Bane Breaks The Bat – The Dark Knight Rises
Throughout The Dark Knight Rises we have several very intense scenes of action and violence. Perhaps the most intense though is the Bane versus Batman fight, where Bane’s uber strength crushes Batman into the ground in an all too brutal fashion.
After a long series of throwing punches, Bane caves in the cowl and then breaks Batman’s back over his knee. It is a significant scene simply for the reason that we have never seen Batman physically crushed like he is here, it is a very shocking and powerful moment that quite honestly, changes the rest of the film.
In The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, the adversaries never really seemed to impose that much of a threat to Batman, mainly because he’s Batman and he could beat seven shades of crap out of anyone. With Bane though, there comes a challenge that hasn’t been there before. He breaks him down and for the first time we genuinely believe as an audience that in the end, Batman may not succeed.
It also a spectacularly staged moment. Set in Bane’s underground sewer lair, it is a bizarre place for a fight as the two go toe and toe under a lashing waterfall and a cramped, rusting gangway. Nolan always seeks to visually entice us as much as possible and it is crucial that for a pivotal scene like this, that he can make it iconic as well as making it narratively important.
And that’s exactly what he does.
Plane Escape – The Dark Knight Rises
We’ve seen our fair share of prison breakouts in the past, but we haven’t seen too many that take place at nearly 10,000 feet in the air. This is a stunning opening set piece which brilliantly introduces us to Bane by using a hostage situation that turns into a breakout from CIA custody. It is breathtakingly exciting and, as far as I can tell, all done in camera, which makes it even more impressive.
The high octane, in the air stunt work is simply sublime and by achieving the scene in camera, it brings across Nolan’s strive towards making it as realistic and physical as possible.
The scene is composed mostly in wide shots to truly show that this is happening above ground and while the planes are moving. Very few directors and stunt crews would have the balls or the patience to do something like this and it is a great credit to the stunt coordinators who got it to work.
This alone is the reason why stunt coordinators should get the Oscar category they have been trying to get for years. It’s such a well executed scene and it truly is exhilarating. For me, it’s one of the best stunt scenes I’ve witnessed in a very, very long time.
He’s Back! – The Dark Knight Rises
The build up to finally feasting our eyes on Batman in The Dark Knight Rises is a long and tantalizing one. For quite a while we only get to see Bruce Wayne, an old and crippled Bruce Wayne at that. This is a long film and it has no problem building up to the return of our beloved hero. We sit there with great anticipation, just waiting for Bruce to come to his senses and throw on the cape.
And, when he finally does decide to take to the streets of Gotham again, Nolan re-introduces him in spectacular fashion. Out of nowhere the Caped Crusader flies in to assist the cops in their pursuit of Bane and his men. It’s a incredibly exciting moment as we’ve been waiting four years to see Batman on screen again.
As Batman races in on his Batpod and fires his trusty EMP, cheers arose from the audience in my theatre. It is such a triumphant moment and one that we’ve been waiting to see for far too long.
As Batman chases after Bane and the Gotham PD chase after Batman, Nolan takes us through the streets of Gotham with fluid camera movement and spot on editing. Like all the chase scenes we’ve seen in his trilogy, it’s nailbiting, suspenseful and absolutely perfect.
To top it all off, just when the police think that they have Batman cornered into an alley, he fires up the Bat (giving us our first real look at the epic flying machine) and zooms off, leaving them all stunned.
It’s one of my favorite scenes of the film and a fantastic way to bring Batman back after all these years of waiting.
The End – The Dark Knight Rises
Honestly, I really didn’t think that Christopher Nolan would be able to end his epic trilogy in a fitting way. To compose a final scene for such a celebrated and monumental trilogy is a daunting task and one that I thought could not be done. Now, having seen the film, I can safely say that being the genius he is, Nolan pulled off what I had considered an impossible task.
Both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight ended wonderfully. In fact, Nolan has always been quite good at putting together ending scenes for his films. Now that his Dark Knight trilogy has come to a close, he has provided a totally appropriate and beautiful ending, one that is reminiscent of the poetic ending to Inception, as it plays the ambiguity card and leaves us scratching our heads as we depart from the theatre.
Was Alfred imagining things at the end? Is John Blake going to become the next Batman? Will he continue on as Robin? Did Batman really eject before the bomb went off? Did he even have time to? So many questions and so many different interpretations.
The ending to The Dark Knight Rises fit in so well with the themes that have been presented to us throughout the trilogy. Everything is wrapped up and despite the ambiguity, I felt no frustration as the credits came up, only happiness, pure happiness.
It was perfect in so many ways and it easily stands as one of the best trilogy endings of all time.
Now it’s your turn, sound off in the comments and tell us what your favorite moments are and why!
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