
Warning: Parts of this review are spoilerific, so if you haven’t seen the movie and you read this review and I spoil it for you…well, sorry about that.
Okay, fess up time: I saw this movie over a month ago and am just getting a chance to write the review. So I had to reach way back into the crevices of my brain to remember what this movie was about. Certain parts stuck with me–Bane’s awesome headgear, the uselessness of Catwoman, the fact that Batman always sounds like a ten-pack-a-day-smoker ready to choke on his own phlegm at any moment. My overall recollection of the film is that it was good. More than good. I’d say a very good film that I would easily rent on DVD.
Rent, not own.
Because I had some serious problems with this film. As stated before, the character of Catwoman was useless. There were times during the movie I actually forgot about the character, not just because she was forgettable, but because she was gone. Poof like magic pixie dust, only to come back at a deux a machina moment and completely steal the satisfactory disposal of the main villain. Whywhywhy? What was the point of killing Bane (I guess he’s dead, I mean is anyone really dead in a super-hero movie?) if freaking Batman doesn’t do it?
I also had problems with dear Alfred and the way he was shoved out of 3/4 of the movie. It’s nonsensical and I won’t get into it here; you can go see the movie and find out for yourself why its bad writing because this is a blog post and not a treatise on how proper motivation is necessary for conflict to be believable, and in this case, acceptable. It just made Alfred’s tear-jerking near the end of the film seem manipulative.
Other than those problems, I enjoyed the emotional depth the writing and the actors brought to the movie. I like a good superhero/villain beat-down as much as anyone, but coupled with an emotional arc that makes both Batman and Bane sympathetic and irrational at certain points definitely made for a richer viewing experience. I have high hopes for the continuation of the franchise, which seems to be headed in Robin’s direction. Joseph Gordon Levitt, I will be watching you.