Nostalgia Critic: The Dark Knight Rises Review

[Silver Nemesis]

[Kamdan]

Doug verbalizes all of the flaws of this film. He absolutely hit the nail on the head with his criticisms of Hathaway's Catwoman. Absolutely has nothing that makes the character appealing. Her attempts at vamping like she's Julie Newmar fall flat, especially when that performance is not appropriate for this film. Maybe it would fly in Schumacher's films. It also didn't help that what I had in mind for the character was later utilized for Kravitz's Catwoman, namely her connection with Falcone. As Doug says, a lot of the flaws lie within the script itself trying to not only have Selina Kyle but Talia Al Ghul thrown in as well for love interests. I still remember everyone accurately calling out the casting decision and the actors had to outright lie to avoid a spoiler we all saw a coming miles away.

His version of the ending is exactly what should have happened. I too like Doug saw the movie once at the theater (for comparison I saw Dark Knight 8 times and Begins 4 times) and never looked back at it. It didn't occur to me in this last 10 years to see a fan edit with an ambiguous ending with that notion, that definitely makes it more valued that it did before. There was also the whole Aurora shooting connected with it (it creeped me out when I saw it at midnight and woke up the next morning to hear about it on the news). I believe that inadvertently drew me away from the Nolan films. I sold off all of my memorabilia afterwards, especially when Nolan was saying how Rises was "the most important movie of the sound era." I was satisfied when this movie joined Batman & Robin as the only Warner live action Batman films not to be nominated for any Oscars, something I'm sure put a thorn in Nolan's side. He may not have fulfilled his dream to make a James Bond film, but he made pretty good Bond movies out of the Batman films and his latest creations. I am still annoyed that his influence on the character cinematically is still prevalent to this day with Snyder and Reeves efforts, as those films could have easily stuck in this characterization with not much to change. Hoping we'll get something new after Reeves' run at the franchise is through.

[The Dark Knight]

Doug verbalizes all of the flaws of this film. He absolutely hit the nail on the head with his criticisms of Hathaway's Catwoman. Absolutely has nothing that makes the character appealing.

For what he was going for I mostly rate Nolan's handling of the villains, but feel he let himself down with Catwoman. For such an important character there's barely enough of Hathaway to justify her place in the character's history - especially as she's the woman Bale's Bruce decides to retire with.

I am still annoyed that his influence on the character cinematically is still prevalent to this day with Snyder and Reeves efforts, as those films could have easily stuck in this characterization with not much to change. Hoping we'll get something new after Reeves' run at the franchise is through.

There are undoubtedly Nolan influences in the Reeves film:

The batsignal used as a warning
Fighting in a nightclub
Wayne Manor becoming an orphanage
Living in a city skyscraper
The villain making threats via television/streaming
Interrogating a villain in custody
Using ropes to dangle enemies from height
Teasing a certain villain at the end of the first film

And so on.

But even then, I feel like we're making progress in terms of atmosphere. The Gotham that Reeves made is an undeniable improvement on that front (and others), being the best since Burton or even better.

I think the eventual goal should be films tonally similar to the Arkham games. Meaning characters like Clayface and Man-Bat roam Gotham without any need for explanation or apology while retaining the darker spirit that has been established. Because I don't see the films lightening up drastically.

The real test of the Reeves universe will be in the sequels if more fantastical villains like Mr Freeze are translated. I have hope, because the difference in Catwoman depiction from Nolan to Reeves shows an improvement despite the tendency for something more 'real'. Details like whip use and cat ownership add up and do matter.

[thecolorsblend]

Her attempts at vamping like she's Julie Newmar fall flat, especially when that performance is not appropriate for this film.

The movie doesn't demand very much of Hathaway, no doubts there. But she played Selina as a character who wears a different mask in every scene she has. She'll be the flirty femme fatale, the panic-stricken innocent bystander, the confident burglar, the tough street fighter or whatever as needed. That's how she has survived all these years. The script doesn't play that up too much. But compare what's on the page to what's on the screen and it's clear to me, at least, that Hathaway is bringing something extra to the table.

Having given a mild defense of her, off-hand I don't recall the narrative ever explaining the connection between her and Bane/the LOS. She clearly had the good on them at least well enough to lead Batman to Bane. But how she ended up on Bane's radar isn't developed much in the film, iirc. So, there's one weakness with her character right there.