- I thought this was a nice end to the trilogy and liked the way it looped back to the first film. There was a nice sense of closure. It clocks in at nearly 2hrs 45mins but it did not feel nearly that long; pacing was great, lots of action, etc. I’ve been so underwhelmed by my last two movie-going experiences — Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild — that I still haven’t reviewed them, which is a first; by contrast, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a non-documentary this much.
- The opening sequence was quite spectacular; can I assume that Nolan filmed as much of that in real life as possible?
- GARY OLDMAN. I love his Commissioner Gordon but frequently dislike how characters in the trilogy take shots at him for having to pick the lesser of two evils in order to get the job done. He’s just trying to do his job, guys! Disappointing that he spent 65% of the movie confined to a hospital bed in amazing pyjamas, though.
- Loved Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. She got some fantastic fight sequences and got to deliver a lot of the humour in this movie (and I found this movie incredibly funny).
- If Gordon escaped the hospital wearing his pyjamas and they went straight back to Banks’ apartment where Gordon presumably changed into some of Banks’ clothes, I’m left wondering why on earth Banks has such an old man sweater in his wardrobe.
- While we think the circumstances surrounding the elevating of Harvey Dent to Gotham Hero Status™ are perhaps unfortunate, surely the people of Gotham can’t disagree that the Dent Act helped their city? This is where I often side with the villains in these films, because it seems to me that despite the fact that the people of Gotham seem to be at the mercy of those who would terrorize their city, I think they’re also not very smart.
- I was surprised when the Pit of Despair turned out not to be in Chechnya. I was well and truly convinced that Bane’s henchmen at the start of the film were Chechen rebels.
- It would have been nice for Bane’s mouthpiece to enunciate a bit better for him because half the time I wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying.
- My problem with most extremist groups is that I just find them silly. Really, League of Shadows? These people need to get over themselves.
- The Gotham Rogues are apparently not doing well this year, given that their stadium was half filled.
- “My name is Jim Gordon and I’m going to carry around this awkward confession containing a major secret in my pocket for years and years.”
- Wasn’t into The Bat as a piece of vehicular gadgetry. Batman’s other modes of transportation are ground a little more in reality and this was just other-worldly.
- Sad, tragic Alfred is the absolute worst.
- I read a lot about poverty and I witness a lot of truly appalling opinions on poverty by virtue of having a Facebook account and living in the real world. I’ve always liked that there’s a vague background of social justice in these films, even if Bruce Wayne himself still doesn’t quite get it. We hear about how his family have done what they can to help others — from participating in the Underground Railroad to investing in municipal infrastructure — and yet somehow he’s missed the message of what they’re doing. When The Dark Knight came out, I remember coming across this:
In order for Bruce Wayne to fund his high-tech covert military campaign against the criminals of Gotham, he must secretly siphon off vast sums of money from Wayne Industries… one must wonder whether it might not be much more effective if he took that money and spent it on developing a strong educational system within the city, setting up training programs for the unemployed, and helping small businesses develop… A city without the infrastructure to provide good education and work opportunities simply feeds Joker’s evil schemes by sustaining the conditions that lead to a large underclass unable to find representation in the city. Batman’s arch-villains would have a difficult time carrying out their crimes if they did not have an unlimited number of poor and desperate people to prey upon, people who turn to crime in order to survive and find identity. If Batman spent his time and money supporting a life-giving infrastructure, the crime wave in Gotham might be broken.
I know that watching Bruce Wayne fund job training programs would not make for a compelling film (OR WOULD IT?!), but I feel kind of sick knowing how timely these themes are and how unsurprisingly and cluelessly conservative Bruce Wayne is.
- Saw this in IMAX, which was a good choice.
Categories: 4 Stars