Dueling Movies: Marvel’s The Avengers vs. The Dark Knight Rises (The Final Word)

In 2012, the rivalry between “Marvel zombies” and DC Comics fanboys left the comic shops and came to a head at cineplexes across the globe. The lines were drawn.

In one corner, you have Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, a far more sober take on the comic book genre than audiences were used to. In the other corner we had Marvel Studios’ string of colorful superhero flicks, all building up to their all-or-nothing final chapter, The Avengers. 

We’ve talked endlessly about our love for Marvel’s The Avengers (even going as far as to label it as our 2012 movie of the year), so forgive us if this go-round is a bit TDKR-heavy. It’s just that we hate repeating ourselves.

The Summary

In theory, the narrative structure of a trilogy should be circular. Intelligently, The Dark Knight Rises does just that, reintroducing the League of Shadows from 2005’s Batman Begins and catching back up with their overly-elaborate plot to reset the imbalance of power in the world.

Then you have Avengers, a superhero slugfest pretending to be a sibling drama at its core. Mainly springboarding off of details from 2011’s Thor, The Avengers reacquaints us with Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's half-brother. Apparently, Loki has met some powerful friends in outer space. Friends with the same world-beating hard-on as him. From there, wackiness actually does kind of ensue.

The People Who Get Paid to Talk

This is where it gets tricky. Cinephiles (AKA movie snobs) will be impressed by and argue in favor of all the accented actors to be found in The Dark Knight Rises. Let’s see…you’ve got Christian Bale (Wales), Gary Oldman (London), Michael Caine (London), and Tom Hardy (London). Unfortunately, the actors in Dark Knight Rises are let down by a wooden script from Christopher Nolan and co-writer Jonathan Nolan.

While movies of this nature tend to have plot-driven dialogue, the best filmmakers find ways to relax all that exposition, giving the actors (and viewers) something digestible to work with. And that’s the issue with TDKR, despite its potential for powerhouse performances, the players are saddled with some of the clunkiest “speechifying” imaginable. All the players except one...Anne Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina Kyle.

Oozing charisma, Hathaway is a Disney alumni and it shows. Early in the film, she plays Kyle as an easily-intimidated cocktail server. Because this is Catwoman, Hathaway sheds her timid demeanor long enough to put Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) on his ass and somersault out the nearest window. The way she executes this switcheroo (one of several) is a testament to Hathaway’s understanding of the character and the many actresses that have played her before. It’s a spirited and notable performance, especially in a film where most of the other actors are inaudible (Hardy and Bale) or stuck in plot device hell (Morgan Freeman, Marion Cottilard, and Michael Caine).

Then there is The Avengers...

Reiterating my point from earlier, some actors are only as good as the material that they are presented. And when I say “material” I’m not really referring to the script as a whole, but how meaty the dialogue is and how much they can play with it. In that regard, screenwriter-director Joss Whedon is the gift that keeps on giving.

As expected, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) delivers every line as if it just fired off the top of his head (which I’m certain some of it did), but it seems like everyone else in the cast is being just as improvisational. But that’s just it. It’s not improv, it’s the patented Joss Whedon-style. A winning mixture of artistic license, unexpected humor, and perfectly implemented character beats.

Basically, the actors are having fun and it shows.

Winner:

Avengers 1/TDKR 1

Tie! Acting is acting, guys. The material dictates the tone. Unfortunately for TDKR, the dialogue hurts the actors but God bless ‘em for trying…

The Story

Let’s be honest here...both Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises are two of the poorest scripts produced by their respective screenwriters. I mean, they are rife with goofy clichés and questionable short cuts (Batman gets his spine smacked back into place and the Chitauri just collapse upon defeat). The only difference is that one director knows how to maneuver those clichés because he works almost exclusively in that genre.

As stated earlier, I have to admit that the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman comes full circle. However, that doesn’t negate the fact that it feels like Christopher Nolan took the worst impulses of his otherwise exceptional filmmaking career and highlighted them (more on that later).

While TDKRawkwardly went for a French Revolution film by way of Batman, Whedon went for a straight-up superhero romp, one that used its exposition to set up pay offs and punchlines while TDKR used its plot to repeat heavy-handed idioms.

In addition, while Nolan tried to connect characters and themes in an effort to close out his own trilogy, Joss Whedon put five films by five other directors on his back and made it look easy. Yes, movie making is tough…but that's real tough. His years of experience as a executive producer for several television shows and writer’s rooms paid off.

(NOTE: Both films have a climax involving clean energy and a hero flying an explosive device away from civilians. F@ck you, Hollywood!)

Winner:

Avengers 2/TDKR 1

Special Effects:

This one is a no-brainer. Avengers literally gave us something we hadn't seen before: a superhero vs. aliens showdown in Manhattan (No, I haven't forgotten about Superman II, but the advancements in visual effects has changed drastically since then.)

Yes, shades of the film are reminiscent of 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (which, by the way, is because the FX crew from Transformers were brought on to assist with the Avengers’ finale), but it's still light years better than what the the opposition has to offer...

Simply by comparison, The Dark Knight Rises’ comes up short in the effects department. To be fair though ---  just at a glance --- the movie doesn't rely on digital effects nearly as much as Avengers. I mean, a lot of the city shots in Avengers were handled via green screen while most of the city shots of Gothamin TDKR were done on-location. That being said, there are shots of  Batman’s aerial assault vehicle, that have what I can only describe as “jaggies” --- little pieces of polygon that trail off the black surface of the "The Bat" as it zips past the camera. It’s an old video game term, but it applies here.

Winner:

Avengers 3/TDKR 1

Action

Earlier, I mentioned that TDKR highlights all of Christopher Nolan’s shortcomings. That means stiff, humorless dialogue and uninspired action.

Firstly, I want to give credit where credit is due (again): Christopher Nolan makes great psy-fi. That is, “genre” films that are primarily driven by psychological drama. If you’ve seen Inception, Momento, or The Prestige then you catch my drift. That being said, Christopher Nolan is NOT an action director. Yes, he gave us that spinning room sequence in Inception, but he also gave us that incredibly generic snowy hilltop shoot out in the same film as well. 

TDKR takes that generic-ness and highlights it. The audience is subjected to horribly bland punch outs between Batman and Bane. In fact, the fights are so bland that Nolan seems to forget to give us the big iconic moment between the two characters: “The breaking of the bat.” It’s a big moment for comic book nerds and for the Batman mythos, but Nolan strips it of its iconography. It happens so quickly --- so matter-of-factly --- that when it’s explained later that Batman’s back is broken, you’re left scratching your head as to when. 

Meanwhile, Joss Whedon (with plenty of help from his experienced effects team) stepped up his game, dashing all concerns about his limited filmography or inexperience with diverse fighting styles and Michael Bay-level action.

Sorry, but the winner is obvious…

Winner:

Avengers 4/TDKR 1

The Verdict:

The fact of the matter is that both directors Christopher Nolan and  Joss Whedon had an unenviable task in front of them. And, while neither director made "The Greatest Superhero Movie of All-Time," (which, according to my blu-ray collection, has been proclaimed almost annually since Spider-Man) only one of these filmmakers effectively wrangled his ambitious project and soared. Joss Whedon.

And that’s what it boils down to. Ambition and the execution of both filmmakers’ aspirations. Both movies shot high, but only one of them was the underdog going in. Only one of them defied expectations and was confident enough to deliver on it's adventure and action. Marvel’s Avengersis that movie.