Better than The Dark Knight ..still far from perfect.

Rating: 6/10 (7 August 2012)

I was one who walked out the previous two Nolan Batman films thinking they were...simply okay. Batman Begins was interesting until the plot kicked in and then it was a lot like Tim Burton's Batman replete with a gas attack that didn't carry any weight or importance in the film, despite thousands of people getting gassed. And actually Dark Knight frustrated me because it seemed like a cop movie but it was actually a bit dull and full of comic book ish implausibility (the sonar cell tracker that Batman builds for that one day where he knows he'll have to catch the Joker who will have made a bunch of hostages look like terrorists-- and he just knows Lucius Fox will have to destroy the device when it's all over-- hunh?!) that everyone was raving about, "best movie ever" as good as The Godfather!" etc. etc. Not a chance.
Plus, the problem with Dark Knight was that it was so stark and serious and seemingly grounded in the real world of cops and robbers that it made Batman seem stupid and secondary to the plot. When Batman was standing around the wreckage in the nod to 9-11, my initial response was, "Who's the dork in the costume?" So, you know, I didn't like the movie all that much and preferred say, Iron Man which was a lot of fun and made you believe the on-goings by the sheer charm of its lead actor.
Anyway, Dark Knight Rises is still full of comic book-ish conveniences and leaps of logic but it has a grand, almost operatic outlandishness that makes it a bit more involving and more fun than its predecessor. And it has Catwoman, in a small and underdeveloped part, but still, I love Catwoman as a character and when she's on screen, the movie comes alive. I actually don't understand why both Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan shied away from the Catwoman character and crammed their movies with other villains and needless subplots when the Batman/Catwoman storyline was by far the best thing about their respective movies. Women love romance, right? As long as there's some action guys would be happy. Why not an epic tragic romance centered about Batman and Catwoman?
Going back to the film that is, I have to say I was entertained by its epic, sort of nonsensical plot this time around. And it felt more like a serious Batman comic, centered around Batman -- as opposed to Dark Knight which felt like a big sprawling crime movie with a guy named Batman running around on the periphery. I agree with the criticisms of 'Rises', but what critics seem to be missing about previous Dark Knight is that the tone was all wrong and it makes Batman seem like an afterthought. Rises, while a bit awkward in the details, gets the tone just right. And it's a movie about Batman. Good enough for me.
But yeah, how does a guy with a broken spine come back to full health in two weeks and out punch a big strong steroid fueled powerhouse? Though even the comics had that problem. (I still think Knightfall as written, was a more interesting story)
Okay, enough nerding out.