The Batman series : From superb to good.

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2012)

Let's face it. Experiencing a Chris Nolan movie is a real treat. He is a master at story telling and took a franchise that was long forgotten after the craziness and funny popcorn movie the original films went to.
Nolan's talent at creating a real world with real character who were living real emotions has made this dark hero franchise a real success. When introducing Batman begins, the focus was on the very essence of what the Batman is : a dark character, wounded deeply by his parent's death and seeking revenge on Gotham's criminals using the a symbol that brought fear in the hearts of the city foes.
Unfortunately, this essence about our main hero was a little bit lost in The Dark Knight. But, if there is one thing Nolan knows perhaps better than any film maker, is how to cast a movie. And he casted Heath Ledger to portray The Joker. And what a move that was. Overshadowing The Batman, The Joker held the movie on his shoulder with Ledger's most outstanding performance and career defining moment. Thank you Heath, because you made me forget the silliness of the tumbler-jumping-to-intercept-a-rocket scene and the out-of-nowhere-ultra- skilled-motorcycle-driver one.
But in Nolan's favour, the ending of this second act couldn't have been better. Batman becoming "whatever this city needs me to be", taking the blame for Dent, the fallen hero.
Now with two great films behind him, The third instalment had huge expectations. And to be fair, after such success, the task of meeting the audience's expectation was huge. And I do not believe they have achieved this.
The Dark Knight is an epic kind of story. The type of story that Nolan felt interested in telling. And that, to me, is the very first mistake. The Gotham epic fight of good vs evil blinds what was the original idea of the Batman character. The concealed, dark and scary attacks of the dark bat character was replaced by a series of spin-o-rama flying through the air bat aircraft thus portraying the Batman once again with some skills at piloting strange vehicles and manoeuvring them as if he had gone through military training.
Adding to the not so much concealed Batman, is the character Blake, who within the first minute of the movie, walks into Wayne manor and tells him he figured all out. He knows who Bruce Wayne really is. And further more, he knew since he was a kid. Wow...great detective indeed. While the rest of the world wonders who was the cape crusader, this little boy figured it all out.
Now in any other movie, under any other director's helm, these details wouldn't have bothered me as much. But this is a Chris Nolan movie. And I review his film at the height of his talent and comparing it to the rest of the franchise he so successfully built.
**spoilers ahead** Now a Nolan film wouldn't be one without a great ending. And it seemed this movie was on it's way to the same achievement than his other flicks. Seeing the Batman sacrificing his life for the good of the people of Gotham. Revealing the successor of the Batman and seeing Alfred cry in front of Wayne's grave was very dramatic and touching. But then, Bruce appears at a cafÃ© nodding at Alfred. Destroying the drama build just a few minutes before in the movie. Why not just leave him dead? Keeping all the drama intact?
What saves the movie is most likely the cinematography and the face off between Batman and Bane. At some point, one would have thought the Batman was indeed over and out of business. Wouldn't it have been more realistic and exciting if that were the case? And perhaps have Blake become the next Batman just as Azrael did in the comics? Just a reflexion...
But all in all, a good movie still and good thing they wrapped it up before letting it go out of hands as the series did in the 90's.