With a broken,
saddened heart I’ll say that I truly feel many strong emotions over the
senseless tragedy that occurred during a screening of this movie. One day, I might write an essay on the topic,
but the focus of this piece is going to be kept on the movie itself. The connection between the movie and the
events is impossible to ignore, admittedly, but had it not happened I would
have written a review anyway – and this is my attempt at creating that.
Christopher
Nolan and the production team (actors, cinematographer, production designer,
etc.) that he surrounds himself with are functioning at the top of their
movie-making game. In 2005, Batman Begins was released amid much
speculation, being that the previous screen incarnations of Batman had become,
and remain today, a laughable joke. Batman Begins soared on many levels and
left people, including myself, saying WOW, NOW THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE! Taking story elements from several 1980’s
comics writers (such as Frank Miller) to explain how Bruce Wayne really became
Batman, the film took many liberties with the material and created a singular
vision that remains fascinating to watch today.
In 2008, The Dark Knight further
pushed the boundaries of “license” with the material and proved that in the
hands of this team (and I say team because a movie is not solely made by one
person), the legend of Batman was respected, safe, and receiving potentially
the greatest treatment on screen that it ever will. Serious actors, crisp dialogue, strong
character development, bold production sequences, and a story line that weaves
in parallels to emotions and events in our real world made these movies (more
so in The Dark Knight) a must-see
experience. Famously, the death of Heath
Ledger, who made himself immortal in the role of the Joker, was the first
headline grabbing event that impacted how people perceived and approach this evolving
movie series. It was clear by the end of
The Dark Knight that we were watching
greatness take place on screen – pure movie magic.
So, The Dark Knight Rises arrives with a
heavy burden. Can it live up to the greatness
of the preceding movies? Will people
find the baddie (Tom Hardy’s Bane) as irresistible to watch as Ledger’s
Joker? Will the supposed conclusion to this
epic trilogy provide a satisfying ending for both the “comic fan” and the
average movie goer?
My answer
to each of these questions is a resounding YES.
The Dark Knight Rises is a
truly epic film. In production scale and
vision of story, it is BIGGER than The Dark Knight and Batman Begins put together. Let me say, THESE MOVIES ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN
UNDER 13. The tensions created in The Dark
Knight Rises feel real. Many people
die. Chaos reigns in Gotham City for
much of the movie. The images are often
very tough to watch. The action set
pieces in this movie are flawlessly executed.
The boom of an explosion rocks you and the landing of a punch is felt in
your seat. These are truly top notch
production values.
The acting
crew once again brings near perfection to the roles. A special call out to Christian Bale who has
given us a wonderful vision of Bruce Wayne, a hero so personally affected by
tragic circumstances that he turns himself into a personification of pure will
power. Joseph Gordon Levitt joins that
cast as an idealistic young cop named John Blake. He turns in a great performance and
represents true good behavior and honest intentions in a city so rotted by
class warfare and evil intentions. One
scene in The Dark Knight Rises is
breathtaking in that they create a moment where the “cops” and “thugs” have a
battle on the streets of Gotham, which has been so ravaged by Bane (Tom Hardy,
pure evil behind the mask) and the battle is like a modern day moment right out
of Braveheart. Sides line up and war is brought to our
immediate home fronts. It is chilling.
The
storyline focuses on Bane’s attempts to bring wreckage to Gotham City while
Bruce Wayne (Batman), having taken the blame for Harvey Dent’s crimes at the end
of The Dark Knight has become older and retired from crime fighting. He’s pushed back into the game to handle Bane
– whose dependency on a medication fed to him through the claw-like mask he
wears gives him incredible physical strength – and Batman finds Bane could be
more than he can manage. Brutal fist
fights occur. A twisty story line is
played out. Without giving anything
away, at the end of the movie I was both roused out of my seat and left with a
deep urge to watch the movie again immediately.
People in
the theater stood up and applauded as the credits rolled. It’s rare this happens at a screening of a movie. I’ll never know if all the applause was for
the movie itself or possibly a reaction to the recent surrounding events. Regardless, high art deserves acclaim and
recognition and this movie is, in my opinion, a prime example of high art in
blockbuster movie-making. I applaud this
movie and the Nolan Trilogy of Batman
films. They’ll stand the test of
time. I’ve heard it said that to know if
a movie is great is to wait 10 years and see if people are still interested in
it. We’ll see what happens, but I’ve got
a pretty good idea.
It may
sound cheesy, but to the makers of these films I say THANK YOU. This is why I love the movies.
