Way back in the summer of 1989, Tim Burton unleashed Batman upon the world. It was a pop culture phenomenon because the imagery and darker tone of this new Batman were what audiences had been craving for years. I was just a kid, and this movie changed my life. I saw it multiple times on the big screen and would coerce my friends and family to see it any chance I got. The magic of Gotham city cast a spell over my young self and transported me to a magical place I had read about in my piles of comic books.
Over the years, Batman has seen cinematic ups and downs. That Tim Burton series, as everyone knows, devolved into a hokey, Hollywood joke in the failure of a movie Batman & Robin. By then, there was a new director at the helm and the franchise was on its third Batman with George Clooney. The backlash from that terrible installment of the series caused the Batman movie series to be put on the shelf, and I'm sure many Hollywood directors and producers were afraid to touch it for a while.
In 2005, Batman Begins came out. This time, the series was entrusted to British director Christopher Nolan. Due to this elaborate, well-made, and darker origin story, it is obvious to me that Nolan actually respects the source material.*
I had mixed feelings about Batman Begins when it first came out. However, now, with the trilogy completed, I love it and have grown to appreciate how good it is. Scarecrow was always one of my favorite villains in the comics when I was a kid, and he was sorely missing from the Batman series in the 90's. It's a joy to seem him in all three of the new movies as Dr. Crane.
The Dark Knight, in 2008, elevated the series to a whole new level. Heath Ledger immortalized himself in the role of the Joker. The scale of the Batman story grew, and gained a much welcomed complexity. It was pleasantly surprising to audiences around the world, and I wondered how Christopher Nolan and crew could ever follow that movie. Well, the answer is The Dark Knight Rises, and these are my thoughts about how this series is supposedly ending.
The Good
The saving grace of this new series is undoubtedly Christopher Nolan and the mostly British cast and crew. Brits have a way of respecting source material in a way that Hollywood needs to learn. (*The problem with the 90's series was that Hollywood producers and directors did not respect or fully understand the Batman source material. They obviously viewed it as cheeky, cheesy, and even shallow. This showed in those movies.) Nolan elevates the source material in a way that is worthy of the big screen. I'll give you an example: It is absolutely delightful and refreshing, as a lifelong Batman fan, that he uses the old graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns" as inspiration and lifts scenes directly from it. The scene in The Dark Knight Rises when Batman first appears, and an older cop is riding with a younger rookie cop who has never seen Batman, is lifted straight from The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. And, to the movie's benefit. It adds depth and credibility. The fact that Bruce Wayne has been out of commission for 8 years is also inspired by this graphic novel, which is the story of an aging Bruce Wayne who is compelled to come out of retirement.
Another benefit of Christopher Nolan's respect for the source material is that the new Batman series of movies focus greatly on Bruce Wayne. In the comics I read as a kid, that was the whole point. He is such a compelling, fascinating character with so much rich history that it drove all the Batman stories forward. Bruce Wayne's desires, motivations, strengths, and flaws are what make Batman so great. The old 90's movie series, again, simply threw that character aside and fed the audience villains as fodder, as if they were the only interesting characters in Batman. Well, Nolan proved what millions of comic book fans have known for thirty years: Bruce Wayne is the core of the Batman story. In The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan has stated that he wanted the audience to be more interested in Bruce Wayne than the villains. He also wanted to reach the point where the audience is so enthralled with Bruce Wayne that they don't care whether he is in the Batman suit or not. I don't think they quite achieved that level of success, because the Batman suit is pretty awesome. But, the effort is admirable and makes for an incalculably better movie.
I really liked Joseph Gorden-Levitt as a police detective in this one. He brings energy and conviction to the story, injecting some youth into the Commissioner Gordon story.
Anne Hathaway is a killer Catwoman, and plays the role well. Since this is the third in the series, Nolan seems to have sensed that the story has ballooned into such a grand scale that these extra characters are necessary to carry the story along. And, I think he's right. Introducing other masked characters in a series that tries desperately to be based in reality takes a lot of work and writing skill. In The Dark Knight Rises, Selena Kyle (Catwoman) is a cat burglar. A clever way to tie in the "cat" aspect of her character. Her integration into the story also fits nicely with the mythos of her comic book character. She steals Bruce Wayne's finger prints and sells them to the bad guys. Yet, she feels a certain guilt about it. And, she connects with Bruce Wayne as a kindred spirit, so it makes her lifestyle tough to maintain in her conscience. In the comic, Catwoman always walked a tightrope between good and evil, and this is well done in The Dark Knight Rises.
Bane's character is also nicely interpreted in this Nolan Batman world. In the comic, he gained physical strength from his mask. It pumped some kind of fluid into his veins that gave him super strength. This is not the case with the new Bane, as he is just an "awesome" strong fighter guy. I suppose I accept this because it fits in with Nolan's commitment to make the series grounded in reality. I didn't have any trouble understanding what he was saying, as many people complained that he was unintelligible. In fact, I thought his voice was really cool and commanding. The first fight scene between Bane and Batman was inspired by a Batman comic book story from the early 90's in which Bane breaks Batman's back in order to prove his dominance. I never thought a Batman movie would be cool enough to have traces of this story, yet here it is!
The Bad
When I watched The Dark Knight Rises again this week for the first time since opening weekend, I noticed that Batman is basically only in three scenes in the whole movie. His first appearance is at 45 minutes. At 2.5 hours, that is a surprising low amount of screen time. I will say that every second of his screen time is amazing and exciting. Call me shallow, but I need some more Batman!
Also, in this movie, I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that Bane holds the entire city hostage. This is a stretch of suspension of disbelief, even for a Batman movie. It seems like the military could have come up with some plan to stop Bane before the months rolled by. But, he manages to hold the entire city hostage for a few months and turns the whole place into a cradle of corrosion and terror. That's kind of out there. Of course, in Batman Begins they quarantine an entire part of the city where Arkham Asylum is, so maybe this is just a larger version of that.
Batman's voice.
Overall
I appreciate the new Batman series for what it is. It's an earnest and successful attempt to honor the source material for the millions of fans out there. After Batman & Robin, it's a welcomed reboot. I'm disappointed that The Dark Knight Rises is supposedly the last Batman movie by Christopher Nolan. But, all good things must come to an end, and this cast and crew has done exceptionally well. I'm curious to see what kind of reboot Hollywood may come up with in the future for the caped crusader.
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