The Dark Knight Rises

So I began with a post about movies I have seen thus far this summer and had planned to continue with a second post with movies I still wanted to see but had not yet.  Well that plan was side tracked by a little film called The Dark Knight Rises.  So I let the two screenings gestate a week and a half and now am ready to talk a bit about it with as few spoilers as possible for the few of you that have not seen the film yet.

Before I begin I feel I must address the proverbial elephant in the room.  There are twelve souls who only wanted to go out to enjoy a film that no doubt they had been awaiting, and those twelve will never see how The Dark Knight Rises ended or any other film ever again.  The fact that this premeditated act of evil now hangs forever over the families of those murdered, injured and those that escaped that now will never forget that July night that would forever change so many lives.  Peace be with them all and justice be served!

Now let us talk about the Batman.   I have always been a fanboy of DC comics and specifically Superman and Batman.  I can clearly remember the first time I saw the 1978 Superman film and believing that a man could fly.  I also remember being introduced the Batman in the Super Friends cartoon series of my youth.  Then in 1989 when the Tim Burton Batman film starring Michael Keaton was released I was hooked.  Those first four films go from dark (for the times) to more campy and ridiculous than the late 60’s television show.  Then several years passed and Christopher Nolan along with a great cast and crew rebooted the Batman franchise and introduced the world beyond the comics to The Dark Knight.

Jump forward to the final installment in the trilogy The Dark Knight Rises.  It is a perfect close to the series and it is not necessary to see the first two but is helpful beside the fact that they too are fantastic.  Most people see Batman as a comic book movie simply because it has a man in a cape when in actuality these films by Nolan are a cop action drama where the cop just happens to dress in a manner to put fear into the hearts of criminals.  The returning cast of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are fantastic.  The additions of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway as well as Tom Hardy simply take this film over the top.  Many speculated that the inclusion of multiple villain’s would be a detriment as it was for films such as Spider-man 3 or Batman & Robin (which is not to be compared to these Nolan films) but not in Nolan’s Gotham. 

Michael Caine steals the film for me as Alfred Pennyworth as he gives both a heart breaking and yet uplifting performance.  I will admit now that in both screenings my eyes were far from dry as the third rolled and at the same time I was excited to see just what Nolan had in mind for the Dark Knights end.  The film opens just as it’s preceding film did with and introduction to the evil villain who will push the Batman to his limits and beyond.  Bane! That voice is now and forever unmistakable, will be imitated to no end and forever quotable.  Tom Hardy certainly proved that Bane is more than able to break the Batman and you will see that he does just that.  Seeing Batman battle Bane in the light of day was spectacular.   I really do not want to tell you much more as not to give away any plot points.  Just know this is a great film, if you like Batman or not this has something for everyone.  Go see The Dark Knight Rises, it is BatASS!!