The Dark Knight Rises: 1st Impression

Four years ago, I walked out of the theater after watching The Dark Knight and I didn't quite know what to make of it. I was overwhelmed, but deep down I knew that that was because I had just been slapped in the face with too much genius. That's why I'm calling this a first impression, because I know Christopher Nolan films are thematically dense and often require multiple viewings. Last night I walked out of the theater after watching The Dark Knight Rises, and again I didn't quite know what to make of it. But that was because I was very underwhelmed. SPOILERS.

All of Nolan's Batman films have been very different from each other, both tonally and thematically. The first one was about fear, the second one was about insanity, and the third one . . . was about the ending, I think? My first impression is this film's whole point was to end it. It felt like Nolan didn't want Warner Bros. to give this franchise to someone else, so his only motivation for making this movie was to tie everything up in a nice bow. The sandbox is closed. Go play somewhere else. I can't blame him for wanting to protect his legacy, but that doesn't excuse lazy writing and an overdrawn story.

The whole first act is clunky and left me wondering what the hell was going on. There's about half a dozen new characters of varying degrees of import that you're introduced to, in addition to the catchup you have to play with all the old characters. Eight years have passed since the events of the last film. Bruce Wayne is now a recluse with zero remaining knee cartilage, and is effectively retired from being the Goddamn Batman. That's cool in a sort of The Dark Knight Returns kind of way, but rather than making these infirmities part of the story, it's solved with a weird robotic knee-brace type thing and never addressed again.

Now don't get me wrong; it's not all bad. There's some great performances and exciting set pieces along the way. Tom Hardy's Bane is brutal, intimidating, and uncompromising. And I like that he breaks the Batman. Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was well portrayed, though arguably poorly utilized. Cillian Murphy's return cameo was priceless, and the expected reveal that Marion Cotillard was in fact Talia al Ghul was welcome, though it came a bit too late to care for one way or the other. This all leads to a climactic confrontation that's exciting in the same way that the fight in Phantom Menace is; it's well staged, well choreographed, but lacking any real character.

Then we come to the end, which I've already mentioned is the whole point. It effectively brings an end to Bruce Wayne's story. I guess if you had to do that, this was a fitting conclusion, but the whole idea is rather unprecedented in regards to the source material. Batman never ends in the comic world. He's been around since the 1930's. Would Bruce Wayne ever truly stop being the Batman as long as he drew breath? What about those who argue that the Batman is the real personality and Bruce Wayne is the act? I'm not sure that I, as a fan, can appreciate that they took the character in this direction. Perhaps I would be more apt to accept it if it was part of some larger theme and not the whole point of the movie! It just seems like every conversation was about why Bruce should quite. "You're too old." "You've been out of the game too long." "You're going to get yourself killed." "You deserve peace." Even if Bruce Wayne were to accept these as valid reasons to hang up his cape and cowl (which I don't believe he would) then at least make it a necessary conclusion to one of Batman's themes: fear, rage, insanity, vengeance . . . there's a whole laundry list of things to choose from! The two previous films were good because they explored some of these things. This film lacked any attachment to the core Batman mythos, and it suffered because of that.

But all these points have been from the perspective of a fan. Does the film stack up as a stand-alone experience? If you think yes, then answer me one question . . . how the hell does he get out of the Pit?! The second act finds Bruce Wayne imprisoned in an underground facility called the Pit. He must scale its walls to escape and save Gotham. After several failed attempts, some old guy says he must first fear death, then try it without the safety rope. Suddenly, he can do it. What? I was expecting him to detective the shit out of something, find the escape route that no one else could find, or climb it out of shear force of will. That's how Batman usually does things. But they went the metaphysical rout instead. How does that even work? What boon does he bring back to Gotham? How does this suddenly prepare him for the fight with Bane? He got his ass kicked last time. What makes him think he can win now? Seriously, can anyone explain to me how this works? It just feels like lazy writing.

I'm torn as far as a recommendation goes. I love Christopher Nolan's films, but this one just left me feeling sour. Chances are you've already formed your opinion and what I have to say makes little difference to you. So, in that case, am I crazy? Did I miss something here? Is this film too much genius for me to understand, or did Nolan drop the ball as much as I think? Comment below!