Ending Without a Bang

Conditions: Cool.

Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Finishing a trilogy is tough business. A story has to come to an end, and yet we don't want it to end. We like endings that aren't really endings: the promise or at least hope that the fun will continue again at some later time. It's why television is so popular, I suppose. Christopher Nolan's Batman films have been extraordinary. A solidly dramatic, dark and strong portrayal of the saga of Bruce Wayne, and his bond with Gotham city. Nolan seems to be a guy who is very much dedicated to the story he is telling, and less likely to compromise anything in order to simply please the audience.

And to that end, every part of this third and final film feels like an ending. After taking the blame from Harvey Dent after the last film in order to stop the Joker’s plan, Bruce Wayne has become tired and even a bit crippled. A recluse in his mansion. Alfred careworn, the Wayne empire crumbling, even Jim Gordon is on the way out, laid up in a hospital bed. The threat this time out is essentially the same as the first film: The league of shadows, now led by the hulking Bane, are threatening the city of Gotham. In the middle of this is Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman, a thief who sparks Wayne's attention and gets him interested again while costing him his fortune and delivering him into Bane’s clutches.

It's probably unfair to compare this film directly to the previous Dark Knight, an amazing picture. But that's just the way it is, and in comparison the Dark Knight Rises just doesn't spark. In Rises, the main protagonists Bane and Batman, and more importantly what they stand for, don't really clash like they should: they just butt heads - with Bane coming away as the winner. There's no clash of philosophy, just muscle. Batman has to build himself back up again from the hole Bane has thrown him in to in order to get a rematch. In the meantime Bane has set about taking over the city of Gotham with an army of thugs and some kind of nuclear weapon being used to keep the army at bay. Gordon works to organise an underground resistance movement while the former prisoners of Gotham prison, released by Bane due to him finding out and announcing to all the truth about Harvey Dent, set about killing all the rich privileged people they can find.

And so we come to the end, where Batman has to lean on Catwoman and Gordon, take on Bane and take care of the nuclear bomb. It's a tall order, in fact the whole film is a bit of a tall order. It’s a hugely ambitious film, and very measured in bringing all the threads from the first film to an end. In the end it just feels like too long of a reach, too many unlikely events, a few plotholes, and a bit too much to swallow. Bane’s motivations remain hidden, and his comeuppance is not handled all that well. And as for Wayne, well. I kind of respect the ending, and I think that Christian Bale’s portrayal allowed Wayne to earn it, but I’m not sure it should have been as cut and dried as it ended up. A little bit of subtle mythology to end the saga of the bat may have been more appropriate. Three pows out of five.


- Peace out