Although the Torchwood part is cheating because it's mostly about an episode I watched after writing the previous entry.
Specifically, Adam... where the team is infiltrated by a strange form of alien that exists in memories. Like just about every other episode in the series, it's an independent story with little impact on the series arc (such as it is!)... but, before even the halfway point, I was wondering how much better - more powerful a story - it could have been if it had been spread, subtly, over several episodes.
Imagine this:
Rather than beginning the episode with Gwen arriving back at Torchwood after a short holiday, seeing Adam, and asking "who the hell is this?" they had begun the series with Jack returning to Torchwood after his travels with the Doctor, seeing Adam and asking "who the hell is this?". A new team-member at that point makes sense, right?
Then, rather than completely rewriting the team 'off screen', Adam could have been slowly forging the team in such a way as to undermine Jack and leave him prone to the machinations of John and Gray. With each new episode, Owen could have been further ostracised, making his sacrifice in Reset that much stronger and selfless (because, by that point, he'd be feeling utterly worthless and rejected by the team, and see it as a way to prove himself). Ianto could have been slowly turned into a killer, rather than having so many lies forced into his mind in one go. He could have denied the false memories of the first couple of murders, but eventually get pushed over the edge and start actively, consciously seeking out victims, with his resolution coming when he realises that he doesn't have it in him to murder, despite what his memories seem to be telling him. The Gwen/Rhys thing could have played out longer, taking it to the point where you'd start doubting that their wedding would happen. Maybe the Tosh/Adam romance could have eclipsed theirs, until the deception is finally revealed.
Sadly, Adam is another story that had great potential, even as a single-episode tale... but some patchy, overwrought writing (in particular that scene round the table, as Jack fed his apparently hypnotised team their Retcon) weakened it. It was a good way to introduce Gray a bit more thoroughly - he'd only been mentioned by John Hart and glimpsed out of the corner of Jack's eye until this episode - and the bit where Adam insinuates himself into Jack's last good memory of his childhood was brilliant, showing the alien's true - viciously survivalistic - colours... the rest was only a little better than a series one episode.
Now... It occurred to me that I neglected to mention two rather important aspects of The Dark Knight Rises, namely Catwoman and Bane.
For former is - perhaps cleverly - never named as such, at any point in the film. She's only ever referred to by name - Selina Kyle - or as a 'cat burglar'. I have to say I had my doubts about Anne Hathaway's ability to play the role. I think she's a fine actor, don't get me wrong (just, please, don't ask her to play any more English characters!). She can play 'goofy' exceedingly well, but has been pretty good in just about every movie I've seen her in (which, granted, ain't that many). My concerns were that she was following in the footsteps of Michelle Pfeiffer (yes, let's forget about that Halle Berry movie). Catwoman was about the only good part of Batman Returns. She wasn't quite right, but the meek, abused secretary turned nocturnal dispenser of dominatrix-style justice was a good enough idea and, let's face it, she looked utterly amazing. The tight vinyl costume that gradually deteriorated... the red lipstick that didn't... The way Pfeiffer moved and spoke completely nailed that interpretation of Catwoman, and it proved to be a hard act to follow.
Partly, I suspect, this was due to a misunderstanding about the nature of Burton's Catwoman... While the film implied that she died after being pushed out of a window by her boss (seemingly confirmed by Catwoman/Selina Kyle's frequent referencing to a cat's nine lives), the novelisation clarified that her fall was slowed by the canopies she fell through, and she was just knocked unconscious when she hit the snowy ground. At the end of the film, while she counted off 'lives' as she was shot by Shreck, the book clarified that he was a terrible shot, and none of the wounds were mortal. Thus, Halle Berry's Catwoman was more of a rip-off of The Crow - a murdered woman brought back to life by mystical, supernatural means - than a true adaptation of DC Comics' (or even Tim Burton's) Catwoman.
But I digress... Chris Nolan's Catwoman, as portrayed by Anne Hathaway, is simply a very athletic and agile burglar and con-artist (as suggested by her telling her partner that Bruce Wayne is "not a mark"). While clearly criminal, she has her own moral compass and her own view of 'the greater good'... at least, that's the only explanation I can think of for her mercurial nature throughout the film. Maybe I'm being generous, and she was just a means of getting the plot to the right place...
...Because, let's be honest here, Catwoman was woefully underutilised. Perhaps there will be a spin-off prequel, explaining what Selina did that was so bad she needed to find some mythical bit of technology that would 'wipe her slate clean'. Stealing from Gotham's wealthy and privileged can't be the whole of it.
The costume was an interesting cross between the 60s TV series (the 'ears' flipping forward to become some sort of crime-vision goggles) and the more recent, zipper-fronted leather jumpsuit (but without the cowl and with the huge sunglasses replaced by the aforementioned high-tech goggles). The addition of serrated stiletto heels was pretty neat. Oh and, of course, it's been obvious since The Devil Wears Prada that Anne Hathaway can rock a red lipstick, so naturally that element of Catwoman remained, unlikely though it is.
I don't think enough development was given to the Selina/Bruce/Batman relationship, and where Selina's partner disappeared to is anyone's guess... but the only truly wrong thing about Catwoman in TDKR was that it was she, not Batman, who finished Bane.
Which neatly brings us to Chris Nolan's Bane, as played by Tom Hardy. Yes, there were odd lines of dialogue that were difficult to follow (it's quite interesting to me that our ability to 'hear' relies quite heavily on our ability to see the shapes made by the mouth as the words are spoken, so when the movements do not match what we're hearing, or are completely obscured, it affects our ability to interpret what we're hearing) and it certainly wasn't the Bane of the Knightfall comics... but the idea was solid, and Tom Hardy's performance was quite chilling at times.
What was quite brilliant to watch was the fact that Bane and Batman had exactly the same style of fighting - they even used the same moves against each other a couple of times - because that cemented the idea that they had trained under the same master, for the same purpose. Bane, in many ways, is what Ra's Al Ghul wanted out of Bruce Wayne.
In a nod to the comics, Bane does Batman a grievous injury - not breaking his back, but certainly incapacitating him... and, much like in the comics, Bruce Wayne makes a miraculous recovery (a number of months are condensed into a few minutes of film)... although, in this film, it's rather more believable than it was in the comics.
My only complaint about Bane was the way he was so casually dispensed with right at the end... it was too quick and convenient. Unworthy of Bane.
To reiterate, then, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is not the Batman from the comics... it's a complete, self-contained reimagining of the myth, in a not-quite-real-world setting.
It has left this particular Bat-fan wanting more, but I fully accept that some folks are never going to like this version of Batman. Furthermore, while I do want to see more of this story, I can see why Nolan chose to end it where he did.
One thing I do not agree with is the assertion in several reviews that TDKR was 'humourless'. I'm sorry, but had you all gone to the lavatory for that sequence where Catwoman walks out on Batman while he's talking, and he looks around, confused, and says "So that's what that feels like..."?
Kinda proves what David Willis says: Batman is comedy gold.
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