Op/Ed – Nolan’s Folly
Christopher Nolan is a genius filmmaker; one of the best of our time. There can be no arguing that. Yet there are two camps forming around his latest release – The Dark Knight Rises – and they couldn’t be more split in their decision. While the apologists will tell you that the naysayers are merely being whiny fanboys, picking the film apart for the sake of bitching, there are simply some serious storytelling flaws and movie-making missteps that shouldn’t be ignored when heaping on the praise. I’d argue, however, that it all stems from a single, systemic flaw; Nolan wanted a happy ending.
It should go without saying, but… SPOILER WARNING!
Let’s examine the over-arcing story of the trilogy, of course emphasizing TDKR as that’s where it all began to crumble. We all know how Batman’s story starts, in tragedy, as Martha and Thomas Wayne are gunned down in an alley for the change in their pockets. This senseless and violent act introduces a young Bruce Wayne to police officer Jim Gordon and sets him on the path to becoming Batman. You know, Batman – the lifelong obsession that led him around the world to train his mind and body, to which he dedicated nigh-endless resources developing costumes and gadgets, and which he was only finally willing to give up for the love of his life… until she was killed by one of the psychopaths Gotham seems so adept at breeding and nurturing.
In this, then, the final act, Bruce has surrendered the identity of Batman to honor his fallen love. Then Jim Gordon is nearly killed, and Bruce finds himself prepared to pick up the mantle once more. Butler and father-figure Alfred tries to dissuade him, suggesting he let it all go and seek out a real life. Bruce scoffs, saying his chance at a real life – at true happiness – died with Rachel. It’s here that things start to fall apart.
Alfred tells Bruce that Rachel had chosen Harvey Dent over him, ostensibly to make him snap out of his funk and realize that the lost love he’s put his life on hold for wasn’t truly his to begin with. Bruce, instead, sees this not as freedom to find a real love and a real life, but rather as the freedom to embrace the part of him he’d left behind for Rachel – Batman. Because losing the love of his life had been the only shock to his system sufficient to hold his obsession at bay. That’ll be important, later. Bruce meets new “allies” in the form of John Blake, Miranda Tate, and Selina Kyle. He’s broken by Bane and thrown into a prison half-a-world away, where he relearns what it’s like to truly fear death – because death means failing to save his city. He returns to Gotham, reunites with his new allies, is betrayed by the first woman in eight years who he’s gotten close to (and the second woman in six months, I might add). Finally, of course, he makes the ultimate sacrifice – sort of. Bruce fakes his own death so that he can give up being Batman and he and Selina can go live happily ever after; leaving Gotham in the capable hands of Detective John Blake.
Even at a glance, that all seems a bit suspect, but let’s dig a bit deeper. Simply put, a happy ending seems disingenuous. Writing a Bruce Wayne who would have given up his crusade to live out his days with the love of his life? That brings a noble optimism to Bruce, suggesting that Batman isn’t everything to him. Having him give it all up to go globe trotting with Selina? That undermines the credibility of the character entirely. Bruce Wayne was so damaged – so altered – by the murder of his parents that he dedicated his life to fighting crime in Gotham. Not by funding the police force. Not even by BECOMING a cop. No; Bruce Wayne trained with ninjas so he could put on a mask and cape and throw bat-shaped throwing knives at criminals while growling. That is a level of devotion bordering on (if not completely immersed in) insanity.Could his love for Rachel have allowed him to overcome it? Sure, maybe. But it’s not something he should be able to turn his back on for a woman he barely knows.
Speaking of Selina, you DO realize they only ever met five times, right? First, she steals his mother’s pearls and knocks his crippled ass to the ground. Second, they’re at a charity ball and she whispers ominous warnings of how all the rich in Gotham are about to get their comeuppance. Third, he shows up at her apartment to ask her to meet with Batman; she, in turn, mocks his loss. Fourth, as Batman, he and Selina meet up (though god only knows how the one knew where to meet the other) and track down Bane, to whom she promptly betrays Wayne. Finally, after having his back broken and spending five months in Hell – all direct results of her betrayal – Bruce comes to her and says “Hey, I think deep down you’re a good person, so I’m going to put my fate pretty-much-entirely in your hands yet again” which basically translates to “You’re hot so I’m totally okay with you screwing me over.” She doesn’t, this time, and so I suppose that’s reason enough to leave your entire life behind and go globe trotting with the girl. Rachel who?
But what about Gotham? Don’t worry, Bruce is going to entrust it – and his entire arsenal as Batman – to John Blake, the only character Bruce has spent less time with than Selina. Seriously, think about it… they meet when Blake shows up at Wayne Manor and says “Hey, you’re Batman. I could tell because this one time I saw you, I could see by the look on your face that you were hurting.” This scene proves that Blake has what it takes to be Batman; that keen analytical mind that takes a memory from childhood of a man’s perceived pain over the loss of his parents and extrapolates his unquestionable role as Batman. I wonder how many different orphans Blake visited first and tried the same routine on. With Blake’s razor sharp wits established, our second encounter proves he’s a good guy, as he offers to give Bruce Wayne a ride home after the man loses his car. Why Blake was there in the first place is never quite clear, but what is apparent is that even though he’s a decent enough guy to drive you home, he’s also enough of a tortured soul to drop you off in the rain and leave before he’s seen you safely inside. He’s going to make a great Batman someday. After Bruce’s return, he and Blake share a few sparse moments together, but the timing would imply that Bruce’s will would already have been drafted at this point, so those two run-ins would almost have to be what Bruce based his decision on. But hey… he’s Batman; he’s an excellent judge of character.
Like when he entrusted his entire company to Miranda Tate, then hooked up with her (after she’d been creeping outside his house in the rain), only for her to stab him in the rib cage after her big reveal as Talia. Now, look… I have some notoriously questionable judgment when it comes to women, but none of them has stabbed me (yet). So we see a fight scene where Bane is unquestionably Batman’s better in battle, then Bruce comes back and – through sheer determination? – overpowers the brute, only to be blindsided by one of closest allies.
Do these sound like the actions of Batman to you? These are the careless mistakes of a man with no direction; no focus. Batman doesn’t give up. Batman doesn’t walk away. And he certainly doesn’t hand the keys to the cave over to someone he barely knows.
Argue, if you’d like, that this is Nolan’s Batman – not the Batman of the comics or the cartoons or the other movies. That’s fine, I suppose, except that there are numerous moments throughout the film that (barring exposition from deleted scenes) rely entirely on the argument “Well, he can because he’s Batman.” If you’re altering what it means to be Batman, however, then you can’t expect the audience to have any such preconceived notions. Sure, the Batman of the comics would have had a way to get back from the pit and find a way into Gotham past the authorities. Sure, Kevin Conroy’s Batman would have known exactly how to find Selina Kyle for their raid on Bane’s hideout. But you’ve taken away so much of THOSE Batmen to make your own that nothing can be taken for granted.
I guess some days you really CAN’T get rid of a bomb
There’s a deeper question, though. Without the psychotic devotion to the dance; without the paranoia; without the shrewd judge of character and keen eye for details – is this new character really even Batman? Or has he been so neutered to fit this story arc so as to become something else entirely? The character Nolan gives us over his three films is dedicated… within reason. He gives himself up, all-too-willingly, to whatever beautiful woman looks his way. And he relies more on gadgets and fisticuffs than his wits, which he at times barely even seems to be in possession of. If anything, this is the Adam West Batman, all grown up. He’s just traded in his Bat-Shark Repellant for a Bat-Sonar-Cell phone.
Is THIS the hero Gotham deserves?
Omfg nitpick nitpick nitpick. For proper character engendering like you’re asking it would be a five hour film. Nolan’s Batman has been looking to quit since the first film.
You’re completely ignoring the fact that Blake earned the trust of Gordon who Batman trusts.
Wayne is backed against the wall financially and trusts Talisman Al Ghul because Lucius Fox trusted her undercover persona.
I’m sorry that it’s not a live action version of playing with super hero toys (like the Avengers) and maybe there’s a little bit of grit and realism lost to a happy ending. However this is a film that delivers a tale and a meaning. The Dark Knight was “cool” to Fanboys because it presented an awesome villian. This is a movie up there with other classics that asks what does it take to be a hero?
First off, don’t make a movie if you don’t have the time to properly fill out the characters within. Scale back to afford yourself the right amount of development for each of your principals.
Second, Nolan’s Batman has been looking to finish, not quit. There’s a serious difference between the two,
Third, while I’ll give you Talia/Miranda, Bruce would NEVER turn over the Batcave to someone he barely knows, no matter WHO vouches for them. That’s BULLshit.
Fourth, I notice you say nothing about Selina?
And finally – the last movie said a lot more about what it takes to be a hero. Disappearing and letting the world think you’re guilty of an enemy’s crimes? THAT is heroic. Faking your own death so you can fuck a hot jewel thief? That’s drivel.
Bruce DID finish. Remember the beginning of the movie, thanks to the Dent act Gotham was virtually (major) crime free.
The mob bosses were finished, organized crime was removed, and there was nothing left but petty crimes. Batman achieved his goal and wasn’t needed anymore, until a threat like Bane came around. He came out of retirement to stop this new threat. And when he did, he felt his mission was successful and that it’s time to pass on the mantle and move on. I wouldn’t call that quitting.
I guess My feeling is, either Bruce finished, and the cave should’ve been sealed off at the film’s end, or else he didn’t, there’s still cause for there to be a Batman, and he shouldn’t be leaving.
OR, he completed his mission and feels ready to move on but realizes that a potential threat could always arise once again, and that there needs to be a Batman to face it.
“Omfg nitpick nitpick nitpick. For proper character engendering like you’re asking it would be a five hour film.”
Other movies can do the same in less time so it’s not unreasonable to expect a director of Nolan’s caliber who has had as much say and input on the plot of the movie let alone it’s direction to be able to include that, especially considering he has done such in some of his own movies and especially given the hype of this movie. This was a decent movie but not what people are making it out to be.
I do find the “action figures” comment interesting (unoriginal and petty as fuck but whatever suits your fancy) because this movie honestly felt like Nolan was doing the same with his Batman figures if he owned any: Play-acting with plot points forced with small nods made to theme and the comicverse at the sacrifice of character and a more cohesive story.
It was a good movie but it wasn’t nearly as perfect as people are acting like it is. Those people are free to think otherwise though, but those who do not feel that this movie was perfect are not out of their mind. It simply wasn’t all that.
As for the article itself, it was pretty much on point. The part about Catwoman was pretty spot on. What bothered me personally was that a good number of years has passed and Bruce shows a kind of…”stupidity” that is rather embarrassing. Ah well.
Thanks, Wade.
Ultimately, my biggest problem with the movie is probably how perfect people claim it is.
It’s an okay film. Roughly a B, maybe B+ for Hathaway’s portrayal of Selina. But it is EXTREMELY flawed and I’m confounded by how people can overlook that – not to say “I enjoyed it,” I’d get that, but instead – to say “This is the best comic book movie ever; it’s flawless; it is the perfect ending to the trilogy.”
Your feelings on TDKR are literally IDENTICAL to my feelings on the Amazing Spider-Man. Well, except for the fact that my opinion on ASM went from thinking it was a B to thinking it’s a C at best.
I don’t see this as nitpicking anything. K-Whack didn’t like a movie and shared his opinion. Granted, he’s trolling for hits and views by targeting a very popular new release (though by browsing the interwebs, one with a very divided fanbase), but at least it’s more tasteful and well researched than his “I like this cover, fuck you everbody!” masturbatory op/ed (not in the “wank to a drawn image” masturbatory but an “I’m writing this for my own edification and the pleasure of the response my shock and awe piece will generate”).
His gripes are sustainable, and while I don’t agree with all of them, well articulated. It’s not like Harry Knowles crybaby review, or a few others I have read. He had an opinion, he shared it. He’s no more right or wrong than anyone else’s opinion on a film (I for one will defend Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as a fine Indiana Jones movie till my deathbed).
I personally liked The Dark Knight alot better than TDKR. Not because I was shown a “cool” villain, but because I saw the unsustainability of Batman. Gordon’s line about escalation in Begins rang true throughout all of TDK for me, and even into TDKR.
Much appreciated, sir.
@ Eirejack – With all the hype this movie has generated in the last year and a half, it damn well should’ve been five hours long and there shouldn’t have been a single problem with it. And how is it nitpicking to expecting the portrayal of a character to be true to the character in the final movie of the series? Also, if you wanna play the “he trusted them because this person trusted them” card, explain why he didn’t trust Harvey Dent in TDK. Rachel trusted him, and Bruce loved her more than anything.
You think he’s being a dicky nerd for “nitpicking” plot, but you are being just as big a dicky nerd for blindly accepting problems in narrative.
” Also, if you wanna play the “he trusted them because this person trusted them” card, explain why he didn’t trust Harvey Dent in TDK. Rachel trusted him, and Bruce loved her more than anything.”
I don’t want to be accused of being a “dickey nerd” but he did trust him until half his face was burned off and he became homicidal. He did throw the big fund raiser for him. Gordon vouched for Dent and Dent worked with Batman to bring down the mobsters.
Actually he was wary of Harvey and only “trusted” him, after Gordon vouched for him and Batman, amidst the personal turmoil in his heart, indecisiveness about himself and his role as a hero, his desire for a better alternative, Gordon and the people in general believing in him, and and just an all-around vulnerability of self (laid out throughout the movie and pretty told to us directly during Dent’s main speech) does Batman finally give in and truly trust Dent. And even then, it was with reservations and an effort to put forth trust in the idea that Dent was commenting on and had been swirling in Bruce’s head as opposed to the character himself. It was an inevitability that was carefully laid out and this kind of thing is lost in this movie. That’s the problem. That’s the issue, among other various issues.
I VERY much look forward to seeing what’s on the cutting room floor. I can’t help but wonder if some – if not all – of these issues will be resolved.
Yeah
“I’m sorry that it’s not a live action version of playing with super hero toys”
HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA! Best comment ever.
Grow the f— up Kerouac.
I don’t agree with pretty much anything in this post, but I can see where you’d reach these conclusions. Let’s have this hang in the ether a bit and I shall rebutt, good sir.
@Tito You’re right, that was the wrong way to put it. I’ll retract that one.
I quite literally could not disagree more.
It is a grievous departure from the character of Batman – as portrayed nearly everywhere else – to allow him to trust this easily. This isn’t Superman.
Fuck you, Kerouac. I hate it when you say things I agree with.
That is the only correct response LOL
+1
I thought the same thing.
“Speaking of Selina, you DO realize they only ever met five times, right?”
Knize and I only met twice before I moved across the country to be with him. Which makes me either A) crazy, or B) Batman.
Plus, I have it on good authority* that Bruce and Selina did a good amount of off-screen sexting.
*”Good Authority” is the name of my soon-to-be-published erotic TDKR fanfic.
50 Shades of Dark Knight?
We met…at least 4 times.
Atlanta, PoP! Goes The 4th… OK, I think you did come up here to meet my parents. And then I moved. I don’t think NYCC counts, because by then it was the point of no return.
Star Wars Celebration, dick.
Well, look at you and your superior powers of remembering!
I almost moved to Texas for someone I met twice. People do crazy things for love.
Love. Sure.
Mary, D-Rock – did your respective someone’s steal from you and/or get your backs broken in the process?
You’re comparing apples and poisonus blowfish.
I think it felt that way afterwards?..
Let’s take a step back and check out Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns, as they are perfect companions to each of Nolan’s Batman films, especially when it comes to Wayne’s/Batman’s flaws. Miller, who has greatly influenced Nolan, isn’t even mentioned here. Very tedious article, with lots of nitpicking, and missing how layered the overall three-movie stories is. Also, I was waiting for the Adam West joke at the end, and there it was.
I feel like only you understand what you were trying to say. He’s talking about this movie, why would he mention Miller? If we’re talking about comic influences on this movie, you failed to mention No Man’s Land, Knightfall and Bane’s characterization in Secret Six. The Dark Knight Returns is only like this film in two respects, the beginning and the end, and even those are just roughly influenced.
I did not like the Bruce and Selina ending, I would have been far happier if it was just Bruce, or Bruce and the back of someone’s head who MIGHT be Selina. It just felt kind of cheesy.
The Miranda/Talia turn I think was spot on though. Him rushing in, knowing that Bane fucked him up before, having a better plan for the fight, and beating him down, only to get shanked by the woman he was there to rescue. Pretty great, and something that has been used in the comics before.
I don’t think there were any more storytelling issues in this film then there were in TDK, honestly, because that movie got sloppy as shit at times too. I feel like Nolan made a tight as hell movie with Batman Begins, and had too many great ideas/scenes/moments that he wanted to fit into the sequels, and no around to tell him he could use an edit.
I think it is a great trilogy, I just think the first movie was the best of the bunch.
Agreed. Batman Begins is the most solid and well-rounded of the three. The Dark Knight is the most fun and daring, but it’s not as clever in that it repeatedly explains everything to the audience and places too much importance on Rachel Dawes as some sort of crux for Bruce retaining the Batman persona, a thread that frustratingly pops up again in TDKR. Rises has some truly outstanding moments, and I like the movie, but the ham-fisted way it continually over-explains everything to the audience is aggravating, particularly coming from someone as ordinarily adept as Nolan.
Clumsy script issues aside, I think my biggest gripe with Rises is that Batman just isn’t in it that much. I love the idea of a movie centered on Gotham’s populous, but as the final installment in a Batman trilogy I would have liked to see a lot more Batman being Batman.
The unnecessary character assassination of Alfred was also frustrating, but that’s more of a nerd gripe than a matter of flawed storytelling.
I’ll agree, Eli, that Batman rushing to the damsel’s aid against the villain, only to be taken down by the villainess-in-waiting has plenty of perfect precedent. I think it’s more the double edged sword that this woman was also the same one he entrusted his corporation too. I feel like that’s where it starts to get to be “too much” to swallow,
Let me propose a simple solution… No nuke.
Bane holds Gotham hostage with some weapon he has brought himself. Or even a nuke he has brought himself, of need be. Make Miranda Tate Bruce’s new ally but not someone to whom he has to surrender his business. Get the editing right on the whole “Bane taking her” bit, so that there’s more of a sense of peril. Then, when Bruce rushes in, she betrays him. THAT might hit home harder. Hen again, already anticipating that she was Talia al Ghul, maybe I’d still have been waiting for the turn…
My problem didn’t lie in Talia’s role in the plot, but rather how clumsily executed her burgeoning relationship with Bruce was. Nolan has never excelled at filming romance, which is fine, but their kiss followed immediately by her stoking the fire and him rubbing her back was awful. It was a relationship that existed because the plot needed it to, not because it ever felt like these two characters had any business being together.
I would agree, though, that Bane taking Talia hostage was too brief to effectively make it feel like she was in danger. Truthfully, I forgot she was there until the great reveal when she shanked Batman.
Bruce and Miranda already knew each other from being business partners, and the two closest people in Bruce’s life kept filling his head about starting a relationship with her. So when she’s on your doorstep, soaking wet, and sticking her tongue down your throat, I don’t blame the guy for going for it.
I’m there with you on this point, D-Rock…
I see Miranda not so much as a romance necessarily as a FWB situation. Then Bane “kidnaps” her and Bruce sets off to the rescue. Not so much out of love, but… Y’know… Cause he’s Batman
His mom died, so he wants to replace that with a strong woman. So like Batman is cool, but a vagina to hug you at the end of the day is cooler.
lol I’m just being an idiot.
The fact that K-Whack does not like the same movie as much as I do does not take away from the fact that I liked it. He is entitled not to like it. I hated Amazing Spider-Meh, he liked it. Me hating it does not affect his liking of it. I really don’t have a point, but I wanted to chime in just cause I won an award for doing this kind of stuff two years in a row and I have been severely lacking this year.
LMAO
1. Right from the beginning of the movie, you could see Bruce was intrigued by Selina. This was a kindred spirit, and a women that could actually challenge him. Her mystique intrigued him so much, he’s instantly hooked. Selina’s turning point came during the first fight with Bane. Once she learned his true identity, he wasn’t “Bruce Wayne – the 1%” anymore, now he was like her – fighting for Gotham in ways normal people couldn’t or wouldn’t.
2. Blake proved to be another kindred spirit for Bruce. Being Batman is more than just fighting skills and detective work, it’s the drive. Blake knows the same pain Bruce did, only difference was that Bruce found an outlet for the pain by being Batman. Perhaps his hopes were that Blake would find that same sense of meaning to fill the emptiness. Bruce sees himself in Blake 100%, there’s not many people you meet in life like that.
3. Miranda Tate was the lesser of two evils at the same. Bruce WAS going to lose the company, nothing was stopping that. So would he rather see it go to some douche who he knew was dirty, or this woman who he’s already had some dealings with from the fusion project and was trusted by the 2nd closest person in his life, Lucius Fox? Between the two, it’s an easy choice.
4. In his return, he doesn’t beat Bane by “sheer determination(?)”, he basically turned the tides with a lucky hit. Watch it again, Bane was still whipping his ass in that second fight, it wasn’t until Bruce caught him with an elbow which wound up breaking his breathing mask. And as it was established earlier, damaging that mask would be extremely painful to Bane. So now he’s delirious with pain and getting sloppy, which gives the level-headed Bruce the opportunity for the win.
5. It was established even before this movie that being Batman wasn’t Bruce’s endgame. There was always going to be a point he was going to give it up, he just needed the right reason. At first, it was Rachel. But again, his (mental & physical) attraction to Selina combined with their mutual desire to start a new life, accepting Alfred’s advice, helped him move on.
You probably won’t agree with these responses, and that’s fine. But I think the things you point out aren’t so much “flaws” and “missteps”, but rather things you just don’t agree with in your idea of what Batman is.
This. I couldn’t agree more.
I have to say, the way you frame this, Derek, sells me on the movie more than anything I’ve seen anyone else say. I still don’t buy the Bruce/Selina story – I don’t care how much I like you, fuck me over to THAT end and I’ll be pissed.
None of it FEELS right to me, but the connection with Blake and reliance on Tate I suppose at least make a modicum of sense.
I think there was a part of him that could understand her feeling trapped in her position. There’s always the “I think I can change him/her” motive that eventually dooms many relationships. And, y’know.. boobs.
And just because they wound up at a cafe together at the end of the movie doesn’t necessarily mean they’re hitched for life or that Bruce will never go back to Gotham to check up on Blake. But in this moment, this is what works for the two of them.
Yes. This!
For readers of the comics, Nolan’s Batman seems like a dangerous amateur. It’s both a good and a bad thing. I’ve talked about it here:
http://stefanmesch.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/the-dark-knight-rises-2012-3-12-problems-failures/