keep_counting (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
keep_counting) wrote2012-07-22 09:42 pm
keep_counting) wrote2012-07-22 09:42 pm
Entry tags:
The Dark Knight Rises
How come I don't have a Batman-icon? The depravity...
So. The Dark Knight Rises happened and it was... amazing. Glorious.
I'll admit, it doesn't always take much to impress me. If the acting's good, if the story is passable, if there's epicness and drama and some intelligence thrown in, I am willing to overlook a lot of mistakes. Sometimes I will hone in on those mistakes and harp about them, but it is not always that the mistake actually makes my enjoyment when watching any lesser - a good example of this could be the Harry Potter movies, especially the last ones. Sometimes - as in the case of Doctor Who's S6 - I am not able to look past what I think is simply silly and convulted and not making sense at all, but most of the time, I can lean back and enjoy the beauty unfolding on the screen before me.
The Dark Knight Rises is the end. I know there is always a possibility of Nolan dappling more in the universe, but I really, truly hope he doesn't. Because this end? It's perfect. Some might disagree with me. Some might point out something that doesn't make sense or something they thought where over-the-top, a plothole. That's okay - I'm not expecting everyone to like it. I think you have odd taste if you don't at least enjoy it, but hey, room for everyone. Me? I loved it. Nolan has a way of sweeping me up in the epicness, while still keeping the plot clean. There aren't loopholes and odd things that makes absolutely no sense no matter how much your stretch your imagination. I was impressed by Batman Begins when it first came out, because the acting was spot-on and the plot-twists and 'creation' feel extremely well-done. I was even more impressed by The Dark Knight, which showed us that Nolan was not afraid to go all the way and twist and turn everything we usually expect of superhero movies. As a result of this, The Dark Knight Rises had a lot to live up to and against very demanding odds, it managed to become the perfect blend. Nolan has this way of making everything seem completely hopeless, the audience at the edge of their seat and shaking in pure despair, wondering how this is ever going to be resolved. In this conclusion to the trilogy he doesn't just take the characters to that edge, he hurls them over the cliff and then makes them stay there until they can climb out all by themselves. He manages to blend the epicness of this type of film with so much humanity that you don't feel like you're looking at extraordinary people like Superman, you're looking at ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. And that's why The Dark Knight Rises is - in my opinion - the best superhero-film to date.
More thoughts:
- I was sad that we didn't get to see more of Alfred, but the scenes we did have with him had me in tears, every single one. Bale and Caine have this amazing chemistry and it never fails to make me want to get rid of my own stupid tear-ducts.
- I admire Anne Hathaway a great deal, for her support of LGBT as just one example in many, but I've never been very fond of her acting. I was therefore very sceptical about her having to play such a demanding character as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. But she nailed it though - by god did she nail it! Thank-you so much Anne, for completely trampling on my low expectations and making me swallow every bad suspicion with every scene you had.
- At the start of the film all I could think about was OMG PETYR BAELISH LEFT WESTEROS TO COME HANG OUT WITH SOME THUGS AND GOONS IN AMERICA. It was glorious.
- And then later all I could think was OMG OWEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, WHY AREN'T YOU WITH TORCHWOOD WHY ARE YOU WITH THE VILLAINS DID JACK PUT YOU UP TO THIS ARE THERE ALIENS IN GOTHAM? It was even more glorious.
- Scarecrow as the judge. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
- Tom Hardy as Bane. It must have been an intimidating prospect, having to become the villain after the grand perfomance of the Joker, but Hardy did a glorious job. He was menacing and true to the character, melodramatic without being tedious, just as Bane should be.
- The whole 'Rha's Al Ghul's son/daughter - the child who escaped the prison - the true villain' twist was amazing, though anyone who has read the comics are probably able to figure it out as soon as Bruce has that hallucination of his old mentor. Because Rha's Al Ghul doesn't have a son, he has a daughter and once you know this, there are so many clues: the child never being referred to with 'he' or 'she' by the doctor, the 'protector' of the child who we see getting beaten, the child escaping unharmed despite the doctor of the prison saying that he treated Bane while in the prison, Bane asking Miranda to stay behind when sentencing Gordon and the others to death, and of course, as mentioned above, the glaring fact that Rha's Al Ghul has a daughter. I was so pleased by finally figuring something out before the reveal - I almost never do that!
- John Blake - how sweet was those last scene? 'You should use your full-name, you know. I like it... 'Robin''. I was jumping up and down in my seat in excitement, especially because Nolan has specifically stated - several times - that he didn't want to have Robin there, which makes it even more of a surprise - and also still keeps him true to what he said, because we never got Batman and Robin; Robin is the successor, not the trainee and it fits perfectly.
- I honest to god thought that Bruce was dead. Not even when the engineers told Fox that the autopilot had been fixed did I think he ahd survived - with all the talk of how Bruce just wanted to end it, how he wanted to go out in a blaze, how he wanted to have something fail so he could escape with some kind of good conscience, I thought that small detail said to Fox merely meant that he had chosen not to survive the bomb. Of course, all that talk was a total red herring THANK-YOU NOLAN YOU ARE BRILLIANT. It wasn't until Alfred sat down in the café, looked up and then... the look on his face. The surprise and the wonder and the relief and then the utter joy. And then that little nod and then... oh Bruce. So much credit to Nolan for making something that could easily have been cheesy and an over-done clichë into something believable and sweet instead.
- So, what are you still doing here reading my review? Go watch The Dark Knight Rises, right now!!
So. The Dark Knight Rises happened and it was... amazing. Glorious.
I'll admit, it doesn't always take much to impress me. If the acting's good, if the story is passable, if there's epicness and drama and some intelligence thrown in, I am willing to overlook a lot of mistakes. Sometimes I will hone in on those mistakes and harp about them, but it is not always that the mistake actually makes my enjoyment when watching any lesser - a good example of this could be the Harry Potter movies, especially the last ones. Sometimes - as in the case of Doctor Who's S6 - I am not able to look past what I think is simply silly and convulted and not making sense at all, but most of the time, I can lean back and enjoy the beauty unfolding on the screen before me.
The Dark Knight Rises is the end. I know there is always a possibility of Nolan dappling more in the universe, but I really, truly hope he doesn't. Because this end? It's perfect. Some might disagree with me. Some might point out something that doesn't make sense or something they thought where over-the-top, a plothole. That's okay - I'm not expecting everyone to like it. I think you have odd taste if you don't at least enjoy it, but hey, room for everyone. Me? I loved it. Nolan has a way of sweeping me up in the epicness, while still keeping the plot clean. There aren't loopholes and odd things that makes absolutely no sense no matter how much your stretch your imagination. I was impressed by Batman Begins when it first came out, because the acting was spot-on and the plot-twists and 'creation' feel extremely well-done. I was even more impressed by The Dark Knight, which showed us that Nolan was not afraid to go all the way and twist and turn everything we usually expect of superhero movies. As a result of this, The Dark Knight Rises had a lot to live up to and against very demanding odds, it managed to become the perfect blend. Nolan has this way of making everything seem completely hopeless, the audience at the edge of their seat and shaking in pure despair, wondering how this is ever going to be resolved. In this conclusion to the trilogy he doesn't just take the characters to that edge, he hurls them over the cliff and then makes them stay there until they can climb out all by themselves. He manages to blend the epicness of this type of film with so much humanity that you don't feel like you're looking at extraordinary people like Superman, you're looking at ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. And that's why The Dark Knight Rises is - in my opinion - the best superhero-film to date.
More thoughts:
- I was sad that we didn't get to see more of Alfred, but the scenes we did have with him had me in tears, every single one. Bale and Caine have this amazing chemistry and it never fails to make me want to get rid of my own stupid tear-ducts.
- I admire Anne Hathaway a great deal, for her support of LGBT as just one example in many, but I've never been very fond of her acting. I was therefore very sceptical about her having to play such a demanding character as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. But she nailed it though - by god did she nail it! Thank-you so much Anne, for completely trampling on my low expectations and making me swallow every bad suspicion with every scene you had.
- At the start of the film all I could think about was OMG PETYR BAELISH LEFT WESTEROS TO COME HANG OUT WITH SOME THUGS AND GOONS IN AMERICA. It was glorious.
- And then later all I could think was OMG OWEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, WHY AREN'T YOU WITH TORCHWOOD WHY ARE YOU WITH THE VILLAINS DID JACK PUT YOU UP TO THIS ARE THERE ALIENS IN GOTHAM? It was even more glorious.
- Scarecrow as the judge. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
- Tom Hardy as Bane. It must have been an intimidating prospect, having to become the villain after the grand perfomance of the Joker, but Hardy did a glorious job. He was menacing and true to the character, melodramatic without being tedious, just as Bane should be.
- The whole 'Rha's Al Ghul's son/daughter - the child who escaped the prison - the true villain' twist was amazing, though anyone who has read the comics are probably able to figure it out as soon as Bruce has that hallucination of his old mentor. Because Rha's Al Ghul doesn't have a son, he has a daughter and once you know this, there are so many clues: the child never being referred to with 'he' or 'she' by the doctor, the 'protector' of the child who we see getting beaten, the child escaping unharmed despite the doctor of the prison saying that he treated Bane while in the prison, Bane asking Miranda to stay behind when sentencing Gordon and the others to death, and of course, as mentioned above, the glaring fact that Rha's Al Ghul has a daughter. I was so pleased by finally figuring something out before the reveal - I almost never do that!
- John Blake - how sweet was those last scene? 'You should use your full-name, you know. I like it... 'Robin''. I was jumping up and down in my seat in excitement, especially because Nolan has specifically stated - several times - that he didn't want to have Robin there, which makes it even more of a surprise - and also still keeps him true to what he said, because we never got Batman and Robin; Robin is the successor, not the trainee and it fits perfectly.
- I honest to god thought that Bruce was dead. Not even when the engineers told Fox that the autopilot had been fixed did I think he ahd survived - with all the talk of how Bruce just wanted to end it, how he wanted to go out in a blaze, how he wanted to have something fail so he could escape with some kind of good conscience, I thought that small detail said to Fox merely meant that he had chosen not to survive the bomb. Of course, all that talk was a total red herring THANK-YOU NOLAN YOU ARE BRILLIANT. It wasn't until Alfred sat down in the café, looked up and then... the look on his face. The surprise and the wonder and the relief and then the utter joy. And then that little nod and then... oh Bruce. So much credit to Nolan for making something that could easily have been cheesy and an over-done clichë into something believable and sweet instead.
- So, what are you still doing here reading my review? Go watch The Dark Knight Rises, right now!!