TDKR (2012) review
The Dark Knight Trilogy is the best comic book movie trilogy of all time. For my taste the next best is the Captain America or Matrix series with the latter gaining my admiration for its lasting impact on pop culture and the VFX industry. Given The Dark Knight trilogy as the best or top three in terms of comic movie trilogies, why is it that The Dark Knight Rises is more known for its divisiveness (and Bane) rather than overall quality? Could it be its standing as the weakest of the three films in narrative structure with plot holes bigger than Bane’s biceps? A frail Bruce Wayne? Perhaps the culprit is that out of nowhere fireplace sex scene that felt more like something out of a Bond film? The answer is simpler than one might think. The Dark Knight Rises is the weakest film in the trilogy because it wilts under the pressure of minimal analysis. The Dark Knight is the best of the three and if you disagree with that we probably won’t agree philosophically on much, movies or otherwise. Batman Begins secures the number two spot within the trilogy because along with being criminally underrated, it restored shine to the Batman franchise after the neon lit dumpster fire that was/is Batman and Robin. Go back and watch Batman Begins. If you watch Batman films for Batman/Bruce Wayne and not villains like Joker or Catwoman, there is a strong case that Batman Begins is the best live action Batman film, start to finish. So that leaves The Dark Knight Rises as number three within the best trio ever. There are worse positions to be in. I’ll never forget where I was the moment we finally get to see Bane break the Bat – the associated comic book panel is one of the best ever.