My humble thoughts on the Dark Knight Rises

I admit I haven’t gone to the Dark Knight Rises with a high expectation barrier. The previous movie, the Dark Knight (2008) was an epic thriller for me, and I did not expect the  new one to match that.

It is also because I usually think that the hardest part is usually the end…To end something you started, properly and delicately. Be it the Star Wars, the Rocky or the Godfather…The last film always assumes a difficult role, and it mostly becomes inevitable that the next film does get worse than the previous one.

However, I cannot totally say that for the epic ride by Christopher Nolan. Despite its 165 minutes length, at some points even messy structure and plot holes, the movie carried me from beginning till the end with excitement. In spite of some movie clichés Nolan resorted to, I noticed that I was watching the movie with a smile of fulfilment on my face for most of the time.

I still see The Dark Knight as the best of the trilogy. But ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ rises to be a grand end to the journey. Whether it’s coincidence or not, it succeeds in brushing on current worldly issues as much as possible within the superhero story, which is largely based on resolution of a personal revenge case.

Nolan’s Batman trilogy, collage by SelinOn

SOME OBSERVATIONS…

Spoiler alert…Although I am not going to particularly refer to the end, I do recommend that you don’t read here on before watching the film. My notes below refer to some bits of the film. 

Is Gotham’s invasion by the villain Bane’s underground forces similar to Occupy movement? And is the film taking any side? 

I came across to some controversial critics regarding the depiction of the clash between classes of society, and maybe what is shown friendly and unfriendly in the film. That the film largely or vaguely takes the conservative side of politics (a side against the Occupy movement?) does not totally make sense to me.

Although there are similarities between the villain’s taking over of the stock exchange/the Gotham City and the Occupy Movement, the differences are too evident to ignore.

1. The means of both activities are in sharp contrast.The means are distinct as black and white: Bane’s forces overtaking the city are purely brutal, while the Occupy movement has been peaceful and friendly taking their power not from violent acts but intellectual effort.
2. Not only the means but also the end and origin… Here, the villain Bane is shown to act totally out of personal motives for revenge, whereas the Occupy movement has grown out of collective unrest.

What similar is the rhetoric…

I think either out of coincidence or out of its creators’ touch with today’s reality, the film ends up carrying an acceptable and robust connection to worldly issues. Scriptwriters expressed that it was coincidence: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1690715/dark-knight-rises-occupy-wall-street.jhtml ), and  both Christopher and Jonathan Nolan put that it was rather literature that was a real source of inspiration for the script (referring to Charles Dickens‘ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/heres-how-classic-english-literature-figures-into-the-dark-knight-rises ).

Throughout the film, and especially starting with the invasion of the stock exchange, we hear some remarks on how corrupt Gotham city is, how unequal the income distribution has been, which largely overlap with the language of the Occupy Movement. In Gotham too, there is a distinctive gap between the rich and the poor, which has been among other catalysts the underlying factor behind the Occupy movement.

Especially Selina Kyle’s (Anne Hathaway) words are a glimpse on what awaits Gotham…‘’There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us’’.

Source: Washington Post

Yet, this is all there is…The expressions are similar, but the action goes well beyond that and you see that Bane turns into a fascistic terrorist leader, too far from the friendly forces of the Occupy Movement. The comments on the society resemble to V for Vendetta’s, too, however the terror in the Dark Knight Rises turns out to be rather out of individual purposes.

If there is any side the film takes, I think it is against the violent oppression of the society…

What the film indicated between the action flow largely reflected an awareness to me rather than taking a definite side and conveying a message on the current struggles behind the Occupy Movement.

So although the case in the Dark Knight Rises (as well as Dark Knight) turns out to be largely based on a non-collective revenge story, scriptwriters probably made use of the collective remarks on the society. Maybe in an extreme way, the film depicts how a society can be broken into pieces and how a strict polarization of the society is a real threat to its bones. I feel that if there is any view Nolans&Goyer take or convey, it is rather reformist than conformist.

However severe is, according to them the preferred means to fight corruption would not be through destruction but maybe restructuring. Then again, the film does not try to give any hope on whether Gotham City would be reformed and become a better place. And, I guess it also need not to.

On a side note, a remarkable achievement of Nolan’s Batman series is I think that villains’ talks do not sound non-sense. Joker’s (Heath Ledger) was not and Bane’s (Tom Hardy) speeches also make some sense. Nolans’ Batman scripts let some truthful remarks to be uttered by the villains.

Bruce Wayne falls down to majority from being a privileged rich businessman. Following the stock exchange transfer Bruce Wayne actually loses most of his wealth and steps down to being a normal citizen from being a philanthropist. How the case is resolved involves only his remaining access to the Batman facilities and accessories, and his will to survive (in order to save Gotham).

Bane breaks Batman’s back in a splash page from Batman #497 (July 1993). Art by Jim Aparo. (Source: Wikipedia)

And this is where Bruce Wayne’s revival resembles to Rocky spirit…The scene where this resemblance becomes too visible is the working out scene of Batman in the cave: there is an easy similarity to Rocky’s training sessions to catch, where I could almost hear ‘Eye of the Tiger’ playing in the back of my mind while I was watching.

Apart from this particular example, beforehand we can also connect Batman’s faithful servant Alfred (Michael Caine) to Rocky’s trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith). As much as Mickey tries to stop Rocky from fighting Clubber Lang in Rocky III, Alfred wants to stop Batman from going after the huge killer-machine Bane.

Some similarities of expression between Mickey (Rocky III) and Alfred (Dark Knight Rises):

Mickey to Rocky: ‘’Well, Rock, let’s put it this way. Now, three years ago you was supernatural. You was hard and you was nasty and you had this cast-iron jaw but then the worst thing happened to you, that could happen to any fighter. You got civilized. But don’t worry kid. You know, presidents retire, horses retire, Man-o-war retired. They put him out to stud. That’s what you should’ve done, retired…’’ / ‘’Because you can’t win, Rock! This guy will kill you to death inside of three rounds!’’/ ‘’Well, you got him. But you’ll fight him without me.’’ / ‘’It’s finished. Yes, I’m finished. I don’t want no more of this. I don’t want no more of it! You understand? None of it! It’s over with!’’…

Alfred to Bruce: ‘’You’re not Batman any more.’’ / ‘’Any man who is too extreme for Ra’s Al Ghul is not to be toyed with.’’ /‘’I won’t bury you. I buried enough members of the Wayne family’’

Yet, we have Christopher Nolan here, he would be one of last persons to forget the cinematic references his movie could be charged with. He probably deliberately had to take in those bits to make the film climb towards its climax. I would even think that the crucial fight scenes where Wayne and Bane exchange blows may have intentionally given the spirit of a Rocky-like naked muscle fight of will.

Some remarks about the cast…

Christian Bale – not in the typical Batman mood: Bruce Wayne/Batman becomes one of the most indecisive characters of the movie especially compared with the well-focused actions of Selina Kyle, Bane or Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard). Christian Bale plays an almost lazy Batman in the first half of the movie, starting to wake up from his deep indifference about Gotham and everything, when Selina Kyle breaks into his room.

Christian Bale for me is the rare example of how I warmed up to someone so much from almost zero. I think he became the best actor wearing the Batman suit; a perfect embodiment of calm, strong-willed and mysterious Batman…

Source: Slate.com

Anne Hathaway – not a big fan of her yet she nearly overfilled her space: Whenever she appeared, she almost captured all the attention, leaving not much for others in the scene. Her eyes, expressions, mimics as well as body language all achieved to be captivating. So I guess, now I’m starting to like her…

Source: scifi4me.com

Compared with the female cast in the previous film, Maggie Gyllenhaal , I found the female casting in this film much better. I had some doubts about Nolan’s pick of females, yet this time I think the actress picks were quite well-made, including Marion Cotillard (but excluding her final scene – I noticed that thanks to the remark of a good friend).

Tom Hardy – not the intellectual villain we used to see in earlier films either…This is all a combination of muscle and determination (or ‘spirit’ as he and the old prisoner in the cave accused Batman was losing). We do not get a Joker-like sharp intellect or sophisticated armoury (except some technical advances he uses thanks to his sponsors). Yet, Hardy delivers his role fully. Despite lack of facial expression under his half mask, his eye expressions and body posture totally make him the opponent that Batman is not fit for after eight years of retirement: full of muscular energy and dedication.

Source: movies.yahoo.com