10. The Dent Act
In memory of Harvey Dent, the Dent Act is put in place to deter organized crime. Eight years after its implementation, organized crime has disappeared from Gotham completely.
Now, there are a few things that should be noted here. Firstly, this is Gotham we’re talking about. Organized crime is practically its primary industry. Even if the time frame was lengthy, Gotham’s intricate ties to the underworld run deeper than stricter punishments, a thousand-strong police force and a tough-as-nails Commissioner.
Secondly, corruption within the Gotham City Police Department is all but forgotten in the movie. With so many cops hired, there are bound to be a few bad eggs willing to help criminals in exchange for bribes. Right? The Dark Knight featured a lot of corruption, through Harvey Dent himself and officers like Anna Ramirez. Does Nolan really expect us to believe that there’s not one bad cop left in Gotham?
I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy that Gotham is nearly crime-free thanks to one Act. Even if it is the Harvey Dent Act.
9. The Absence Of Blood
This one can be easily explained by the PG-13 rating, but given the amount of violence throughout the movie, it’s hard not to notice the lack of blood. People get shot, punched, brutally beaten, thrown into heavy objects etc. In particular, scenes where people were shot point-blank are visibly missing indication of bleeding.
Personally, I don’t think its necessary to see bleeding, but there are those who would consider the trade-off between gritty realism and letting families see The Dark Knight Rises a flaw. Plus, Nolan is going for a grittier feel with his films and adding in some blood here and there would help to achieve that to a greater degree. I’m not saying the turn the film into the Saw franchise, but a bit of blood here and there wouldn’t hurt.
8. How John Blake Figures Out Batman’s Identity
As an amalgam of Robin, Blake works. The orphan speech he gave was excellent and carried remnants of Dick Grayson, the first Robin, whose parents were also dead. Furthermore, his street smart hot-headedness all but shouts Jason Todd, the second Robin. Only the third Robin, Tim Drake, was able to figure out Batman’s identity and unfortunately, the way Blake did it wasn’t as logical.
We aren’t given much information on John Robin Blake, other than that he’s a gutsy orphan cop. He demonstrates superb deductive skills throughout the movie, but the reasoning he gives behind how he figured out Bruce Wayne was Batman is a bit far-fetched. Blake cites meeting Bruce and seeing anger over his dead parents masked beneath a façade.
Mentioning Bruce’s mask-like facial expression as evidence is hardly persuasive, but the speech is emotional enough to convince viewers. We can only assume that Blake had carried out previous investigations before visiting Wayne Manor (perhaps he noticed the 8 year absence link).
As it stands though, the movie fails to really shed much information on this plot point and for me personally, it didn’t satisfy.
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