Unordered List

Thursday 12 July 2012

Some hopes and dreams for The Dark Knight Rises.

I'm a little concerned that I'm not going to like this movie. Christopher Nolan's Batman films make great action-thrillers but they're not exactly fun. In fact, it occasionally seems like Christopher Nolan actively avoids fun. Good luck with your franchise of Serious Grown-Up Movies that attempt to legitimise a billionaire's decision to fight crime in a bat costume, dude.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. But the first one came out when I was fifteen and far less critical than the hardened nerd you see before you today, and the second one is 37 hours long (that's about 30 hours of car chases, 5 hours of Christian Bale growling angrily, 1 hour of Heath Ledger, and 1 hour of "other") so I've never managed to rewatch it all the way through. There's no denying that Heath Ledger's Joker is one of the best movie psychos of all time, but my main memories of The Dark Knight are of extended sequences where cars and bits of rubble crash into each other while Christian Bale howls his manpain at the moon. So I'm kinda trepidatious when it comes to The Dark Knight Rises. Without the helpful cushion of fannish delusion (Christopher Nolan's neverending quest to tell a "serious" superhero story has resulted in some of the most sterile and humourless comicbook movies ever, which isn't exactly conducive to geeking out), I'm unlikely to ever be as enthused about TDKR as I was about the Avengers.

The thing about Christopher Nolan is that he's brilliant at making high-budget blockbuster movies that look fantastic and are intelligent enough that non-geeky "adults" can admit to watching them, but he's absolutely balls when it comes to emotions. Particularly emotions that involve women. Nolan's a big fan of the dead love-interest, and if the leading lady is still alive by the end of the movie then chances are she's still a beautiful enigma rather than an actual human person. Rachel Dawes in the first two Batman movies fulfills both of those critera, actually -- idealised by a man who barely knows her or spends any time with her and eventually killed off for the purposes of adding another brick to Bruce Wayne's tower of manpain. I'm not trying to say that Bruce Wayne shouldn't have manpain -- manpain is more or less the entire purpose and driving force of the Batman story -- but Chris Nolan has proven time and time again that while he understands how to make his protagonists cry sad tears because their girlfriends are dead, he's kind of useless when it comes to making audiences do the same thing. Even in The Dark Knight when Rachel Dawes is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal (ie, an actor several orders of magnitude more accomplished than Katie Holmes) she's little more than a collection of disappointed looks. She's no Pepper Potts. In fact, it's almost as if Bruce Wayne thinks she's his Pepper Potts when in reality she's just the proverbial Somebody That He Used To Know.
Sorry if you've got Gotye stuck in your head now.
So, what am I hoping for from TDKR? Not for it to be like The Avengers, don't worry. I'm primed to prefer the Avengers franchise because I enjoy stories about friendship and personal growth, but comparing the two is pointless because Nolan's Batman movies aren't trying to be that kind of superhero story -- they're the ultimate gritty reboot. So, judging TDKR on the grounds of it being a gritty crime thriller rather than a trad superhero movie like Spider-Man or Captain America, here's what I'm hoping it will provide:

1. A decent character for Marion Cotillard. You already know my feelings on Chris Nolan's idea of what constitutes a good female character, so first of all I'm hoping that Miranda Tate will seem like a fully realised person rather than a few lines of clunky dialogue held together with good acting. Apparently part of her role is encouraging Bruce Wayne to continue his father's legacy as a philanthropist, and I'm interested to see how Nolan handles this. In the sillier Batman adaptations of the '80s and '90s it's easy enough to swallow the fact that Bruce Wayne's solution to Gotham's crime rate is to become a costumed vigilante, but the Dark Knight trilogy's relentless pursuit of gritty realism means that Batman teeters dangerously close to the edge of the superhero-ridiculousness Uncanny Valley at all times. If he could be putting his billions to good use as a philanthropist, then why bother being Batman in the first place? The argument is that Gotham's justice system is so hopelessly corrupt that only Batman can properly deal with the city's organised crime problem, but the more the film draws attention to the fact that Bruce Wayne could be solving these problems with money instead of his fists, the more self-indulgent Batman seems as a basic concept.
2. A decent character for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I admit I'm immediately biased against John Blake because if there's anything the Dark Knight trilogy doesn't need, it's a 30-year-old white guy who starts off as an idealist before (presumably) having his spirit crushed by the horrors of grim reality. What a fresh new story to tell! He's going to have to be pretty damn awesome for me to believe it's worthwhile to create a brand new character when the Batman extended universe probably has like a zillion to choose from already. Especially since our previous look into the lower echelons of the Gotham PD was Detective Anna Ramirez, a corrupt cop who was written out at the end of The Dark Knight, removing the only substantial female side-character in the series.

3. An awesome Catwoman. Catwoman is the only superhero/villain who can get away with wearing stiletto heels all the time, but that only really works if she's something more than just a two-dimensional vamp. I like Anne Hathaway and I think Catwoman has the potential to add some much-needed playfulness to the Dark Knight franchise, but for obvious reasons I'm a little wary of Nolan's ability to write her properly. Considering the lengths he was willing to go to make the Batsuit and Batmobile as "realistic" as humanly possibly, I can't wait to find out how he legitimises Selina Kyle's decision to climb things while wearing five-inch heels and a leather catsuit.

4. Maximum possible quantity of Tom Hardy screentime. QED. 
Edited to add: Aaaand, this last point, it turns out, is far less positive than I previously thought. Someone just reminded me in comments that Bane is another instance of Chris Nolan whitewashing casting. I'm not very familiar with Batman comics canon and had forgotten about this, but apparently Bane is canonically latino despite the casting of a white actor in this role. :/

25 comments:

  1. theoncominghope12 July 2012 at 11:19

    Wow! I'm impressed at what a different movie you saw from I! I actually thought Rachel Dawes was quite well drawn in The Dark Knight (though I'm with you that her character is wholly unmemorable in Batman Begins, which I find to be generally unmemorable).

    Even apart from Christopher Nolan's take on it, I've never particularly thought that Batman is meant to be "fun" (60s show notwithstanding). It's more about the seedy underbelly of humanity, and I think The Dark Knight did a fantastic job of bringing that out.

    That said, he'd better not fuck up Catwoman. Anne Hathaway has a lot to live up to with Michelle Pfeiffer's perfect performance (and Selina Kyle was wonderfully written in Batman Begins as well).

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's like you peered inside my mind and gave a beautiful articulate shape to all my seething nolan-batman feelings. Every word of this draws a nod from me, except fr those that make me clap and holler. Marvelous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lady, I heart your movie posts so much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pants_are_a_must12 July 2012 at 21:16

    I can't wait to find out how he legitimises Selina Kyle's decision to climb things while wearing five-inch heels and a leather catsuit.


    Well, this was already partially explained in interviews with him and Hathaway, but I don't know if you want to be spoiled in any way.


    As for JGL's character, a clip from the movie that came out yesterday has already distorted the initial description of his character, which contributes to my personal theory that he is supposed to be a big curveball thrown at the audience. After all, you don't cast the guy who did probably the most badass action scene of this decade as some cop who gives reaction shots and that's it. I mean, really now.


    In conclusion: ALL THE TOM HARDY EVER.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I actually wanted to write my own article about what you pointed out here (now I don't have to! I still might, though) about lack of emotions on the viewers' side of the cinema screen. I know Nolan can do it, I've seen "Memento" and "Prestige", and he could successfully direct Liam Neeson in first part of his Batman trilogy, which lately isn't easy, but with Batman it just feels like he concentrates more on how the story affects the city more than the protagonists.

    That being said, BANE. I can't wait, Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm still half-hoping that the movie will end with Bruce Wayne waking up in a train car next to Leonardo DiCaprio. "Inception 2: The Inceptioning!"

    ReplyDelete
  7. i really want to see memento! i saw half of it years ago -- probably the worst choice of movie ever to see *half* of, haha. i thought liam neeson was great (if a little typecast) in batman begins until i found out that it was whitewashed casting and then i was less than pleased. :///

    ReplyDelete
  8. i haven't seen those interviews -- are they a weapon or something? TBH, like i said in the post, catwoman is one of the few female superhero characters who i AM totally ok with wearing a fetish outfit because it's kind of her schtick.

    re: john blake, you have me intrigued! i don't know much about the film itself and will probably be avoiding spoilers until it comes out, but here's hoping he'll be an interesting character! (i did assume he'd have a fairly significant role, though -- JGL is a fairly big name now, and they've been featuring him quite prominantly in trailers.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. thank you! :))

    ReplyDelete
  10. thank you! :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. maybe this post makes it seem like i'm more negative towards batman than i actually am? when i saw each of the movies i thought they were great, but i'm way more nitpicky now about female characters (particularly since chris nolan is kinda terrible at them), plus i tend to judge superhero movies a little differently from other genres because i'm such a fangirl.

    oh no, i don't think batman is in the same league as iron man or whatever in terms of "fun" -- i totally agree that batman is one of the darkest of the superheroes, and i wouldn't want that to change. but i feel like the earlier 2 batman movies are more cold/humourless than just *gritty*. idk, it's kind of hard to explain, but i do think it's possible to make a dark/adult film without it being completely free from humour and warmth.

    ReplyDelete
  12. theoncominghope13 July 2012 at 10:51

    Yeah that's totally fair. For me, Dark Knight's one of the last movies I saw before I became really serious about film in general, so I wonder how the new one will stand up in that respect.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Nolan's Batman movies aren't trying to be that kind of superhero
    story -- they're the ultimate gritty reboot. So, judging TDKR on the
    grounds of it being a gritty crime thriller rather than a trad superhero
    movie..."

    To be honest, that's my problem with Nolan's Batman movies. They're good films, certainly, but they're not *comic book* movies. I realise the whole point is to do as serious and 'realistic' a take on Batman as possible, but that means losing much of what makes the comics so fun. There was a little comic-book silliness in Batman Begins - secret ninja school, villain with a doomsday device - but virtually none in The Dark Knight. Change the characters and that script could have been a generic crime/action movie about Jack Bauer fighting a terrorist.

    The earlier Bat-movies of the 90s were pretty crap, to be fair, but at least they gloried in the ridiculousness of it all, with incredibly over-the-top villains and elaborate sets. That's how Batman ought to be, and now that Avengers has shown that superhero movies don't have to be Dark and Serious to succeed, I hope the franchise will be rebooted to be more like that again.

    Also, Christopher Nolan dropped Danny Elfman's majestic Batman theme tune, and I can never forgive him for that.

    But I'm still going to see The Dark Knight Rises on release day...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pants_are_a_must13 July 2012 at 11:10

    Yes, the heels are actually knives, and I'm guessing she's not squeamish about using them either.

    The official description of John Blake is a beat cop who is Gordon's protege. The clip essentially showed Gordon didn't even know his name. The internet has been harping for months now that Blake is not the actual character JGL plays, going from one crazy theory to another. Cracked even hazarded a guess that Bruce Wayne was going to die and JGL's character would take the mantle from him, but honestly I don't think he's Batman-stock.

    As for the trailers, JGL is a pretty big name nowadays, I agree. Particularly JGL in a Nolan movie. Now stop me before I start mooning over how TDKR is Inception 2 with Batman.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is a good post, but also, Bane shouldn't be played by Tom Hardy. Bane is Latino and was born in a South American prison. The whitewashing is my breaking point; I won't be seeing it in theaters.

    ReplyDelete
  16. oh shit, i'd completely forgotten about this! sorry. i'm not at all familiar with batman comics canon and had only heard about this in passing when the movie first got cast, over a year ago. D: ugh, nolan's casting is worse than i thought, then.

    ReplyDelete
  17. added on a little ETA to the end there...

    ReplyDelete
  18. "Christopher Nolan's neverending quest to tell a "serious" superhero story has resulted in some of the most sterile and humourless comicbook movies ever."
    The thing about Christopher Nolan is that he's brilliant at making high-budget blockbuster movies that look fantastic and are intelligent enough that non-geeky "adults" can admit to watching them, but he's absolutely balls when it comes to emotions. Particularly emotions that involve women. Nolan's a big fan of the dead love-interest, and if the leading lady is still alive by the end of the movie then chances are she's still a beautiful enigma rather than an actual human person."


    Fucking THESE. You know, I've only read about three articles from you (the Hollow Crown reviews) and already you've written some of my favorite pop culture spiels ever. Girl, you got talent.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Moncler crea un conflitto importante, perché vi sarà molto difficile cercare di non usare parole che ti fanno sembrare tutto ciò che interessa è la vendita. E ancora più importante, se i vostri sensi prospettiva si stanno concentrando sulla nomina o la vendita, che sarà immediatamente sulla difensiva.ds

    ReplyDelete
  20. The whitewashing in Begins, with Neeson, was the reason I never started with Nolan's films. (I love Ken Watanabe and was prepared to accept him as R'as al Ghul, although I'm not that fond either of "any POC can play any other kind of POC!" casting; but to find that Watanabe was just a front and al Ghul was actually Neeson? You gotta be kidding me...)

    ReplyDelete
  21. "the most sterile and humourless comicbook movies" - I trully enjoyed TDK, but could not agree more with this assessment. Also why I prefer The Avengers. I'm very uncertain about this film, and you pretty much nailed every reason why. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  22. You've managed to hit on most of the reasons why I don't want to see it (it's so loooong!), and why I am glad that I am in France at the moment where the movie isn't out for a few more days. Peace...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Bane's ethnicity is a bit more complicated than that. He doesn't look Latino in the comics either. His skin was as pale as Batman's. His father was a white Englishman and his mother would have been of predominantly Spanish heritage because Santa Prisca was an Island that Spain colonised. So technically speaking, Bane would be of predominantly white origins . For instance, my father is German and my mother was born in Argentina, as were her parents but her grandparents were Spaniards. I don't look remotely Latino even though I was born and raised in Buenos Aires. I feel like white washing is a problem but I don't think it's applicable here. They needed an extraordinary actor and I don't think anyone could have done with the part what Tom Hardy managed to do.

    ReplyDelete
  24. You put in to words what I couldn't about why I'm not excited about this movie. I loved Heath Ledger as the Joker, but other than that - after the coldness of the last movie, not really into this one & actually turned down going tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  25. So your saying that the darkest and grittiest story of DC and maybe of all comics which is about a young child who witnessed his parent's murdered in cold blood and decides to fight the criminal element that killed his parents by dressing as a Bat to strike fear through people's hearts, and someone who uses very dark and brutal methods and operates like a villain and deals with villains who are as tortured in the soul as he is and the only hero that i can name at the top of my head that inspires vengeance rather then hope, should be fun?? Yeah, you have no idea what your talking about. These movies are just something else. And they may be the most humorless, but they are by far, the greatest comic book films of all time and they are just on another level that i don't think any comic book film would reach.

    ReplyDelete