Holy Shit, Batman!
After four long years of waiting, Christopher Nolan’s third
and final Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” is finally here. Needless to say, expectations for this film
were sky high, and this was easily the most hyped up movie of the year. My personal excitement level was through the
roof, and I was convinced there was no way this movie could be a letdown, could
it? To put it plain and simple,
FUCK. NO.
This is EASILY the best movie of 2012 so far, and the best
superhero movie since 2008’s “The Dark Knight”.
Nearly every aspect of this film is perfect, from the acting, to the
cinematography, to the story.
“The Dark Knight Rises” picks up eight years after the
events of “The Dark Knight”, and Bruce Wayne is still coping with the effects
of the Joker. Having locked himself away
in a rebuilt Wayne Manor, Bruce has not been seen in public in years, and his
Batman persona has not made an appearance since he took the fall for Harvey
Dent’s crimes. I won’t say much more, so
I don’t spoil anything because believe me, the storyline is one of this movie’s
strongest aspects (and possibly the best storyline of the trilogy). As a huge Batman fan, I was familiar with a
lot of the story-arcs that this film drew its influence from, and I was STILL surprised
by some of the plot twists.
The acting in this film was top notch, with Christian Bale
and Michael Caine giving their strongest performances yet. Every scene between their characters is
extremely powerful and emotional, with one being a real tearjerker. Gary Oldman also does a phenomenal job as
Commissioner Gordon, who is still coping with the fact that he covered up the
truth about Harvey Dent. However, the
real scene-stealers are newcomers Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy as
the villainous Bane. I was extremely
skeptical about the insertion of Selina (AKA Catwoman, nerds) into this more
realistic world of Batman that Nolan has crafted, but it worked incredibly
well. Her motives are mysterious and you
aren’t sure whether or not she is an ally to Batman, and Hathaway does a great
job of bringing the Catwoman persona to life.
Tom Hardy, on the other hand, is a whole different animal. Bane is 110% pure evil, stronger, and
possibly even smarter than the Caped Crusader.
Having half of his face covered with a mask, Hardy does an excellent job
of showing intensity through his eyes.
When Batman and Bane throw down, it is BRUTAL, and possibly my favorite
fight scenes from any superhero movie, even if they aren’t as flashy as some
other 2012 superhero films…
Hans Zimmer returns again for the score, and once again, it
fits perfectly. When those drums kick
in, you know something is about to go down.
I also thought the choice of using quieter music, if any, during the fight
scenes was extremely interesting, and added to the whole “grounded in reality”
theme that this trilogy has going on.
This brings us to the special effects, which are
stunning. Nolan is a huge fan of using practical
effects when possible, and his films only use CGI when absolutely necessary. I have to be honest, I couldn’t tell what was
real and what was fake because everything looked so damn good. There are some scenes that are obviously CGI,
but look so convincing that it is kind of mind blowing. This film also has the best action sequences
of the trilogy, especially the hand-to-hand combat.
As most of you probably know, one of the factors that
created so much anticipation for this film is that it is the last one in the
series, and nobody knew how it would end.
I won’t give it away, but I will say that as a huge Batman fan, the
ending to this movie is BRILLIANT. The
last five minutes are absolute filmmaking perfection.
To sum things up, if you are still reading this and haven’t
seen the movie yet, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING ON THE INTERNET?! SEE THIS NOW!
A+
