“You think this is going to last. There is a storm coming Mr. Wayne. You
and your friends better batten down the hatches. Cause when it hits,
your all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large,
and leave so little for the rest of us.” ~ Selina AKA Cat Woman
Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Bruce has spent these years as a recluse in Wayne manor, avoiding parties that are held in his home. He's almost in ruins, thanks to investing in Miranda Tate's (Marion Cotillard) clean energy project, who's goal was to produce fusion energy, but was disbanded when Bruce realized this power core could be turned into a nuclear weapon. It's Selina Kyle/Catwomen (Anne Hathaway) who steals right out of an unbreakable vault that forces Bruce out of hiding. And it's the new villain Bane (Tom Hardy) who helps Bruce to don the bat mask.
Selina is in it for herself. She feels the riches of the wealthy are owed her, and through jewelry Cat burglaries, she has no problem helping herself to the property of others. Along the way she's become an associate of Bane's, and helps him in his goals. But what are his goals? Throughout the film we have an idea, but it's not till the end that we truly find his motive.
I like Tom Hardy as an actor, but I didn't like him as Bane. The brilliant performance of Health Ledger's Joker is a hard one to live up to. Of course it's hard to act behind a mouth piece, but the accent he uses was hard to take: it felt cartoony. The sound mixing of his voice was jarring and too loud. I kept thinking of Darth Vader and wishing for James Earl Jones, though that wouldn't have quite worked.
Before coming into the film I thought I wouldn't like Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, but by the end of the movie I grew to like her in the role. Surprisingly it was Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate that I disliked. Not once did I warm to her character, which is a shame. The plot would have meant a lot more if I had connected to her.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is another new addition to the cast as John Blake, the intuitive cop who sees things as they are, and is courageous enough to stand up for what he believes in. He was my favorite new character, and I liked his place in the movie. Another favorite of mine was Michael Caine's Alfred who kept the story grounded.
There was a lot of talk when it was discovered that Bane would be the main villain of the movie. A lot of discussion has been made wondering if there was a Mitt Romney connection, with one of his businesses being Bain Capital. Of course there is a problem when you realize that, like Bruce, Mitt is in the 1%, and Bane attacks the wealthy. In terms of choosing Bane, instead of The Riddler or Poison Ivy, I understand. The character was created in 1993, and in Batman Comic Canon he brakes Batman's back. The Dark Knight Rises is the end of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, so why not bring in a character that helps bring about Batman's end? But there was great debate on the web if this would really be the end of Bruce's Batman. Well, you'll have to see the movie to find out.
Then there are the political undertones. Nolan denies that there are any, saying he was trying to tell an interesting story. But that doesn't stop the online debate. It started back during filming when it was discovered that Nolan wanted to film Occupiers and use shots from the Occupy Wall Street movement in the film, only to change his mind.
Even Christian Bale, who plays Batman, couldn't believe during filming how the Occupy movement had similarities in the script. He told OnTheRedCarpet.com "There's something quite uncanny that happened during 'The Dark Knight Rises' and I think you'll see that there's a correlation in the Occupy Wall Street movement and some themes within the movie here."
The movement shown in the movie has Occupy supporters nervous. Harrison Schulz states, ""I’m glad that themes about wealth inequality and class conflict have entered into the zeitgeist of popular culture. In this case, however, I would rather see the these themes in The Dark Knight Rises remain free of any association with the Occupy Movement ... They in no way resemble the comparatively impoverished, peace-seeking protesters who armed themselves with signs, sleeping bags, tents, and iPhones at best in their attempts to fight for social justice."
On the right Christian Toto writes, "'Rises' never mentions the 99 percent or other overt Occupy Wall Street slogans. But Nolan clearly summons the spirit of the ragtag movement with a propensity for violence. Bane's henchmen literally attack Wall Street, savagely beat the rich and promise the good people of Gotham that "tomorrow, you claim what is rightfully yours." The Catwoman's gal pal (Juno Temple) assures her at one point, when they enter a swanky abode, that "this is everyone's home" now – in perfect Communist fashion."
No matter how you see it, there is a strong French Revolutionary theme that's hard to ignore.
The movie isn't perfect, but it is a good movie, one I enjoyed, and it's my favorite of the three.
Sarah
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