I really loved The Dark Knight Rises. One thing you may not know about me is that my icon up there ^ is true, I really do want everything I’ve ever seen in the movies. Bane and the Joker and R’as Al Ghul? Bring those fuckers on! Watching the last of a movie series I’d loved since my teens, I really did want everything it was showing, even the terrible things.
Then I got back home. And a terrible thing actually had happened. And there was, unfortunately, not a Batman in sight. But I don’t want to think about that, not really, I think I’d rather talk about the movie. For now.
- It passes the Bechdel test! Not exactly with flying colours- it just scrapes past, with a short conversation between Selina and her friend. (Girlfriend?) But it’s more than any of the other Nolan films have done.
- YES JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT IS ROBIN. It’s not revealed till the end that his character’s first name is Robin, but it is, and…yeah. If they’d revealed that at the beginning they could have almost gotten away with calling this film Batman and Robin.
- The misdirection with the child who escaped the prison and the true progeny of R’as Al Ghul was really well done. I suspected Miranda Tate wasn’t all she seemed, but then towards the end I began to wonder…but no, I was right. I liked her, I thought she was a pretty good villain. Well, and I liked the bit where the film reveals that the child who escaped (who did something even Batman couldn’t do at first) was a girl. As a feminist I kinda dug that. Especially since there’s not really much female representation in these movies.
- Liam Neeson is back for a cameo! But R’as is still dead, it’s all flashbacks and dream sequences. Oh! Oh! And the Scarecrow is back for a cameo too. I geniunely was surprised to see him there.
- Burn Gorman! Owen from Torchwood! Playing a nasty villain who meets an icy death. (not…not him…never mind.)
- A part of me wishes they hadn’t called it The Dark Knight Rises- it’s a really clunky title considering it comes right after The Dark Knight. I’d have gone for Gotham City. Or heck, even Gotham Rises. (Actually, that’s not bad.)
- Anne Hathaway was perfectly fine as Catwoman, but she doesn’t even approach the depth and sheer awesomeness of Michelle Pfeiffier’s take on the character, not for me. Although…if there was to be a spin-off movie…I’d definitely want her back.
- Between the length of this and the length of The Dark Knight, someone really needs to take Christopher Nolan aside and explain how bladders work. Loads of stuff could concievably have been left on the cutting-room floor- the whole opening sequence with Bane kidnapping the nuclear physicist from the aeroplane could probably have been covered in one line of dialogue. (“Holy kidnapping of nuclear physicists, Batman!”)
- Oh, back to Robin for a sec: when he was talking to Bruce and was all ‘we’ve met before’, I was SO SURE he was going to be that little kid from the first Batman movie, grown up, remember him? But he wasn’t. Boo.
- The fallout from The Dark Knight happened, and was done really well. Poor Gordon, as soon as Bane learned the truth about Harvey I knew he was in for a kicking. And although I was sad for him that his wife left him, took the kids and moved out of Gotham, I bet Gordon himself ended up relieved that happened- they weren’t there when the shit hit the fan.
- Also, one little bit I loved- Robin (he had another name throughout the movie, Blake, I think – which was the last name of one of the Robins, so I really should have guessed) was disgusted with Gordon for concealing the truth about Harvey and letting Gotham live under false hope. But then he does it himself, with the children at the end, telling them the bus will shield them from the bomb. And you can tell he’s just realised, what even false hope can do- I just thought that was really well done.
- Hooray, Fox managed not to die! There were times I feared for him. Also, he wore a bow tie. Bow ties are cool.
- Bane broke Batman’s back! Oh, you have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see that on screen, ever since they cast Bane- but I didn’t expect it to happen.
- ALFRED ALFRED omg ALFRED. He wasn’t in it much, but as soon as he returned, I knew how the film would end- and I’m so glad I was right. And I don’t think he walked away, I think he went right up to Bruce and hugged the crap out of him.
- Kudos to the guy (or girl?) in my theatre who stayed till after the credits and made a little bat-symbol in front of the projector with their feet for us loyal fans who stayed behind. You’re cool.