Amid all the actual quality movies to discuss during the holiday season, or even all the whining we could have been doing about Chipwrecked, movie blogs everywhere were eaten up by a single question: What the hell is Bane saying? It came up after the first preview screenings and continued after the prologue showed in front of IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. With Tom Hardy's villain character wearing a mask that blocks his entire face and speaking in a metallic rasp, it was almost impossible to make out his dialogue, something that's kind of important when he sets off a spectacular action sequence like the one featured in the prologue.
Rumors flew that director Christopher Nolan would have to alter the sound mix, even though Nolan himself said he wouldn't, but they started back up again yesterday, when an IMAX projectionist reported that they had received a new sound mix for the prologue. Now, it turns out, that story was completely false-- Collider has posted denials from both Warner Bros. and IMAX saying clearly that there is no new audio mix, and Nolan is apparently sticking with his word to hang on to the incomprehensible version of Bane.
There are a lot of people who will swear loyalty to Nolan and assume that, if he's standing by what he's done, it will be worth it in the end. And I'm definitely curious to see what he'll accomplish by standing up in the face of such widespread complaints and saying "Trust me, it'll work." But I'm not really looking forward to the frustration of seeing The Dark Knight Rises next summer and still having to struggle to hang on to any of his words. Were you also hoping this sound mix fix might be for real? Or are you trusting in Nolan for the time being?
