Despite the criticisms on the supervillain's muffled speech in the prologue of the Batman film, Nolan insists that he will only change the sound slightly but not rework it completely.
- Dec 21, 2011
AceShowbiz - Shortly after the six-minute prologue of "The Dark Knight Rises" was unveiled in the IMAX release of "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol", there have been swirling debates related to Bane's voice. Fans claimed that they couldn't understand the villain with his muffled speech, forcing Warner Bros. Pictures to approach Christopher Nolan to alter the film's sound mix. However, the director reportedly refused to make major change to Bane's voice.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan told the studio's executives that he plans only to alter the sound slightly but he's not going to rework it completely. "Chris wants the audience to catch up and participate rather than push everything at them. He doesn't dumb things down," said a high-level exec. "You've got to pedal faster to keep up."
The "Inception" helmer, who is currently editing the highly anticipated superhero movie, once said to THR during a press conference on December 8 that "it was OK for moviegoer not to understand what was said at times, as long as the overall idea was conveyed."
Previously, some fans of the Batman film complained about the antagonist's mumbling voice. A fan tweeted, "A fantastic action sequence hurt by the fact that you cannot understand the villain at all", while another wrote, " 'The Dark Knight Rises' prologue was really great, especially when Bane spoke the soon-to-be-classic line: 'Mmrbl ffrmrff hmrbblfmm'."
Some fansite also posted similar comments on the six-minute prologue. IO9 wrote, "We've seen the 'Dark Knight Rises' prologue, and yes, Bane really does sound that bad." Meanwhile, male-oriented site What Would Tyler Dureden Do commented, "Most people immediately said two things: 'damn that was bad ass!' and 'I have no idea what the f*** was going on!' "
To open wide in the U.S. on July 20, 2012, "Dark Knight Rises" is set eight years after the events in "The Dark Knight". Terrorist leader Bane arrives in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to their limits. He also forces Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes. Tom Hardy tackles the part of the supervillain, while Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman.
