In the run-up to today’s release of The Dark Knight Rises, director Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment in his trilogy of Batman films that began with 2005’s Batman Begins, much of the film was shrouded in secrecy.Characters were imagined to be hiding under cover names to hide their true nature, theories abounded as to how much of the story would be adapted from the comics, and much more. While we already posted a non-spoiler review of the film so that fans who haven’t yet seen the movie can read up, this time around we’re going to be a little more in-depth and specific, allowing for a little different analysis of the film.The Dark Knight Rises is absolutely chock full of connections to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, many of which play a pretty large role in the character and plot development of the series’ finale. It’s an effective storytelling tool, used well, and it helps to bring the films together as parts of a larger whole.We get numerous flashbacks to previous films, including recycling footage featuring Thomas and Martha Wayne, and Harvey Dent as Two-Face. They’re used to set up moments in this film–usually in super-brief bursts, which might be an artistic choice or a practical one given the film’s long runtime.Oh, yeah, that runtime? Frankly, this film could have been split up into two movies and probably presented less of an issue for the uninitiated viewer. The revelation that Bane is the son of Ra’s al Ghul may have been a surprise to comic book readers, but the sudden way it’s turned around and revealed to be a falsehood perpetrated by Talia is downright confusing if you’re watching the movie in a vacuum.Granted, the concept in itself isn’t that hard to wrap your head around, but when you’re perceiving it in the broader context of the film, it makes you have to stop and consider the implications for the rest of the movie, wondering what aspects of Bane’s backstory you can trust, and which of them may not work at all if others aren’t true. Given the fact that the whole revelation comes in the middle of an action sequence and the filmmaker moves on in a matter of moments, it doesn’t give the viewer a lot of time to digest it. It’s as though the big reveal at the end of The Usual Suspects was dropped on your head without Singer’s stylized flash through the movie to explain it. We get a bit of that in The Dark Knight Rises, but it’s quick and shallow and not particularly instructive given the scope of the reveal. I found myself accepting the premise easily but wondering for the rest of the movie, “Well, if that’s true, then how does this beat from earlier in the movie work?…And this one?”.
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