The review you need, not the one you deserve!

Rating: 4/10 (23 August 2012)

So Let's see, The Conclusion to Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Starting with Batman Begins which was a great movie that pioneered the new wave of superhero films with blockbuster action and near art house philosophy with superheroes at the center. It took the concept of fear and turning it into power. Then came what is considered Nolan's greatest work, The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight brought in an engaging villain, ideas of anarchy vs control, real tragedy and analysis on what it takes to turn a hero to the dark side. Then came this movie...
Well I personally don't care for it. It's long and pretentious and has loads of laughable moments. Bruce Wayne is written to be a little annoying and out of character. There are GAPING plot holes, nonsensical writing and odd creative decisions.
First, what I like about the movie: Bane and Cat-woman. Bane is great. Tom Hardy is a great actor. He can be just a little hard to understand at times but did a great job nonetheless with an intelligent yet intimidating portrayal. That said, the character he played was Bane, in name only. No characteristics were taken from the comics otherwise. Cat-woman is great and that's all I can say. Her scenes are the most fun to watch in the movie.
So where did the movie go wrong? Well, it has a lot to say but never takes the time to say it. It's also over 2 and a half hours long, which I don't usually mind but the editing and pacing are very hectic. It never takes the time to examine it's characters. Batman is a whiny recluse now and that character change plays no real part in the story later.
The Batman voice is even more annoying in this one. The plot of the Dark Knight is made completely useless. They could have skipped that movie and gone to this one and everything would have been fine. the only remnant is Bruce Wayne's trauma (which goes NOWHERE) and the Dent act which caused peace (which goes NOWHERE). Things they could have cut out of the movie to save time since they clearly lengthened the movie ad cut bits and pieces everywhere.
Bane has an overly complicated plan that involves (yet is not limited to) stealing Bruce Wayne's fingerprints, bankrupting him, breaking batman and throwing him into prison, destroying the city for the next 5 months, taking over the city and revealing the lies of commissioner Gordan, using tech from Wayne industries to break open black gate prison, then nuking the city. In that exact order. Why not just break Batman then nuke the city?
Some Questions: If Bane has Bruce's fingerprints why is he stealing his tech? And why bankrupt him if you're just going to throw him in a pit and take over the city anyway? What is Bane's motivation really? He says the criminals are oppressed by the government but never explains how. His MO keeps changing though out the movie really Why is he attacking Gotham and claiming it needs to be saved like this when the first 30 minutes established Gotham is perfectly fine and at "peace time"? If you're going to say because the commissioner lied about Two-face you'd be wrong because the league of shadows has no problem with lying and deceit to gain power (evidenced by Batman Begins and this movie). Why put Batman, WORLDS GREATEST DETECTIVE, in a prison A CHILD once escaped from? Why keep him alive anyway? The entire "your punishment must be more severe" line has no logic in it. The league of shadows kills its enemies but now it just keeps the most dangerous ones alive?
Talia al Ghul appears. I have issues with this. Why do her and Bruce Suddenly start having sex completely out of nowhere when they've JUST met? she says she hated her father for banishing Bane but still wants to carry out his plan. WHY? Why send EVERY policeman in Gotham to fight Bane in the sewers? couldn't they have gassed the sewer instead or kept some officers on the surface?
Aside from those questions, there is really no chemistry between Bruce and Talia or Batman and Cat-woman or Bane and Talia. These romances happen without any prior indication and just confused me.
It's not very faithful to the comics, but Nolan never wanted it to be anyway. I don't mind that and the other 2 movies did it pretty well, but in this case it's so far from the comics that there's no reason for this to be a Batman film. NONE. Other than the costumes. Where is the detective work? Where is the use of intelligence? Where is the dark atmosphere? most of this movie happens in the day time. Where's the noir feel that Batman is known for? Bane is nothing like this in the comics and for that matter neither is Talia.
But I'd let that slide if the plot made logical sense. Bane's and Talia's deaths are both completely lackluster scenes. The ending was predictable and foreshadowed heavily by both Lucius Fox and Alfred. And speaking of the ending... BATMAN DOESN'T QUIT!!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT ABOUT? ONE OF THE MAIN FOCUSES OF THE COMICS IS BATMAN'S OBSESSION WITH CRIME AND HOW IT CONSUMES HIS LIFE!! HE STAYS BATMAN TILL OLD AGE. It might sound nit- picky but it's a major trait that batman has.
There's just so much wrong with this movie. It has great scenes but they don't make sense in terms of the over-all film. Things aren't really explained very well either. to each their own I guess. This was not for me.