Holy Plot Holes, Batman! 9 Logical Gripes With The Dark Knight Rises
So, The Dark Knight Rises happened. But as much as Christopher Nolan's Batman finale tied the themes of the entire trilogy together with emotion and weight, capping what began in Batman Begins and continued in The Dark Knight with a full-circle completion of Bruce Wayne's journey as a hero and symbol of hope in Gotham City and the world, well, there were just a dozen too many plot holes and contrivances along the way to ignore. Or were there? Let's dive right into spoiler territory and navigate the WTF-iest of TDKR's more perplexing leaps of logic, shall we?
SPOILERS FOLLOW, OBVIOUSLY.
Bane's Overly Complicated 5-Month Plan
Let's start with the dastardly terrorist plot that sets TDKR in motion. Bane teams with slimy exec guy Daggett, who hires Selina Kyle to steal Bruce Wayne's fingerprints to make some fraudulent deals (via very public hostage-taking assault on the stock exchange) in order to force Wayne Enterprises into Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul's hands, so they can bankrupt the billionaire superhero whose identity they already know and then manipulate him into giving them the technology that can be fashioned into a nuclear bomb. *Gasps for breath* Then Bane destroys Gotham with a few neat set pieces (the football stadium explosion and the simultaneous bridge attack are superb, I'll admit) thereby cutting Gotham City off from the rest of the world, unleashing the prison population into the streets, and imposing chaos on the citizenry... but only for about 5 months, until his bomb will nuke the city anyway — conveniently enough, the perfect amount of time to leech hope from the people of Gotham AND allow Bruce to recover from a broken back, climb out of the pit, trek across the globe with no ID and no money and no smart phone, sneak back into Gotham City, and save the day!
Bruce Wayne and Miranda Tate's Out of Nowhere Hookup
If The Notebook taught us anything, it's that two attractive people caught in the rain will get to boinking sooner or later. That's just what happens. So of course Bruce, who's been grieving the loss of his beloved Rachel for 8 years, will fall into sexytime with the pretty board member who he's never so much as locked eyes with until like two days ago, let alone had any meaningful chemistry with. IT'S SEX RAIN. GET OVER IT. There must be missing footage on the cutting room floor that sets up Bruce and Miranda's chemistry better, and maybe even shows us a bit of the action, so to speak. There must. Why would Gotham's preeminent costumed detective superhero let down his guard enough to leave a strange lady sleeping in their fireside bed, alone in his house of secrets, where the push of a button on a desk opens the door to the Bat-cave? Especially since she herself has mysterious scars and secrets of her own?
Probable answer: The back-on-the-saddle hubris that led Batman to ruin the cops' pursuit of Bane in his first return to crimefighting also makes him underestimate Talia. Bedding her is a step forward in his return to life and becoming a whole man once again after nursing his broken heart (and likely being a celibate creepy old mansion hermit). And maybe he spent a few hours offscreen in his Bat-cave Googling Miranda and doing an extensive background check on her before going there, only the League of Shadows has really, really good hackers and fake identity engineers on their payroll, in addition to prison doctors and Mongolian-chic wardrobe stylists.
Terrible Hand-to-Hand Fight Action That Makes No Damn Sense
Bane's a hulking, physically superior adversary who can kill people with his finger and batters Batman (admittedly, an over-the-hill, hasn't hit the gym in 8 years Batman) around like a rag doll — which explains why their first fight in the sewers is so awkwardly one-sided. But once Batman recovers from his broken back, does a few prison push-ups, and then suits up after focusing his anger into his workout regimen for months... their fist fights look pretty much the same. There's a shot on the City Hall steps where Batman leaps ahead of Bane, then turns to face him like a kid on a playground that made me groan. In no way does Batman seem to have learned from his past failures against Bane; he doesn't employ strategy or gadgetry to defeat his stronger nemesis. When Bane grabs a shotgun, of all things, to finish the Caped Crusader, it's Catwoman who offs Bane with a blast from the Batpod. And then we forget Bane was even in this movie for the rest of the film. Sigh.
Side note: It's worth acknowledging that the entirety of TDKR's final act is constructed so that the people around Batman must step up individually to help save Gotham. The fact that Batman can't do it all by himself, and can't even defeat Bane alone, reinforces the theme. Maybe he's getting too old for this shit after all. Still, it's not very satisfying when the individual parts don't make total sense on their own, is it?
Batman's Superhuman Time Management
Before zooming off in the Bat with nuclear bomb in tow, and shortly after returning to the city after five months in the middle of nowhere prison with about a day to save the world, Batman somehow manages to put all of his legal affairs in order, leaves the pearl necklace for Selina (heh) and detailed instructions to Blake in a duffel bag at his lawyer's office, sets a gasoline fire on the bridge in the shape of the Bat, saves Gordon in the nick of time, saves Blake in the nick of time, and fixes the Bat-symbol. I don't know how he does it! Literally.
Best explanation: He's Batman. Enough said?
Bruce/Batman's Coincidental Death
Are you telling me that nobody notices that Batman "dies" in a blaze of glory the same day that Gotham's most famous billionaire playboy also dies, leaving his estate to a bunch of orphans and willing his duffel bag of spelunking gear to some junior cop? Which brings me to...
Bruce and Selina's European Vacation
I don't believe that A) Emo Alfred would sit there on his fancy-sad vacay, see Bruce at the next table, alive and well, and not go give him a huge weepy hug, or B) a presumed dead billionaire playboy like Bruce Wayne can just go brunching in the open in France or whatever Florence and not be recognized. I kinda dig the idea that with nothing left in the Wayne coffers Bruce and Selina have retired to the French Riviera Italy to live off of her burgling money.
Possible answer: This is just Alfred's fantasy version of what he's always wished to see, and Batman/Bruce Wayne is really dead, and Chris Nolan has Incepted us all over again.
Selina's Special Friend, Wink Wink
Presuming Selina Kyle has a more than friendly relationship with Juno Temple's minx-in-training is a stretch, though they certainly seem to be BFFs/roommates/collaborators, ladies from the wrong side of the tracks trying to hustle their way up the food chain. That said: What's up with that one hug? You know what I'm talking about. Temple pretty much disappears once the movie gets going, but maybe she has additional scenes that flesh out their relationship that didn't make the edit. Discuss.
Possible answer that I hope isn't the case: Selina is bisexual and uses her sensuality as a tool against male marks... until she falls for Bruce/Batman and runs away with him to live happily ever after, leaving her girlfriend behind in Gotham. Ten bucks says this comes into play in the eventual TDKR XXX porn parody.
Good luck, Robin!
The good news: You've got a cave full of fancy toys and extra Bat-suits. The bad news: There's no money left to finance the operation. At least you know where the Bat is parked, on top of some building under some camo tarp. No one else will find it there, obviously.
Probable answer: Blake will take up the Batman cowl and figure out his own way of doing things, thus launching an entirely new Bat-series which I'll totally watch because Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the best thing about TDKR.
Room For The Justice League?
So WB wants to carve out a superhero super-team up, a la The Avengers, around DC's Justice League. Fair enough. But if folks like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Superman exist in the same universe, where the hell are they during Batman's five-month absence from Gotham City? If the Justice League is possible in this film world — and maybe it's not, since Nolan's said to be done with his Batman storytelling, and despite his involvement in Man of Steel perhaps the two franchises aren't designed to co-exist just yet — then you have to think some other superhero out there would have swooped by to prevent the total destruction of one of America's biggest metropolitan populations, especially given that even the U.S. government has been rendered useless, leaving the entire city in the hands of a madman.
Does it really matter? Either any potential Justice League spin-off will not connect to the TDKR world, or it'll conveniently take place after the events of TDKR. This will likely be explained away or disregarded if/when the Justice League movie moves forward.
--
Phew. All that said, TDKR was visually breathtaking and thematically resonant. Plus, it was Batman! At least there were no codpieces or Schumacherisms to complain about. So there will inevitably be two kinds of people: Those who can't help but be irked by the plot holes riddled throughout TDKR, and those who don't care and love it anyway. Where do you stand? Was this the movie Bat-fans deserved, or the one they needed?
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Comments
Love this, Jen. I was so let down by this stupid movie, and I bet you could write five more posts like this without restating any points. Also, I so agree: JGL was the best part of the movie.
Wow. Obvious you didn't pay any attention hahahaha Youre so bad you'd need the director to sit with you and explain everything as it happens. I feel bad for you bring part of the 1% who didn't like it.
Actually, I did enjoy myself while I was watching the film - and as I said, there are certainly bigger picture strengths to the film if the smaller inconsistencies don't distract you too much. If anything, maybe I paid too much attention...?
Preface: I also really liked the movie, but these inconsistencies were definitely present and are well defined in this post. It seems both eloquence and logical fallacies just escape our friend Freddy here.
1. Bane doesn't care about anything but destroying Gotham's spirit. The amount of time that takes doesn't matter. The length of the film justifies how long it took.
2. It isn't fair to say the hook-up was "out of nowhere", because the events of the film take place 8 years after the dark knight. It is stated in the first twenty minutes of the film that Miranda Tate has been trying to get into business with Wayne enterprises for a long time. Who's to say nothing happened before the events of this film? Or at least maybe they had a friendly relationship up to that point?
3. That's a dumb point, to say that Bane was overpowering and than later wasn't. I've never fought a homicidal lunatic mercenary (yet), but I'd wager that it's more difficult to do it in a pit of doom underground surrounded by men with guns than it is when your enemy is convinced you are rotting in prison and doesn't know you're coming. And it's not as if Batman destroyed him, he knocked him down.
4. Who's to say he didn't leave the necklace before he was taken by bane? He's Bruce Wayne with incredibly powerful friends in incredibly high places, one phone call and his affairs could be put in place, he lost his money, not his friends/influence. Who's to say Lucius didn't leave the note for Blake, It was at Wayne enterprises. As for the gasoline symbol, I thought that was a little lame, but it still could be done in about an hour, especially if you have a plane(the Bat) to fly and land on top of the bridge. They showed the Batman symbol being destroyed at teh end of the dark knight. That was 8 years ago in the film's timeline. Eight years is enough for a billionaire to fix some metal and glass. As for saving Blake and Gordon in the nick of time, yeah. He's Batman. That's enough.
5. Bruce Wayne was a shut-in with "long fingernails and spooky looks" if you'll remember what his waitressing staff was saying about him. He was no longer the Bruce Wayne of the Dark Knight. He was a relic of a celebrity. Plus, I would say that being held like a prisoner by a warlord under threat of death would be enough to suggest that they might have believed Bane would've had the richest man in the city killed as an example.
6. a) this was stated earlier in the film, that Alfred wouldn't say anything but just be happy. If you don't believe it, well then I guess the movie lied to us for no reason. b) There's never been any evidence to suggest that he is some kind of Donald Trump figure where people everywhere know his face. To quote Carmine Falcone from Batman Begins, "You're Bruce Wayne the prince of Gotham, you'd have to go a thousand miles to meet someone who doesn't know your name!". Well Florence(in Italy btw), is around 5,500 miles away.
7. The one where we agree. Her character was totally unnecessary and only meant to beef up the star billing.
8. Wayne enterprises got it's money back. This is clearly shown at the end of the film. Lucius Fox is still there, so there's the free-flowing technology and gadgets. Alfred still owns the house, so he lives there, and the cave is directly under the house, and they showed John Blake meeting Alfred earlier in the film and Bruce and Alfred talked about him a little bit. Wayne manor became school for the orphans or orphan home or whatever, so maybe Robin is one of those kids to JGL's future Batman?
9. Not even gonna touch that one. It's built completely on what-ifs.
Thanks for all of this. Acknowledging the Florence correction, will update.
Re: #4: So many "Who's to says," who's to say we should have to fill in so much logic for the movie to make sense? Also, there's a shot of Gordon with the still-broken bat signal at the beginning of TDKR, correct? So Batman fixes it at some point during TDKR. Probably when he was putting all of his affairs in order, which, sure, might have been before he was captured by Bane. Or maybe the GCPD handyman did it.
Re: #5: I just think if Bruce Wayne is a big enough deal to have his financial ruin splashed across the headlines, someone would notice that he died and wonder HOW.
Re: #8: Okay, maybe Wayne got its money back and I just missed this piece of information. Maybe Retired Alfred will fund Blake's future crimefighting career. I like the suggestion that he'll grow up to take one of those orphans under his wing, but wouldn't it be weird to name his own sidekick Robin? Unfortunately, I'm not sure I see JGL coming back to this franchise or a standalone Justice League franchise as Batman/Robin/Nightwing. Seems like this is it, which is a shame since he's so darn watchable.
In any event, thanks for chiming in.
Re: re: #4: Gordon, or some other city official could have had it fixed as a further memorial to the city's hero. They built him a statue, so fixing his iconic signal isn't too much of a stretch. Like you said, the GCPD handyman probably did it.
Re: re: #5: So he was another body lost in the shuffle of the poor rising up against the rich. That's all that Alfred or Gordon or anyone else is willing to say. So many people must have died during Bane's tenure leading the city that the way he died is irrelevant, especially since the only people who were at his funeral already knew that he was Batman.
Re: re: #8: Since the house was set up as the new home for orphans under the Wayne name, it isn't a stretch to assume that the company got its affairs in order. Let's also not forget that it was Bruce Wayne that lost all that money betting on futures, NOT Wayne Enterprises. The company was losing money due to Wayne's abandoning of the clean energy project, sure, but it wasn't bankrupt, it was just making cuts. Since the city once again needed Wayne Enterprises to go in and start fixing things like infrastructure again (like it did when Thomas and Martha Wayne built the train tracks, hospital, etc.), its profits probably increased as well.
Also in regards to #5, Bane was in control for 5 months, Bruce Wayne could have died at any point during that time, the only person who saw Bruce Wayne back in Gotham at the end was Selina.
Responding to D - I hear your points. These make the most sense of any logical audience leaps I've heard so far, thanks.
I actually think it was Blake who fixed the signal. He and Gordon have that scene together when it's first shown all rusted and broken, so I think that's calling back to it. It's Blake saying, "Call me if you need me."
Or Gordon replaced it
Gordon was shocked to see the Bat symbol repaired so he obviously didn't fix it. GCPD handyman? why would you fix a light that you dont plan on using anytime soon. as a memorial? Maybe if it was like in a park or something for people to see, not ontop of a building. To scare criminals? why would they be scared of a dead person? Small point i know but must be said
I believe they mention that something (the house?) was sold off to pay off Wayne's debt.
I merely wish to offer some explanations that I found self-evident. I do agree that the timing was all too convenient, however, I believe that observation to be an overly critical point. The movie maintains a well-thought out pace throughout.
Next, in regards to Miranda Tate and Bruce hoping on the good foot and doing the bad thing, Miranda is the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and so, seeks vengeance for her fathers demise. What better way to gain his trust than to become intimate with him. Your explanation for Bruce's motive was well thought out.
Then there is the fighting. Fighting often is not so much a matter of strength as a matter of technique and understanding.After the initial bout, Bruce had nearly 5 months to ponder the nature of Bane and review his technique. He then merely got back into his previous state of physical fitness. Also, Batman would've defeated Bane by severing his air tube which was feeding him the analgesic had Miranda not betrayed him (which was made possible due to their aforementioned intimacy).
The "time-management" was quite coincidental and I so acknowledge your grievance.
As for Bruce not being recognized, I pose the following question, "How often do you look for JFK while in the grocery store. No one looks for a dead man. Most likely they will not remain sedentary, but the film did not extend so far into their future. Also, if you remember a bit of dialogue by Alfred, he explains how he would rather have seen Bruce married with kids than return to Gotham. As Alfred is an extension of his life in Gotham, Alfred would let master Wayne live his life.
In regards to Selina's friend. That is pretty sexy.
Here's my gripe - the continuity errors around Miranda's whereabouts in the last portion. She's taken with Gordon - both are taken to Scarecrow's kangaroo court. Gordon is tried and "exiled" - but Bane asks for Miranda to be brought to him, then she shows up in "holding" with Fox when Bruce Wayne shows up - no explanation is provided to the audience as to Bane asking for her - even a throwaway line about him interrogating her would make sense. This to me is a glaring error in showing her real identity. Then Bruce as Batman sees Gordon later and asks where she is - even though he basically just saw her. Maybe he's trying to sell Batman and Bruce as different people, but Gordon wasn't there to see Bruce and Miranda talking, so why bother?
I take Miranda's muddled whereabouts as another deliberate clue that something's amiss with her character, like the painfully obvious "I HAVE SECRETS TOO (AND A POOR CHILDHOOD HINT HINT)" line she has post-coitus that Bruce ignores, maybe willfully or from overconfidence. See: The bit about Bruce/Batman's hubris above. Subtle, but I think it's there if you choose to see it.
It's like the first glimpse the audience gets of Miranda when Batman bursts in on Bane at the end; she's clearly wearing non-Miranda clothing, but you hardly notice in the fuss (unless, that is, you followed all those set pics during production that showed her in "Talia" gear, leading many to believe correctly, it turns out, that she was more than she seemed).
Miranda is in charge of Bane, she can come and go as she please. After Bane sees her she can just walk back.
How about picking one city to shoot in and sticking with it! One shot we're in NY, the very next shot we're in L.A. I'm sure (I hate to use this term) the fly over doesn't notice, but it took me right out of the movie. BTW, I agree that the overall film makes up for these screw ups.
Good plot review. We agree too about the Alfred fantasy/dream. Too many impossible events to put Bruce in a cafe. The end is obvious.
It is Inception again. The hallucination of Ghul confirms the dead can reappear. Either Afred is dreaming or dying. His last wish is for Master Wayne to be happy. His misery in the emotional scene leads to his untimely end.
Good work!
***Plot Spoiler***
Batman is dead.
I tend to agree, including the fact that Alfred looks directly at the camera. But then why mention to Fox that the auto pilot was fixed on the Bat at the end?
Because Nolan is simply trying to offer the audience more of an open-ended conclusion. Did Batman sacrifice himself on purpose, even though he did manage to fix the autopilot, or did he survive? It's the same as the wobbling top in Inception. Whatever you believe happened, happened.
The whole debate over the pearl necklace at the end has made for interesting theorizing about what really happened, but I'm inclined to take it literally - Bruce is alive, Alfred sees him, and he won't say anything (even though that's dumb, if Bruce is willing to be seen in public what does it matter if he hugs an old friend?)...
Well, I just thought that, if you believe the "Bruce lived" version, it was a callback to the story Alfred told about hoping to see Bruce in a cafe in Italy, have Bruce see him, and have them not say a word to each other.
If you believe the "Bruce died" version, it would make sense that Alfred didn't get up and hug him, because he isn't really there. This was just audience interpretation, in my opinion.
Alfred never actually saw Selina Kyle yet she is in his dream?
Alfred told Bruce about his fantasy and as he said in The Dark Knight, "Sometimes, people deserve to have their faith rewarded." Who has been more faithful than Alfred? Bruce was saying goodbye and I'm sorry to his oldest friend and mentor.
Not to mention, re: the Miranda sex rain scene... why would she have sex with him, if she hates him so much? I mean, I know in movies, women will have sex with people they LOATHE just to, ya know, stick it to them even harder in the end. I guess you could say this is part of how she gets him to trust her, but he already has given her control of the company. There's no reason for her to sleep with him.
You could see it as an extension of her commitment to wholly fucking with his head. She knows he's been mourning the loss of his lady for years. Maybe it makes sense to her just to be able to deal that emotional blow to him later on. Eh...
It was just another ruse to earn his trust, especially because, as you pointed out, he was in a state of perpetual emotional vulnerability over the loss of Rachel, and she was just trying to mess with his head.
I agree with rodj's rebuttals. And L Youngs question. My biggest pet peeve was Bane was the villain and you got enthralled with his back story only to find it wasn't his story at all. So really we know nothing about Bane before he helped Talia escape. What made him so brilliant and menacing? I feel let down knowing his comic history.
Somewhere, presumably in India, there is a giant prison called the pit where they have ropes and are free to move around and all they have to do to get out is get across an eight foot gap and yet they haven't escaped?
I know a few people who have been in prison and let me assure you, there wouldn't be a soul there more than 24 hours.
The plot holes were nothing next to the awful creaking dialogue. For a film so supposedly devoted to "realism", it would have been nice if some humans had talked.
that was done in the Dark Knight. Nolan wanted to go a different direction with TDKR
hmmm I feel like this whole review is full of plot holes....
Okay, saw the movie, wanted to like it, but as pointed out, the plot was ridiculous. Hated the character Bane. They did not fully explain what was up with the "gas mask", He was just big and ugly. Anybody could have played this guy, and what was up with the voice? He sounded like an old man, and I couldn't understand him most of the time. Darth Vadar-ish. The Miranda character pops out of nowhere (as does Catwoman, really). She is supposed to be the little kid who is the ONLY one to crawl out of the hole? Pleeeeese. She looks like she couldn't crawl out of the fitting room at Nordstrom. She had sex with Bruce because she is a woman, he's a guy, it's raining, that's about it! Yeah, I can go with that. Cops trapped in the sewer and they can't get out? Really? They get out and a crowd of cops rush a crowd of bad guys in the street? COME ON! Catwoman seemed something they just threw in. Did not spend much time on the outfit which could have been really cool, but she actually seemed to be the only one with some brains, wiles, and she kicked some serious butt, unlike mister I don't want to use guns Batman. If they did fix the autopilot on the Bat, then he bailed and Batman is alive. If they didn't, he dropped the bomb and got the hell out of there, and he is still alive. But seriously, I could have written a better story, no problem. Oh yeah, and everybody knew Bruce was Batman except the Commish. Really. The plot holes are ENORMOUS. I could go on and on...but I won't.
I can see that you didnt really pay attention to the movie or the acting. The acting Tom Hardy does through his eyes, yeah not just anybody could do that.
So much agree. Loved TDK, hated TDKR
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atlantahawk
It's a comic book based movie... there's your answer to all of this.
LMAO. One of your problems with the film is that Selina might have had been in a lesbian relationship with Holly? What a Joke. Honestly I don't mean to insult you but the fact that you included that just pretty makes me dismiss this entire article. The whole Justice League thing is also irrelevant because Nolan had stated before that the universe he created wouldn't be part of the Justice League. As far as Blake taking over as the next Batman and not having Bruce's resources...I'll say that wasn't it hammered in each of the films that Bruce wanted to get to the point that anyone could be Batman? So he could no longer take on that responsibility?
Next point.. Alfred talked to Bruce about how he would go to Italy on his vacation and see him there with a family as his own because that's what he wanted for him. Remember when in TDK Alfred said something like "I trust you don't have me followed on my day off sir" and Bruce replied "If you ever took one I might". Well, I took it that Bruce did have him followed and knew where he went and decided to go there with Selina to let him know "Hey, I'm fine and I'm living the life that you wanted for me". It was a way to reassure him that his efforts to save him weren't wasted. As to how exactly he got out on time to not die from the blast...well you've got me.
I don't think that the citizens of Gotham wondered "Wait, don't you think it's odd that both Batman and Bruce died on the same day"...I say that they would have thought that Bruce died when everyone went after the rich citizens and took them from their homes by force. That's why people wouldn't make the connection and would rather say "Oh yeah Bruce must have died when they went after the rich"
As far as Bane's plan..I think it's safe to assume that he didn't believe that Bruce would escape from the prison, given his reaction when he saw the Bat symbol "Impossible" is what he said. No one except for a young Talia escaped from there. Add that to the fact that Bane had broken Bruce he wouldn't have thought that there was a chance in hell that he would escape. I don't think
The film was a decent movie, but a horrible Batman film. Actually it was the polar opposite of 1997's Batman and Robin. The Nolan's just didn't truly understand the character of Bruce Wayne / Batman. If they did, the path they took to tell the story would not have been followed.
Nolan dont give a fu about the groundwork that was already laid out for Batman before. This is how Nolan saw Batman and thats the only way he would put Batman on the big screen. His way
Bruce had sex with Miranda because he was in free fall, having lost not only the cherished memory of Rachel but his only family (not to mention the security of wealth he'd known his whole life, and that's not nothing). Talia had sex with Bruce because he is an ideal in so many ways and would make an objectively ideal mate for her (in the comics she does go out of her way to bear his child), and of course because seduction is the female villain's ultimate tool.
The real flaw for me was his willingness to trust Selina. It makes no sense based on anything we see on screen or anything we know of the character as established throughout the trilogy. If he had ever been shown to act purely on instinct, it would work better, but he's deeply lacking in capacity for trust. The only people he trusts are people he's known his whole life and/or people who've been there for him in his darkest times. Now he suddenly has all this faith in a woman who steals and betrays him to his worst enemies? The movie relied on our walking in the door with the knowledge that Batman & Catwoman are a pair with a deep bond; it utterly failed to establish a basis for that bond.
Batman trusted Harvey Dent. Your argument is invalid.
My biggest gripe is how the police reacted to the sewer situation. When Gordon goes down the manhole with some SWAT and are attacked, the others clearly should have heard gunfire. Instead, they assumed it was just "unknown sewage chemicals" that caused an explosion, and therefore dismiss claims of suspicious activity. What? Then, later, when they finally believe that Bane is down there, they send over 90% of law enforcement into the tunnels in the form of a giant mob. This is a joke... what kind of strategy is that? Sure, you can send a large sized force. But at least send them in some kind of organized fashion, using actual formations and such.
Other than that I agree with all these gripes. Couldn't have described them better. People who are trying to explain/justify these plot holes are just in denial. These plot holes are pretty bad. They merely allowed Dark Knight Rises to create an epic, "Hollywood" effect and feel to it.
I definitely agree, you either love it or you don't.
Christopher Nolan is the worst thing that happened to movies in recent decade. Fanboys are just too blind and too stupid to understand that.
Great movie and great points. Here's my take: 1. Did Bane really break Batman's back or just herniate a disc? 2. When Wayne went to prison, why didn't Bane remove Wayne's leg brace? He would not have been able to walk/climb etc. unless Bane wanted him to at least try to escape to feel the mental anguish. 3. I don't think Alfred had a fantasy sequence at the end - Wayne fixed the autopilot feature of The Bat six months prior to flying the neutron bomb out into the bay, so he ejected prior to the explosion (this was reinforced for me when I saw a "The Bat" toy on Ebay that shows Batman ejecting out the front of The Bat). 4. Beginning of the film - Batman has been gone for eight years - Wayne has been a recluse for eight years...how did no one figure out they were one in the same? 5. Wayne's death - I figured the people of Gotham were told Wayne was killed during all the fighting and executions going on throughout the movie - therefore, they would not suspect Wayne was Batman. 6. I agree with the article - John Blake was the best part of this movie. I really hope they do another series with Joseph Gordon-Levitt - I don't think he will be Batman since Batman "died" in this one - he could be Robin (as we were told in the film) or become Nightwing. Christian Bale said in an interview that he would do another Batman movie - it will be up to Nolan or another director to take the project (Bale said years ago that he would not do a Batman movie with Robin in it, but maybe he's changed his mind). 7. One thing I did not like (it happened it Batman Begins too): when Batman tells Rachel (Katie Holmes) in Begins who he really was, she says, "Bruce?" Gordon does the same thing at the end of Rises when Batman tells him who he realy is, Gordon says, "Bruce Wayne?" I think an emotional, non-verbal response would have been so much better - saying it out loud just ruined it for me. Both Katie Holmes and Gary Oldman are strong enough actors that their eyes could have captured the emotion without words. 8. I did not like Bane's voice - he sounded like "The Waterboy" during his Harvey Dent speech (Bobby Boucher played by Adam Sandler).
In the comics, "Selina's special friend" is her adopted "sister" of the street that she takes care of..etc. There's never been anything sexual between them.
Recovering from multiple spine injuries in a matter of months. Other than that I was able to suspend my disbelief.
I loved the movie...only over thing bugged the crap out of me, when they were saying good bue and kissed with a nuke still counting. I got pissed and yelled out, "too long," about 10 seconds into it. The movie was 15 seconds away from being one of the best ever. That scene truely killed it for me for some reason. Anyine else?
Absolutely - that entire stretch where everyone stood around watching M.C. give the Worst. Death. Ever. then took forever with kissing and such while the clock ticked down to its last seconds....
What I don't understand is why at the end when the cops fight the criminals it wasn't a gun fight ... Like really? Both sides obviously had weapons, we saw the criminals taking guns from the arsenal and the cops obviously took guns down to the sewers with them, its not like they were doing too much shooting out there to run out of ammo.. And the 3 tumblers just get defused?!?! By the bat, cmon both of those machines are state of the art, thats bs... Also, how bane dies totally sucks, like one second he is rediculusly hard to kill the next second boom hes dead, and last but not least WHY THE HELL did talia not finish off batman, one stab and thats it, WTF , that is not realistic, she could have just killed him right then and there.. That last half hour was for me what ruined the movie in terms of making it unrealistic .. although it is still awesome
A lot of these aren't plot holes but underdeveloped parts (or just suggestive parts to give the movie a bit of added texture) or dropped threads.
But this: "Bruce/Batman's Coincidental Death" — I mean, Bane's siege of the city has been going on for five months, during which the billionaire (who has previously been a recluse for the past eight years) drops off the grid. I imagine a LOT of people just disappeared in the course of those five months. Death by exile and all.
I'd argue the fact that Batman flies around in a friggin' billion-dollar future-copter is probably a bit of a tipoff to his identity than the fact that Bruce Wayne has mysteriously disappeared.
So, in Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne the high-profile tech billionaire playboy returns to town, and soon after, Batman the high-profile billionaire tech crimefighter appears, and Gotham sees a hell of a lot of both of them, though never at the same time. Rachel Dawes, Bruce Wayne's closest childhood friend, is held at knifepoint by the Joker and thrown out of a window; Batman jumps out after her to save her. Bruce Wayne is not present. Rachel is ultimately killed in a high-profile mega-incident which scars the face of Dent, who then dies, reportedly at the hands of Batman. Bruce Wayne and Batman both then disappear - for eight years. Newcomer Bane attacks the stock exchange with active gunfire etc, and with hundreds of witnesses to a cybercrime of some sort - but the getaway attempt is impeded (initially at least) by the return of Batman. Bruce Wayne has emerged from hibernation a couple of days previously, and the next day it turns out Bruce Wayne has made all of these strange transactions and lost his fortune. Batman disappears again - as does Wayne - for five months shortly thereafter. Batman returns to save the city; Batman and Bruce Wayne are then (presumably) never seen again.
How thick would you have to be, after a week of Batman activity (and newspaper reports etc) back in the first film, not to at least wonder whether Bruce Wayne was Batman? How astoundingly moronic would you have to be not to at least assume it after their lives become so publically entangled? How incredibly, mindbendingly brain-dead would you be not to think it definitive after they both vanish for eight years? Think about all that, then think about Police Commissioner Jim Gordon's complete surprise at the end of the third film. If you're wondering why Gotham's justice system always seems to be in disrepair, I think we've found our culprit.
As much as I would have hated the ending, I think it would have made more sense for Batman to NOT depend on the auto-pilot and fly the Bat himself as far away from Gotham as possible. It doesn't seem to be in his nature to get out as quickly as possible to save himself. Plus the exchange earlier between Selina and Batman: Selina: "You don't owe these people anymore. You've given them everything. Batman: Not everything. Not yet" It seems he wouldn't be the type to risk the destruction of Gotham to save himself.
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