so would the Joker be. So, where the hell was the Joker in all of this? Wouldn't you think that he'd be around, trying to pull something off? Yes, I know Heath Ledger died. I'm not saying, "Why isn't this movie based around the Joker?" I'm saying that an explanation of why the Joker wasn't around should have been put forth.
Another great thing about TDKR was the cinematography. Some of the coolest scenes I've seen. Absolutely worthwhile to watch the TDKR on IMAX. My personal favourite scene, cinematographically (is this even a word), was where the ground crumbled as the football game was being played. Just to see how the players fell to the earth while the kick return fella was scoring a touchdown. That was brilliant. And right after the national anthem too. A very chilling effect. Another great scene, I thought, was when the explosives started going out around Gotham and the movie cut to the aerial view as things were blowing to hell and high water. Pulled off with amazing panache.
As someone who's generally fascinated with this 99% 1% kind of thing, I thought it was brilliant that one of the key machinations of Bane's strategy was to turn the underprivileged against the privileged. Isn't it so easy? The people who, rightly or wrongly, believe (rightly or wrongly) that they deserve more going for the people who (rightly or wrongly) have more. I think Karl Marx was right in that history has been a series of clashes based on class warfare. I think it's true even in Malaysia. It really is a class thing, not a caste thing. And, of course, when the 99% have no legal restraints over reclaiming the wealth owned by the 1%, I think the movie did a decent job of showing what can happen. Anarchy can reign and communism may prevail. While I think this was overplayed a little, as in they tried maybe a bit too hard to explicate these bits, I think it's great that they did this. I'm always a fan of social commentary in movies and trying to illustrate both the feelings of the 99% (unfairness of an elite class) and the 1% (how society could descend into anarchy) was a very worthy thing. After all, it is empirically proven that inequality breeds economic instability (which usually leads to political instability).
And omgwtfbbq (the only kind of BBQ that is worthy of God, according to Urban Dictionary), the acting was overall magnificent. My movie kakis make a good point that the dialog was a bit lacking, but that aside though, the acting was brilliant. Christian Bale played a wonderful tormented Bruce Wayne and Michael Caine definitely moved a few tear ducts or two in the theater as Alfred. And, of course, Gary Oldman does yet another spectacular job as James Gordon. It's a bit difficult, however, to tell how well Tom Hardy did as Bane because he's behind that mask all the time and plus, it's really quite unfair to compare him to Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. And Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. Purr-fect. (Couldn't help it, I apologise).
So, to conclude, putting TDKR into perspective as the third series in the Dark Knight trilogy, beginning with Batman Begins and following that up with the Dark Knight, I think TDKR fits well. It does tie up loose ends (but not to my complete liking) and there are no huge missing plot points (except what happened to the Joker after he dropped Rachel out the window in the Dark Knight). I think it will be remembered as one of the top trilogies out there, with all 3 movies being very solid, if not all spectacular. The thing that will drive it over the top is the utterly magnificent Dark Knight, which transforms the trilogy from being very, very good to great. In my mind, it's the best of the 3. Here's why - If you were to tell anybody to watch only 1 of these 3 films, you would tell them to watch the Dark Knight. Why? To catch Heath Ledger as the Joker. I will entertain no arguments about this.
To put it in context, if we think of the Batman trilogy as the Chicago Bulls of 1996, the Dark Knight is Michael Jordan, TDKR is Scottie Pippen (not a pantheon level player but still a Level 4 one nonetheless) and Batman Begins would be Dennis Rodman (an absolutely necessary player who did an excellent job in his role for the team). And so, along basketball lines, here are who I think the top 3 MVP candidates are for the trilogy:-
MVP:- Heath Ledger as the Joker
The guy who transforms the trilogy from very, very good to great has to be the MVP, regardless of longevity. That said, I can understand if you disagree with this argument. It's just a personal preference - I'd rather have a guy who played great basketball for 2 years versus a guy who played very, very good basketball for 10 years but was never great - I can catch lightning in a bottle and win the NBA championship, guaranteed, with that guy if I have him for those 2 years, but I might never win the NBA championship with the guy who's very, very good even if I have him for those 10 years. Greatness will out.
MVP Runner Up:- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne
I want to make the distinction here. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne worked. From Batman Begins all the way to TDKR. From being a tormented soul to being a billionaire playboy to being a nonchalant business owner to being a fighter to whatever. He was Al Pacino's Michael Corleone to Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone.
MVP 2nd Runner Up:- Gary Oldman as James Gordon
I can't state enough how much I loved Gary Oldman's portrayal of Jim Gordon throughout the series. As the guy who is unwaveringly incorruptible despite all the crap that went on at Gotham PD. Can you imagine being him? How many people can be inside such a corrupt system and yet, continue to fight for that system? Yes, he did lie about Harvey Dent's death, but so what? If Bruce Wayne is Al Pacino and Heath Ledger is Marlon Brando in the Godfather series, then Gary Oldman is Robert Duvall's Tom Hagen.
All in all, an excellent showing by everyone involved. As a movie, TDKR gets an 8.5/10 from me. As a series, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy gets a 9/10 from me.
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