Nolan Batman - The Dark Knight Rises

WARNING --- THE BELOW TEXT CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR THE DARK KNIGHT RISES! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE PLOT POINTS OF THE MOVIE, DO NOT READ THIS ENTRY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Opening Thoughts
When I went and saw this movie the first time, I was on-edge. First off, I went in saw in the crappiest IMAX theatre ever, which really irritated me. Second, I went in with the only thought in my mind being there is no way this movie would live up to the hype. And finally, I intentionally didn't rewatch Batman Begins or The Dark Knight because I was afraid it would just show how bad the movie was. Going in this time, I rewatched the previous movies, and I decided to keep a very open mind, trying to be more fair with the movie instead of just trying to nitpick every little thing. So let's see how that went, shall we?

What Works
Christian Bale again does a great job playing both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Bale has a strong connection with these characters, and you can tell he really enjoys playing them, which really makes him shine. There is a clear evolution to both Bruce Wayne and Batman that has taken place over this trilogy, and Bale helpes really bring it to light.

Anne Hathaway gives a stellar performance as Selena Kyle/Catwoman. Another person you can tell really loves her role, she nails the characterizational aspects of the character perfectly. She is able to act innocent, deceptive, and secuctive all within seconds of the same scene, but makes them feel intentional and deliberate.

Tom Hardy is phenomenal as Bane. He gives off a very real sense of danger and is able to reveal a lot of emotion and feeling using only his eyes, since you never see the rest of his face. The voice filter used on Bane makes him a little hard to understand at times (and at others even sound a little silly) but the lines themselves are very good and well put together. He obviously enjoyed bieng in this role and as I have said already twice, that really adds a lot to the character.

Gary Oldman continues to be one of the best parts of the Nolan Films as Commissioner Gordon. Playing the role of a grizzled veteren of streel law enforcement while the city is in a more peaceful time really makes him shine as more and more people come to lean on him, since he's the only one that seems to remember a time when crime was everywhere in Gotham. This is yet another character that is very Well written and very well performed,

Joseph Gordon-Levitt damn near steals the show, however, as Officer Blake/Robin Blake. The amount of energy and spirit his character has turns into a beacon for many of the people in the city, especially once Bane takes over. He is basically an unmasked Batman, fighting with every inch of his body. They are clearly setting him up for a Robin-like role, but never actually put him behind a mask, which I think actually makes him an even stronger character. At the very end they hint that he may take up Batman's cowl, but with Nolan leaving the franchise, it kind of makes me sad to think that we'll never get to see that. I personally think this really sets up the potential for a Batman Beyond movie, but that's just the fanboy in me, I fear.

Michael Caine does a great job playing the humanity side of Batman's equation. When Alfred leaves Bruce to his own devices, it leads to a surprising amount of realization within Bruce's character, as he knows that he is all alone now. While this suits Batman fine, since it elminates the risk of those around him being hurt, he realizes that he already has hurt those around them, or in the case of Rachel, even gotten them killed.

Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate/Talia. This was basically done as a fanservice, I feel. However, Cotillard did a fine job with the role. She really played on the emotions of Bruce Wayne and there was several small bits of foreshadowing that really built up to the turn well. Overall, Cotilliard did a good job as both good and evil when it was her turn to shine.

Morgan Freeman continues to shine as Lucius Fox. But is that really a surprise?

Nolan's writing really shines in this movie. This story tells the end of Batman and there are a lot of parallels with Batman Begins because of this. In all of these movies, Nolan has done a great job of building everything up for the 3rd act of the movie. The last movie in this trilogy, when you think about it, is little more than the 3rd act of Nolan's Batman movies. Everything ties up nice and neat and pretty much every character shows clear evolution. It's a hell of a Gotham that Nolan has helped form in these movies, I certainly hope that DC doesn't just tear it all down for a reboot, and instead tries to continues to evolve the world.

What Doesn't Work
While they don't really detract from the overall experience, there are a few editing decisions that I think could've really helped the flow of the story. For example, after the scene where Gordan, Miranda and the cops are captured by Bane, there is the scene where Bruce Wayne is brought into Wayne Tower by Selena Kyle. But since this scene is supposed to take place before the capture, Miranda is still at the tower. After the scenes with Bruce, we are at the sentencing for Gordon and company with Crane, so the whole placement of Bruce's scenes seem... out of place. I don't think anything would've been lost by having those scenes happen before Miranda joins Gordon on street patrol, so I'm not sure the reasoning. Other minor thing, showing Batman that soon before the bomb goes off when he clearly would've had to ejected way before then, seem like a strange move. I know it was supposed to really make you believe that Batman was dead, but it just made me stop and think, "Wait, if he ejected 5 seconds before the bomb went off, he'd still be dead!" Again, simple thing to fix, but that one I at least understand the reasoning.

The end of Bane was a little weak. I would've much preferred that Batman have been the one to beat Bane, since he really never won a single fight in the movie. He either ran, got beaten up, or was rescued. However, this was in part because of Bruce Wayne's deteriorating health, so I understand this. I understand that Bane was basically just a front for Talia, but I would've rather seen his comuppance really come to light instead of being blown away by Catwoman. Not a huge gripe, since they transioned the primary villian role away from him right before he died, but still a bit of a disappointment.

The plot was really accellerated. Overall, you never really felt too far behind the plot, but there are a couple of times where you kind of lose where you are in terms of timing. This movie almost feels like it would've benefitted from being split into two parts because they could've spent more time building up to the major conflict. The movie really didn't do anything inherently wrong, but it felt a bit jumpy at times. Again, minor gripe.

Closing Thoughts
After doing things right the second time, I can honestly say that The Dark Knight Rises is a very good movie and is an excellent closure to the Nolan Batman Trilogy. The one question everyone seems to want an answer to, however, is whether or not this movie is better than The Dark Knight. That question is not really answerable with a clean yes or no, since this is a different movie in many ways. This movie shares way more in common with Batman Begins, as it is more of a breakdown of the character of Batman both physically and psychologically. The Dark Knight was more of a typical summer blockbuster which focused way more on the characterization of the Joker and Harvey Dent, letting Batman be more of the glue that held the story together. Not that I'm saying there is no character evaluation of Batman, but it does take more of a backseat to the other villians in the movie. The Dark Knight Rises, however, spends much more time focusing on how everything up to this point has changed Bruce Wayne and, in turn, Batman.

As I stated above, there are some things that would keep this from being my favorite in the trilogy, but this is still a really good movie. Also, this movie has taught me a lesson about the right way to approach going to see a movie. Going into any movie with preconcieved notions about how the movie is going to go or about plot points within the movie will just make you jaded and give the movie an unfair rap. Make those distinctions based on what the movie gives you, not because you've been burned by so many movies that you don't trust any of them. Hell, there's probably a lesson about humanity in there somewhere too, but I think that's enough analysis for now. Solid thumbs up, and thanks for bearing with me through these.

Nolan Batman - The Dark Knight

Opening Thoughts
This movie is amazing. This is probably the seventh time watching this movie, and I love it each and every time I pop it into my Blu-Ray player. The movie has fantastic pacing, storytelling, and some great parallels. Lets look at specifically what works and what doesn't.

What Works
Christian Bale shows clear evolution of both Batman and Bruce Wayne which partially comes from Bale becoming more comfortable in the role. You also get a pretty good look into the psychological state that Bruce is in at this point, where there are some fairly obvious cracks in the armor.

Heath Ledger as the Joker is probably the greatest supervillian role of all time. If you have to take a character like the Joker and make him into a real threat, someone who could exist, Ledger did it perfectly. I still think the best comic book representation is Mark Hamill, but that's more of a cartoony version, while Ledger is more of an actual psychopath. Great casting choice, fantastic one liners and spot-on delivery.

Aaron Eckhart was also great as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Really, this story focused primarily on breaking the spirit of Dent until he fulfills his own prophecy. Also, Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne have so many parallels, the conclusion of the movie really is the only way they could've ended. Also, once he fully transformed into Two-Face he became by far the best interpretation of the character I've ever seen.

Michael Caine continues the mentor role and also helps remind Bruce Wayne that the world isn't always in black and white. As stated before, Michael Caine is great in everything, and is one of the best parts of the Nolan Batman movies.

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox is great in this, as he's given a more expanded role than he was in Begins, acting as the face of Wayne Enterprises than just Batman's version of Q.

Gary Oldman continued his evolution and was the glue that held a lot of the story involving Dent together as Jim Gordon. The twist involving his character also was quite surprising and well done, making you even more involved in the character.

Eric Roberts did a good job as Maroni, the replacement for Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone. I don't think he was quite as good as Wilkinson, nor did he have the same role in shaping the overall story, but he played his particular role very well.

As I said, there are some great storytelling elements in this. There are parallels within Michael Caine's story about the jewel thief and the Joker. Parallels between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. Parallels between Batman and the Joker, and ultimately it gives the story a very smooth feeling.

Again, just like Batman Begins, the character of the city itself was a huge factor in this movie and it really brought the world that Nolan created to life. Even random people on the street had a role in the movie, and it helps the audience relate to the terror that the citizens are experiencing feels like.

What Doesn't Work
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachael Dawes. Okay, I know that this seems like cheating, since I did the same thing with Katie Holmes, but I do feel like there is a pretty strong character in Rachel, but neither actress was able to make it work. I do thing that Gyllenhaal put more effort in than Holmes did, but ultimately I don't think it mattered much.

Closing Thoughts
The Dark Knight is the quintessential Batman movie. This is the one people are going to think about for a long time to come when someone talks about Batman, mainly because this is the best told story of them all. Where Batman Begins jumped around a bit with it's storytelling (as I said, it still held together well, despite this) you never feel like you don't know where you are in the story. There is a very clear progression of events and time, which is a nice change of pace after Batman Begins.

Okay, I've looked at the first two Batman movies, so I will be back either on Sunday or Monday with a look at The Dark Knight Rises. Stay tuned: same Bat time, same Bat... blog?

-Justin

Nolan Batman - Batman Begins

Here's the backstory to this post: I went and saw The Dark Knight Rises this past Saturday, but I really am having a hard time determining how I feel about the movie overall. I can definitively say the movie was not bad, but I cannot definitively say the movie was good... I just feel like there are some things bothering me about the movie. What I've decided to do, to help rectify this, is to go back and watch the previous 2 Nolan Batman movies and analyzing what I think works, what I think doesn't work. Also, I'm going to try and keep my thoughts focused on the Nolan Batman movies, because some of my frustrations I think came from conflicts between them and the comics.

I started this off by rewatching Batman Begins, and full-disclosure: this is the first time I've watched the movie since I saw it in theatres. I know my initial thoughts on the movie were that I liked it, but I remember having some reservations about it.

Overall Feelings
I definitely liked this movie more the second time. Taking this in as part of the trilogy really makes this movie stronger. I really think they established how Bruce Wayne became Batman well in this movie, making you understand all the elements that led to this. I liked the movie a lot, so let's look at the elements that worked and didn't.

What Works
Michael Caine gives a tremendous performance as Alfred, really showing a true compassion that helps keep both Bruce Wayne and the audience grounded. He basically is the moral compass, and you can feel the influence from his character even when he's not on screen.

Christian Bale does a great job in both roles, and you can see that he becomes more comfortable with the Batman role throughout the movies, which makes sense.

The story is very well paced and easy to follow, despite having four different points in time that are part of the movie (Bruce's childhood, his confrontation with the mob, his self-imposed exile, his return.) Nolan also uses each scene to help build towards many of the character-defining moments for Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox works really well, as he and Christian Bale both play off each other really well. To be fair, Morgan Freeman is awesome in almost everything.

Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul actually works really well with how they establish the League of Shadows in Nolan's Batman-verse. The League consists of members recruited from many difference cultures and societies, ever growing as the world changes. Also, the statement about Ra's Al Ghul's immortality is handled differently. Where in the comic books, Ra's was actually immortal, in Nolan's world it is a title held by whomever the leader of the League of Shadows is. As I said, this works quite well.

Cillian Murphy as Dr. Johnathan Crane/the Scarecrow is an excellent choice. The way they actually made the Scarecrow work in a realistic environment is awesome and is legitimately freaky. Also, Murphy is just a blast to watch as he plays this role.

Gotham's populace is very much a part of this movie. You constantly see the people everywhere, and you see them interacting with the movie in a variety of ways. It makes the city feel like... well, a city.

Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone is another great casting choice, as his speech he gave to Bruce Wayne in the restaurant was a great example of how to set up the way a character will develop. He clearly enjoyed playing the character, which made it all the more fun.

Gary Oldman as Jim Gordan is fantastic. The way he plays a good cop in the middle of corruption makes his performance feel very genuine. He comes across as an incorruptible good guy who isn't afraid to be unconventional. He also has some great interactions with Christian Bale's Batman throughout, and you can tell they work well together.

The third act is phenomenal. The way everything comes together in the end, the way every plot point actually has an effect on the conclusion, it is exceptional writing from Nolan. There was plenty of tension, the stakes felt high, and everything felt like it was really building up to the confrontation between Batman and Al Ghul.

The revelation of the Joker as the next villain really helped build excitement for the next movie right away, and obviously the pay off was great, but I'll save that for the next movie.

What Doesn't Work
Katie Holmes as Rachael Dawes. She really doesn't have any chemistry with anyone, and she really doesn't seem to be invested in the character. The lines she has are pretty good, but her delivery falls flat in most cases.

The end of the Scarecrow was one of the weaker ends to a supervillian. I get that they established that Rachel carries a taser and I get that Scarecrow isn't a fighter. But, one of the most intimidating and psychological villains in the Batman universe was taken out by being shot in the face by a taser. That's... kind of anticlimactic.

Finch, Rachel's boss and someone they hint might have a romantic attachment (or at least a fatherly attachment) to Rachel is dropped without resolution. Yes, we see him get killed, but it still feels like a dropped (and therefore, unnecessary) plot point. You could just as easily had a generic cop that was checking the manifest get killed off, it would've had the same impact. Minor gripe.

Final Thoughts
As I said, Batman Begins is a really good way to launch into Batman, especially if you've never really seen a Batman movie before. I could get into all kinds of debates about weather Christian Bale was better than Michael Keaton, was Nolan's Batman Begins better than Tim Burton's Batman, but ultimately that's not what I'm focusing on. If you want a really good Batman origin story and a great way to kick off a trilogy, you could sure do a helluva lot worse than this. Solid thumbs up.

We will be back tomorrow looking at The Dark Knight. I'm really looking forward to rewatching it again, so stay tuned!