First, this is a good-natured jab at The Dark Knight Rises, a movie we gave a positive review to so please don't take the following feature as some sort of attack on Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie. But it's been mentioned to us by a few people now how TDKR reminded them of a Rocky movie, specifically Rocky III. Here's a breakdown of the (admittedly superficial) similarities between TDKR and some of the Rocky sequels. Be advised that this article contains major SPOILERS for all the films mentioned!
The Physically Superior Villain
In Rocky III, Rock was pitted against a brutal thug of a fighter named "Clubber" Lang (the one and only Mr. T). With his signature hairdo and feathered earrings, Clubber was a visceral force of nature who pummeled Rocky to win the belt. Rocky had become soft from celebrity and wealth, and his defeat at the hands of Clubber -- and Mickey's subsequent confession that Rocky hadn't really been pitted against "real" contenders for his title -- shook Rocky's self-confidence. Rocky had to hit his lowest point in order to ... wait for it ... RISE and defeat his seemingly unstoppable foe.
Rocky IV gave us Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a towering Russian so badass he killed Apollo Creed in the ring! The robotic and relentless Drago has come to America to defeat its champion, Drago would admire Bane's single-minded dedication to destroying the decadent American city of Gotham and its famed protector. Both men challenge the people's long-held notions (Drago and his Russian handlers denounce American exceptionalism, while Bane reveals the truth about Harvey Dent). Drago is also seemingly invincible, a beast who Rocky doesn't seem capable of beating. Bane breaks Batman and tosses him aside like a rag doll, a comment that's also made about Drago at one point. Oh, yeah, and both Bane and Drago have exotic foreign babes on their side: Bane has Talia Al Ghul (Marion Cotillard) and Drago has his wife Ludmilla (Brigette Nielsen).
Terrifying Trash Talk
Bane and Rocky's scariest nemeses, Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago, are as good with poop-inducing trash talk as they are with their fists:
Losing the Old Man
Rocky III sees Rocky's grizzled, elderly trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) die after threatening to quit Rocky. Mickey told Rocky he wasn't strong enough anymore to beat such a physically superior foe and didn't want to be a party to his destruction. Sound familiar? Alfred said much the same thing to Bruce when he wanted to become Batman again to fight Bane. But instead of dying from a villain-induced heart attack, Alfred simply quit and went away on holiday. In both cases, the hero was left without his father figure/mentor/conscience to guide him in his ultimate battle.
Broke, Broken and Bearded
Spiritually and physically beaten, their self-confidence rattled, and finding themselves in a remote land far from home, both Rocky and Bruce must repair and retrain themselves physically and mentally in order to defeat their physically superior adversary. This requires time -- long enough for both of them to grow scruffy beards -- and lots of unorthodox exercise routines, whether it's doing chin-ups and pushups in your prison cell, scaling a rock wall to climb out of your literal pit of despair, or jogging through the woods, lifting carts full of your loved ones, chopping wood, and '80s montage-ing your way back into peak physical condition. Rocky V saw Rocky Balboa lose his entire fortune due to a shady accountant, forcing him to go back to his roots in order to once more face his demons. In TDKR, Bruce loses his family fortune due to the criminal activity of John Daggett and Bane, but a penniless Batman is still a capable one.
The sixth film, Rocky Balboa, finds the old champ widowed and basically living in the past until he's drawn out of retirement for one last bout. TDKR finds a physically incapacitated Bruce retired from being Batman and still mourning the loss of his beloved Rachel Dawes. He lives in hermit-like exile within Wayne Manor until the arrival of Bane and Catwoman prompt him to step back into the ring as it were.
Local Heroes
Batman and Rocky Balboa are their respective hometown heroes, symbols of hope to The People. Philadelphia loved Rocky so much they gave him a statue of himself he could visit whenever an ego boost or wistful moment was needed. Gotham City only erected a statue to Batman after he "died" saving the city from a nuke.
Source : ign[dot]com
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