From the Joker, to a Joke

Rating: 4/10 (22 July 2012)

Since the cinematic genius of The Dark Knight, I've been eagerly awaiting the final instalment. In this review, I will be comparing The Dark Knight Rises to its prequel, given that the hype has been created by the brilliance of its predecessor.
From the start and throughout, the film just didn't work. I couldn't get into this film whatsoever. Perhaps it was a combination of a lousy script, including poor dialogue and an outrageous plot that seemed rushed together; completely out of tone to the simplistic but intelligent, and most importantly, realistic plots we've seen in the first two of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
**SPOILERS**
Firstly, the plot was ridiculous. Take a step back and view what actually happened in this movie. A man with an atomic bomb trying to blow up the city he spent months 'cleansing'. As opposed to a man hell bent on showing the city that when push comes to shove, they'd eat each other alive. On the face of it, which sounds like a master-class, the one with substance and logic? That's what used to distinguish this Batman from Superhero films.
The dialogue was a mess. I challenge you to find a single quote that had any worthwhile meaning to it when compared with great lines like "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now" and "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" and that's leaving out all of the Joker's classic quotes. PS "I'm Gotham's reckoning" isn't a meaningful quote.
They ruined Batman. Batman is supposed to be a hero that never gives up. In this film, we are told he gave up for 8 years because of a girl, and at the end of the film he retired for a girl again. It wasn't just the ideology of Batman that was trashed in the film. He is supposed to be a fighter who thinks on his feet and utilises all his gadgets and weapons, whereas, in this movie he was nothing but a mad brawler. Disgraceful.
Let's compare the opening scenes to show how out of proportion and wild Nolan has made this film. In the Dark Knight, it opens with The Joker raiding a bank, killing off his accomplices and escaping in an organised fashion. Whereas, we see Bane tearing up a plane with another plane, whilst placing a dead body and taking blood; unexplained and just unrealistic.
The actors performed well, but the characters were poorly scripted. Alfred was ruined by and overuse of crocodile tears. Gordon's character was a complete mess, even cringe worthy at times. Catwoman was good, but seemed like she was conveniently thrown in whenever it suited. Miranda was perhaps the weakest link. Overall, I could not relate to them or become emotive to their dire situation.
Nolan's idea to connect the film to Batman Begins was ultimately a failure, and even ruined Bane's character as a result.
Moving on to the numerous flaws in the story:
We learn that Bruce Wayne has serious injuries, including no cartilage in both knees. He would have been in excruciating pain from every movement if this was the case, let alone get back in the suit.
This one was perhaps the most unrealistic. Batman had his back broken, his vertebrate was sticking out. Yet somehow, a man punched his spine back into place. How he managed to become 'un-crippled' and later defeat Bane in a fist fight is insane.
Why didn't he just shoot Bane? His head was exposed at all times. Earlier, we saw Batman use projectiles to knock out his men so why did he not use that on Bane?
From escaping the random prison in a faraway place (nonsense), Bruce Wayne managed to get back to Gotham in time and find Selina Kyle on the streets. How?
You know it's going to be a Blockbuster drag when the main threat in the film is the unoriginal nuclear bomb. And this was no exception. This bomb didn't even make sense too! The Doctor estimated it would be 5 months until the bomb explodes, yet it had a precise timer on it, despite them being able to blow it up at any given point.
How did Batman escape the explosion when he was seen in the aircraft just 5 seconds before it detonated? Surely, the radiation emitted would have critically mutated the citizens of Gotham regardless of the blast radius.
To summarise, The Dark Knight Rises was not only garbage, it ruined everything that made the first two films brilliant. There wasn't a sense of realism or intelligence. I can only imagine the majority of users who have given this film parity with its predecessor, have fallen for the hype and forgotten everything that made The Dark Knight a magnificent spectacle.