Let me tell you about what this movie did to me. For starters, it made me want to revive my dead movie blog after nearly 2 years. When i couldn't revive the old blog, i was driven to make a new blog just for the cause. I will not continue this blog for writing further than this would be quite meaningless. This movie is the ONLY one i've ever watched twice in the theatre. But enough about me...
The Dark Knight Rises is APOCALYPTIC in every sense of the word. Christopher Nolan could not have ended his impressive 3 movie contract in a more grand and remarkable manner. The publicity was JUST right and the movie did more than live up to it's hype. Let's break it down.
To start with the obvious, STELLAR cast; ALL Nolan's characters from Inception and the previous batman movies including a special appearances by the scarecrow and Raz-Al-Ghul in a suit. And Thank You Nolan for killing off Maggie Gyllenhall before this movie. Tom Hardy has played convincing Bane (What the F*** did they make him eat?!!) And my everlasting respect for Michael Caine for portraying the best Alfred ive seen in ages.
Direction: Need i really say anything? We should continue to marvel at Nolan's desire to pull off live action stunts without the need for too much CG. Bane's Prison was an incredible collection of camera angles and Brilliant lighting. The Chase scenes were breath-taking. But of course the highlight was obviously the scene at the football stadium. Focusing on the quarterback as the Earth behind him collapses leaving a dark abyss. One factor which i could not ignore was the sudden realisation that batman had legs. The scene with him perched alone on a high tower, sort of ruined the stealthy silent and seamless bat like hero for me. But that's a little trivial now.
Now for THE question. Was Bane a good villain? I will continue to stare condescendingly at anyone who compares him to the joker. THEY'RE NOT TO BE COMPARED AT ALL!! "Gotham deserves a better class of criminals" and i believe they had their hands full. Bane represented what Joker could not...FEAR. He BROKE the batman; Sent him to a place where he possibly would have stayed until his last breath. So a blast from the cannon on the bike wasn't a befitting way to end his reign. But he brought back an element that has not been seen for a while. One-on-one combat. A fight to the death! No more mind games! Brawn over Brain! And I thank Tom Hardy for giving me the pleasure of watching him screw with batman's vertebrae. Kudos to you!
Story; Most people would say the plot twists were obvious. I say they were fine. Talia Al Ghul definitely got the better of me. You would say that the fact that batman didn't die and that Bruce Wayne fixed the Autopilot were quite forseeable. Think for a second; Maybe that's what you were MEANT to think. Maybe Nolan didn't want you to give in. Maybe he wanted the Audience to hang on to that thread of hope even as they saw Alfred crying in front of the graves. As far as my experience goes, i was glued to my seat as the Brilliant ending washed over me like the bright light at the end of a long and exhilarating tunnel ride.
And as i exit the movie theatre i will continue to tell everyone i know that Nolan finished with flying colours and that the Dark Knight has risen indeed.
