Sunday, July 22, 2012

Film Review: "The Dark Knigh Rises"

Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cane, Tom Hardy, Alon Aboutboul, Matthew Modine, Juno Temple, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson  
Director: Christopher Nolan
Initial Release Date/s: 07/16/12 [International] & 07/20/12 [United States]
Running Time: 165 Minutes


While reading this, you may tell your self, “Hey this isn’t a film review...this…this a comic book fan comparing details!” If that is the case, I apologize, but that wasn’t my intention. I’ll try to do my best and separate my comic-book-self from my movie-self.

Taking place 8-years after the events of “The Dark Knight” [2008], the streets of Gotham are clean of mob-related criminals & high-profile crimes. Bruce Wayne (Bale), or his alter-ego vigilante Batman, is retired from crime fighting as the result of an intricate cover-up that he and now-Police Commissioner Gordon (Oldman) created, for the benefit of the citizens of Gotham. This results in Batman becoming both a myth, and a criminal. In another part of the World, an infamous mercenary, named Bane (Hardy), turns the wheels of an intricate master plan to bury Gotham city and Mr. Wayne. It is revealed that Bane was a disbanded member of the League of Shadows, an organization that was lead by Ra’s al-Ghul, the man who trained Bruce and tried to destroy Gotham city in Nolan’s first Batman installment, “Batman Begins” [2005]. Alfred (Cane) tries to stop Bruce from going back to his life as the Caped Crusader, because he made a promise to the Waynes that he would protect Bruce at all costs. Another person-of-interest in the movie is a local thief with skills that are very similar to that of a cat who is personally known as Selina Kyle (Hathaway). Evil insiders in Wayne Enterprises’ executive branch employ Selina to steal the fingerprints of Bruce, so they can use it in Bane’s nefarious stratagem to deplete Mr. Wayne’s assets. Her price is a program that was created by one of Wayne Enterprises many contractors, that wipes an entire person’s electronic database clean, as if “to start over.” What she doesn’t know is that she is being duped and her services are directly building the base of this evil scheme, which is just about to unfold in front of Gotham’s shady mug.

Given that this is (probably) Christopher Nolan’s last time in directing a Batman film, you can really understand why he went all out. Properly dubbed by fans and recognized by several members of the comic book world as “Earth-Nolan/Nolanverse,” which is one of the many multiple universes in the DC Comics’ spectrum of Multiverses. It is widely considered to be the best universe for any DC film franchise. This gives Nolan the abiity to create, write and change characters from the comic book for the films’ advantage. The film introduces iconic names from the comic book, like Bane; Selina Kyle [plays Catwoman, but is strangely never directly mentioned as “Catwoman” throughout the film]; Holly Robinson (Temple); and Miranda Tate/Talia al-Ghul [Cotillard], to name a few, while introducing new-new key figures to the franchise as well, like Robin John Blake (Levitt) [No relation to the any of the Robin characters, which is Batman’s usual sidekick]; Deputy Peter Foley (Modine); Dr. Pavel (Abutbul); the Pit/Prison; the Bat [Batman’s flying vehicle]; and many other of Nolan’s touches to film. Some reintroductions of R’as (Neeson) and Scarecrow (Murphy) were very much surprising, which kind of gives the franchise an almost full-circle story. The director really made it HIS FILM, to somewhat separate itself from the comics and give it his own accent. The way he spread out his ideas for each character’s back-story into this very complexly intertwined bundle that connects one to the other in a tight fashion is very classic Christopher Nolan.

The movie is an ambitious piece against all of the other major superhero films that have come out this year, and directly take them head-on. Surrounding itself in it’s own chaos, it encapsulates itself entirely, leaving you breathless during certain scenes. Some parts were light, but the one that made me chuckle was when Hathaway’s character disappears without alerting Batman, which leads him to say in his awkwardly grungy voice, “So that how that feels.” It’s an obvious nod to a particular scene in the legendary, 1995 “Kingdom Come” comic book story arc, where Superman leaves Batman in his Batcave without any forewarning, to which he replies the same phrase.

The film is set as the stage for an assortment of great character performances, but there are two particular actors that seem to awkwardly standout from this ensemble cast. No, surprisingly, it is not Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It is Christian Bale & Tom Hardy, who play their respective masked personas: Batman & Bane. If you’ve seen all of the Batman films by Christopher Nolan, you would notice that infamously cracking deep hoarse voice Bale uses for the Caped Crusader, which is done by a computer program during post-production. Hardy’s on the other hand is more ambiguous, but still awkward, when heard. I felt no fear of whatsoever, when i heard him speak. It almost sounded like the cross between an angry man from the Eastern bloc and Sean Connery. Nolan’s complete abandonment of the original Bane, which is a steroid-induced super villain from South America. But then again, the movie is set in the “Nolanverse.” None of the performances in this final installment had the same caliber as the one showcased by the late Heath Ledger, in his portrayal of The Joker, in the last film. I think I should give Marion Cotillard’s performance a big thumbs up, but it is still overshadowed by the thumbs up the world and I gave to good ole’ Heath.

The technical aspects of the film, which I found to be quite intriguing, were the choice equipments of Christopher Nolan. The basic 35mm film was utilized in the film, but so was 70mm film, which was paired with IMAX cameras. It really showed how willing the director was, in creating a large-scale panoramic tale for the audience. The other thing that also makes it even more intriguing is that he didn’t shoot the film in 3D, which is usually associated with IMAX technology and their large theaters. It’s amazing as to how he persuaded the film’s distributor, Warner Bros., to put it in all cinemas that had an IMAX theater, or two. I myself was lucky enough to see the film in an IMAX theater and fully immerse myself through the dream of what its creator had intended it to look like. It wasn’t aesthetically different from other films shown on an IMAX screen, but it was a strong and revolutionary artistic statement towards the current direction of the film industry. Mr. Nolan has even gone and been quoted by saying, “I never meet anybody who actually likes the format,” referring to the 3D-format that is popular in today’s blockbuster movies.


The film gives itself an open-window for a possible follow-up, or even a crossover [i.e. Justice League of America], but it’s too early to tell if Nolan will dawn the directorial cape if a dream sequel comes to fruition. Boasting a running time of 165 minutes, including credits, the film stretches itself on ends and gives the viewers of a wide view of a dark world searching for light within itself. Feeding the viewers at their seat's ends with overly dramatic thrills and plot twists that make you wonder what smoke and mirrors the director and writers used. It may not be as epically prodigious as it’s predecessor, but it does have that strong impression that satisfies a large cult movie following.



Final Verdict: A Must See!

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