I posted this over in the TDKR thread, but I wanted to repost it here. To ender and anyone else reading who hasn't seen it and doesn't want to know what happens, my review is full of spoilers.
I repeat. It's full of *SPOILERS*.
And it also contains quite a bit more criticism than DominicCobb's review. That doesn't mean I don't love it. Like him, I've been thinking about it pretty much non-stop since I saw it and can't wait to see it again. Anyway, here it is.
*SPOILERS*
Did I mention there were *SPOILERS*?
After having had a little over twelve hours to digest (and have nightmares of Bane murdering people), I have to say that it was really good, but I don't think it was as good as the previous two. Does it break the trend of the third film in a trilogy being a huge drop in quality? Actually, it probably does, but it does have hints of that bloated quality that, for example, Spider-Man 3 had.
Some new characters (Bane, John Drake, Selina Kyle) were great additions, but some just seemed to come out of nowhere and either served no purpose but to have one more character (Deputy Commissioner Foley) or just bombard you with "What the hell are you even doing in this movie"itis (Miranda Tate). The latter is particularly bad. I mean, she's of course accompanied by the obviously going to be appropriated into a doomsday device a la the water vaporizer in Batman Begins fusion reactor plot point, but then, hey, suddenly she's having sex with Bruce and is now the love interest. Well, that was certainly... completely random. And it's made even worse when it turns out that she's actually Talia al Ghul and the mastermind behind the whole plot. I mean, I barely knew who she was at all up to that point. There's a difference between a twist and just purposely obfuscating things so much that your big reveal is a complete ass pull. However, as someone who is knowledgeable of the comics, I did find myself thinking at the fake Bane parentage reveal, "Ra's al Ghul doesn't have a son. He has a daughter," so the real reveal was exciting on that basis. But it also fooled me enough just because this series, and this movie in particular, takes such deviation from the source material that for a while I believed that Bane could have been his son.
Anne Hathaway was amazing as Selina. I love how her retractable goggles doubled as cat ears, and it doesn't surprise me that the moniker of Catwoman was completely absent. Part of me wishes she had been explored a little bit more, particularly the whole motivation about this "clean slate" technology. But, while making substantial use of a power I detest, feminine wiles, she still comes across as wonderfully cunning and able. Her "Han Solo" turn at the end was, of course, predictable.
Has anyone noticed that every single movie in this trilogy has its final act centered around trapping people in Gotham or a part of Gotham? Not saying it's necessarily ineffective, but it does seem to have been done a bit too much. At least they actually gave a reason this time as to why the bridges and tunnels weren't an option, and pretty damn good reasons they were, particularly turning the military and cops against each other.
I wish Alfred's role had been bigger, but every scene he was in was gold, from his vacation monologue to his admission of the letter burning. He really stole the show, but I found myself really longing for his return. They really took him out of the movie too soon, in my opinion.
Batman coming back after eight years of seclusion and depression seemed extremely random and staged. That is, the motivations weren't there, and it seemed to exist only because this is the point of the movie where Batman is supposed to come back. Yes, Bane is discovered to be in Gotham, but it seemed more realistic in The Dark Knight where Batman considers The Joker to be beneath his time and energy until he makes Batman take notice. Here it was just a botched rescue attempt of a congressman ending in Gordon being hospitalized (big whoop... he got "killed" in the last film), and Bruce gets a pep talk from a random cop he's never met, and all of a sudden, Mr. "The World No Longer Needs Batman" just up and decides to be Batman again. Hardly seems proper motivation given how deeply entrenched Bruce was at that point.
What I thought was silly but ultimately didn't bother me is some of the stuff with Gordon. Like how he really needed to write out a big long speech admitting the truth about Harvey. Was it really that hard to remember? And, of course, it just happened to be grabbed by Bane who reads it aloud to incite the citizens to riot. But then again, no one seems to question its legitimacy. Didn't it occur to anyone that the terrorist who just blew up a stadium might not be telling the truth? Bane could have pulled out a blank sheet of paper and "read," "My name is Jim Gordon. And I am gay. Also, Bane is a really cool guy, and you should all listen to him." Apparently that would have worked just as well. It also seemed a bit iffy that Gordon picked up on Batman's admission that he's Bruce Wayne. Surely in his career he's comforted more than one grieving child. But like I said, those don't really bother me.
There was one moment that really broke the reality for me. And when it happened, I immediately thought back to an interview with Michael Keaton I saw, where he admitted that, several times on the set of Batman, he and Jack Nicholson would be looking at each other and just crack up when they realized that here they were grown men, dressed like that, and taking each other so seriously when, in fact, it was really completely ridiculous. And that moment for me was when they unveiled the Batman statue at the end. And suddenly it all just cracked when I realized these people were making this solemn, somber, completely unironic gesture to a huge statue of a man dressed up as a giant bat. It just doesn't work. It's impossible to take seriously. Granted, it was slightly better than what I initially expected would be under the curtain: a framed portrait of Batman made in the same "I'm sitting in a photo shoot for my official government portrait" vein as Harvey's from the previous film. That cracks me up just imagining it.
Finally, I loved the ending. We all suspected they'd do something quite final with Batman, much more so than had ever been seen in any other continuity. They had some pretty big bat balls here. It does lead you to believe that Bruce has died, although it turns out to not be true. And the way they did it, I think, was ultimately better than if he had died. I can't see comic book Batman ever retiring in this way, but it works for this continuity. I love that Blake is set up to become Bruce's successor, but I wish they'd left out the "reveal" that his real first name is Robin. That was just a bit too much, especially considering he's primed to become a new Batman, not a sidekick to Batman. Honestly, that one little moment ended up reminding me of the ways the Tim Burton films had tried to incorporate a completely nontraditional Robin character into those films, like Damon Wayans as a garage mechanic named Robin. But aside from that slightly *wink wink* moment, he seemed like the perfect successor. And it was just highly satisfying to finally see Alfred's fantasy come true, and for Bruce's character arc to finally resolve itself. Because that's the problem with a comic book character like Batman. He's designed to evolve to a certain degree and then just stagnate, because they need him to keep being Batman and doing Batman things. In fact, it's part of his legacy that he will be relentless and never find closure. But it's nice to finally see a Bruce that comes full circle, one who never needed to be Batman forever.
There was only one moment when I thought the movie's "Occupy Wall Street" politics were groan-worthy, and that was during the stock exchange heist, the total cartoon of a stockbroker whining about his money, and the cop making the statement about his money being under his mattress. I wanted to yell, "Movie, you're being too subtle! Please make it clear what you're trying to tell me!"
Ultimately, I'd almost say this movie was unnecessary. It could have ended with The Dark Knight, and I would have been totally satisfied. But Nolan did pull out a third installment that seemed, for the most part, necessary and well-done. I can't wait to see it again. Because I'll definitely see it again.
