Rewatchability

[thecolorsblend]

There's a lot to enjoy about Nolan's trilogy. But I have a real attachment to TDKRises for some reason. I don't even completely understand why. The second act is a bloated mess and the third act is mostly a paint-by-numbers climax with a "twist" that was pretty well telegraphed earlier in the film.

But the first hour and fifteen minutes of the movie (ie, the moment Bane's knee impacts Batman's spine) is top notch. I seriously dig that part of the film. For some reason I have an affection for stories where a hero has to struggle and reemerge as a hero. And there's a lot of that in TDKRises. He's been beaten down by life and by circumstance, he's superficially turned his back on his most cherished ideals and even when he has to spring back into action, it's obvious that Bruce's heart really isn't in it anymore. But it needs to be done. So he does it.

Bane is not as clever a villain as Ra's al-Ghul or as captivating as Ledger's Joker. It's just not arguable. But he has a certain dignity about him. He's dangerous to anybody he sets his sights on. He's merciless and brutal when he needs to be. But there's still a certain elegance to his speech and his vocabulary. Even a lot of his methods have a certain sophistication to them. He's deadly... but he's not necessarily destructive for destructiveness' sake. Ledger's Joker would blow up a building just to prove it's possible to do such a thing. Bane would only do it if it fits in with his agenda -- and his remote control would work right the first time.

Nolan's a fairly verbose filmmaker. So all of his characters, especially his villains, tend to be fairly articulate. But Bane is the only one I'd truly call flowery. If Batman was beating the piss out of Ra's, Ra's would criticize his technique. If it was the Joker, the Joker would tempt him to commit murder. But Bane offers psychoanalysis: "Peace has cost you your strength. Victory has defeated you." "You fight like a young man; nothing held back. Admirable but mistaken."

And that first fight against Bane is painful to watch. In BB and TDK, Bruce would've had his hands full with Bane... but, push comes to shove, he could've taken him. He would've sweat and maybe bled a little for it. But it would've been doable.

In TDKRises, even Bane's henchmen don't take Batman seriously. They don't lift a finger to come to Bane's aid. Bane barely even defends himself from Batman's attacks. He "blocks" most of Batman's punches with his face because Batman's strength and agility are long gone. If he'd had a few months to train his body, he might've made a better accounting of himself. But he didn't have months. With no training or conditioning, he put his Batman gear back on and went looking for trouble. Even after eight years of inactivity, that's still all he needs in order to deal with most of League of Assassins Shadows members. But it's not even remotely enough for Bane.

I can take or leave the movie after that scene. But up until then, yeah, it's an amazing piece of cinema.

On balance, I seem to have the fewest problems with TDKRises. I think BB is overall the most enjoyable of the three to watch. It holds up the most. But, by numbers, I've got more problems with BB. Major issues and minor nitpicks scattered through the movie. That's even truer of TDK. A lot works well in that movie. But for every cool thing that happens, there's usually at least two or three other problems going on as well scattered all through the film.

TDKRises? Honestly, the entire second act doesn't work for me. But that's really the only "problem" I've got. It's a huge problem, I admit, but it's still just one problem for me. And I can skip right past that one problem to watch the stuff I do enjoy. The other movies don't allow me that luxury.

So yeah.

[Wayne49]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Nolan trilogy, but out of all of the Nolan installments,  I probably watch the Dark Knight the most. I have no issues with Rises and felt the ending was executed fairly well. But Rises is such an all consuming wrap up in the series, it's hard to watch that as a standalone experience. I just about have to watch it only after the Dark Knight to fully encapsulate the storytelling experience.

I like the Nolan movies, but they are my least watched movies in the Batman series because they don't individually stand alone as well as some of the others. Each one is such an integral part to the next film, it almost begs for a continuation after you watch one of them. And that's not a criticism on any level. It just comes down to time and also what kind of mood I'm in. For Batman I find myself reaching out for the lighter material because it's a good source for elevating my mood if I'm wanting something for pure escapism.