The Dark Knight Rises

In the comics, Bane is known as “The Man Who Broke The Bat” – the man who defeated Batman, broke his spine, then let him live just so he could suffer. The Dark Knight Rises follows closely to that story, with one fairly major tweak:

The man who broke the bat was Heath Ledger’s Joker.

Eight years after the events of Dark Knight, we start our film with a Bruce Wayne that is already broken. Not only has he not been Batman during these eight years, he hasn’t been Bruce either. He doesn’t leave the house, he can barely walk and his company is going down the drain.


With an opening like that, and a title like this one, there is surely only one way this character can go.


Down…?


Although not an awful movie at all, this movie does have a lot of problems and just doesn’t live up to the previous installment. There are some scenes that are a bit silly, some bits of the story that are illogical, but the biggest issue is that Batman kinda sucks in this movie. Seriously, this is a Batman movie that will have kids fighting to be Robin when they play together.


Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of Bat-fails from the movie. Note – it’s also a list of pretty much every scene Batman has.


*SPOILERS*

1. Batman meets Catwoman – she knocks him down with ease and steals his mum’s necklace and his fingerprints.

2. Robin figures out his secret identity with almost no effort.

3. Batman meets Catwoman again – he takes back the necklace… but loses his car.

4. Batman fails to stop Bane from messing up the stock market – he actually helps Bane to escape by distracting the cops.

5. Batman loses all his money and his company – he gets kicked out of his own board meeting.

6. Batman successfully manages to get his chosen successor to take over the company… but she turns out to be the main villain.

7. Alfred walks out on Batman.

8. Batman meets Catwoman again – she leads him straight into a trap.

9. Bane slaps Batman around with ease, breaks his back, steals his toys, then drops him in a prison to rot.

10. Batman fails several times to make it out of the prison – something that a little girl could do.

11. Batman, after his glorious “rise”, comes back for his final battle with Bane – it ends with Catwoman saving him from otherwise certain death.

12. He refuses to stop talking in his silly Bat-voice, even when everyone who can hear him knows he’s Bruce Wayne.


At no point during this movie does Batman ever really “rise” – at no point does he do anything remarkable. Sure he does have a couple of small wins, but they’re clouded at best. Namely:

1. He gets out of the prison… eventually… but so did a little girl, with no training.

2. He makes it back to Gotham, with no money, little food, no idea where he is… but this is all done off screen.

3. He saves Gordon… but only just, and he wastes so much time putting together a big fiery bat symbol first.

4. He flies the bomb safely away… after wasting time chatting and kissing with less than 5 minutes to detonation… also he’s not really in the plane.


In comparison, every other character makes more sense and is more useful to the plot.


The other issue with this movie is the elephant in the room. It seems to be trying very, very hard to connect back up to Batman Begins, whilst simultaneously avoiding any mention of Joker.

The result of this makes The Dark Knight a pointless movie – which is shocking. Worse, the overall storyline would now work better WITHOUT The Dark Knight – the greatest Batman movie ever made.


In fairness, Nolan admitted this was deliberate – he felt it wrong to bring Joker into it at all if Heath Ledger wasn’t alive to see it, which is fair. But this movie doesn’t just feel like it ignores Joker – it feels like it erases him – which is a big shame.


Still – it’s not bad, and if you loved Dark Knight you will have to watch this…


…even if you don’t want to…

The Amazing Spider-Man

After the train wreck of Spider-Man 3, the powers that be decided it was time for a complete Spider-Man reboot. The vast majority of the audience asked the same question:

“Why?”

Regardless, here we are, The Amazing Spider-Man.

OK, you all know the story. Say it with me:

 “When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family...”

...and straight away we have the biggest problems with this movie.

Firstly, it’s not clear who this movie is aimed at. Everyone who knows anything about Spider-Man knows spider bite + dead uncle = Spider-Man, but this movie really seems to drag it out anyway. It’s a Spider-Man movie that will at times make Spider-Man fans hit the snooze button, but there’s not much in it to attract a new audience either.

Secondly, they get the story wrong. I know, I know, Marvel has many universes, etc etc, but it still just feels... wrong...

Peter Parker isn’t  nerdy. He’s a teenage Bart Simpson, complete with skateboard. Sure, he gets bullied and he understands science stuff, but he still comes across a little like an idiot who has managed to get hold of an answer sheet.

Then we have the new secret agent conspiracy surrounding his parents. This is the big new hook, the whole purpose of a reboot, the story arch that will keep us glued to the trilogy... but who cares? Spider-Man should be about an ordinary kid, dealing with ordinary life while simultaneously realising that “With great power, comes great responsibility” (or the much less catchy paraphrasing of this used in this film). The parent conspiracy just takes away some of the purity of the character.

That said, it’s not that bad a movie. And it does explain the mystery of why Spider-Man always seems to have somewhere to swing on (save the child of a crane driver and you’re sorted for life).

But, as expected from a series that just didn’t need another origin movie, it feels pointless.