Tom Hardy Once Explained His Problem With the Fight Scenes in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Given that Batman is a superhero, nailing the fight choreography is often essential for his blockbuster movies. But The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy recalled having a difficult time adjusting to the fight scenes.

Fight scenes in ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy have experienced some criticism

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy has enjoyed significant praise over the years and is seen as some of cinema’s greatest superhero films. But hardly any film is considered flawless, and one point of criticism Nolan’s Batman films have received over the years is disappointing fight choreography. Some Dark Knight fans see Batman’s fight scenes in the movies as either unclear or lacking.

“Batman Begins, you can barely see what’s going on. In the other two [they] let you see everything in its medicore glory, no excitement or tension whatsoever,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

Another fan brought an alternative perspective to Nolan’s fight scenes.

“By my understanding, Nolan decided to film the fights in Batman Begins like that because he wanted it to be fast and ferocious and like a feral animal, not saying it’s the best way to film action, that’s just what Nolan wanted,” the fan wrote.

In an alleged interview, Nolan confirmed that some of his fight scenes were shot in an intentionally chaotic manner. The filmmaker asserted that the fight sequences were meant to be perceived more through the film’s characters than its audience.

“It’s all about subjectivity and the point of view you’re trying to express. If you’re trying to express the point of view of somebody who’s in prison [being beaten], there’s not any clarity, and there shouldn’t be any clarity there—just enough to know,” he once reportedly told Box Office Mojo (via DVD Talk). “The camera’s not objective; the camera can never be objective. All cinema is manipulation. But you can explain to me exactly what’s happening and you know exactly who’s doing what to whom. The essence of what’s going on in the scene is entirely clear.”

Tom Hardy’s problem with the fight scenes in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Being knee deep in the action, Hardy had his own issues with the fight scenes in The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan’s third Batman movie saw Hardy playing the villainous and imposing Bane. Similarly to Batman, Bane is also written to be a formidable and aggressive combatant capable of fighting several opponents at once. Hardy had to go through extensive training and practice to do Bane’s fight scenes justice.

“When you’re training in a rehearsal room you go, ‘Okay, I have a contact with seven people.’ This guy I chin, this one I slip and I punch, this one I pick up and suplex, this guy I kick in the face, and this one, he stops a hammer with his head. And then I meet Batman,” Hardy once told Empire (via Female First).

But the actor found out the hard way the difference between rehearsing the fight scenes and executing them. When everyone he was supposed to fight looked the same, it posed a problem.

“That’s all right in a rehearsal room, but then you add 1,000 people that are all dressed the same as the seven you’re supposed to hit – because they’re all police officers – and I don’t know where my police officers are. But the stuntmaster’s like, ‘Don’t worry. They will find you.’”

Christian Bale once shared fight scenes with Tom Hardy in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ required trust

Although choreographed, fight scenes can result in very real physical injuries when mishandled. Christian Bale confided that he and Hardy experienced a few bruises here and there when fighting as Batman and Bane respectively. But those bruises came with the territory of their profession, and weren’t what either star couldn’t handle.

“You just have to commit, and you have to trust that you’re with another actor who’s gonna commit just as much. You have to give everything every single second because those are the only takes that can be used. And when you give everything, sometimes you end up causing pain. Tom’s a tough guy, and I took a few blows as well. And it’s part of the job,” Bale once told MTV News.