If you missed the introduction to this week’s posts, go here. We continue our look back at the first nine Christopher Nolan films the order of my preference for them to try to get an understanding of what to expect from Tenet. There will be some good and some not so good, especially here near the bottom. Yesterday, we took a look at Interstellar, and today we look at movies 8 and 7. AS ALWAYS THERE WILL BE MASSIVE SPOILERS TO THESE FILMS.
Number 8: The Dark Knight Rises
Debut: 7/20/2012
Main Actor/Actresses: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Matthew Modine.
Best Sneaky guest: Liam Neeson
What is it about? The final chapter of the Batman Trilogy, that brought Christopher Nolan into the limelight as a director, picks up several years after the events of The Dark Knight. At this point, Christian Bale is older and very physically worn down from doing extremely dangerous and physically taxing work fighting criminals. (as a side note, taking a real look at the physical toll real superheroes would take is interesting, and one of the best considerations of the plot). After a brief run in with a cat burglar (ably played by Anne Hathaway), a new villain arises (quite literally). Bane comes to Gotham to set right what he feels are the city’s crimes. Bane is played by a nearly unidentifiable Tom Hardy (due to a mask and incredible physical transformation). Hardy's arrival sets off a cataclysm of events that leads to a direct confrontation with Batman. He defeats Batman easily due to his physical decline and chooses to put him in the same prison that once held him. With little chance at escape and a body that has been ravaged by age and Bane, Batman begins a slow rehabilitation that will take several months. In the meantime, Bane takes full control of Pittsburgh, I mean Gotham City, and sets off a class war between rich and poor (that feels very prescient). As Bane holds the keys, the city implodes on itself. Ultimately his plan is to destroy Gotham City, but I am not sure that would have been necessary as class warfare has broken out. Batman heals up, ascends from his prison and returns to Gotham for a final showdown with Bane. He is joined by the resistance led by Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (playing Robin, which is revealed at the end), Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Marion Cotillard also plays a piece in the resistance. A final confrontation takes place where Batman is able to defeat Bane. However, his bombs prove to be more than they can handle and Marion Cotillard turns out to be the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. Liam Neeson’s “return” proves to be the big reveal. His spirit is the guiding force behind Bane and Cotillard and they are here to finish the job he started. In the end, the only solution is for Batman to take the bomb out in the Batwing far from the populace and be blown up with it. Or so you would think, until a final scene reveals him in Paris hanging out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is revealed to be Robin and the expectation is he will take over following Batman’s departure (presumably as either Nightwing or Batman himself).
Why does it work? This is Christian Bale’s best performance as Batman. Revealing further the tortured soul and broken remains of Batman on One Last Job™ , Bale’s performance in the prison sequence is excellent as he revels in the fresh challenge of rebuilding who he is and pursuing the reclamation of his legacy (following a Dark Knight ending where he was branded the villain). Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays his part with his trademark enthusiasm. Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine provide a gravitas to the proceedings that elevates this (and other parts of the trilogy) beyond that of a comic book film. Their seriousness and professional approach save the Nolan series from being Superman vs. Batman. Anne Hathaway starts out as a strong female character, who embraces the dirty and fights the oppression of the wealthy. Her performance is strong here, and I prefer it to her work in Interstellar. As always the action sequences are well done, and the CGI is strong. The soundtrack is mostly a rehash of the Dark Knight, but the Dark Knight sound track is incredible. Sometimes rehashing something awesome is good. The end reveal of Liam Neeson was a nice way of closing the loop on the trilogy. I liked this movie at the time it was released, but the buildup was so high, that it was an almost inevitable disappointment.
What are it’s shortcomings? The plot is a good place to start here. The idea that someone could build an entire network of tunnels and funnel an army of people there is ludicrous in the modern world. With constant surveillance and the hyper policing of major cities, something like what Bane does is impossible. It really isn’t even up for discussion. If you want to say he took advantage of everyone’s susceptibility to bribes, OK, but the scale at which he goes about this is insane. The police response of sending all the police in a tunnel at once is also insane. Finally, they show a few hundred officers go into the tunnel. Most cities have tens of thousands of police officers. Batman’s recovery from a major spinal injury without real medical assistance and the seemingly magical healing of his leg (which appears to be a permanent injury at the start of the film) is non-sensical. This is unfortunate because it takes away some from the idea of watching Batman cope with his mortality and aging (which he does poorly). Another character whose arc slips a bit in the finale is Anne Hathaway. Her start as self-sufficient cat burglar and scourge of the wealthy ends with her feeling ashamed about her role and becoming Batman’s lackey. That is an unfortunate shift, and I would have liked her character to remain truer to who she was, personally. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s plot-line ends up being relatively uneventful and mostly unnecessary. Cutting that would have made the film much tighter. The ending of the film was also a major disappointment. Why can’t superheroes ever stay dead? I see absolutely no reason to have him appear in Paris. Nothing about the trilogy up to that point indicated there should or would be a happy ending. The trilogy was about facing up to darkness, inside and out, and the consequences that come from it. Living out your life rich in Paris is not a logical resolution of the theme. This ending feels like someone from the studio stole a camera, filmed the Paris scene and tacked it on the end while Nolan’s back was turned. Finally, the real problem, the one that sticks out above all the rest by a mile, was Tom Hardy’s Bane. The idea of the character was good, and the use of the true Bane from the comic books was refreshing. The execution was awful. Good Batman movies are NEVER about Batman. This has never been more obvious than with The Dark Knight. While the philosophy and motivation of the villain are clear by movies’ end, getting to that point was a chore. As is remarked everywhere you look at a review of this movie, the choice to make him almost inaudible in certain sequences is distracting and frustrating in a movie that is full of exposition (as all Nolan films are). You can’t see his facial reactions or acting because of the mask he is wearing, so much of that is lost as well. We end up fairly unconnected to the main villain (which is what makes the Ra’s Al Ghul return so nice, since we can finally understand what is happening).
What would I have done differently if I were as smart as Christopher Nolan?
When Tom Hardy comes up to you and says he is going to make his voice inaudible, which is a Tom Hardy tradition for some reason, say no. Either that, or you can’t make him the source of much of the film’s exposition. We don’t really want to go back to another Bane/Poison Ivy combo though, so let’s just stick with no.
Best Scene:
Number 7: Batman Begins
Debut: 6/15/2005
Main Actor/Actresses: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes and Tom Wilkinson
Best sneaky guest: Not really any, but his uncle Tom Nolan makes an appearance as a valet. This doesn’t really become prevalent until his later films, where he has gotten into the habit of sneaking celebrities in here and there.
What is it about? As a Batman origin story, this is probably the closest look we get into the formation of Batman. Previous and later films went straight from the death of his parents to his role as Batman with little interest in explaining how a billionaire’s orphan child turned into a brilliant mastermind and martial arts expert. After his parents’ death, he grows up into a revengeful adult despite the care of a doting Alfred, played impeccably by Michael Caine. He seeks to destroy those who destroyed his parents. Eventually, he broadens his scope from local to the idea of breaking the hold that the fear of criminals has on Gotham. He scours the world, until Liam Neeson finds him and takes him to Ra’s Al Ghul, played by Ken Watanabe. He receives extreme mental and physical training. However, Ra’s Al Ghul is killed during a fire, while Bale saves Neeson. He returns to Gotham and becomes the Batman a symbol of fear for the criminal, with a little help from Lucious Fox, played ably by Morgan Freeman. Shortly after his return, he faces off with Cillian Murphy, perfectly cast as the Scarecrow/Dr. Crane. Murphy reveals his plan to poison Gotham City with his fear toxin as part of an elaborate plot by Ra’s Al Ghul to destroy Gotham City for it’s corruption and evil. Batman is shocked by this, as he had seen Ghul die. The twist that is revealed is that it was actually Liam Neeson who was Ra’s Al Ghul, not Watanabe. Neeson shows up to do battle with with Batman and ensure his evil plot is completed. Ultimately Batman prevails and Ra’s Al Ghoul dies for certain this time. Batman doesn’t kill him, but also doesn’t try to save him either, touching on the character’s moral ambiguity. It is a line that will be tested again.
Why does it work? Casting. What sets the Batman Trilogy apart from so many other comic book movies is the casting. Great actors and actresses fill nearly all the meaningful roles. None of them phone in their performances, in what, for them, is not exactly Oscar bait. This is as good as you will see Michael Caine in his later years. Cillian Murphy playing a powerless doctor who has found his way to evil as a means to fulfill his desires to intimidate others is a stroke of genius and one of his best roles. I found him skin crawling in the right way. Liam Neeson’s turn to darkness is surprising and legitimate for his character. When you consider the starting point of Bale’s Batman, revenge filled, he was exactly what Neeson was looking for. It is only the influence of his childhood friend and Alfred that saves him. The soundtrack for this would eventually be completely forgotten due to the Dark Knight, but it is still soaring and deeply enjoyable. The sets in this film set a new standard for film-making. The scope and scale of the Batcave, the tumbler, and Ra’s Al Ghul’s mountain fortress are breathtaking. At a time when many directors who had once mastered practical effects, such as Spielberg, Cameron and Lucas, left them behind for CGI, this return to practical effects in a blockbuster was eye-opening and set the course for the rest of Nolan’s career to now. Since this movie, all of his films were massive. Massive sets, massive budgets, massive casts and massive box office haul. It was in this film that the mantle of King of the Blockbuster was passed.
What are it’s shortcomings: From here on out, I will have a lot more good to say than bad on Nolan’s work. The plot of the film feels stretched in places, but abrupt in others. While he uses brief passes to represent time for significant growth, there are drawn out sequences with Rachel and Fox that buck against that. Ultimately, a lot was bit off with this plot, as most origin stories tend to do. The idea of creating a character and having that character have a meaningful adventure is very difficult. It’s a lot to cram into two hours. Getting to focus solely on the adventure in part two was a massive part of it’s success. The third one had to delve into the decline and post-Batman, so that also got a bit thick in places. The main issue of the movie is really Rachel. I like Katie Holmes, and I enjoy a Dawson’s Creek episode the same as anyone, but she was out of her depth here. She struggled to create chemistry with the enigmatic Bale, and she basically devolves into Bruce Wayne’s nagging conscience. Her natural sweetness is at odds with the character. At no point do I feel the two of them should be together. She also struggles to paint the picture of the tortured DA that Nolan is going for. If you take a look at all of Nolan’s movies, none of them really provides a portrait of romantic passion, so some of that could be that Nolan simply doesn’t want to or know how to direct that into his work. All of his films that show a romantic relationship of any kind, show brokenness. The emotion in his films comes from a lost significant other, or parent/child dynamic. It comes out of tragedy and not joy. I also could go the rest of my life without ever seeing Bruce’s parents killed again. If you enjoy Batman (and I do), you have gotten pretty desensitized at this point to a horrible tragedy. I understand the pain of losing someone you care about so deeply and the after-effects, so, at least for me, I am tired of this reminder. I hope this is the last one… no, several more? OK.
What would I do differently if I was Christopher Nolan?
I would recast Katie Holmes for the next film, to allow someone who is a little grittier, and more of an acting equal, to pair up with Bale. Which is exactly what happened, so I am glad to see he and I were on the same wavelength.
Best Scene:
Got me hooked now!🦇