My unpopular opinion- The Dark Knight Rises

Greetings fans and believers alike!

First of all, I hope everyone is having a safe and happy start to their new year. I also hope Christmas and any other holiday you celebrate was safe and memorable.

Well, let's start some controversy, shall we?

I have been itching to write this post since I first saw The Dark Knight Rises back in July 2012 (yes, now that is 2013 I have to reference the year.)

Now, a lot of people have said things along these lines upon viewing TDKR: (quotes taken from various message boards at superherohype.com and joblo.com)

"Memorable"

"A true masterpiece, and epic way to end Nolan's Batman trilogy"

"Brilliant film making and by far the best of the trilogy"

Etc, Etc.

This makes me sick. I am going to be blunt and put this out there- The Dark Knight Rises was by far the biggest let down of 2012. There was so much hype and anticipation surrounding TDKR only to disappoint fans and movie goers alike. In my humble opinion, TDKR joins movies like X:Men: The Final Stand and Spider-Man 3 as being terrible movies and a disgraceful way in ending great trilogies. I actually hold Spider-Man 3 in higher regard because at least Sam Raimi listened to fans and put Venom in the movie. He may have messed up Venom, but at least he tried to cater to the fans. Nolan approached TDKR and only listened to what he and his brother, Jonathan wanted to put in the movie.

But Dan, the movie was received well by moviegoers and critics! In fact the critic website rottentomatoes.com gives TDKR an 87% "certified fresh rating", how can you say this movie was terrible? Well, I never said that TDKR is a terrible movie, I said it was a big let down. I will admit that, yes, the film making was very well done. Those IMAX scenes were very intense and I know it must have been very tough to film those scenes. That being said, this movie catered to movie critics and not comic book fans. Why do I say that? Well, sit back, grab a cold beverage or curl up next to the fire, we're going to figure out just how TDKR became a huge let down.

(Before I go on, I understand a lot of you might not be as well versed in the Batman mythos so I will be doing a lot of explaining and citing sources. This might be a longer article but I promise it is worth the read.)

Let me start with The Dark Knight. That movie was truly a movie for critics and comic book fans alike. The Joker was portrayed brilliantly as a man who kills simply because he thinks it is funny. He has no motive, he just wants to see society fall. TDK is one of those movies that just can't be duplicated and does Batman true justice on the big screen.

But Nolan tries to duplicate TDK. Nolan basically did what John Hughes did to Home Alone 2 and made a sequel using the exact same formula as the original. I will illustrate this with the following-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

Now watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNUSDu-Tehg

Do they seem familiar? The villain blends in with the other guys, someone takes off the villain's mask and the villain says something bone chilling. Personally I favor "crashing the plane-with no survivors" over 'what doesn't kill you makes you stranger" but that's neither here nor there. The point is that the first 6 minutes of both movies are basically identical. Is that a bad thing? no, but I favor TDK's opening sequence over TDKR. It just seems more... awesome.

There were so many things that just didn't add up with TDKR. As I continue please don't make me out to be a douchebag fan boy, but rather a fan, upset, at how my favorite superhero was made to look like an idiot onscreen.

First of all- how long does it really take a broken heart to heal? 8 years? Did Bruce Wayne really feel that strongly over Rachel Dawes? There really wasn't anything between them the entire trilogy. They were never a steady couple and Rachel was dating and going to marry Harvey Dent in TDK. It's not like she and Bruce were on again off again and really wanted to be together. They were just a casual relationship. I mean, Bruce takes Rachel's death worse than his own parents! At least his parents' death inspired him to do something with his life. Rachel's death turned him into a pathetic hermit.

Second- Why 8 years? That's a little too long. I understand Nolan was trying to weaken Bruce Wayne physically so he'd be unprepared for Bane, but that's what the story arc Knightfall did. This is the story arc that actually introduced Bane in the comics. In Knightfall, Bane breaks all the prisoners out of Arkham Asylum and it takes weeks for a very sick, weak, but still young Batman to round up all the prisoners only to be confronted by Bane in his own home, at his weakest point. On top of that, why did a major villain wait 8 years to attack Gotham? In Batman Begins, it was around the same time Batman showed up that both Scarecrow and the Joker came around. Certainly in 8 years the Penguin, Mad Hatter, the Riddler, Deadshot, or others could have showed up. Even Bane! How the heck did it take Bane 10 years after Batman first foiled the League of Shadow's plans to destroy Gotham to try again?

Moving on, what is up with Bane? This is what I am most upset about as Bane is one of my top 5 favorite villains right after the Joker. Bane is an intellectual and brutal BAMF. Of which, Nolan decided to not give any back story to him. Now, I understand why this worked so well for the Joker. Keeping the Joker's back story from the audience only added to the mysteriousness of his character. He had no fingerprints, no known aliases, and all his clothes were custom made. This concept does not work for Bane, there are so many questions that even I as a person so well versed in the Batman comics was confused by, and by all means, keeping Bane mysterious only takes away from his character. Here are my questions that I am sure are shared by all of you-

#1 Where did he come from? In the comics, Bane was raised from a boy in a prison in Santa Prisca serving his father's life sentence. He was Spanish. He taught himself math and science and became a brilliant scientist. In prison. In the film, he was German? British? who knows?

#2 What injury could he have sustained that made him rely on morphine to survive? In the comics there was no injury. He was selected to be an experiment for the Venom program which made him addicted to the drug that gives him such strength and brute force.

#3. How does eat? Or is the gas so powerful that it gives him all the protein and nourishment he needs to stay in that great of shape. What is that gas anyway?

#4 Where does the gas even come from? Certainly, he would need tanks and refills as he has to have a constant supply of gas to keep himself alive, as illustrated in the scene where Batman knocks off only one valve from his mask and subdues him.

#5 How the heck does he know Bruce Wayne is Batman? How can he even recite lines said IN PRIVATE between Ras-Al-Ghul and Bruce? Perhaps he was training in the League while Bruce was in there? I say impossible as Bane sustained his injury when Talia (Miranda Tate) and most likely Bruce were children. We would have noticed him being there in Batman Begins is what I am trying to say. Or perhaps he is just that great a ninja?

All these questions do not work for Bane. It worked for the Joker who was just an insane person who wanted to watch the world burn. But did not knowing Bane's background make me suspicious when he started talking about nuclear half life? Yes.

Now, lets get to Talia Al-Ghul.. I mean Miranda Tate. Most pointless villain cover up ever. Everyone knew she was the bad guy all along and her big reveal just made me say- It's about damn time! Her presence in the story is pointless. She is only there because she kept the nuclear reactor funded while Bruce Wayne was wallowing in his pathetic state. Anyone else could have done that. In the comics, Talia is a ninja. She leads a group of female freaking ninjas. She is actually hot. Her being in the movie is about as impressive as her death scene which was honestly the worst death scene I have scene ever. I know I wasn't the only one that laughed when she died in the movie.

 John Blake as "Robin" is the worst insult to comic book fans since Emo Peter Parker. I was so pissed when that lady called John Blake Robin that I almost walked out of the movie. Everyone in the movie theater cheered and gasped when they heard the name "Robin", but I was flat out insulted. I believe that no one would watch Batman if Batman's alter ego was not named Bruce Wayne (Exception Batman Beyond), and the same should be said for Robin. Robin has only been one of three men: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Jason Todd. Changing around Superhero's names is like changing their origin story- you just don't do it.

Finally lets talk about the implications of the ending of TDKR. First of all, Batman is on holiday with Selena Kyle in Europe. Like that will last forever. Selena Kyle, for one thing, is a gold digging temptress. She seduces powerful men only to steal from them. (Although the formula was backward in this movie). No doubt Selena will leave Bruce Wayne the first moment she gets bored with him. Second, Bane is not the last super villain that will come to Gotham. Bruce Wayne will come back to Gotham the second a new villain is in town. Think about it- Bruce Wayne came out of an 8 year retirement even though Alfred urged Bruce not to do it just to fight Bane. Bruce can't stay away from the cape and cowl. This is bad news for John Blake who might be upset when the original Batman will be back for more. Speaking of John Blake, let's talk about him as the new "Batman". Simply put- Blake will die within the first few months of his vigilante second job- if not for his lack of fighting skills, for his lack of detective work. Bruce Wayne is a master of every form of martial arts. He freaking left Gotham for 7 years just to train. Blake has self defense training through Gotham PD at best. He relied on guns to provide protection and now that he won't use them, he's as good as dead at the hands of a henchman or Killer Croc. Additionally, he is not a detective and he will be sloppy. He will leave clues behind, interfere with evidence at the scene and ultimately help his villains find out who he is and where his base of operations is. Blake does not have the training to become the next Batman.

So that's it. This is how Nolan killed the Batman franchise. Now we can wait for the next interpretation of Batman that may or may not be better than this trilogy. A note to Warner Bros from fans everywhere- DO NOT RETELL HIS ORIGIN STORY! I can't emphasize that enough. We all know who he is and why he does what he does. Pick up where the Dark Knight left off and forget that TDKR happened at all.

So, how many of you reading are mad at me for my opinion? If so, do me a favor and comment on my blog for me. I respect everyone's opinion. Sadly, every time I voice my opinion about this movie I get scoffs and scorns. What, I didn't like it! This was a great movie for the average movie goer. I guess as a die hard comic book fan, I should stop expecting so much out of Hollywood.