THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012): A Letter of Apology to Nolan Batman Fans

The Dark Knight Rises Apology Letter. This letter was written in response to comments I received after posting my The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Film Review on Facebook. I was warned that it would happen and so I can not complain. One of the major gripes I read in the Facebook responses was that I rated The Avengers (The Avengers (2012) Film Review) an 8/10 and The Dark Knight Rises an 5/10, thus my The Dark Knight Rises review should be deemed invalid.

I found that hilarious because it was obvious they did not read The Avengers review, they just looked at the rating. If they had read the review, they would have seen that I was as exacting in that review as I was in my The Dark Knight Rises movie review.

Here is the reason for the divergent scoring: My expectations for The Dark Knight Rises were so high versus my expectations for The Avengers being low.

Since The Avengers was better than I was expecting, I rated it accordingly (an 80 out of 100). With The Dark Knight Rises, my expectations were not met (a 50 out of 100) but that is my fault. As I said, my expectataions were very high.

Here is why.

Recipe for Disaster

I had seen The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception more times than I can count. For years I had been chomping at the bit, devouring every morsel of news on The Dark Knight Rises. I went into The Dark Knight Rises‘ midnight screening thinking I would see something that I had never seen before: the apex superhero film.

I should have tempered my expectations but I could not help myself. I got caught up in all the hype, all the buzz. There was even a faux Harley Quinn in the midnight audience. The fire rose (…metaphorically speaking).

I got caught up in the same hype for The Avengers, almost despite myself during the midnight showing. People dressed up like comic book characters, people there who had seen the film before at an advanced screening, the usher coming in saying to stay for the two after credit scenes. All that build up and than the film began.

On it’s own merits

I should have let The Dark Knight Rises speak for itself. Not the propagnada. Not my hopes. Not my dreams.

I did though and when those unrealistic expectations were not met and I watched a film that I was not expecting, when I reviewed it, I came down hard on it.

When I reviewed The Avengers (The Avengers (2012) Film Review), I came down hard on that film as well but I always do. I always take the film I am reviewing apart and examine the pieces (How to Write a Movie Review), whether I like the film or dislike the film.

The Brighter Side

I didn’t say this in my review but I did like aspects of The Dark Knight Rises‘ plot and storyline:

1. The opening sequence (though I was annoyed Tom Hardy re-recorded his voice for it).

2. Bruce Wayne’s knee damage.

3. Catwoman’s outfit.

4. The film’s score.

5. The concept of the pit prison, not the actual pit prison.

6. Bane.

7. Talia al Ghul.

8. The Robin reference.

9. Three Tumblers with new weaponry.

10. Catwoman’s betrayal.

11. Most of the first Batman/Bane fight.

12. Some of the dialogue.

Too be fair though, there were additional things about The Dark Knight Rises that I did not like that I did not mention within my review but an apology letter is not the place for that.

Conclusion

The Dark Knight Rises was not perfect but neither were the two films that came before it. Like I said, I should have let the film speak for itself.