The Dark Knight Rises
Well, I finally got around to seeing the Dark Knight Rises, the concluding third chapter of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
The "Dark Knight Trilogy," as they seem to be calling it, achieves something very impressive, which is that it is a series about a superhero that makes you forget that what you're watching is the story built up through decades of comic books, movies, and cartoon shows. Yes, the Bruce Wayne we see in this movie is the very same character who Adam West portrayed in the 60s at the very pinnacle of camp.
Let us remember that the very notion of a "gritty reboot," or at least the current incarnation of the gritty reboot, is thanks to the series' first installment, Batman Begins (special mention goes to Casino Royale, a similar take on the equally campy James Bond series, that came soon afterward, and really codified the gritty reboot movement.) Today, we are inundated by sequels, reboots, and reboots of sequels, and it is quite nauseating, but you have to remember that often the blockbuster movies that give Hollywood these years-spanning obsessions are usually really fucking good. Look at the 80s blockbuster: there was a lot of crap pumped out to fill the seats that pushed out the smaller, more personal work of the New American Cinema. Yet the blockbuster movement began with Jaws and Star Wars, which have stood the test of time (now if only we could actually watch the real Star Wars anymore...)
Anyway, the point is that although Batman Begins was the genesis of the now-tired "gritty reboot," the reason it was able to start such a movement was that it was fucking good. The Dark Knight, bolstered in large part by Heath Ledger's superlative Joker (who I consider to be the very best performance of a supervillain I've ever seen,) surpassed the original.
But this is a review for the Dark Knight Rises. So, you want to know what I thought? Good, possibly better than Batman Begins, but the Dark Knight remains the best of the series (putting it in a strong position for best superhero movie ever.)
Let's break it down:
Bane:
Tom Hardy does a great job taking a second-tier villain (at least from a non-devotee's perspective) and making him truly menacing. I don't actually know much of the canon backstory for Bane, but I get the impression that they basically took the superficial aspects - enormous brawler with an obscured face - and tailored everything else to the film's needs. Bane is beyond fearless. He has transcended his own existence to fully devote himself to the "balance" represented by the League of Shadows.
Oh, and yes, remember those guys? Still a threat, and still quite relevant. Batman represents stability through the enforcement of peace, while the League of Shadows, now lead (or so we think) by Bane, represents the prosecution of upheaval through violence.
Bane exists as the polar extreme opposite the Joker. The Joker is the pure nihilist - the anarchist who wants to see all order undone. While he has henchmen, it is clear that they mean nothing to him. When we first meet the Joker in the Dark Knight, we see him eliminate his accomplices one after the other, in shocking and random ways. And ultimately, he does not do it for any particular reason. There is no way to predict what he is going to do.
Bane is introduced in a very different circumstance, yet he is also ultimately pulling off a heist. And like the Joker, he does effectively kill one of his henchmen. Yet while the Joker is the unpredictable, chaotic force who uses surprise to accomplish his quasi-goals, Bane simply tells one of his men "No, you will stay behind and die." He is totally honest with them, and because they exist within the structure he represents, they accept it willingly. To Bane, everything is a servant to the structure of his society, including himself. Even his fighting style reflects this. He is not an agile ninja, darting about, suddenly jamming peoples' eyes into pencils - he is a heavyweight boxer, who will overwhelm you with honest, brutal power.
If the Joker is the unpredictable chaos of anarchy, Bane is the unrelenting order of fascism.
Catwoman:
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman is fucking awesome. Now, I'll admit, her motivations can come off as a little muddled, but let me see if I can make sense of them. She is a glamorous and insanely badass thief (she is just as good a fighter as Batman,) but her own living situation is quite modest. Despite her crazy lifestyle, her non-super life is one of a "normal person." She's on the run from the law, and uses her skills to try to get away from all of that (pretty vicious cycle there,) and, at least at the beginning, is very self-centered in her actions, even helping the bad guys.
But this is Catwoman we're talking about. She's the only woman who could match Batman, and because of the whole Batman/Catwoman friend/enemy relationship, you know she's going to wind up with the good guys. I read another review that suggested the problem with her character in this is that it seems that Bruce Wayne keeps reminding her she does have the option to be a good guy, and it's only when we absolutely need her that she decides to take him up on it. Still, I think that the motivation is there.
Selina Kyle (we never actually hear her referred to as Catwoman, the only indication really is when she flips up her night-vision goggles they look kind of like cat-ears) is pissed off at how the wealthy live while the other 99% struggle with poverty. She represents that desire to have things overturned, and see a revolution take place. So she has an interest in altruism, even if her lifestyle is very self-interested. Ultimately, the gravity of the threat Bane poses (literally nuking Gotham) gets her to realize that it's those normal, average people who need her help, and that it isn't propping up the decadent upper class to prevent a city full of innocent people from getting nuked.
I have heard that some people see Bane's army as a fairly critical allegory for the Occupy Wall Street folks. Honestly, I think that's a bit of a stretch, and that Catwoman is probably the better representative of that movement. Take that as you will. I don't know what Christopher Nolan's politics are, and I realize that it's common to ascribe your own views to those of artists you like, but I think the movie is meant to resonate with the philosophical movements of the day without making any explicit judgements.
I should also note here that Anne Hathaway's performance was incredibly sexy. I don't just mean that she is hot (I can't imagine that's disputed by many people) or that she wears skimpy catsuits (this is also true,) but there is something about the poise and power with which she played that character that was quite breathtaking for a 26-year old man like myself.
Robin (see, I warned you about spoilers)
There was always an interesting question in Nolan's trilogy: Batman has a very prominent sidekick. In fact, in all of superhero-dom, there is no more iconic superhero sidekick than Robin. Yet he has been absent throughout these films. Robin, of course, is one of those characters who seems to come with a lot of camp. What is a badass Ninja-crimefighter doing with a teenaged kid? Not to mention the mountain of slashfic/pederasty implications people love to bring up.
Supposedly, Christian Bale said that if they every introduced Robin, he would quite playing the role, presumably because of the apparently inherent campiness to the Boy Wonder.
Well, Robin does exist, but they do it really, really sneakily. Throughout the movie, we get to know a tough, badass cop played by the very-not-a-teenager Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Already there's a point in this guy's favor, because Gordon-Levitt is a very good actor.
The cop, Blake, is one of the few people who are really working to track down Bane and his subterranean army in the police department, and when Bane cuts off the city from the outside world, Blake is one of the few resistance fighters in a city where the League is killing any officer who isn't already trapped underground.
Blake earns his keep as a badass hero on his own. He grew into adulthood with Batman as a hero to look up to, and was rescued from a life on the street by the Wayne Foundation's charity, and is the kind of hero cop we wish all cops were like (he nearly gets himself killed trying to convince a more idiotic cop to let some kids evacuate the nuke-threatened city.)
So when Batman appears dead after his Batplane is blown up by the nuke several miles out to sea, Blake finds himself at Wayne Enterprises, and is given a note with coordinates on it. We discover that his real name is John Robin Blake (or maybe Robin John Blake... or something.) Anyway, with Bruce Wayne in faked-death retirement (with Selina, fulfilling Alfred's wish to see Bruce make a life for himself with room for another person) Robin goes to the coordinates and finds the Batcave. The last thing we see is Robin literally rising up into the cave - the mantle is passed, and there's a new Dark Knight.
Robin is actually the fulfillment of Bruce's trilogy-spanning goal. The Batman is supposed to be a symbol, greater than a man, representing the hope for Gotham. With Robin taking up the mantle, that goal is achieved. The Dark Knight is no longer just a man.
Some have said having Blake turn out to be Robin feels kind of tacked-on, and that he should have just stayed as a good man inspired by Batman. But I like it. Robin is an integral part of the Batman mythos, and in Blake, they found a way to make it not incredibly cheesy. Rather than having an irritating sidekick, we have a nascent hero. To me, this seems like the right kind of "Nolanification" of the Robin character.
Well, it's almost 4:30 in the morning, and there's probably more to say about the movie, but there three characters were the ones I thought deserved the most discussion. The Dark Knight trilogy transcends its genre, and "Rises" completes the trilogy in an exciting, satisfying, and fan-pleasing manner.
The "Dark Knight Trilogy," as they seem to be calling it, achieves something very impressive, which is that it is a series about a superhero that makes you forget that what you're watching is the story built up through decades of comic books, movies, and cartoon shows. Yes, the Bruce Wayne we see in this movie is the very same character who Adam West portrayed in the 60s at the very pinnacle of camp.
Let us remember that the very notion of a "gritty reboot," or at least the current incarnation of the gritty reboot, is thanks to the series' first installment, Batman Begins (special mention goes to Casino Royale, a similar take on the equally campy James Bond series, that came soon afterward, and really codified the gritty reboot movement.) Today, we are inundated by sequels, reboots, and reboots of sequels, and it is quite nauseating, but you have to remember that often the blockbuster movies that give Hollywood these years-spanning obsessions are usually really fucking good. Look at the 80s blockbuster: there was a lot of crap pumped out to fill the seats that pushed out the smaller, more personal work of the New American Cinema. Yet the blockbuster movement began with Jaws and Star Wars, which have stood the test of time (now if only we could actually watch the real Star Wars anymore...)
Anyway, the point is that although Batman Begins was the genesis of the now-tired "gritty reboot," the reason it was able to start such a movement was that it was fucking good. The Dark Knight, bolstered in large part by Heath Ledger's superlative Joker (who I consider to be the very best performance of a supervillain I've ever seen,) surpassed the original.
But this is a review for the Dark Knight Rises. So, you want to know what I thought? Good, possibly better than Batman Begins, but the Dark Knight remains the best of the series (putting it in a strong position for best superhero movie ever.)
Let's break it down:
Bane:
Tom Hardy does a great job taking a second-tier villain (at least from a non-devotee's perspective) and making him truly menacing. I don't actually know much of the canon backstory for Bane, but I get the impression that they basically took the superficial aspects - enormous brawler with an obscured face - and tailored everything else to the film's needs. Bane is beyond fearless. He has transcended his own existence to fully devote himself to the "balance" represented by the League of Shadows.
Oh, and yes, remember those guys? Still a threat, and still quite relevant. Batman represents stability through the enforcement of peace, while the League of Shadows, now lead (or so we think) by Bane, represents the prosecution of upheaval through violence.
Bane exists as the polar extreme opposite the Joker. The Joker is the pure nihilist - the anarchist who wants to see all order undone. While he has henchmen, it is clear that they mean nothing to him. When we first meet the Joker in the Dark Knight, we see him eliminate his accomplices one after the other, in shocking and random ways. And ultimately, he does not do it for any particular reason. There is no way to predict what he is going to do.
Bane is introduced in a very different circumstance, yet he is also ultimately pulling off a heist. And like the Joker, he does effectively kill one of his henchmen. Yet while the Joker is the unpredictable, chaotic force who uses surprise to accomplish his quasi-goals, Bane simply tells one of his men "No, you will stay behind and die." He is totally honest with them, and because they exist within the structure he represents, they accept it willingly. To Bane, everything is a servant to the structure of his society, including himself. Even his fighting style reflects this. He is not an agile ninja, darting about, suddenly jamming peoples' eyes into pencils - he is a heavyweight boxer, who will overwhelm you with honest, brutal power.
If the Joker is the unpredictable chaos of anarchy, Bane is the unrelenting order of fascism.
Catwoman:
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman is fucking awesome. Now, I'll admit, her motivations can come off as a little muddled, but let me see if I can make sense of them. She is a glamorous and insanely badass thief (she is just as good a fighter as Batman,) but her own living situation is quite modest. Despite her crazy lifestyle, her non-super life is one of a "normal person." She's on the run from the law, and uses her skills to try to get away from all of that (pretty vicious cycle there,) and, at least at the beginning, is very self-centered in her actions, even helping the bad guys.
But this is Catwoman we're talking about. She's the only woman who could match Batman, and because of the whole Batman/Catwoman friend/enemy relationship, you know she's going to wind up with the good guys. I read another review that suggested the problem with her character in this is that it seems that Bruce Wayne keeps reminding her she does have the option to be a good guy, and it's only when we absolutely need her that she decides to take him up on it. Still, I think that the motivation is there.
Selina Kyle (we never actually hear her referred to as Catwoman, the only indication really is when she flips up her night-vision goggles they look kind of like cat-ears) is pissed off at how the wealthy live while the other 99% struggle with poverty. She represents that desire to have things overturned, and see a revolution take place. So she has an interest in altruism, even if her lifestyle is very self-interested. Ultimately, the gravity of the threat Bane poses (literally nuking Gotham) gets her to realize that it's those normal, average people who need her help, and that it isn't propping up the decadent upper class to prevent a city full of innocent people from getting nuked.
I have heard that some people see Bane's army as a fairly critical allegory for the Occupy Wall Street folks. Honestly, I think that's a bit of a stretch, and that Catwoman is probably the better representative of that movement. Take that as you will. I don't know what Christopher Nolan's politics are, and I realize that it's common to ascribe your own views to those of artists you like, but I think the movie is meant to resonate with the philosophical movements of the day without making any explicit judgements.
I should also note here that Anne Hathaway's performance was incredibly sexy. I don't just mean that she is hot (I can't imagine that's disputed by many people) or that she wears skimpy catsuits (this is also true,) but there is something about the poise and power with which she played that character that was quite breathtaking for a 26-year old man like myself.
Robin (see, I warned you about spoilers)
There was always an interesting question in Nolan's trilogy: Batman has a very prominent sidekick. In fact, in all of superhero-dom, there is no more iconic superhero sidekick than Robin. Yet he has been absent throughout these films. Robin, of course, is one of those characters who seems to come with a lot of camp. What is a badass Ninja-crimefighter doing with a teenaged kid? Not to mention the mountain of slashfic/pederasty implications people love to bring up.
Supposedly, Christian Bale said that if they every introduced Robin, he would quite playing the role, presumably because of the apparently inherent campiness to the Boy Wonder.
Well, Robin does exist, but they do it really, really sneakily. Throughout the movie, we get to know a tough, badass cop played by the very-not-a-teenager Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Already there's a point in this guy's favor, because Gordon-Levitt is a very good actor.
The cop, Blake, is one of the few people who are really working to track down Bane and his subterranean army in the police department, and when Bane cuts off the city from the outside world, Blake is one of the few resistance fighters in a city where the League is killing any officer who isn't already trapped underground.
Blake earns his keep as a badass hero on his own. He grew into adulthood with Batman as a hero to look up to, and was rescued from a life on the street by the Wayne Foundation's charity, and is the kind of hero cop we wish all cops were like (he nearly gets himself killed trying to convince a more idiotic cop to let some kids evacuate the nuke-threatened city.)
So when Batman appears dead after his Batplane is blown up by the nuke several miles out to sea, Blake finds himself at Wayne Enterprises, and is given a note with coordinates on it. We discover that his real name is John Robin Blake (or maybe Robin John Blake... or something.) Anyway, with Bruce Wayne in faked-death retirement (with Selina, fulfilling Alfred's wish to see Bruce make a life for himself with room for another person) Robin goes to the coordinates and finds the Batcave. The last thing we see is Robin literally rising up into the cave - the mantle is passed, and there's a new Dark Knight.
Robin is actually the fulfillment of Bruce's trilogy-spanning goal. The Batman is supposed to be a symbol, greater than a man, representing the hope for Gotham. With Robin taking up the mantle, that goal is achieved. The Dark Knight is no longer just a man.
Some have said having Blake turn out to be Robin feels kind of tacked-on, and that he should have just stayed as a good man inspired by Batman. But I like it. Robin is an integral part of the Batman mythos, and in Blake, they found a way to make it not incredibly cheesy. Rather than having an irritating sidekick, we have a nascent hero. To me, this seems like the right kind of "Nolanification" of the Robin character.
Well, it's almost 4:30 in the morning, and there's probably more to say about the movie, but there three characters were the ones I thought deserved the most discussion. The Dark Knight trilogy transcends its genre, and "Rises" completes the trilogy in an exciting, satisfying, and fan-pleasing manner.