Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom is an exciting new fantasy story for readers of all ages who love magical creatures, noble quests, and fighting for what’s right. Originally created and funded on Kickstarter, this new graphic novel from Dark Horse brings together the first five issues of the series.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom transports readers to a fantasy world where amazing magical creatures called Keepers coexist alongside humans. These Keepers can take many forms, but all of them form a strong, lasting bond with one particular human and become their friends and protectors for life. However, in the kingdom of Griff the king has outlawed Keepers, blaming them for the recent death of his daughter. Not only that, but all Keepers have been ordered to be put to death, and any of their companions who try to resist are to arrested.

It’s in this world that we encounter three teenage travellers, Mac, Ava, and Ping; along with the two Keepers, Renzo and Luna. The three of them are searching for clues to the whereabouts of Mac’s father, an explorer who disappeared years before. Whilst searching for clues as to the next stage of their search the three friends come into contact with Griff, and enter into a fight for their lives, and the lives of their Keepers.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom has been described as being perfect for fans of Pokemon, Digimon, Game of Thrones, Avatar The Last Airbender, and other fantasy worlds. And as someone who has been a fan of most of the franchises named in the Kickstarter, I honestly do see the attraction, as this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The first thing that will draw people in with this book is the Keepers. The creatures that inhabit the world that Curtis Clow and Jo Mi-Gyeong have created are wonderfully designed. The Keepers, and other ‘regular’ kinds of fantasy animals that you encounter throughout the book, look amazing. Each of the Keepers has something of a unique design, and many of them take elements from existing animals and put a fantasy twist on them. For example, Renzo, Mac’s Keeper, is a large blue and white wolf with sabre-tooth fangs. Ava’s keeper is kind of reminiscent of griffin, though uses some other animals in a similar configuration. The front part of the body is a sleek panther-like cat, with the back feet of a large bird, and huge wings on her back. Oh, and she has big horns too.

Every Keeper that you encounter across the course of the book does something a little different with the design, and you can see why the series’ description mentions Pokemon and Digimon, as some of these creatures wouldn’t look out of place in those worlds. The artwork, provided by series co-creator Jo Mi-Gyeong, looks fantastic too, and really brings the creatures to life, whether it’s a huge, fierce Keeper fighting soldiers, or some cute little bunny creature hanging out in the background.

But the book is more than just the fantastic animals that call it home, as there are some great human characters and a compelling story here too. The trio of teens that we follow across the book have a mixture of personalities that work well together, and we see more than once in the story that when they’re alone they kind of struggle, and it’s only when they’re all together that they really come out on top. The three of them make a great found family; and family is a key component of this story.

It seems like everything is driven by family. Mac is looking for his lost father, the King has turned into a tyrant through grief for his deceased daughter, and those with Keepers are fighting to protect them because they’re more than just animals, they’re family. These themes are everywhere in the book, and I expect that they will continue on to become an important part of the story as the series continues on.

One thing that readers should be aware of going into the book, especially as I think it’s a book that a lot of younger readers will want to pick up and check out, is there are some scenes with disturbing content throughout. The first time we see the King he executes his own Keeper in front of the kingdom, and we see him behead the beautiful animal. The first time we meet the teens a group of bandits are trying to rape the girls. There are scenes where Keeper companions are executed, and children are hung and killed. The book doesn’t really pull any punches, and whilst it doesn’t revel in the violent imagery it doesn’t shy away from it either. And whilst this content could disturb or upset some readers it does help to get you drawn into the story and invested, as you quickly understand the stakes and don’t want terrible things to happen to our heroes.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom collects together the first five issues of the series, but the story doesn’t end here. The book sets up this world and these characters and gets you invested really quickly, and I think that most who read this will come away waiting eagerly for the next volume to come. If you’re a fan of fantasy stories, amazing creatures, and great stories Beastland: Keepers of the Kingdom is not a book you want to miss out on.

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DC Mech #1 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

DC occasionally comes out with a concept so weird that you're kind of not sure if you want to read it or not. These ideas tend to get relegated to their own timelines and universes, and get to go a little bit wild. The recent Jurassic League is an example of this.

The latest entry in this 'fuck it, let's just do it' category of books is DC Mech. This series begins at the end of World War Two, where the Justice society helped to end the war and stop the forces of the axis powers. However, in the middle of a huge celebration a portal forms above the city and a huge mechanised Parademon from the distant world of Apokolips arrives on Earth.

The Justice Society engage the huge mechanical warrior in battle, and manage to defeat it. However, the society suffers extreme losses, and many of the heroes die stopping this single warrior. This battle brings the age of the super hero to a close, as the world knows that they need stronger defences for when the next attack comes. Humanity dedicates itself to developing its own giant, mechanised warriors.

Many years later, the planet of Krypton comes under attack from the forces of Apokalips, and whilst his parents fight to buy him time and infant Kal-El is placed inside a giant robotic warrior and sent out amongst the stars, flying towards the planet Earth on a journey that will take him many years.

On Earth, decades later, the heroes and villains that we recognise have been replaced with giant robotic versions of themselves. Wally West pilots a giant flash battle suit, and Bruce Wayne watches over Earth from a floating asteroid and goes into battle in a huge Batman mech. When a trio of Parademons attacks the Earth, the two of them engage them in battle, and receive assistance from Kal-El and his own mechanised warrior. With more of Apokalips' forces on the way, can these new heroes come together to form a team in time?

The concept of this book, to replace all of the major characters in DC with piloted mech suits sounds pretty wild; but its actually pretty fun. Kenny Porter has come up with a decent way of justifying not only the reason why this would be happening, but how the tech would develop too, by giving Earth a giant Parademon mech to research for decades.

The changes in the timeline, and how things have shifted from what we know are pretty interesting, and there seems to be some big changes because of this. For example, Bruce has a godmother that he keeps talking about, a woman who seems to have provided warnings of things to come and pushed him to become Batman. I've got a theory it's going to be someone we know, but am interested in seeing who it is, and how these characters have changed in this new world.

The giant mechs are also pretty cool, and some of the designs look great. The fights take on a different feel now that they're between huge robots rather than people, especially as they mechs are incorporating the powers and abilities that the characters would normally have. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how more heroes and villains have been adapted into this new set-up as the series goes on.

These separate kinds of side stories can be a lot of fun, and can provide a decent distraction from the stuff that's happening in the main universe, and they can let creators go a bit wild and try something different. I'm definitely intrigued by this one, and am looking forward to seeing how it goes.

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Parasomnia: The Dreaming God #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Parasomnia: The Dreaming God continues the story begun in last year’s four part series, Parasomnia. The series tells the story of a family that was broken apart when a young boy was kidnapped from his bedroom one night. This boy had a very special gift, an ability that made him stand out, and whilst that gift seems to be the reason he was targeted, it’s also what will help his father to find him.

The previous series was something of a strange read, a four part story that slowly introduced readers to this world and its conceit in ways that weren’t at first apparent; and in some cases were downright confusing. The first volume of this story definitely works better as a complete volume, and whilst the first issue of this chapter of the tale seems to be working better, you definitely need the foundation of the previous series in order to understand any of what’s happening here.

This issue drops readers back into the story, with Grover still searching for his missing son, though now he’s gained an ally in the strange dream world that connects him to his son, as well as the cult that stole him. Whilst in the first volume the dream world was a strange, fantasy-like place, this time things have shifted. The dream has changed. And our hero finds himself in some kind of cyber-punk, neo-noir setting instead. This change isn’t commented upon, and none of the characters that go in and out of the dream world, or even Kahnawake, who lives there and seems aware of its ins and outs, make mention of it.

This feels very much in keeping with the series as a whole, where nothing is explained, and readers are left to try and catch up with the small clues that are given to us. That being said, this issue is a lot more forthcoming with information than most of the previous instalments, and we begin to learn more about the dreamworld and the cult via Grover’s adventures there. We also discover that Grover isn’t the only member of his family still connected to his son, as his wife also makes the leap into the dreamworld.

It’s not clear exactly what is going to be happening in this particular volume of the Parasomnia story. Grover seems to be closing in on the cult, he’s gaining more abilities inside the dream world, and the cult has an evil plan. But these were all things that were happening before. Other than the sudden change in genre inside the dreams nothing here feels too different from what came before, and I’m left wondering why the story has been split into separate titles with this being a new issue one, when it could have easily just been issue five of the story.

One thing that does feel different in this issue is the artwork, provided by Andrea Mutti (who also worked on Cold Bodies). Mutti worked on the first volume, and the art style hasn’t really changed here, but once the dream setting changed to the futuristic location the artwork feels slightly different. It feels more clean and clinical at times, and you could be forgiven for thinking that another artist is working on the book. This really shows off how versatile Mutti’s work is, and how their artwork evokes different feelings depending upon the setting.

If you’re coming to Parasomnia: The Dreaming God as a new reader because you saw that it was an issue one you’re probably going to be having a bad time with this. But if you’ve read the first run and are coming to this for the next chapter in the story you’re probably going to enjoy it. The tale is continuing on at a fairly leisurely pace, giving out net titbits of information as the world expands. It’s not clear yet what Cullen Bunn is intending to do with this particular volume, but it remains intriguing.

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Action Comics #1045 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The Warworld saga has been a big story for Action Comics, and the story has been building in tension over the last few issues. With Superman having fully joined the revolution, open war has come to Warworld. But, when Mongol unleashes his new weapons, the apparently evil former members of Superman's own team, things have gotten much worse.

With some of their former teammates now fighting alongside the villain, those left to stand against Mongol find themselves drawn in multiple different directions. With ore than one path open to them, it's decided to split the group to take on all objectives at the same time. 

Natasha, Orphan, and Leonath, along with the help of Steel back on Earth, head to one of the star forges in the hopes of turning the red sun reactor into a yellow sun using the Genesis fragment. This will allow Superman and the Phaelosians to access their super human powers to fight Mongol's forces.

Manchester Black, Enchantress, Midnighter, and Khaljo will gather the available forces at their disposal and will meet Mongol's army in the open, in hopes that they might be able to free their friends of whatever control the despot has over them.

And Superman, Kryl-Ux, and the children travel deep beneath the surface of Warworld in hopes of locating the Fire of Olgrun in order to use it against Mongol, and to stop him from gaining it as a weapon.

There's a lot of stuff going on in this issue, and it feels like things are starting to build up towards the conclusion. The decision to split the team into three groups gives us more ground to cover, but it also means that we're not having to really lose any characters when all of them are trying to find something to do when they're all in a scene together.

One of my favourite moments in this issue was the talk that Clark had with some of the Phaelosian kids when they're travelling underground. They discuss the different options open to the children after they've beaten Mongol, and where they can go. And Clark tells them that as long as they wear his symbol they're family, and always welcome on Earth. It's a small moment, but one that reminds people that it's not the fighting that makes Superman great, it's not him refusing to let Mongol win, of getting up again each tie he's beaten, but the  small moments of kindness like this that make him a truly great person.

The back-up feature keeps the focus on the main story, and fills in some of the blanks as to what's happening on Earth during the story. Whilst it adds to the main story it does feel like an okay story in itself, and promises some cool things to come in the next issue as Lois Lane brings in all of the members of the Superman Family to help stop the villain.

The Warworld saga has been going on for a while, but continues to be engaging an creative, and is one of the more enjoyable Superman stories in a while.

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Task Force Z #10 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Task Force Z issue ten is an issue where we get some answers to some mysteries, have some new curve balls thrown at us, and have some pretty fun moments tossed in the mix too.

If you've been reading this series, but not picked up The Joker you might be in for a bit of a surprise to learn this issue that Bane isn't really Bane. Since the reveal in The Joker a few months ago that Bane faked his death on A-Day I've been wondering where this series fits in, if it even does. Was this a case of the writer on this book got told Bane was dead, but didn't get told it was a fake out?

Well no, because as we see here via a series of flashbacks, the zombie Bane we've been following isn't Bane at all, but was made to think he was. You see, it turns out that Doctor Bloom and Harvey Dent, with the help of Amanda Waller and some of her people, developed a method for implanting memories, effectively making one person into another.

This process was done onto a corpse that was then put into a Bane costume and pumped full of Venom, effectively making a zombie Bane copy. This was all done to help get Jason on side, as he'd jump at the opportunity to hurt the man who killed Alfred Pennyworth.

However, this tech comes back to bite our protagonists in the butt when we learn that Bloom has used it to turn several members of Task Force Z into sleeper agents who will turn into copies of him when needed. This leads to some inter team fighting, and some frankly delightful moments from Solomon Grundy.

The issue ends with a reveal as to who the person behind the Bane mask was that I won't spoil, but is certainly going to be interesting going forward. 

This is a series that keeps throwing new and interesting things at the reader, and manages to pull it off consistently well. I've had fun with each and every issue, and always look forward to seeing what new wild crap is going to happen.

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Camping Trip – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Covid pandemic has been a big disruption to our lives for the past two years. It brought the world as we know it to a standstill for months, changed the way we operate, and has highlighted how people will ignore major dangers in a effort to ‘go back to normal’ by acting like Covid is a thing of the past even whilst still around. It’s something that has left a lasting mark on our times, and as such there will be storytellers that use this time. The latest film to use the Covid pandemic as its backdrop is Camping Trip.

Directed by the Fucia brothers, Demian and Leonardo (Leonardo also wrote the movie and starred in it), Camping Trip introduces us to two couples trying their best to make it through the pandemic, who decide to get away from the stress of everything once the first lockdown comes to an end. Enzo (Leonardo Fucia) and his girlfriend Polly (Caitlin Cameron) meet their friends Ace (Alex Gravestein) and Coco (Hannah Forest Briand) with socially distanced greetings as their nosey neighbours watch on from the windows, and try to figure out how to navigate their desire to be close with Covid safety.

We get a bit of an insight into the two groups in this early scene, learning how times have been tough on each, and how they’ve been struggling through the pandemic financially. We also learn that despite his outward appearance at being careful and following safety guidelines, Enzo got fined for having a party during the pandemic; something that hints at the character’s future capacity to make absolutely ridiculous mistakes that put everyone at risk. With the stage set and the characters introduced we head out into the woods with them as they find a remote location by a lake so that they can relax, get away from the stresses of reality, and have a big orgy.

Unbeknown to them, however, there are other people in the forest. A scientist of some sort (it’s never made clear), is making a shady deal with a couple of criminals out in the remote wilds. However, deciding that he doesn’t want to give the two criminals the $1 million he’s agreed, he stashes the cash in the friends camp whilst they’re away. When the criminals realise they’ve been double crossed they kill the scientist and set out looking for the money – a path that leads them straight to the four friends.

The plot of Camping Trip isn’t entirely terrible; unfortunately, the execution of it is. Despite spending time getting to know the four main characters there’s never a sense that you know anything about any of them. There are no real personality traits or distinctive things that set any of them apart from the others. Other than Enzo, who seems to flip flop between being selfish and wanting to do the right thing, none of them particularly stand out. Any of them could be speaking anyone else’s lines and it wouldn’t feel out of place. They seem less well thought out characters, and more just pieces on the board, being moved around scene to scene doing whatever the script needs them to do.

The group is also quite unlikable, and I never once felt like I was supposed to be rooting for any of them, or hoping that they get through things. They make some pretty awful mistakes in this movie, and I don’t just mean your average horror film mistake of heading into a clearly haunted house. They find a freshly murdered man near their camp, a supposed cure for Covid worth millions, and a million in cash, an instead of getting the hell out of there they start blasting music, singing and dancing to celebrate their good fortune. I don’t think they could have drawn the killers attention any quicker if they’d have sent up a flare. And sadly, this is far from the only thing that they did that left me shaking my head.

For example, the directing choices. There’s a scene that should have lasted about a minute, but thanks to everything going into slow motion it seemed to go on for at least five. Everything was dragged out and slowed down, and rather than making things feel tense, or dangerous, or horrific, as I assume the intention was, it made the scene boring. Everything overstayed its welcome, and a number of shots ended up looking undersold, as you could see plainly that some of the actors were pulling punches and not really landing any blows.

Another scene, the big moment where the story all comes to a head, felt ruined by the baffling choice to have the camera slowly spinning around, rather than focusing on the characters. Instead of watching the people we’ve been following for this whole story reach their dramatic conclusion, the camera spins round and round, showing trees, the lake in the distance, more trees, then a brief glimpse of the characters, before moving on again. It threw me out of the scene entirely, and left me wondering what was happening, why I should care, and what the entire point was. I was left not caring about any of the characters or their story at the dramatic conclusion; so what was the point of it all? It was a directing choice that ruined the conclusion of the film for me.

Camping Trip tries to tell a compelling and interesting story, but thanks to a script that drags, characters that never grab you, and some directing choices that ruin some key scenes, I was left bored throughout, and glad when it came to an end.

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The Swamp Thing #15 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The penultimate chapter of The Swamp Thing felt like a jump in quality over the previous issue, which felt too vague, and concerned with lofty and complex questions over actually moving the plot forward in any big ways. That seems to have been rectified here as the final pieces are moved into place for the conclusion to this story that's been building for more than a year.

That all being said, I still struggled to enjoy this as much as I did at the start of the series. I don't know whether this is because the book was extended, whether Ram V has had to find more story with which to extend things, or if he was always hoping to write the story at this length; but it felt different in those early issues than it does now, more focused.

I think this is one of those books where a month to month read can sometimes be something of a hindrance, and that sitting down with all fifteen issues and reading them together will give you a much better experience. As it is, I'm still enjoying it, but I'm also kind of glad that it'll be coming to an end next month.

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Glorious – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

People go to many places to find God. They go to church, they go out into nature, they can sit in self reflection. It seems there’s no shortage of places where people can find God, but finding him in the end stall in a rest stop bathroom might seem like a pretty strange place to come across him.

Glorious tells the story of Wes (Ryan Kwanten), as he drives across the US. Wes is clearly upset, and seems to be barely keeping himself together, and as such pulls into a remote rest stop to get a break. However, Wes seems to get lost in his heartbreak and spends the night burning several possessions and getting drunk. Waking up the next morning with an extreme hangover, and missing his pants, he rushes into the nearby bathroom in order to throw up.

Whilst in the beaten up stall, complete with a glory hole decorated in artwork that can only be described as a cross between a woman and a Cthulian nightmare, Wes hears a voice coming from the stall beside him. The voice starts to strike up a conversation with him, and despite Wes not wanting to talk to some random stranger in a rest stop bathroom he finds himself chatting away to the man – or at least what he at first believes to be a man. The voice identifies itself as Ghatanothoa, an ancient god who needs Wes for something; and he’s not going to let Wes go until he gets what he needs.

The concept of Glorious is pretty ridiculous. It’s a single character, trapped alone in a bathroom with a disembodied voice to keep him company. It shouldn’t work, it should fall apart somewhere, but it never does, ending up with a film that’s one of the most delightfully creative movies I’ve seen in years.

The biggest strength of the film is the acting, and the chemistry between the two leads. Ryan Kwanten is a great lead actor, and is the man upon whose shoulders much of the success or failure rests. Other than a handful of people who make brief appearances in flashbacks, he’s the only real character that we ever get to see, and he’s present in every single scene. Even when he’s not the focus, he’s there, he’s reacting, and he’s still keeping the story alive. I’ve seen Kwanten in several film and television projects in the past, and whilst his acting has been fine it’s never really been something that I’ve taken note of before. Here, however, he manages to keep you hooked to the screen throughout.

Kwanten plays Wes with a sense of mystery to him. We don’t know what’s happened to him to drive him to come out to the middle of nowhere to burn this mysterious red box and its contents, and whilst there are subtle clues that hint at a man with a broken heart there’s something more too. There are times where Wes comes across as slightly sinister, and you’re not sure if you’re supposed to think that he might be something of a bad guy beneath everything. There are small moments where the expression on Kwanten’s face says a lot more than the words coming out of his mouth ever do, and you begin to realise that he’s a lot more complex than first appears.

But, Kwanten isn’t in this alone, as he shares most of his scenes with the voice of Ghatanothoa, J.K. Simmons. Simmons feels perfectly cast in this role, and manages to bring a level of humanity to a being that’s not only inhuman, but utterly and completely alien. Simmons has done some great voice acting work in the past, but this might be one of his best roles I’ve seen (heard?) him in. When they first meet Wes believes he’s just a guy who’s perhaps a bit unused to personal boundaries, and talks to strangers in bathrooms, and he very much does come across as an affable, kindly guy just trying to start a conversation. Even when he reveals his true nature he comes across as honest, and at times quite pleasant. It would have been easy to have Simmons turn from charming to scary, to have his booming voice cow Wes beneath him, but that never really happens, and Ghatanothoa instead talks to him like a person.

It’s these kinds of choices that make Glorious stand out from other Cosmic Horror stories. The film doesn’t take the expected course, and deliberately chooses to take the creative option. Some of this is down to the great writing, which manages to deftly weave together moments of absolute horror with genuine comedy. Where the film really excels though is the visuals. Director Rebekah McKendry makes some interesting choices in the execution of the film, and thanks to some clever camera trickery, fun shifting perspectives and angles, there are some moments that will leave you pleasantly delighted as something unexpected happens.

The film also leans into the Cosmic Horror staples, though, and there are plenty of otherworldly colours, odd tentacles, showers of slow motion blood, and twisting, shifting biological masses that can’t be explained. The film does its best to keep you in the loop, however, and there’s a wonderful scene where Ghatanothoa explains what it is, where it comes from, and what it wants that comes complete with moving bathroom wall graffiti as its history is shown to us, rather than simply told. There’s a sense that the same script, and the same cast under a different director would have come out very differently, as the sense of style that McKendry has brought to the movie is a big part of why it all just works.

Glorious is not your average horror film. It has minimal locations, almost no cast, and relies quite heavily on the chemistry of two characters who never even get to see each other. It has a premise that’s incredibly ridiculous, one that feels like it should be laughed at rather than taken seriously. But thanks to an amazing cast, a tight script, and some stunning visuals Glorious has become a film that I not only want to watch again, but to recommend to others, as it’s a high point of creativity amongst other films that are happy to play it safe.

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Robin #16 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Damian Wayne is having girl trouble. But where most teens have the kind of girl problems where you're worried about how to play it cool around them, how to impress them, and how to make sure you treat them right, Damian has bigger worries on his plate; such as worrying that his kind-of girlfriend has become some kind of monster.

With Lord Death Man having arrived on Lazarus Island to find Damian at the end of the last issue, we learn here the reason for his unexpected visit. He tells Damian and Connor that Flatline went feral, and started trying to kill him. Unable to break her out of whatever was making her act this way, he decided to come to Lazarus Island to find help.

Not really trusting the villain, Damian leaves him chained up on the Island whilst he and Connor head to Japan to try and track down Flatline. Arriving in Japan the two of them are met by Jiro Osamu, the Batman of Japan, (though he's referred to as Hiro here for some reason), who helps them to track down one of Lord Death Man's lairs.

After getting in a fight with a robot oni, the three of them end up in the throne room of Flatline, who's given herself a new Talia al Ghul inspired makeover. It turns out that she's not gone feral at all, and the whole thing was a lie concocted by Death Man to get onto Lazarus Island. Back on the Island we see him being freed from his chains by Mother Soul; who he proceeds to kiss.

So whilst I was expecting Death Man to be lying in some way, him and Damian's great grandmother getting it on was not on my bingo card; but I kind of dig it. It's something that does kind of make sense when you think about it, and Death Man wanting to take over the island with the giant skull mountain is the kind of vanity move he's make for sure.

I also really enjoyed the growth Damian seems to have had that's on display in this issue, welcoming his cousin with open arms despite their recently being on the opposite sides in a war. His relationship with Connor is also another highlight, and I love how easy and natural their relationship feels. I love that Connor is able to be open and honest about coming out as ace with Damian, and the small inclusion that his mother is proud of him was so heartwarming. That all being said, Damian may have slightly jumped the gun by putting a label on whatever he and Flatline are, and it's kind of adorable seeing him losing his head slightly over a girl. And of course it's the girl who's a trained killer who literally ripped his heart out too.

Robin has been a great title the entire run, and the relationships between the young heroes are some of the best on offer from DC right now, and I'm really enjoying just seeing these characters hang out and be friends. But, it looks like a new threat is on the horizon too; and it'll be fun to see where that goes.

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The Dark Knight Rises – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Looking back at the Christopher Nolan trilogy of Batman films it’s hard to believe that there was a point where people looked at these films with anything but respect. Despite it having been eight years since Batman & Robin came out, there was still some confusion around at the time when Batman Begins was being promoted. Some people were claiming that it was a part of the canon of the previous movies, which put some people off, and even those who knew that it wasn’t still had a lingering bad taste in their mouth from the previous live action outing.

This was still a few years away from the release of Iron-Man, and the other comic book movies at the time were a hugely mixed bag in both quality and tone. People didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully, Batman Begins wowed audiences who saw it, and a sequel was soon on the way. And just as with the first film, people judged the sequel harshly before it came out, decrying the casting of Heath Ledger as The Joker. But after The Dark Knight was released people finally got the message: this was a series of films where you should just trust the director, because he got Batman. Unfortunately, The Dark Knight Rises, the one film in the trilogy no one was worried about before it was released, proved to be where the trilogy stumbled at the final hurdle.

According to interviews and behind the scenes books, the plan for the third film in the series was put into place before the second was even made, with The Joker set to play a big part in the final film, essentially giving the character a two film arc. However, following the untimely death of Heath Ledger, this plan fell through. Nolan didn’t simply want to recast the character, and felt that a complete new story would be needed. The studio asked him to return for the third film, pushing for the villain The Riddler to be the main antagonist, feeling that he was close to The Joker, and would recapture some of the magic of the second film.

Nolan refused, stating that the film would need something vastly different from its predecessors to stand on its own, and decided that Bane would be the villain of the final film. Taking inspiration from several comics, including Batman: Knight Fall, and Batman: No Man’s Land, Nolan and the film’s writers came up with a story that would push this version of Batman to his limits.

The film picks up several years after the events of the second, with Batman (Christian Bale) having vanished following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) kept the crimes of Dent, including murder, a secret, pinning blame on Batman, so as to prevent Dent’s work from being undone, and a number of criminals being released onto the street. Whilst organised crime in Gotham has been almost completely eradicated, a secret figure known as Bane (Tom Hardy) has begun to form a network of criminals and terrorists beneath the streets of the city.

Bane, using go-betweens, hires the cat-thief Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) to steal the fingerprints of Bruce Wayne in order to commit an attack on the city’s stock exchange, which ends up leaving Bruce bankrupt, and having to give over his control of Wayne Enterprises. All this was done in order to allow Bane access to a new kind of reactor, which he in turn alters into a nuclear bomb. When Batman tries to stop Bane, he’s badly beaten, and left with a broken back. Blowing up all of the bridges and tunnels into Gotham, Bane declares the city his own kingdom, promising to destroy the city if anyone interferes.

The plot for The Dark Knight Rises is pretty convoluted, and seems to be trying to be the exact opposite of the previous film, where the villain had no real plan, acting like a force of chaos. Bane instead plans out every detail, and has multiple schemes running at once. Whilst not completely awful, it does make for a film that at times feels a little bloated and overly long. But this is not the biggest sin of the movie. It seems that in between making the last two films in the trilogy Christopher Nolan forgot everything about how these characters are supposed to act.

Commissioner Gordon broke the law. He lied, he committed crimes, and he acted in a corrupt manner. It doesn’t matter that he did so for a good reason, he still subverted the law and lied. This is something that feels completely antithetical to everything about the character. He’s a man who never did wrong, who always stood against corruption, who believed in the law and what’s right. And Nolan made him a corrupt cop. Over the course of the film Alfred (Michael Caine) gives up on Bruce. He stops supporting him, he turns his back on the man who is essentially his son, and walks away. This is so far from who Alfred is it’s kind of insulting. In every comic, every adaptation, Alfred has always stood by Bruce. He may not always have approved, he may have sometimes called him out, but he was always there to protect and help his son; walking away like he does in this film is against everything that Alfred is.

Then there’s Batman himself. Batman is a character born from tragedy, a man who made a vow to never let anyone else go through the pain that he did, who vowed to stop criminals and the corrupt so that he could make the world a better place. His mission became his life, to the point where Bruce Wayne was the costume he wore, and Batman was who he was. And Nolan made his version of Batman give up not just once, but twice. Batman saves the day and runs away forever by the end of the movie, and that just feels wrong. The comics have shown us that this would never happen, to the point where he’d be working from the Bat-Cave, directing his replacement when he’s too old to go out and fight himself. Batman would never give up, and Nolan didn’t get that basic fact about the character.

The Dark Knight Rises was supposed to be this grand, epic conclusion to the ‘best’ Batman films. And it wasn’t. The characters were mismanaged and badly written to the point they might as well not have been the characters they were supposed to be. The plot was all over the place, and made little sense when you stopped to think about it. And whilst the acting and action was fine enough, without a decent story and decent characterisation it resulted in very little. The Dark Knight Rises was not have been the conclusion of the trilogy Nolan had in mind, and it shows through in a film that feels ill thought out, and often poorly executed.

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