Thoughts on Tom Hardy as Bane?

Excellent performance, but one that suffers from having to keep a rather weak film together.

Bale gives his best performance as Bruce Wayne here to be sure, but it frustrates me how he essentially has to replay the origin story of becoming Batman in the film's second half, almost like he's getting a do-over on his serviceable first effort. But yeah, I think it's his (and Caine's) best efforts in the trilogy as well. I also quite liked Hathaway, even though I don't really think she was a necessary aspect to the already overstuffed movie.

Still, though, I think Hardy's the most compelling aspect of the film because his villainy doesn't feel like it's aping Ledger's. There is a purpose to Bane, and Hardy's raw brawniness really belies that sort of inner torment he conveys behind that mask. It's remarkably adept physical work, and while he's not on Ledger's level, that's kind of an unfair comparison because no one is and likely ever will be on Ledger's level when it comes to what he was able to do with that character. Ledger is a high watermark simply because he changed the game in a way you seldom see in cinema; there's a clear line of demarcation in regards to how certain characters and genres are portrayed, and he's a major reason for that. Anyone following that mystical, instantly iconic role would find it a tough sell, especially as it seemed abundantly clear that Nolan was tired of Gotham by the third film.

With that said, yeah, I think that Bale, Caine, Hathaway and Hardy are all doing very fine work and I'd have no qualms calling any of them the MVP. I don't even think Cotillard was that bad aside from her godawful death scene, but really, Nolan doesn't cop nearly as much flak as he should for leaving it in.

To be honest, I found his performance ott and the film quite mediocre.