Bane Rises

Let’s all at least acknowledge that Tom Hardy as “Bane” had a more significant amount of screen time than did Christian Bale.  Yet there are other reasons why Bane brought an incredibly vicious edge to the third Dark Knight movie aside from screen time.  It should be pointed out that in the first encounter between Bane and Batman, there is no score in the background.  All the audience hears is the banging of bones against each other, the tearing of flesh and bruising of all parts of the body.  Music here would have increased the artificiality of this fight scene.  Much like HBOs “The Wire,” the lack of score allows the scene to stand for itself; in this case, the harsh and brutal victory of Bane over Batman.

Some have mentioned to me that Tom Hardy’s physique was less than what they imagined, and that his voice seemed to soft.  To that, I say HA!  Though a larger, “roided out” Bane would adhere more to the comic book vision, it would be unrealistic and remove a human element from the villain.  I believe Hardy’s voice as Bane was brilliant.  It had an artificial sound to it, coupled with a sophisticated delivery.  The two, together, create not movie terror, but REAL and HUMAN terror.  This movie is about Bane, not Batman.  Yes, Batman rises up to the challenge, but Bane is the catalyst for the entire plot.  You may credit other moments or characters or themes to the harshness of this film, but I strongly believe that Bane is the largest reason that this trilogy finale was the most dramatic, most appealing and most brutal.