It is intimidating to share your opinions with the world. It's even more so when people start taking them seriously. If I disregard a movie and tell you that you should do the same, then you're not losing anything if you don't agree. If, however, I recommend a movie and you go see it based on my recommendation, that's a scary thought. Not only are you spending money, but you spent your time on a movie you may not like at which point your faith in my reviews goes to pot. You can begin to understand why critics are negative more often than not. This is my lame attempt of letting you know that I'm aware of that and am trying my best to be fair. These are MY opinions, and I expect someone to disagree on almost everything I write. I may hate a movie that you loved just because I saw it differently than you. If all our experiences were the same, we'd probably all love the same things. Thank goodness it isn't that way. So here are three quick rules to remember before we get started:
1. Forget the critics. The only way to know if you are going to like a movie is to see it!
2. The higher your expectations of a movie, the less likely you are to enjoy it. Try to be free of expectations.
3. Redbox is only a dollar (sometimes free) when in extreme doubt, wait.
That being clarified, let me show you why I'm pretty much always right. ;)
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If you haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises yet, wow! You either have a lot of self-restraint or you just don't give a dangling participial about pop culture... at all! This movie has been anxiously awaited since the credits rolled at the ended of The Dark Knight four years ago. Unfortunately, that creates a formula guaranteed to break rule number two. When you have a movie so close to perfection, you can't help but hope that the next one is going to be even bigger and better. Sadly, at the same time you think to yourself, "Well, gosh, I hope they don't do the exact same thing again," and thus you create a nearly impossible scenario. But oh! the sweet anticipation!!
I liked the movie. As a stand alone film, I can't say that I loved it. As part of a larger trilogy, yes, I loved it. So if you haven't seen it yet, here's what I liked and what I didn't like so that you can decide for yourself. If you have seen it, here's my justification.
Short Comings
1. Intelligent dialogue: Since it's a Chris Nolan movie, before I saw it I was convinced of two things. First, that it would be an intelligent film, and second there would be incredible action scenes. This film isn't just intelligent, it's brilliant. Sadly, the cheesy dumb dialogue that Nolan shunned in the past creeps into the film. In the last two films there was one or two cringe-worth lines a piece. In this film, we get one or two every half hour. Additionally, because this is such a brilliant movie, a lot of info has to be given to the audience. Usually that info is provided in lines that easily pass for everyday conversation. A couple times in this film your bombarded with info in a straight soliloquy. Personally, not a fan because it seemed... well, scripted.
2. A Batman film... without Batman?: Where the heck was Batman?! Let's just say if it were custody battle, Batman should be suing Bruce Wayne for visitation rights, that is, if the audience members are the children in this metaphor. We see the guy in a mere total of three scenes.... THREE! Granted, the focus is on Bruce Wayne in this film, but Batman is where the action's at! I came in expecting action scene unparallelled in the history of film. Sadly, I was let down. The action that is in the film is good, don't get me wrong, but Batman doesn't so much rise as he does... roll up into a sitting position and use the arm rest to straighten up.
3. Bane... really: I love Tom Hardy. I'm to the point that I will see movies just because he's in it. Sadly, I can't really tell you whether or not he was a good actor in this film because all we get are his eyes and bad voice overs. I mean seriously... what did that guy say half the film? It was like Darth Vader was practicing elocution lessons he got from Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady! I was lost for the first part of the movie until I could acclimate to his voice. The first time he fights Batman, he sounds like a airline pilot narrating a national geographic special, "Gsssk... and now we see the Batman trying to use the darkness to help himself... gssk." Oh, and we never really find out how everyone knows about Bane's infamy. A poor... poor villain to follow up the greatest villain of all time.
4. Secret identity: OK, this is almost a spoiler alert because it happens in the first thirty minutes but doesn't matter much I'll say it. Officer Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has a long speech all about how he was able to figure out Bruce Wayne was Batman because when he was a kid he saw Bruce and knew he was hiding something from the world because his parents died and he hide behind the same face and blah blah happened to the blah blah or something or other. Right, could have done without that and now I'll never be free of it.
5. Extracurricular activities: Call me old fashioned, but I like my heroes to have high moral standing. Bruce Wayne sleeps with a women after sharing, like, two conversations with her. You don't see anything but the beginning kiss with implications just reek of "fluzzy." It was avoided in the first two films and wished it could have been in this one.
The Brilliance:
Now let's get to the good stuff!
1. Compelling entertainment: Not once in the whole two hours and forty-five minutes did I wonder when the movie was going to be over. I was so involved in what was going on that I completely lost track of time. That is a near impossible feat to accomplish especially when you consider that I already told you there wasn't a lot of action. The movie traps you instantly, and you don't realize it until it lets you go with the final credits. Well done, Mr. Nolan. Truly well done!
2. Quality acting: All three films have superb casts. Christian Bale has truly become the character of Bruce Wayne. To see him at the beginning of the week as a teenage boy in Batman Begins and see him at the end as an older, broken man is a testimony to that. Michael Caine's performance literally brought tears to my eyes. But you already know that of course. Morgan Freeman didn't appear as much as I would have liked but was still splendid. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt held his own in a all-star cast. I know everyone's biggest fear was Anne Hathaway but the incredible news is that she is passable! By no means is she great, but she was good and, ladies and gentleman, that is a miracle only Christopher Nolan could give you.
3. The ending: Say what you want about the ending, but I loved it. Perhaps that's because I saw how it was unfolding from the very beginning. If you doubt, me stay tuned until the end and I'll show you how. But it was cathartic and I loved it. It may not have been the epic ending I was expecting, but it was good for me. To me it was a perfect tail end to the trilogy and is upheld by the former two films.
4. Philosophy: As a movie, I thought it was good; as a philosophically and political journey, it was spectacular! This one might give some spoilers away so read with caution. One of the most powerful messages of the movie is where Bruce Wayne is at the beginning of the movie. It isn't the triumphant hero living in ease and luxury. He's a lonely, depressed recluse. Then we are treated to one of my favorite lines of the movie which oddly enough comes Bane. When they first fight, Bane taunts Batman by saying that "Victory has finally defeated you." It is such a true message of life. So many of us are willing to risk all when the tensions are high and the chance of victory is slim. But what happens if we win? Most of us seem to feel that we can just give up and coast because we've won it. Never forget that the hardest battle usually comes after the victory. Just look at the Revolutionary War. Peace is often more deadly than war time.
Second, you have to give props to Nolan for convincing everyone that the creepy chatting in the trailers was a negative, evil thing. In reality when you find out what it is, it's a beautiful message. The message to rise is one that is applicable no matter where you are in life. It connects so beautifully with the message of the first film on why we fall. There are no safety nets in our attempts to reach our highest potential; we must risk all to gain all. Man, I love the messages of this trilogy!!
5. Political message: This one might earn me some snide remarks I'm sure, but I'm just pointing out the messages of the movie as I see it. I spent the first thirty minutes of the movie or so kind of upset because it felt like class warfare had entered my movie-going experience. You hear several times in the first little bit how the rich are evil, bad guys. But than you begin to realize that people saying that are the ones who end up destroying Gotham. Catwoman is one of the biggest advocates of making the rich man pay. In one scene after Gotham has been reduced to French Style Revolution, we see her enter a ruined classy apartment. She picks up a photo and looks sad. When asked why she says, "A family used to live here." The girl with her responds, "Now we all live here." (A major desire of a certain political movement started in a New York park recently...) Rather than comfort her it seems to fill her with remorse. Bane ends up reducing Gotham to rubble by killing of the rich and letting the poor masses have whatever they can take.
Let's not forget here, the hero is a rich guy. But that's not really what made him a hero. He was a hero because of what he stood for. The message is beautifully connected through the three films. When Bruce Wayne comes back to Gotham he doesn't try and pass legislation to make the rich people give money to the poor. The message is that if the people are greedy and corrupt then the government will be to. You can't disassociate them. Batman's goal from the beginning is to shake people from their apathy with a dramatic example. If you want change, you be the change. You can't force it on others; you have to entice with example. That's what Batman is. And that's the formula for how we all can be Batman ourselves.
To sum up, it really is worth seeing. Although I probably won't see it again until its on DVD, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and will be buying it the first chance I get. And so ends the best trilogy of our age.
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Spoiler Alert!
If your still reading look up! This is a spoiler alert! I'm about to tell you all the secrets of the ending and how you can guess it.
Spoiler Alert!
You have been warned! ;)
Officer Blake as Robin. Really this is the easiest one. You can't honestly believe they brought Joseph Gordon-Levitt in to be a street level cop. Remember in movies, just like in life, everything has a reason.
Hint one: He tells Bruce he had a similar past as him.
Hint two: He knows Bruce is Batman, that is information only known by IMPORTANT PEOPLE in movies!
Hint three: Batman TELLS HIM TO WEAR A MASK!!! COME ON!!
The first time I saw him on screen, I was picturing his face with a mask on.
Bruce Wayne doesn't die. You had to be wondering if he would from the beginning to catch this one. Big hint. Nothing is cheap in action movies. If your going to film a scene it better be relevant. If it actually makes it in and the movie is already long you know it is RELEVANT. So the fact that they actually took time to film Alfred's flashback to when he used to hope he'd see Bruce at a cafe with a family should have given it away that it was coming back.
Miranda Tate is Ras al Ghul's daughter. This one took research. If you looked at IMDB you knew they were related. If not however, you still could have seen it coming. We already established the women was a fluzzy! Why else would she throw herself on the old cripple if it wasn't trying to gain his trust. Other than that, why would Ras al Ghul kick Bane out of the League of Shadows if he was his own son. That had to be something bigger going on.
Keep your eyes open. ;)
1. Forget the critics. The only way to know if you are going to like a movie is to see it!
2. The higher your expectations of a movie, the less likely you are to enjoy it. Try to be free of expectations.
3. Redbox is only a dollar (sometimes free) when in extreme doubt, wait.
That being clarified, let me show you why I'm pretty much always right. ;)
---
I liked the movie. As a stand alone film, I can't say that I loved it. As part of a larger trilogy, yes, I loved it. So if you haven't seen it yet, here's what I liked and what I didn't like so that you can decide for yourself. If you have seen it, here's my justification.
Short Comings
1. Intelligent dialogue: Since it's a Chris Nolan movie, before I saw it I was convinced of two things. First, that it would be an intelligent film, and second there would be incredible action scenes. This film isn't just intelligent, it's brilliant. Sadly, the cheesy dumb dialogue that Nolan shunned in the past creeps into the film. In the last two films there was one or two cringe-worth lines a piece. In this film, we get one or two every half hour. Additionally, because this is such a brilliant movie, a lot of info has to be given to the audience. Usually that info is provided in lines that easily pass for everyday conversation. A couple times in this film your bombarded with info in a straight soliloquy. Personally, not a fan because it seemed... well, scripted.
2. A Batman film... without Batman?: Where the heck was Batman?! Let's just say if it were custody battle, Batman should be suing Bruce Wayne for visitation rights, that is, if the audience members are the children in this metaphor. We see the guy in a mere total of three scenes.... THREE! Granted, the focus is on Bruce Wayne in this film, but Batman is where the action's at! I came in expecting action scene unparallelled in the history of film. Sadly, I was let down. The action that is in the film is good, don't get me wrong, but Batman doesn't so much rise as he does... roll up into a sitting position and use the arm rest to straighten up.
3. Bane... really: I love Tom Hardy. I'm to the point that I will see movies just because he's in it. Sadly, I can't really tell you whether or not he was a good actor in this film because all we get are his eyes and bad voice overs. I mean seriously... what did that guy say half the film? It was like Darth Vader was practicing elocution lessons he got from Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady! I was lost for the first part of the movie until I could acclimate to his voice. The first time he fights Batman, he sounds like a airline pilot narrating a national geographic special, "Gsssk... and now we see the Batman trying to use the darkness to help himself... gssk." Oh, and we never really find out how everyone knows about Bane's infamy. A poor... poor villain to follow up the greatest villain of all time.
4. Secret identity: OK, this is almost a spoiler alert because it happens in the first thirty minutes but doesn't matter much I'll say it. Officer Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has a long speech all about how he was able to figure out Bruce Wayne was Batman because when he was a kid he saw Bruce and knew he was hiding something from the world because his parents died and he hide behind the same face and blah blah happened to the blah blah or something or other. Right, could have done without that and now I'll never be free of it.
5. Extracurricular activities: Call me old fashioned, but I like my heroes to have high moral standing. Bruce Wayne sleeps with a women after sharing, like, two conversations with her. You don't see anything but the beginning kiss with implications just reek of "fluzzy." It was avoided in the first two films and wished it could have been in this one.
The Brilliance:
Now let's get to the good stuff!
1. Compelling entertainment: Not once in the whole two hours and forty-five minutes did I wonder when the movie was going to be over. I was so involved in what was going on that I completely lost track of time. That is a near impossible feat to accomplish especially when you consider that I already told you there wasn't a lot of action. The movie traps you instantly, and you don't realize it until it lets you go with the final credits. Well done, Mr. Nolan. Truly well done!
2. Quality acting: All three films have superb casts. Christian Bale has truly become the character of Bruce Wayne. To see him at the beginning of the week as a teenage boy in Batman Begins and see him at the end as an older, broken man is a testimony to that. Michael Caine's performance literally brought tears to my eyes. But you already know that of course. Morgan Freeman didn't appear as much as I would have liked but was still splendid. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt held his own in a all-star cast. I know everyone's biggest fear was Anne Hathaway but the incredible news is that she is passable! By no means is she great, but she was good and, ladies and gentleman, that is a miracle only Christopher Nolan could give you.
3. The ending: Say what you want about the ending, but I loved it. Perhaps that's because I saw how it was unfolding from the very beginning. If you doubt, me stay tuned until the end and I'll show you how. But it was cathartic and I loved it. It may not have been the epic ending I was expecting, but it was good for me. To me it was a perfect tail end to the trilogy and is upheld by the former two films.
4. Philosophy: As a movie, I thought it was good; as a philosophically and political journey, it was spectacular! This one might give some spoilers away so read with caution. One of the most powerful messages of the movie is where Bruce Wayne is at the beginning of the movie. It isn't the triumphant hero living in ease and luxury. He's a lonely, depressed recluse. Then we are treated to one of my favorite lines of the movie which oddly enough comes Bane. When they first fight, Bane taunts Batman by saying that "Victory has finally defeated you." It is such a true message of life. So many of us are willing to risk all when the tensions are high and the chance of victory is slim. But what happens if we win? Most of us seem to feel that we can just give up and coast because we've won it. Never forget that the hardest battle usually comes after the victory. Just look at the Revolutionary War. Peace is often more deadly than war time.
Second, you have to give props to Nolan for convincing everyone that the creepy chatting in the trailers was a negative, evil thing. In reality when you find out what it is, it's a beautiful message. The message to rise is one that is applicable no matter where you are in life. It connects so beautifully with the message of the first film on why we fall. There are no safety nets in our attempts to reach our highest potential; we must risk all to gain all. Man, I love the messages of this trilogy!!
5. Political message: This one might earn me some snide remarks I'm sure, but I'm just pointing out the messages of the movie as I see it. I spent the first thirty minutes of the movie or so kind of upset because it felt like class warfare had entered my movie-going experience. You hear several times in the first little bit how the rich are evil, bad guys. But than you begin to realize that people saying that are the ones who end up destroying Gotham. Catwoman is one of the biggest advocates of making the rich man pay. In one scene after Gotham has been reduced to French Style Revolution, we see her enter a ruined classy apartment. She picks up a photo and looks sad. When asked why she says, "A family used to live here." The girl with her responds, "Now we all live here." (A major desire of a certain political movement started in a New York park recently...) Rather than comfort her it seems to fill her with remorse. Bane ends up reducing Gotham to rubble by killing of the rich and letting the poor masses have whatever they can take.
Let's not forget here, the hero is a rich guy. But that's not really what made him a hero. He was a hero because of what he stood for. The message is beautifully connected through the three films. When Bruce Wayne comes back to Gotham he doesn't try and pass legislation to make the rich people give money to the poor. The message is that if the people are greedy and corrupt then the government will be to. You can't disassociate them. Batman's goal from the beginning is to shake people from their apathy with a dramatic example. If you want change, you be the change. You can't force it on others; you have to entice with example. That's what Batman is. And that's the formula for how we all can be Batman ourselves.
To sum up, it really is worth seeing. Although I probably won't see it again until its on DVD, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and will be buying it the first chance I get. And so ends the best trilogy of our age.
Spoiler Alert!
If your still reading look up! This is a spoiler alert! I'm about to tell you all the secrets of the ending and how you can guess it.
Spoiler Alert!
You have been warned! ;)
Officer Blake as Robin. Really this is the easiest one. You can't honestly believe they brought Joseph Gordon-Levitt in to be a street level cop. Remember in movies, just like in life, everything has a reason.
Hint one: He tells Bruce he had a similar past as him.
Hint two: He knows Bruce is Batman, that is information only known by IMPORTANT PEOPLE in movies!
Hint three: Batman TELLS HIM TO WEAR A MASK!!! COME ON!!
The first time I saw him on screen, I was picturing his face with a mask on.
Bruce Wayne doesn't die. You had to be wondering if he would from the beginning to catch this one. Big hint. Nothing is cheap in action movies. If your going to film a scene it better be relevant. If it actually makes it in and the movie is already long you know it is RELEVANT. So the fact that they actually took time to film Alfred's flashback to when he used to hope he'd see Bruce at a cafe with a family should have given it away that it was coming back.
Miranda Tate is Ras al Ghul's daughter. This one took research. If you looked at IMDB you knew they were related. If not however, you still could have seen it coming. We already established the women was a fluzzy! Why else would she throw herself on the old cripple if it wasn't trying to gain his trust. Other than that, why would Ras al Ghul kick Bane out of the League of Shadows if he was his own son. That had to be something bigger going on.
Keep your eyes open. ;)
I have to say that I felt that Nolan almost hated putting in those cheesy lines he usually is so careful to avoid. It felt almost like he thought "Uhg. Well, this IS Batman and Catwoman and I have to make some love story in there." I don't think he liked it, I think he did it for audience sake but that almost makes me sad. He's good without catering to the whims and desires of an audience...or at least what they THINK their desires are.
ReplyDeleteA note about Chris Nolan? He is a genius. He has brought intelligent film back to life. He doesn't say, "Here world, I'm going to write a script for a film where you go and sit and have your brain turn to mush like that Ben Stiller guy and his movies." (I can't stand Stiller...that's another story) Nolan has said, "I know people and I know that they are capable of thinking and of coming to their own conclusions about the political, social and spiritual situations I present."
I love that he can present a political situation, like that of social class & government and show both sides without telling us in all obviousness what his opinion is. (Wall-E is an example of a movie I HATE because of the blatant mind manipulation...again, another story.)
I was also a little disappointed about not having a lot of Batman but it made me think about what Alfred said about Gotham needing less of Batman and more of Bruce Wayne. I felt that in this movie Bruce and Batman really merged into one person. They FINALLY had the same mindset and attitude about good. No more party boy, no more "I'm-too-injured-and-too-old-to-do-good". Finally, Bruce and Batman cared about the same thing. What is right.
Tom Hardy. Man oh man he was good. From an acting perspective, you cannot imagine how much I admire him. Having a half mask on where your mouth is covered and yet still being able to produce and show emotion in variation...WOW. You may not have thought it was all that good but let me tell you that it was AMAZING. There are a LOT of actors that could not have done what he did. I'm not trying to argue, just trying to say that as an actor when only part of your face is covered (especially eyes and mouth in their entirety) that is the moment when the actor "becomes" versus "plays the part" if it is done well. I think Tom Hardy rocked it.
Anne Hathaway wasn't as barf-tastic as I thought she would be but most of the cringe worthy moments for me had to do with her and her dialogue. She was okay but that's all anyone is getting out of me about her.
I guessed about "Robin" from the first second that lovely face came onto the screen. Ask Neil! I guessed it! (Not that it was too hard...)
All in all, I loved almost everything about this movie. :)
RISE!!!
P.S-If anyone goes to see a movie that you have said is good and they end up disagreeing with you and blame you. SHAME ON THEM. They are a big boy or girl and have the agency to go and do or not. However if you happen to love a movie that I hate cough*Seabiscut*cough well, you're opinion is no longer valid. :P I'm kidding of course! The reason I don't mind when you like something I don't is because you intelligently explain why you like it. I may still disagree with you but you always have a good reason not just "Because it was filmed in this place and so and so was in it." Uhg. Barf. Movies aren't exactly about who is in them (to me at least) so much as WHAT the content was and if the story was moving, thrilling, powerful etc.
I really don't think he "showed both sides" in this movie. It was pretty blatantly Conservative political views being shoved down our throats here. Meanwhile, I felt "Wall-E" was balanced in its message. So I think the message here is how our own personal ideologies affect the way we perceive any sort of deeper message inserted between the lines of a film. Which is pretty interesting, actually.
ReplyDelete