Batmanception

Note: This review contains spoilers. Lots of them. Also, I do not claim to be a comics nerd. Most of my pointing out of characters and plots can be referenced to the real geeks - my comics addict friends. I also recently started reading comics (mostly from the New 52 titles of DC comics), and I am not that new to the comics world thanks to my childhood watching Batman the Animated Series, X-Men, Wildcats, etc. And for characters/plots that I have not read/watched first hand, I do some research through the internet, which is not fun compared to experiencing the real deal by flipping a book or by watching the action on screen.



Reviews
As of writing this, Rises enjoys a high approval rating of 9.2/10 in IMDB, and 87% in rottentomatoes. The 2nd movie in the trilogy, The Dark Knight, has a higher rating of 94% in rottentomatoes, which incidentally, also reflects how I would rate the two films - both high scores, but the 2nd movie getting higher marks (mostly because of Joker).


I have also read a lot of reviews in the internet after watching Rises, and I have stumbled upon one review that voiced out and shared the same sentiments as mine. Check it out in this link. It's quite a long read, but it gives you an in depth analysis of the cast, the crew, and the technical work that contributed to the creation of considerably, one of the more superbly done movies in our time. Reading it made me appreciate more the movie since it gave me the insight on the individual elements leading to the totality of the film.

I agree to a lot of issues that Mr Daniel Griffith pointed out, I was almost tempted to just direct you to his review and ditch making my own. A few issues he raised were:

• the tough directorial call on Bane's voice which got mixed reviews, annoying some;
• the seemingly far-fetched comics feel of Bane's anarchy, starting at the opening scene and stretched to the end of the film;
• the great acting from Bane, Miranda Tate/Talia Al Ghul, Selina Kyle, Officer Blake, and as usual from Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and Bruce Wayne; not to mention seeing Michael Caine (Alfred), Marion Cotillard (Miranda/Talia), Tom Hardy (Bane), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blake) reuniting with Christopher Nolan giving us the Inception aura all over again; and
• Rises nailing the end of the Dark Knight trilogy in its entirety.

(Comics-)Feel
The film started out theatrically with Bane's team ripping a plane in mid-air. It's not over the top with unnecessary props and explosions unlike Tim Burton's Batman, but it's more comic-ish, nonetheless. I was startled with Bane's character because of the craziness of the introducing act, but not as much like Heath Ledger as Joker in the heist opening act in Rises' predecessor. 

I know you want to put some text there.

All through out the film, you feel like it's a comic book. You wanna say "that's impossible!", or "that's illogical, should have...", but in the end, you just accept it as it is because, "it's comics". Bruce Wayne arriving in the nick of time after being heavily injured; Gotham city's abandonment by the national government; and the extraordinary firepower of the gyro-powered bat cycle without any recoil as abused by Catwoman. I wanted to add Bane's anarchic revolution to that, but after the recent Arab spring, that scene may not be far from reality at all. Anyway folks, yes, it's comics.





Giving Character
In spirit of Batman tradition, the villains are as important as the dark knight. The Batman movie franchises are known because of them, I ought to remember them more than Batman himself, with the exception of Michael Keaton and of course, Christian Bale. Jack Nicholson as Joker; Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face; Jim Carrey as The Riddler; Danny DeVito as Penguin; Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman (purrrrrr!!); Arnie as Mr Freeze; Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. I remember them all, thanks partly to the fact that they are known actors before they played their roles, but also since Batman flicks really give a lot of importance to building up the villains' characters in the lengths of their respective films. Taking the films aside, Batman is really known to have numerous known foes, whether be it in the comics or in the small screen adaptations.

Meow.

Going back to Nolan's trilogy, Rises gives importance to the first film, Batman Begins. Aside from Ledger's great portrayal, the Joker is the most popular among Batman's foes. It's even safe to assume that he really earned the title as Batman's nemesis. If you're not a geek, it's hard to identify Liam Neeson's villainous character in Begins, unlike Ledger as Joker. With the revelations in Rises, it comes a full circle, giving Nolan's Batman trilogy a solid background. The League of Shadows has come to haunt Bruce Wayne; and Ra's Al Ghul's daughter, Talia, has returned to avenge his death. In Neeson's cameo in Rises, I was almost happy to see Ra's Al Ghul alive again, maybe finally finding out some spell or fountain of youth, staying true to the comics version of the character. Of course, that false hope dissipates, but in replacement of that, they kept Talia's character well replicated of the comics version, costume, complexity, sex scene and all.


Aside from the League of Shadows' return, it's also interesting to see that they've put weight to connecting Harvey Dent in Rises. The utopia created in Gotham by the Dent Act is necessary to give contrast to the chaotic social revolution that Talia and Bane aspired for, and has temporarily achieved.


Tom Hardy as Bane was good. As I have narrated earlier, some people have had issues with Bane's voice in the film, with the vocals sometimes sounding as gurgles. I think it needs some time getting used to, but also is necessary to build up the character of the calm yet lawless maniac Bane. Fellow Inception stars Gordon-Levitt as John Blake, and Cotillard as Talia Al Ghul also played their parts well calculatedly; their acting seemed as natural reactions to the circumstances they were in as the plot progressed. And who can deny Michael Caine and Gary Oldman's performances as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon? Alfred only had little screen time, yet I think Alfred is now more loved, even if his lines were more dramatic, and void of the usual witty jokes that were present in the earlier parts of the trilogy.

Catwoman wears Prada. Deadly, razor sharp Prada.

The greatest surprise for me was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman (given Michelle Pfeiffer's extraordinary performance of the role in Batman Returns). Firstly, she had the most sensible Catwoman costume. The idea of making night vision goggles acting doubly as cat ears is a product of  great imagination. Second, I think she quite delivered the playful cat, Selina Kyle, on and off the cat suit. Lastly, though the credit goes to the story writers, the Hathaway Catwoman is a real villain/anti-hero, true to Batman tradition. That is quite a nifty trick to pull, in the same way as they have depicted Harvey Dent's fall to villain status.








Reference Spotting
For the more hardcore Batman geeks and fans, of course, it's a different level of high. 

• In Rises, there is a certain black officer Allen. This is an obvious reference to Crispus Allen in the DC universe, a black cop who dies and eventually reanimated as the Spectre (who by the way becomes a Black Lantern in the Blackest Night arc of Green Lantern, which I am reminded of in The Dark Knight Rises posters with word Rise)
• In Rises, a certain John Daggett hires Selina Kyle to steal Bruce Wayne's fingerprints and uses them to try to take over Wayne Enterprises.He also employs Bane, but was killed by the latter. He is a reference to Roland Daggett, who was a president of an industrial pharmaceutical company that is somehow responsible for the creation of Clayface (in Batman the Animated Series).
• Catwoman may be lesbian/bisexual. Yes, in some story lines, there are hints that Catwoman is not straight. Again, they are just hints, unlike a declared lesbian batwoman. And in the end of Rises, a tinge of me wanted a spin-off sequel to the trilogy. Helena Wayne, Bruce and Selina's daughter, as Huntress. But that, of course, is not movie worthy. Just look at Birds of Prey TV series, where Huntress was a part of.
• Talia Al Ghul was expected. All you had to do was connect the dots. A woman sleeping with Bruce Wayne with a dubious mark in the skin; the apparent connection of Bane to the League of Shadows; deception. Even the orient inspired dress she was wearing was very Talia in every sense. Although, I think, Talia was not seductive enough in the movie as portrayed in other media. Anyway, goodbye to Damian Wayne, Bruce and Talia's son (as Bruce chooses Selina over Talia), who would be the 5th Robin in other Batman universe.
• Speaking of Robin, I was confused with the John Blake character. There were Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson (later Nightwing), Tim Drake (later Red Robin), and Jason Todd (later Red Hood), who were all called Robin in some part of their lives, but never a John Blake. But why was he called Robin in the end? Why did he eventually seek out the bat cave (and as speculations, we can conclude that he will continue the dark knight's work)? I called my geek friend and comics collector JR (who lends me his comics), who told me that the Nolan team probably introduced John Blake as a summation of the Robin's. Just like Dick Grayson, Blake is an orphan; like Tim Drake, Blake deduced Batman's identity independently; and some claim that Jason Todd and John Blake have the same temper/attitude. The summation theory is the most sensible explanation to Blake's character so far.

Final Verdict

The Dark Knight Rises is a must watch movie in the big screen. It is not as captivating as The Dark Knight with Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger, but it sews together the earlier two movies that you can say that Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is the best film adaptation there is of the masked crusader... so far, and I think for a looooong time, if not ever. Unlike the Spiderman trilogy, or the Transformers series of films, the Dark Knight sequels has not lost its charm of the first film, and even galvanized the plot for the trilogy to become a truly complex yet coherent and sensible story.