The Dark Knight Rises was an interesting movie with a very interesting message, but so far as entertainment value goes I can't help but feel it missed the mark. While it had a strong start, the first half entirely enjoyable, the movie breaks down in the wake of Bane's initial triumph and seems to plod on about an hour too long from there. While I'm a big fan of the actor who plays Bane, thinking his work in the movie Bronson was tremendous, the character is too one-dimensional to be an effective follow-up to the Joker, and can only provide some enjoyable fight-scenes.

What I'm wondering is this: how many of you out there picked up on the message of this film? It's not exactly subtle. While in the first movie Gotham was clearly a fantasy-city full of weird monorails and towering, Gothic skyscrapers, it became an every-city in the second movie, largely indistinguishable from any other. In this movie however, it's entirely clear what Gotham resembles and represents: New York City. From the Islands to the bridges, it looks just like it all of a sudden. What they've done here with this film is produce a thinly veiled criticism of the Occupy movement, and similar sentiments that are against rampant capitalism. Think about it. When Batman saves the innocent hostages from Bane's evil clutches, who are they? Stock brokers, from Gotham's Wall Street. When Bane gives his 'we the people' speeches, who does he sound like, talking about rising up against financial oppressors and retaking the streets from corruption? A lot like occupy. The one character in the movie who criticizes wealth itself? Evil betrayer. Alternative and green energy solutions? Turns out they're evil too, and terribly dangerous. If you understand the applications of film as propaganda, this is a pretty blatant example... and, like most superhero movies these days (Avengers, Man of Steel, etc.), it insists on conjuring up images of 9/11, with clouds of dust filling streets and chasing fleeing citizens. The habit of using that image to try and get people emotionally attached to an action sequence is to me an example of Hollywood at it's most crass.