Aug 1, 2012

The Dark Knight has magnificently Risen.

First things first, let's get something straight here. I'm a big Batman fan - yet am a bigger fan of Bale and Hardy. In my movie bible, Batman Begins imprinted itself with 9 (just couldn't/still can't get over that Katie Holmes' debacle) and The Dark Knight with 8.8 (which puts me in a minority, I know). On that note, Heath Ledger was great, but he wasn't that great and let's face it - he died. So, being a bitch and all, would that sequel really be so iconic had he lived? Add to that another miscasting in the form of Maggie Gyllenhaal and you bring yourself to another logical conclusion: Nolan's female leads tend to be poor choices and his characterization of them usually proves to be his movies' weakest link.
Therefore, Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway? The conclusion almost writes itself.
Good to know I was wrong...well, at least on one of them.

It may not be a bad idea to revisit the first two movies before you completely dedicate yourself to the third, for the connections are all there and in most cases, certain things that you might have forgotten, tend to bite you on the ass in this final chapter of Nolan's masterful trilogy (minor mistakes included).

Being a supporter of a good, old 1 1/2 hour movie, these recent 2 1/2 hour ones gave me a bit of a stiff neck, a numb butt and a feeling that it could have all been said in a lot less time with a lot less effort and, like a romantic that I am, I kept hoping that one day, one of those long-running blockbusters would prove me wrong.
Boys and girls, that day has arrived.

I could hardly come up with better praise for what I've seen except to say that I shed secret tears from time to time and that my movie-theatre audience erupted into spontaneous ovations when the credits rolled. Sure, I could open a dictionary and find synonyms for awesome, but you get where I'm going with this.
From the opening scene, right till the ending, it grabs you, holds you and never lets you go so that, once you leave, you want to go back. The question here is not have you seen The Dark Knight Rises? It is, rather, how many times have you seen The Dark Knight Rises?
Trust me, the answer will not be once. It shouldn't be.

There were a couple of things I didn't like (ending not being one of them): Cotillard's shitty acting, for one. And Nolan's unexplainable wish to mix her into all of this when, even without her character, it would have led to the same conclusion.
Early on, when Joseph Gordon Levitt's Blake figures out Batman's identity, you can't help but think how the basis for it was above lame. But, you get over it sooner than you might have thought.

Comissioner Gordon, Alfred, Fox are all there, all masterfully portrayed by Oldman, Caine and Freeman. But, that's a standard we learnt to expect. But, then, as the plot enters its climax, so does this review.
Hardy as Bane is breathtaking. Throughout the movie, you only get one glimpse at his face without his mask on and it says quite a lot about Hardy's ability to carry his role via the eyes and his physique. And what a physique that was! The much-debated voice has been tweeked and you get to hear it in all of its glory. Hardy/Bane was one of the baddest bad-asses I've seen in years and he fucking owned his part to perfection. And even though in a DC world you should never compare, hell....I prefered Bane to Joker. There, I said it.

Hathaway's Catwoman was a huge, huuuuuge surprise. Having never particularly liked her style of acting, I had some trepidation when she was cast (as explained earlier on). However, not only does she pull it off, she does it in such a way that you start feeling guilty that you ever questioned it. She packs, seals and delivers wonderfully.

And then you're left with the magnificence of Christian Bale. (Too many positive adjectives here? I said there would be). Look, being a girl, I grew up having a major crush on him ever since his Newsies days and no matter what you might think of him, you can never, ever claim that he's not dedicated to his craft and is not as talented as they get. He was the reason that Batman was a huge hit, let's not forget that. And while he took a step back in the second movie and allowed Ledger to dominate (script-wise), this third installment is through and through a Batman-character movie, or should I say Bale's. And it has so many similarities with the first that I can't help but be grateful (we even get Neeson again).

So, uber-long review is coming to its end. I could rate it 9 point something, above-mentioned flaws and all, but my emotional side gets better of me, from time to time. Without futher ado, and with such ease, I grant it 10 out of 10 and am off to watch it again, as soon as I can.
As should you.