Everyone from Rush Limbaugh to G4 television has chimed into the battle. Rush was accused by G4 of calling the film a conspiracy against Mitt Romney because the villain, who was created in the early 1990's, is named Bane. During G4's Attack of the Show, a movie reviewer pointed out that the villain was an occupier. The guest-geek host pushed the reviewer into mentioning the tea party as an evil force, ostensibly to "maintain impartiality."
Rush, as reported by the Washington Examiner, was referring to a story about Democrats using the movie's villain as a connection to Bain Capital which was founded by Mitt Romney:
SFGate reviewer Mick LaSalle offered the following in his review 'The Dark Knight Rises' review: Mostly falls flat:"I never said that the villain was created by the comic book character creator to be part of the 2012 campaign. I never said that at all. Everybody’s out there running around saying I got this giant conspiracy theory that the Batman people, the creators, the comic book creators, created this thing to campaign against Romney. I never said that. I didn’t say there was a conspiracy."The story originated this week with the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard, who reported that Democrats were planning to use the villain Bane, as a way to remind voters of Romney’s connection to his company, Bain Capital.
Bedard quoted a Democratic strategist who suggested that “the narratives are similar: a highly intelligent villain with offshore interests and a past both are seeking to cover up who had a powerful father and is set on pillaging society."
Bane's dastardly plot involves a massive transfer of wealth using the stock exchange. It consists further of inciting civil unrest and taking control of cutting-edge technologies that can be used for good or ill. Nolan's critique of Wall Street is implicit in the portrayal of the rapacious and arrogant Wall Street traders, but some uneasiness about the Occupy movement is evident, as well, in the film's depiction of people's tribunals. However, to say that the movie steers a middle course would be to impose coherence on what seems more like a scattered set of fears and impressions.USA today chimes in:
While The Dark Knight Rises is currently experiencing a glowing 84% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com, the film has been deemed "rotten" by a few critics, including Marshall Fine of Hollywood & Fine, Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and Nick Pinkerton of the Village Voice. Fine lambasted Dark Knight Rises for being "nonsensical," and Lemire called it a "letdown."My suggestion to tea party types, occupy types and superhero fans is to go buy tickets immediately.
"As a movie writer and critic, Christy gives her opinion and we expect people will agree with some of her reviews and disagree with others," said Lou Ferrara, the AP managing editor who oversees entertainment. "It's unfortunate when the conversation turns ugly."
Update 7/22 7:05 PM: Director Christopher Nolan retweeted a comment about his intention with the DKR script. It is assumed that direct comment on the overtone of the movie would be contractually forbidden.
RT @HesRobbyG: I think _Christopher_ _Nolan_ might've been trying to say something with the script he wrote..
— Christopher Nolan (@CutChristopher) July 22, 2012
