Analyst Calls Nolan's 2012 Dark Knight Rises His Worst Film as Odyssey Casting Draws Backlash
Updated
Updated · Polygon · Jul 16
Analyst Calls Nolan's 2012 Dark Knight Rises His Worst Film as Odyssey Casting Draws Backlash
3 articles · Updated · Polygon · Jul 16
Summary
A new review argues Christopher Nolan’s 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises—not The Odyssey—is his most political work and his weakest movie.
The reassessment comes as The Odyssey faces online attacks over diverse casting, including criticism of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and trans actor Elliot Page as Sinon.
The review says The Dark Knight Rises muddled its politics by framing Bane’s uprising against Gotham’s elites as a violent mob, blurring poor residents with criminals and League of Shadows militants.
That imagery is tied to Occupy Wall Street, the 2011 protest movement that drew about 2,000 marchers at its start and inspired roughly 1,000 related demonstrations, making the film read as anti-poor and pro-cop.
By contrast, the piece describes The Odyssey as an apolitical retelling focused on war’s cost and PTSD, despite the current controversy around its casting and style.