Here we go then! It has arrived, perhaps the biggest superhero movie
ever. You have to feel sorry for the new Spiderman movie which will be totally
eclipsed by the Dark Knight Rises. I
managed to get tickets to see it after staying up until 3 am and constantly refreshing
the IMAX website which basically didn’t work for about 6 hours or so. However, my
patience paid off and I was able to see it on the day it came out, making it
slightly easier to avoid spoilers. Speaking of which, there will be things in
this entry that I would not wanted to have known before I saw it. I won’t
reveal the ending, or who lives/dies etc., but there will be spoilers, so avoid
unless you want to know some of what happens before you see it, but why would
you? That would be a strange thing to do you goddam hippy!
Anyway, moving on.
The hype around this movie is perhaps one of the most
vigorous that I have ever experienced, so much so that Rotten Tomatoes had to
stop taking reviews because the negative reviewers were receiving threats. With
that in mind I am not going to give this a negative review, because I do not
wish to be murdered by angry fan boys, but to be honest that’s not necessary as
this movie was pretty freaking good. The box office and overall critical reception
speak for themselves. In fact this movie franchise has made so much money a
person could probably legitimately become Batman themselves, now there is a
thought…
*(Let the spoilers
begin!)*
The film itself essentially has for main characters each
with their own story arc. You of course have Batman/Bruce Wayne who at first
struggles with the decision of whether to come back as the caped crusader and
then the struggle of actually doing it.
Then there is our villain Bane, played by Tom Hardy who
looks like he has probably been lifting several train carriages a day to get in
shape for the movie. Bane is essentially a professional bastard who plans on
terrorising Gotham City simply because he can and he may or may not be working
for someone.
Then there is of course Selina Kyle/Catwoman played by the
sextacular Anne Hathaway. A professional jewel thief who manages to get herself
in involved in all sorts of shenanigans and you are never quite sure whose side
she is on until much later in the movie.
Finally we have Officer John Blake, played by the guy with a
hard name to type, Joseph Gordon Levitt. Officer Blake is what I would call
Officer Gordon’s replacement seeing as he is hospitalised fairly early on.
So what of the plot? Well the movie itself starts 8 years
after the conclusion of its predecessor The
Dark Knight. Harvey Dent is dead of course, but is hailed as a hero after
Batman took responsibility for the number of murders that Dent committed. This has
also resulted in the Dent Act, which is never fully explained, but it has
resulted in numerous criminals being put behind bars and as a result Gotham City
is now a much safer place. Batman is of course seen as a villain and has disappeared
along with Bruce Wayne who has not been seen publicly since around the same
time that Batman went AWOL. Apparently nobody in Gotham thought to put two and
two together.
Despite the relative safety however, Bane figures out that a
clean energy project headed by Miranda Tate (Marion
Cotilllllllllllllllllllllllllard,the extra l’s emphasise the Frenchness of her
name, and also the fact that she is terribly boneriffic) can be used as a
nuclear weapon, which to be honest is a pretty big problem for any project that
doesn’t involve creating nuclear weapons. The rest you can probably predict for
yourselves. Bane threatens Gotham with this weapon. Batman tries to stop him,
but fails at first because Bane literally breaks him, but then comes back
having learnt a lesson about the little Bat who wouldn’t give up. There are
plenty of twists and turns and a couple of moments of ‘oooooooooh, I didn’t see
that coming’, this unless you happen to be one of those people who can figure
stuff out *cough* Tash *cough*.
So then, is the movie actually any good? Well yes, I already
said that, come on pay attention! I have previously written about whether this
movie could stand up to the hype that surrounded it. I also wanted it to be
more character driven unlike the Dark
Knight and more like Batman Begins.
I was happy therefore to see that Nolan seemed to find a good balance between
the two for the final instalment. There is plenty of actiony stuff to satisfy,
but there is also a lot more character development than the Dark Knight, particularly of Selina Kyle
and Officer Blake, which is what I look for in a movie. Also despite being 2
hours and 40 minutes long, I didn’t feel like the movie was too long, the more
I think about it, the more I become to realise that the plot on the whole fit
together nicely.
As for the acting that is as good as ever. Tom Hardy as Bane
is a pretty terrifying villain. There were times when his speech was
incomprehensible due the mask he wore which was a shame, but most of the time
it was fine. Other standouts are definitely Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. A lot
of critics said that she was the best thing about the movie and while I don’t think
that is fair on the movie itself I agree with the sentiment. The character adds
a new depth to the story and despite betraying Batman you are able to remain on
her side for most of the film. Along with these two the rest of the cast are
pretty brilliant as well, as always Christian Bale does well playing his dual
role. Marion Cottilard and Joseph Gordon Levitt are strong as well and of
course Michael Caine does a wonderful job as Alfred in what is his most
emotionally charged role of the series.
Like any movie though this does have its faults, though for
me they are minor. A few of the films critics claimed that it was overblown and
poorly put together. Well firstly it’s no way near as overblown as The Dark Knight was and it’s only really
the first 50 mins to an hour that suffers from a slightly disjointed plot. However
with a plot as big as this, I think that is to be expected. Another criticism
would have to be the use of exposition, which seems to have become a weakness
for Nolan, at points the audience may as well just read the plot off a cue card
on the screen, but these points are few and far between and again I think
sometimes in story telling it is permissible. I would also like to have seen
more Alfred who disappears fairly early on and only returns at the end, but
then again there probably wasn’t enough room for him in the story and his
character isn’t exactly wasted anyway. Other than these minor things it is hard
to find fault with The Dark Knight Rises
and it has to be said that it is a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to the
saga.
Hopefully then Chris Nolan can do a good job of rebooting
the Superman movie franchise, though
he isn’t directing so I am still sceptical. Also they have cast Henry Cavill
and well he is just not very good is he?
See you later then.
