Where is The Batman?

Rating: 1/10 (28 July 2012)

From the beginning, I have appreciated "the crime epic" or "the crime saga" approach of the director towards Batman, despite I don't stick with realism in cinema, however in this movie, Nolan goes too far and we watch a movie which has almost zero effect on the audience as a Batman movie! What Roland Emmerich did in 2012 is what Nolan did in this movie! I don't pay to watch a crime film without Batman! In TDKR, Batman is like a metaphor, yes believe me, in the first half (80 minutes approx.) we watch Batman in only one or two scenes and the part (the chase) was may be the best part of the movie! As some other moviegoers said, it is all about story telling with no break, but no break! You can't feel the film, because it is like you have no time to do that! How can I say, the movie is exhausting, you feel exhausted, yes that's the word! And if you suppose that in the second half, Batman rises immediately, my answer would be not exactly! As said, TDKR is about Bruce Wayne, other characters, themes, but not Batman! Therefore I felt cheated. And I always think that Mr. Nolan is not a good action director. In the first half, Batman has an interesting gadget, I have no idea what was the function of it, but he doesn't use it! So? Yes, the movie has plenty good action, it has its moments, but I can't say it is great! Nolan shoots chase scenes, in all of his Batman movies, there is chase sequence, but is this enough? There are some other type of action in TDKR, but don't expect an action-packed! (I'd expected) There is no character development for new characters except for Bane. As for Catwoman, Catwoman is not even spelled in the movie! Was she really Catwoman? What was her motivation? She was not a dominant character as it should be! Even the introduction of the character was poor! And she could have been sexy! We can't see even her body! A different interpretation? well, the problem here is Nolan doesn't care about the characters, it was the same in Batman Begins (Scarecrow) it was the same in The Dark Knight (Batman himself) He just puts a character forward, Catwoman, a burglar, OK next! Miranda Tate, a business woman, OK next! Something like that. John Blake is a well written character, a cop, at least he has a motivation! However, for example Miranda Tate is out of place! It feels like Nolan likes Cotillard and wants to work with her, they know each other from Inception etc. Mrs. Cotillard is a very beautiful and talented actress, but in this movie, she is just out of place. Bane is the scene stealer, the performance of Tom Hardy is great, his voice is brilliant, he is evil, he is bad-ass, but he disappoints because of two reasons: first, as you know too, in Nolan's story, Bane doesn't use steroids or he isn't exposed to poison known as venom, so he doesn't grow bigger. Second, the twist at the end ruins this character very badly and there is a scene which you feel like he is a henchman! And wasn't Bane big like in the comics in the teaser trailer? Was I cheated again? The final parts which are called climactic by a lot of people were not that climactic and there is nothing different or original! I expected to be amazed, surprised etc. but it didn't happen. This is a cold movie! The movie has not any impact on you, you can't feel the film, almost zero emotion throughout the film (like Inception) but except two part! The fight between Batman and Bane and the chase in the first half! If the whole film had been like that, I would have given 100 out of 10! The cinematography and the art direction are not dominant like The Dark Knight, the editing is like non-stop events with no break (now joke time! the only break was the regular 10 minutes break in the middle of the movie!) Also the film was too noisy at times. I didn't find the movie overlong, but what I get bored was watching a Batman movie without Batman! I found Batman Joker showdown in The Dark Knight anti climactic, low key and short, but this time it was much worse! That's why movies like Terminator 2 are masterpieces, am I wrong? You can't imagine how it ends! I almost found it ridiculous! TDKR is not a "rich" film especially in the content, so it is like "poor man's Batman movie" Personally my another problem with TDKR was it has zero "comic book feel" At least, TDK had it at times! After some statements of Nolan, the fate of John Blake made me laugh! Miranda Tate's climactic plan was boring and how can I say? it had no excitement or tense, because it was simple and cliché? Especially for such an "epic" movie! Doesn't this epic final deserve originality? By the way, Nolan doesn't even know how to shoot a snowy scene or he just doesn't care about it! Another problem, the mystery and suspense in the trailers were missing. And realism doesn't mean that the movie is deep or in comparison with other super hero movies, it is deeper, No, No! That's because Nolan is not interested in characters, instead he is "event driven" And couldn't the war between Batman and the other bad guys (the chaos) be handled better? The only good thing about this movie for me was Nolan avoids "crowd-pleaser humor" in this movie! The Dark Knight Rises may be a well made film, but as a "Batman" movie, it is quite empty.