The Dark Knight Rises

I'm glad I saw this one again. To quickly recap my thoughts on Nolan's Batman trilogy, I was never as impressed by Batman Begins as so many others seemed to be, but I absolutely loved The Dark Knight. I think this was largely due to the first movie being an origin story of sorts, featuring a villain, whereas the second movie was more of a character study on Heath Ledger's Joker, which happened to feature a superhero. Don't get me wrong - Christian Bale has been great as Bruce Wayne (and less so as Batman, but whatever) - it's just that in a hundred-million-dollar PG-13 comic book movie, the good guy is never going to be as interesting as the bad guy. Tom Hardy's Bane was never going to be as captivating as Ledger's Joker, but the character was interesting enough in his own right. The plot was compelling and new supporting characters like Catwoman and Robin (combined use of these two names in the movie: once) rounded out an already strong array of personalities and gave the final film in the trilogy quite a deep ensemble. Tack on the idea that Nolan was willing to explore deeper themes and that he repeatedly tries to explore human nature in his movies - as much as you can explore it in a PG-13 summer blockbuster, I guess - and you've got yourself a really good movie. Flawed, yes, but still very good.

Which is why, again, I'm glad I gave this film another viewing. Memories aren't perfect, and mine tends to be a little cynical at times, and when I popped this DVD in last night, all I could look forward to doing was shaking my head at all the plot holes and implausibilities and gaffes and continuity issues and structural concerns and poor pacing decisions. There were plenty of those, to be sure, and people way more concerned with slandering this movie than I ever was have filled the Internet with lists of plot holes and dumb contrivances and such. I won't waste my time or yours, dear reader, by ranting here. Instead I will only offer a slight tweak that may have made the movie, in my humble opinion, just so much better. Ready?

Just get rid of the whole transition between Acts 2 and 3 where Batman is stuck in the pit in Middle-East-istan. Seriously. The inclusion of that pit-climbing "montage" adds nothing to the story and the pit prison itself is the source of almost half of the issues people had with the pacing and the structure. You've already shown Bruce Wayne struggling as ex-Batman. Just have him go back into hiding after getting his ass kicked by Bane that first time, instead of spending five months stranded in an ethnic hellhole across the world. It would have added way more to his arc if he was hiding in Wayne Manor watching Gotham burn around him. Catwoman goes back to him and gives him a stern talking to. Or Robin. Or both. Maybe Alfred - he was gone for the entire movie, after all! It's just way more sensible, Nolan!

Also, that Talia twist at the end? Pointless. In fact that whole character was pointless. Commit to Bane, Nolan!

My two cents. The Dark Knight Rises was good - very good - but until I gave it a second viewing, all I could remember were its flaws.