Batman: Knightfall - Part 1: Knightfall
This review contains spoilers
Just so I remember a few points since I will have to talk about this for something I do at the end of each year.
- Bane releases all the criminals that were locked up, spreading the cops thin. Batman picks up the pace, but this means he doesn't sleep for days and he gets sloppy. With each encounter, he gets more injured--first a slice on his face, followed by claws on his chest, cut on his arm, etc. This is Bane's plan.
- Some of the villains even react to his descent. One is like, "I finally got him?" just because he landed a blow. One line like that says so much.
- Bane wants to kill Robin, breaking Batman mentally. Then he will break him physically. He wants Gotham to be strong and feels Batman enables the weak.
- Bane is portrayed perfectly here. He is born in a prison, watches his mother die. Believes that strength means never accepting charity, so he feels Batman/Bruce is a poison while he looks up to Thomas Wayne. He's been obsessed with Gotham for a long time because one of the only things he had to do was read a magazine about the city/the Waynes.
- Bane is an imposing figure, even before he truly juices up in the final battle. But what I love is how scary they make him. It's not that he sometimes comes out of the darkness. It's the music, the way they frame him slowly stalking people. When Robin fought him I was like, "Please just get out of there. You can't beat him. You can only survive him." I felt a tension in my chest that is normally resolved for horror movies.
- This is not a glamorous superhero movie where it's about the power fantasy and heroism of Batman. Sure, he still beats up criminals, and he's still undeniably a hero who puts the city above his own needs. But he's weakened. This is about watching heroism and a power fantasy deteriorate and then collapse entirely.
- Bane releases all the criminals that were locked up, spreading the cops thin. Batman picks up the pace, but this means he doesn't sleep for days and he gets sloppy. With each encounter, he gets more injured--first a slice on his face, followed by claws on his chest, cut on his arm, etc. This is Bane's plan.
- Some of the villains even react to his descent. One is like, "I finally got him?" just because he landed a blow. One line like that says so much.
- Bane wants to kill Robin, breaking Batman mentally. Then he will break him physically. He wants Gotham to be strong and feels Batman enables the weak.
- Bane is portrayed perfectly here. He is born in a prison, watches his mother die. Believes that strength means never accepting charity, so he feels Batman/Bruce is a poison while he looks up to Thomas Wayne. He's been obsessed with Gotham for a long time because one of the only things he had to do was read a magazine about the city/the Waynes.
- Bane is an imposing figure, even before he truly juices up in the final battle. But what I love is how scary they make him. It's not that he sometimes comes out of the darkness. It's the music, the way they frame him slowly stalking people. When Robin fought him I was like, "Please just get out of there. You can't beat him. You can only survive him." I felt a tension in my chest that is normally resolved for horror movies.
- This is not a glamorous superhero movie where it's about the power fantasy and heroism of Batman. Sure, he still beats up criminals, and he's still undeniably a hero who puts the city above his own needs. But he's weakened. This is about watching heroism and a power fantasy deteriorate and then collapse entirely.
Mini Review: Man, do you ever feel the impending doom in this one. Right from the outset. Batman struggles in things but it's rare we get to watch a full descent, but we do here because of his fatigue. It's handled masterfully, with tension and dread. Appropriate amount of uncomfortable blood. Animated well. Bane is legitimately terrifying. There were times when he was on-screen that I felt the same way I do when watching a villain in a good horror movie stalk their prey. Can't wait until Part 2.
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