A huge number of minor characters / cameos turned in hilarious performances in this movie - there were maybe a few of those in the previous movies (the old guy in the Wayne tower for instance), but by the time of TDRK they've basically infiltrated the whole infrastructure lol.
The CIA guy in the opening gets a pass because I think they did make him kind of bumbling and in over his head on purpose - and along with Bane's especially idiosyncratic intonations, he helps keeping the scene memorable and entertaining I think; the pilots going "mayday mayday" while being tilted downwards can have their benefit of the doubt as well.
After that, I'm not so sure anymore - both Barsad and Dr. Pavel are pretty funny in this sequence, and remain so throughout the rest of the movie. The former for his "tha maskadah man" delivery and generally looking completely stoned whenever he's smiling, and Dr. Pavel, well, for sounding like Ahnold in Conan the Barbarian during the blood transfusion, and then going on to speak with the most unapologetically comical Russian accent and intonation in his next scene - he was literally one mispronounced "v" away from catching up with Yelchin's Chekov from the new Star Trek movie.
But, both are genuinely funny so I kinda feel they were like this on purpose, as well - I mean if his ham-to-ham combat with Bane isn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is.
"But dahn it weell guoh uoohhhf!!"
"Wlll then for the sake of your
children Doctoh Pavllll, ..."
****'s too obvious.
The black military guy on the bridge is where things start getting murky - on the one hand, he's talking to Barsad who's clearly doing a thing there as well ("nohh... nohh we dohn't... but youu doo"), on the other hand, well, his “all-American bravado” just comes off way too straight.
The fact that the previous scene just established the terms he's being explained by Barsad doesn't help keeping the tone of their exchange serious, either - so I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I’d say the actor was testing how much he could goof it up and then get away with it – and lo, it was quite an amount.
But the time for generosity sure as hell has passed when we get to:
-the cool old Southern cop with the "wrong animal theere" line: he's obviously meant to be comic relief, but ends up being so cheesy, cliched and forced that it becomes funny again... unintentionally so.
The part that was supposed to be funny (haha, old school grandpa really likes Batman, heheh) is kinda cringeworthy, but his euphoric deer-in-the-headlights look when the Batwing takes off and how badly his overly long line fits into the flow of the scene - priceless
-the frightened, hapless rookie cop with the dumbo ears during the bridge scene would've been a great piece of comedy if they hadn't tried to pass his character off as a "honest, upright policeman naively doing what his superiors told him is best, and then showing horror and regret in a dramatic emotional scene about how misunderstandings can cause heartstring plucking tragedies".
-The old guy from the orphanage does well overall, but the way he delivers his "there is. no. way. to go!" literally has the power to burn out the entire phone network worldwide.
-Cat’s dorky girlfriend is another minor character that kinda moves within that uncanny valley between intentional and unintentional hilarity – but either way, the way she laughs when thrown that stolen watch is absolutely priceless
-So everyone’s mentioned the stupid singing kid by this point; but the burly, bearded football players inches away from being moved to tears by this kitsch overdose haven’t been brought up yet
Or maybe it was like some kind of satire?
And then of course there’s all these little gems from our beloved lead characters, as well:
-Michael Caine’s sobbing and crying comes off as incredibly forced, especially given how it comes straight out of nowhere as far as his character is concerned.
This character derailment of epic proportions ranges anywhere from hilarious (the grave scene) to facepalmingly uncomfortable (Bruce being a *****e and causing Alfred to briefly lose his composure as he desperately stutters "I'm... I'm sorry..."). Remember that incredibly cool, promising (and kinda ambiguous) letter burning shot from TDK’s closing montage? Yea, this is what it was leading up to.
-Mayor Alpert acts like a cartoon in this movie – in stark contrast to the authoritative, collected character he was in DK; as entertaining as his Shatnerisms are, it seems like another case of “actor loosening up, cause hey” more than anything else. Although I guess his death scene was supposed to be humorous?
-Anne Hathaway is cool and awesome in exactly three scenes she’s in: the opening “reveal”, the bar scene and when she threatens Dagget. The rest of her performance (save for a few short moments) is full of weird line deliveries and strangely wooden acting – like the part where she goes “for something that doesn’t even *exist*” and then turns away like Hayden Christensen in his infamous “and I know I shouldn’t” line, or when she channels the orphanage guy in her next scene as she states that “it. doesn’t. exist.”; the weird, phony beat before she suggests Bats to “come with her”, and the incredibly cheesy “you know, that no guns thing… (facetiously catches breath - it
was a hasty motorcycle ride) … I’m not sure I feel as strongly about it as you do” one-liner towards the end.
Also, is she kind of doing a Tommy Wiseau thing there? “You don’t count too good, huuh”, anyone? “The rich don’t even get broke like the rest of us haaah!”?
Of which the first sounds awesome, but the second strangely flat and phoned in.
In conclusion, her performance ranges from “slick badass femme fatale Catwoman” to something comparable to Wonder Woman from that awful TV pilot – in other words someone
trying to do the “slick badass femme fatale” schtick but making it look forced and corny instead.
-Batman’s got his fair share; not having had the slightest problem with what he was doing in the previous movies, I found quite a lot (but not all) of his delivery in this one to be rather hapless. The fact that he constantly has his mouth open; each time he talks in his (increasingly forced sounding) Bat voice to people that already know his secret – which was awesome and fitting in DK for dramatic reasons, but kinda makes him look like a poser in these instances; his “stop you” line and the hilariously inept posture in which he stands in that shot; the whole stabbing scene of course, and last but not least the unforgettably monotone, robotic “psychopaths” line in the sewer fight – although that one might be given a pass since Bane was choking him apparently; but it’s still quite hilarious as it is.
Some other moments stand out – like Blake’s over-the-top shock at what so, so obviously wasn’t even comparable to what a ****ING NUKE FLASH looks like; his completely illogical and out-of-character indignation at Gordon’s deceit; the prisoners acting way over-the-top when cheering at Bane’s speech (“yeap, yeap, yeap, yeap!”
or then marching out with the shotguns held up to the sky while yelling like apes / future John Connor from T3 – yea, they’re bearded and aggressive, we get it; please proceed to stop mattering to the plot throughout the rest of the movie.
Or, you know, the way they seemingly tried to justify the reveal of Talia’s exceptional physical prowess, possibly even superior to Bane’s, by having her jump a whole entire meter into the nuke truck seat!
So yea, as you probably may have guessed, I’m not too crazy about TDKR – it’s full of weird/lame plot choices, likewise character derailments and poor pay-offs to various exciting plot threads set up in the previous films, and naturally this overall quality extends to dozens of individual little moments or minor characters that come off as strange, weird, awkward, and most of the time indyeeed (Did… did you notice? I did like a Miranda Tate thing there) unintentionally funny.
Sometimes it’s entertaining that way, sometimes rather cringe-inducing.
Overall a very hit-and-miss film for me – with the only exception of Bane, who pretty much oozes awesomeness in every scene he’s in. Even his goofiest line deliveries (most of which have been mentioned in this thread) get a 100% pass because they’re mixed right inbetween serious and menacing line deliveries and that way only contribute to the general uncanny, creepy and unpredictable aura surrounding him.
Now if he’d just kept sounding like “an ordinary goldmember” or General “ah yes I was
wondering!” Melchett there throughout the *whole movie*, that maybe would’ve been a different story… but not with the unsettling contrasts, the schizophrenia, the constantly morphing voice timbre and inflections
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