Rocky/Dark Knight Splash

Why The Dark Knight Rises is actually a Rocky III remake

Published on

Watch out: spoilers ahead!

When I was watching The Dark Knight Rises last week the final showdown between Bane and Batman reminded me of Rocky. Batman is fighting an opponent who has proven he’s stronger than him in a fist fight, at one point Batman hits him right on his mask which then starts to break. At that point on I turned to my girlfriend and said: I feel like I’m watching a Rocky movie, only without the trumpets. I let the movie sink in and over the last few days I came to realize I’ve been watching a remake of Rocky III, only with a terrorist-subplot added to it.

In Rocky III Rocky isn’t at the top of his game, both physically and mentally. He fights a couple of opponents but these are not great fighters. He then faces Clubber Lang who in beats him with ease in a fight and breaks his will completely. From that moment on he has to heal his wounds and find the strength to defeat Clubber in another fight. To achieve this he’s being coached by a new trainer (Apollo) as well as the memory of his departed former-trainer (Mickey). Though seemingly lost in early training, he does find the spirit within him to reach the top both physically and mentally. In a second fight with Clubber he eventually wins.

Now let’s compare this to The Dark Knight Rises:

In The Dark Knight Rises Batman isn’t at the top of his game, both physically and mentally. He fights a couple of opponents but these are not great fighters. He then faces Bane who beats him with ease in a fight and breaks his will completely. From that moment on he has to heal his wounds and find the strength to defeat Bane in another fight. To achieve this he’s being coached by a new trainer (Fellow prisoner) as well as a vision of his departed former-trainer (Ra’s Al Ghul). Though seemingly lost in early training, he does find the spirit within him to reach the top both physically and mentally. In a second fight with Bane he eventually wins, until Talia stabs him with a knife.

A couple of years ago a seemingly original movie named Avatar basically took the whole Pocahontas story but replaced the Native Americans with blue aliens. Now this summer’s most anticipated movie seems to rip off a third installment from another franchise. The story is basically the same and it doesn’t help the fact that Bane’s mask almost has the same shape as Mr T’s mohawk and beard. It’s a bit of a stretch but still…

The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack doesn’t include “Eye Of The Tiger” but in the light of things it would fit right in there especially considering the lyrics:

Risin’ up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance
Now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

If that doesn’t apply to Batman in this movie I don’t know what will. It even features “rising” in it multiple times.

So what do you think, is Stallone entitled to a writer’s credit or is this all a coincidence?


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