What is accomplished in The Dark Knight Rises is something that is said by Bruce Wayne during a conversation with his trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in Batman Begins.

People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man I’m flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting.

As Batman, Bruce Wayne has saved the citizens of Gotham from the organization that trained him, The League of Shadows, and a glorified clown terrorist in The Joker. The problem The Dark Knight Rises faces is the payoff. The passing of Heath Ledger curtailed any continuation of The Joker. So Nolan and his writing partners, brother Jonathan and David Goyer, went in a new direction and constructed a scenario where Batman as a symbol could be realized. However, the film’s big ideas and themes are projected more through exposition than emotion. And I’m not sure that The Dark Knight Rises earns its ending.

Picking up eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, which saw district attorney Harvey Dent dead and now honored with his own day of mourning (“Harvey Dent Day”), Bruce Wayne has resigned himself to Howard Hughes status at the newly rebuilt Wayne Manor. When the new villain Bane makes his mark on Gotham, Wayne decides to don his cape and cowl once more. Dismissing the pleas of butler Alfred, a prideful Bruce Wayne fights Bane man to man with the means to stop his growing terrorist operation. But the fight proves fruitless for Wayne, who is no match physically to defeat Bane.

Bane breaks Batman’s back and locks the crippled Bat in an underground prison halfway around the world. Making sure the weaponry found in Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences division doesn’t go to waste, Bane and his crew steal weapons and vehicles, and a fusion reactor turned into a nuclear device. Holding the city captive, Bane, like The Joker, devises his own experiment to see what measures the citizens would take knowing that Gotham City was inescapable. Of course, Gotham’s only hope is the Dark Knight who must first get back in fighting shape. But we don’t see him chasing chickens or running up the steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum a la Rocky. Nope, just a little primitive chiropractic work and a leap of faith to get his mojo back. But will Batman arrive in time to save the city? Well, if it were Adam West as Batman we would find out the answer next week, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

The Dark Knight Rises had everything going for it to make it the greatest finale of an epic trilogy. Strong ideas; fun action sequences; half the cast of Inception (also a Christopher Nolan film); and calling back to the League of Shadows so everything comes full circle. So why does it seem repetitive? Maybe it’s because the Dark Knight has to rise twice. Three times if you count Bruce Wayne being outsmarted by a cat burglar and falling on the floor as a result. But perhaps it is again another reference to Batman Begins.

Alfred to Bruce Wayne: Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

When I wrote my theatrical review back in July I indicated that “The Dark Knight Rises has its share of problems that prevent it from being as iconic as The Dark Knight, but the film will remain that last hurrah giving Nolan’s Batman trilogy superiority over all other superhero movies.” The last installment is far from perfect, but Christopher Nolan’s ability to tap into societal breakdowns with Gotham City as a microcosm for the world is a novel approach. Maybe it’s because Nolan keeps setting the bar so high that we expect greatness all the time. The Dark Knight Rises is good, but I found both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to be more powerful overall.

Warner Home Video’s release of The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray comes as a Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Combo Pack. Inside the case are two Blu-rays (one for the feature film; one for the special features), one DVD, and instructions for accessing your High Definition UltraViolet copy of the film. There are also instructions for downloading the Dark Knight Rises FX HD App, which is already live and features exclusive content when synced with a Blu-ray Disc or digital download version of the film (some portions of the app work regardless of whether or not you have the movie).

Those who don’t already own the first two films, WHV has you covered with The Dark Knight Trilogy, which includes all three films. If you are die hard fans of the series, Best Buy is the exclusive retailer of a steelbook release of The Dark Knight Rises that includes an extra featurette not found on the standard Blu-ray.

Note: Next year Warner Bros. will release The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

Sizing up the video and audio, The Dark Knight Rises has a near-perfect HD encode that swaps between 2.40:1 and 1.78:1 aspect ratios in an attempt to mirror the film’s original IMAX presentation. Wally Pfister’s cinematography is gold and looks fantastic on Blu-ray. The IMAX footage is reference quality material to make your friends envious of your LED, LCD, Plasma, or Projector set-up.

If you live in an apartment complex and want to wake the neighbors, the aggressive 5.1 DTS-HD MA track will do the trick. As impressive as the film is visually, the audio is just otherworldly. People who complained about Bane’s manipulated voice when the film’s original six-minute IMAX trailer premiered with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol thanked their lucky stars when the film finally arrived and the voice was decipherable. However, I think Bane’s voice has been further altered for the home video release, because it is definitely one of the audio’s biggest highlights. The rest of the dialog is just as clear.

The individual sound effects and music score are discernable in surround sound creating a very immersive experience. And bass-lovers are going to love the rumble. Just skip to the football stadium sequence and feel the room shake. Definitely one of the best 5.1 soundtracks I’ve heard.

If it’s extras you are interested in, the Blu-ray release is the only way to go. Warners has made the supplements exclusive to the high-def release. Judging from the back cover you might think the disc is lacking in special features, but that is further from the truth.

Already mentioned is The Dark Knight Rises FX HD App. Since I don’t have an iPhone or iPad this feature is lost on me, but apparently you can take an image of yourself and plaster across the different posters used to promote the film.

The Batmobile (58:17). Everything you wanted to know about Batman’s favorite means of transportation but were afraid to ask. The hour-long documentary includes interviews with directors Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, and Joel Schumacher, plus other artists, writers, editors, and even some fans make up history of all versions of the Batmobile. An interesting watch for fans that wish they could drive Batman’s wheels.

Ending The Knight, isn’t a singular documentary but allows the viewer to access multiple featurettes covering the making of The Dark Knight Rises, particularly the production, the characters and reflections.

Production. Includes the following:

The Prologue: High Altitude Hijacking (7:52)
Return to the Batcave (3:37)
Beneath Gotham (2:34)
The Bat (11:08)
Batman vs. Bane (6:07)
Armory Accepted (3:19)
Gameday Destruction (6:44)
Demolishing a City Street (4:15)
The Pit (3:04)
The Chant (5:19)
Race to the Reactor (7:52)

Characters. Gives us a deeper look at Bruce Wayne, Bane and Catwoman.

The Journey of Bruce Wayne (8:53)
Gotham’s Reckoning (10:05)
A Girl’s Gotta Eat (9:26)

Reflections. In this last section we look at the problems with shooting in a large format (ahem, IMAX) and ultimately finishing the trilogy.

Shadows & Light in Large Format (5:37).
The End of a Legend (9:04)

Rounding out the extras we have the Trailer Archive (8:35), which contains four trailers, and a Print Campaign Art Gallery.

The Dark Knight Rises is an epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of Batman. However, because the bar was raised so high with The Dark Knight, a film that could make the argument as the best film of the 2000s, this one falls short, lacking the same balance of character, plot and emotion. As a Blu-ray, the video transfer is luscious and the audio is thunderous and dynamic. The supplements are strong as well, with a neat documentary on the various Batmobiles and many featurettes on the making of The Dark Knight Rises. Even fans of the first two installments that felt the conclusion lacking the Blu-ray is recommended for the demo potential alone. If you’re not a fan of the franchise, then anything I’ve written above probably won’t sway you see the trilogy now.


Warner Home Video presents The Dark Knight Rises. Directed by: Christopher Nolan. Written by: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, based on characters created by Bob Kane. Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Running time: 164 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released: December 4, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/The-Dark-Knight-Bruc-120×120.jpg

Based off the novel 13 Flowers of Nanjing by Geling Yan, The Flowers of War is a fictitious account of true events that happened during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The film takes place in and around a church in Nanjing, which was supposed to be viewed as neutral ground in the surrounding battle between the Japanese and Chinese, and a safe haven for the innocents within. Inside the church, a group of convent girls and George (Huang Tianyuan), the young adopted son of the former priest, all do what they can to try and get through each day. Soon, an American mortician named John Miller (Christian Bale) arrives to complete his assigned duty of burying the former priest. Since the children can’t pay him, Miller decides to take solace in the priest’s large, comfy room, while drowning away his worries in the alcohol that he quickly sniffs out.

Not long after, a group of prostitutes from the Red Light District of Nanjing arrive at the gate, demanding to be let in. When refused entry by George, they take matters into their own hands, climb over the wall and open the gate themselves. The young girls inside are enamored by the beauty and actions of these women, though that quickly changes for some when certain living arrangements (such as bathroom use) come into play. Of course, Miller is excited by the prospects their new guests bring to the table. But when he finds himself in the position of having to protect both parties from an incoming attack of women-hungry Japanese soldiers, he realizes the true horror of the situation they’re in, and begins to plan a way to get them all to safety before it’s too late.

While The Flowers of War is a beautifully shot film, with fantastic cinematography, and fantastic set-pieces, it can get incredibly hard to watch at times. The film is absolutely unrelenting when it comes to the amount of violence it shows on screen, and I’m not just talking about soldiers being shot and killed, as that’s something we expect to see when entering a war-based film. No, the violence I’m speaking of is that of women and children being killed on screen, with no punches being pulled by the filmmaker whatsoever. This will likely turn some viewers off, as it’s absolutely heart-wrenching to watch; however, it’s done because that’s how it is, war is brutal and that’s what we see, and the film’s themes and story are stronger because of it.

Yimou’s direction is truly astonishing, as his vision to bring this story to life in such a dramatic and realistic way really helps give the film the emotional punch needed to show the true bravery, and heroics of the characters involved. There’s a constant sense of tension, as Yimou constantly switches back between incoming threats and explosions to more character driven moments at the drop of a hat. He also does a good job of telling the story through the eyes of one of the 13 year-old girls, whose curiosity keeps her in the mix of pretty much everything.

The Flowers of War is, of course, a story about these young girls and the women from the Red Light District, and not about John Miller – even though he arguably plays the central character in the film. The true story that this film is based off of is from the accounts of Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary who ran a girl’s college in Nanjing during this time. While a female could have been placed in the role, the contrast of having a male in the lead not only helps balance the story somewhat, it also broadens the mass appeal of the film, which I’m sure was also a leading factor in the decision. There was also a German man by the name of John Rabe who helped shelter 200,000 Chinese from slaughter during this time, so the character of John Miller could very well be a mix of both Vaurtin and Rabe set inside this story.

The acting in this film is actually quite extraordinary, considering almost all of the Chinese actresses in the film had absolutely no experience before making this movie. Before I was even aware of this, I thought that the job done by the women in this film was incredibly strong, especially considering the harsh tone the film constantly forced upon them throughout. Bale is also fantastic, and a wonderful anchor for these novice actresses to play off of. He has several scenes where he’s just a demanding presence, and really showcases his abilities on screen, and if anything, his star status will help get this story seen by people that may have otherwise passed it by.

The Flowers of War is the most expensive film ever to come from China, and in my opinion, they got their money’s worth. The film is visually stunning, and also absolutely heart-wrenching; however, it’s an important story to tell. So often the focus is purely on the main events of the major wars, so it’s good to know that this lesser known story is out there so that people can learn of the heroism, bravery and honour of those involved.

The video transfer to Blu-ray is fantastic, with rich colours highlighting the aspects Yimou was going for, while the earthy, dull, war-torn look and feel of the city surrounding the church really give off a sense of hopelessness and destruction. The audio is also superbly transferred, with clean sound effects really bringing certain parts of the picture to life, and a beautifully composed soundtrack that really stand out and hits all the right emotional chords.

The special features are a behind-the-scenes look that’s broken up into four parts. It’s a bit roughly edited; however, it gives a good look into the filmmaking process that Yimou went through, and how much pressure he felt with this massive production being on his shoulders.

The Birth of The Flowers of War – This featurette comes in at just over 21 minutes in length, and sees Yimou talking about the creation of the project, and how it took years to figure out how to bring it to life properly. There’s also a quick montage of the creation of the church, and the surrounding broken city, which was all built on 250 acres of land in China and shot on location.

Meeting Christian Bale – This featurette runs at just over 16 minutes in length, and focuses primarily on what the cast and crew thought of Bale, and his work ethic on set. Yimou mainly talks about how Bale helped in the English translation of the English speaking lines (which were roughly 40% of the film’s dialogue) so that they came off sounding more natural, while also just being a pleasure to work with, never delivering the same performance take after take. There are a few pieces of an on-set interview with Bale, though the audio is horrible and it’s hard to make out what he’s saying. Luckily there are a few subtitles even for his lines, which helps out a bit.

The Newborn Stars – This featurette is just over 22 minutes in length and it shows just how novice the actresses in the film were when they started. Most, if not all of them had never been in a film production before, and it’s funny to hear them talk about how they don’t know what a “mark” is, or why the microphone has fur all over it.

Hard Time During War – This featurette is a bit over 20 minutes in length, and is basically a look at some of the war scenes shot in the street outside the church. It’s an interesting watch, and we see how Yimou wants perfection from his cast and crew, take after take. It looks as though it was a grueling shoot, though it paid off in the end.

Perfection of Light and Colour – This featurette runs at just under 14 minutes in length, and is mainly about the stain glass window which plays an important part in producing the colours Yimou is going for in certain shots.

The Flowers of War is definitely one of the most heart-wrenching war films I’ve seen in a long time, and while I highly recommend it, it’s understandable that there are many who won’t be able to handle it. It’s a beautifully shot film that tells a story based on true events that people should know about, and Yimou and the rest of the cast and crew should be proud of the film they created.

Lionsgate presents The Flowers of War. Directed by: Zhang Yimou. Written by: Heng Liu. Starring: Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe, Cao Kefan, Shigeo Kobayashi, Huang Tianyuan, Han Xiting, Zhang Doudou. Yuan Yangchunzi, Sun Jia, Li Yuemin, Bai Xue, Takashi Yamanaka. Running time: 143 minutes. Rating: R. Released: August 14, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.


http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/flowers_war-e1346187910337-120×120.jpg

First, we had the senseless shooting rampage in Colorado at the film debut of The Dark Knight Rises.

Now, this past Sunday, there was a senseless shooting rampage in Wisconsin by another crazed gunman at a place of worship, a temple of the peaceful Sikh faith. Up-to-date information available at Time.com.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of those killed in Wisconsin and I pray for a speedy recovery to those injured. I also continue to mourn with those impacted by the Colorado shootings.

Tragic. Sad.

This week’s Demythify column is a potpourri edition tackling bits about The Dark Knight Rises, Total Recall, and NASA’s current Mission to Mars.

And, fear not, I’ll be explaining why it makes sense to include these two films in the same column.

Read on…

The Dark Knight Rises Novelization Answers Key Question?

Since The Dark Knight Rises hit theatres and marked the end of Director Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale‘s work with the franchise, questions have been raised about whether Warner Bros. will reboot the movie franchise or continue the Dark Knight continuity. The discussion about a The Dark Knight Rises movie sequel gained more ground based on the ending of the film.

Not sure if I need a spoiler warning, but I did include one in the title of this column.

Anyhow, in it, ex-Detective John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose real name is Robin John Blake, is guided to the Batcave behind the waterfall. There is no dialogue or exposition in the movie scene. That left many to wonder whether Blake would become Batman, Nightwing or Robin. It also led to a debate whether a sequel featuring Blake in a lead role could or would be next.

The possibilities, teases, and words of the creative team were dissected and led to heated online chatter.

With all that, it would appear that the official The Dark Knight Rises novelization penned by acclaimed writer Greg Cox for Titan Books, enhances that movie scene with some interesting internal monologue by John Blake. He is in the Batcave contemplating the future.

The bats were everywhere, screeching in the dark. [John] Blake crouched defensively as their wings and bodies swirled around him like a living cyclone. An instinctive sense of panic bubbled up inside him, but he forced it back down.

He knew why [Bruce] Wayne brought him here.

Bats were more than symbols of fear. In Gotham, they had come to stand for hope and justice and a legend that was bigger than just one man. A hero who could be anyone. He raised his head as the bats welcomed him to their abode.

He rose and was swallowed up by the darkness of their wings.

It would appear that the definative intention of Christopher Nolan’s ending for The Dark Knight Rises film would have Robin John Blake assuming the cowl of the Batman. Will this see the light of day on film? I hope so, but it seems unlikely. What does seem likely is that a John Blake as Batman could be continued in novel and/or comic book form. DC Comics is doing this kind of thing already with Smallville Season 11 – following the TV series characters post finale – as an online comic first and print comic too.

Time will tell, but I certainly hope to experience the next chapter in John Blake’s pop culture existence somewhere. I also think he’d be a great addition to the Batman Family – in costume or not – as part of the DC Comics Relaunch’s New 52.

Interestingly, beyond the enhancement of that John Blake / Batcave scene, the novel also alludes to the Joker as has been reported across the internet. The novel noted the following.

The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumour had it, was locked away as Arkham’s sole remaining inmate.

Or perhaps he escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina [Kyle].

Despite the tragedy surrounding Joker actor Heath Ledger’s death, his interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime could return to any John Blake as Batman adventure in novel or comic book form, with a silver screen return unlikely.

Total Recall 2012, 1990 and the TV Prequel – Does Mars Matter?

I just watched the Total Recall: Ultimate Rekall Edition on Blu-Ray. I remember why I enjoyed the film when I saw it 20 or so years ago. We get sci-fi and action, the latter in a way that only Arnold Schwarzeneggar and director Paul Verhoeven of Robocop can deliver. It was also nice exeriencing actress Sharon Stone in her prime dishing out action and exuding massive amounts of sexiness.

What got me as well was how integral to the movie plot the planet Mars was for the 1990 film. In fact, the TV series that spun-off from the movie – the TV series was a prequel set in 2070 (actually called Total Recall: 2070) while the film was set in 2084 – also had a core element of it being Mars.

Why is this a concern in 2012?

Well, Total Recall’s 2012 installment by Director Len Wiseman does NOT involve Mars at all! In Total Film #196 magazine, Wiseman notes the below as it relates to his initial reading of the new Total Recall’s script.

“I was like, ‘Holy Sh*t, if it doesn’t go to Mars, then what’s happening?’ I was turning the pages so fast that by the time I got done, I was almost leaving the offices going, ‘Call my agents, I have to do this.’”

I haven’t seen the new Total Recall movie yet, but it is on agenda for this week. Since my wife and I enjoyed the Blu-Ray edition of the 1990 film, we’re both intrigued by what a Mars-less Recall film would be like. Plus, for me, I have enjoyed Wiseman’s Underworld films, so his sci-fi / fantasy geek credentials are established for me.

In the new film, Colin Farrell plays the role(s) of bored blue-collar grunt Douglas Quaid who, after a Rekall memory vacation mishap, believes he is a former spy Hauser. And, as the tag lien of the film goes, the whole raison d’etre of the film is to determine: “What is Real? What is Rekall?”.

Farrell’s Quaid is married to Lori, played by Kate Beckinsale, whose character in the original film was an enemy spy who becomes at odds with Quaid / Hauser after his Rekall mishap.

The third wheel in this relationship is Jessica Biel‘s Melina who was a love interest for Quaid’s Hauser personality and whose character in the earlier film was part of revolutionary forces against a politico businessman Cohaagen, played in the 2012 film by Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston.

Actress Kate Beckinsale describes the new film and the absence of Mars in the film as noted below.

“That was one of the things we made differently from the original… Arnold [Schwarzeneggar] and Sharon [Stone] have this extremely sexy marriage that seems, like, why would anyone need a mission to Mars when you have that? We wanted to give more of a sense of two people who were nor in love.”

And, to ensure that lumping Total Recall and The Dark Knight Rises together in one column can make some sense to you, below is how actress Jessica Biel describes 2012′s Total Recall film with particular attention to a more significant political backdrop than the original film.

“I feel kind of what [Christopher] Nolan did for Batman, Len [Wiseman] is doing for Total Recall.”

Big props and bigger comparisons indeed!

I’m intrigued by Cranston’s Cohaagen, who is the head of Euromerica in the new film not the Mars colony the character led in the original film, and other supporting actors that pop up in the 2012 Total Recall offering: John Cho as a Rekall employee McClane, Bill Nighy as rebel leader Matthias and Ethan Hawke in a cameo as a scientist.

I’m glad I saw the original film recently, in advance of my viewing of the new film iteration this week. I may have to pull out my Philip K. Dick anthology to see how integral the source material, his “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” short story, is to the new and old Total Recall films.

While Mars may be absent from Total Recall’s 2012 film edition, it is interesting on the same weekend that the film debuts, NASA was planning on landing a rover on the red planet!

NASA’s 2012 Mars Mission!

Total Recall 2012′s loss is NASA’s gain?

In November 2011, NASA sent the rover Curiosity on its mission to Mars. The last status update, as of the writing of this column, from NASA on their mission was as follows:

Curiosity Closes in on its New ‘Home’
Sat, 04 Aug 2012 07:20:24 PM EDT

With Mars looming ever larger in front of it, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and its Curiosity rover are in the final stages of preparing for entry, descent and landing on the Red Planet at 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). Curiosity remains in good health with all systems operating as expected. Today, the flight team uplinked and confirmed commands to make minor corrections to the spacecraft’s navigation reference point parameters. This afternoon, as part of the onboard sequence of autonomous activities leading to the landing, catalyst bed heaters are being turned on to prepare the eight Mars Lander Engines that are part of MSL’s descent propulsion system. As of 2:25 p.m. PDT (5:25 p.m. EDT), MSL was approximately 261,000 miles (420,039 kilometers) from Mars, closing in at a little more than 8,000 mph (about 3,600 meters per second).

At the time of the writing of this column, the results on the landing were not known.

For updates on the NASA mission, check out their dedicated official webpage here.

For those of you that will stay up late into Monday morning and want to watch history in action, NASA will be streaming live here.

UPDATED (2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time)

It looks like the Curiosity Rover landed in the Gale Crater as planned. Below are the first two images from 2012′s Mars landing released by NASA!

Congratulations to the fine folks at NASA for a job well done! Anything is possible.

Staying Connected

For my contact information, please see my profile below “related articles”.

Please follow me on twitter and kindly friend me at Facebook too.

BabosScribe is the handle.

The weekend box office figures will not be available until later on Monday. This is unusual as studios like to get their bragging rights in early over the course of the weekend. All studios have agreed to forgo box office sales figures over the weekend in a virtual weekend of silence to honor the lives lost in Colorado. The Dark Knight Rises movie appears on pace to surpasss $161 million, but we’ll know the exact weekend box office hauls later on Monday.

The shooting tragedy also appears to be causing changes to be made to the September debuting Gangster Squad period piece starring Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn.

While the developments and the ending of The Dark Knight Rises is postioned as an ending by the director and lead actor in the film, it certainly sets the stage for more offerings in this cmovue continuiy. Please note that there are SPOILERS for The Dark Knight Rises all through this week’s Demythify column.

In the Entertainment Weekly #1216, the July 20, 2012 edition, The Dark Knight Rises Director Christopher Nolan and Batman / Bruce Wayne actor Christian Bale make their own views known. Whether this is also the studio’s and DC Entertainment’s remain to be seen.

In addition to talking about where the movie starts and Heath Ledger’s Joker, they also talked about the inevitable Batman movie franchise reboot after the final part of the Nolan / Bale Dark Knight trilogy (likely something more akin to the DC Comics Relaunch’s New 52?).

Christopher Nolan had this to say:

The director insists that Rises marks his final descent into the Batcave, and that he’d have no problem with Warner Bros… rebooting the franchise with another helmer. “I loved doing these movies, but you can’t be creatively greedy about it,” says Nolan, who is one of the producers on director Zack Snyder’s new Superman movie, Man of Steel. “It’s time to move on.”

Christian Bale, portraying Bruce Wayne and Batman, when asked whether it would be difficult to watch another actor play Batman on the silver screen that this to day:

“No, no, no. That wouldn’t be hard. I’m going to have to do it with Batman. They’re going to rejuvinate it soon, and I’ll have to be watching someone else play it. I’ll be fascinated to see which way they go, which choices that actor takes.”

Clearly very classy and professional responses from both.

However, the ending of The Dark Knight Rises does leave a lot open for another director and lead actor to continue the “Dark Knight” adventures. The movie ending does pose interesting questions for the future about Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Detective John Blake – a character new to Batman lore who has not been in any of the comics in any role let alone a prominent one. The film ends with him in the Batcave after earlier in the movie discerning that Batman and Bruce Wayne were one in the same – a la Tim Drake’s pre-Flashpoint discovery. (For the uninitiated, in the comics Tim Drake was Batman’s third Robin behind Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, but in the DC Comics New 52 Relaunch he was not Robin, just Red Robin, while Dick and Jason evolved from their Robin roles are still the adult Nightwing and Red Hood respectively.)

Also, other fanboy moments in the Dark Knight Rises include the potential for Damian Wayne to be born – Batman and Talia Al’ Ghul’s son – and current Robin the Batman comics. Since Ra’s Al Ghul – the head of the League of Shadows in the movie and League of Assassins in the comics – had access to a Lazarus Pit that could make him virtually immortal, something like Talia’s percieved death in the Dark Knight Rises may be fleeting if she were to be immersed in the pit and brought back to life.

Lastly, with Bruce Wayne travelling the world with Selina Kyle, a Huntress movie move would be cool. In the comics Helena Kyle Wayne is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman on Earth 2. The Huntress appears in her own monthly comic book series called Worlds’ Finest alongside Power Girl (the Supergirl of Earth 2) stranded on the main DC Comics Earth with its mightiest and most recognizable heroes including Batman, Superman, the Justice League and more.

For a director and actor who insist this Dark Knight film was the last in a trilogy, DC Entertainment has several choices ahead. Continue with a new Batman in a reboot more akin to the DC Comics Relaunch’s New 52 version, or stick with an older Dark Knight Batman, or feature a futuristic heroine in Huntress, or a brand new Batman/Robin/Nightwing with John Blake under the mask.

Reboot or continuation or both?

All that said, I am curious about what form that Batman movie “reboot” or “rejuvination” as mentioned by Nolan and Bale would take.

A big “thank you” to Nolan, Bale and team for making Batman deadly cool and righting the Batman movie ship that began sinking the moment Michael Keaton left the role.

The Demythify column appears weekly on Mondays. For more Demythify click here. Thanks for reading. All feedback welcome.

Staying Connected

For my contact information, please see my profile below “related articles”.

Please follow me on twitter and kindly friend me at Facebook too.

BabosScribe is the handle.

In terms of cinema, the first decade of the twenty-first century may be looked back on as the decade where the action film was replaced by the superhero movie. Stars of the ‘80s through the mid-‘90s like Jean-Claude Van Damme would become direct-to-video fodder only to be replaced by characters in snug-fitting spandex with superhuman powers. The decade would see no less than 35 movies come to theaters that were based on a published comic of some kind. X-Men may have started the decade, but the big push for superhero movies began with the success of Spider-Man. Little did we know then that a filmmaker, whose greatest achievement at the time was from a movie told in reverse, would elevate the genre to such remarkable heights.

When Christopher Nolan was hired in January 2003 to direct Warner Bros.’ fifth live-action Batman film he did so with the intent to give audiences a proper origins story of the famed Caped Crusader. Mining more than sixty years worth of Batman’s exploits from comics, Batman Begins would give audiences a better understanding of just who The Batman is and the motivation behind his actions. Nolan would follow it up with The Dark Knight four years later, a film so profound that it didn’t just make waves in Hollywood it made tsunamis. The sequel was a watershed moment, or a game-changer if you prefer that buzzword. He could have walked away after the sequel; it ended in resounding fashion, seeing The Batman ride off, not into the sunset, but into the darkness.

However, the release of The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, sees the filmmaker continue to utilize sleight of hand before revealing the truth. In some respects his trilogy bares resemblance to the three acts of the magic trick as depicted in his film The Prestige. With Batman Begins Nolan gave us a man who became more than a man. One who could move in shadow and dispatch his opponents stealthily. The sequel took what worked so well and made it something extraordinary only to see the masked vigilante of Gotham City disappear. But the third act, or the final chapter in this case, involves bringing him back – one last ah-ha moment to instill a lasting impression on the audience.

The Dark Knight Rises comes full circle to complete the origin that began eight years ago. As a standalone it is a strong film, but would feel incomplete without the two previous entries. It would be like watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two having not seen any of the others and wondering why Ralph Fiennes, as a weirded-out magical albino with a bad nose job, wants to kill some kid who looks to have had a run in with Zorro’s blade.

Viewing The Dark Knight Rises as the finale of a trilogy is the best way to look at the material. Trilogies are always tricky, and have far too often led audiences to risk instead of reward. This is especially true in superhero movies. But Nolan’s creation is a different animal. As the finale of a trilogy, the film is comparable to what George Lucas did with Star Wars (well, the original trilogy – back when “the Force” didn’t need to be explained as someone having a high Midi-chlorian level) and Peter Jackson’s success with The Lord of the Rings.

Christopher Nolan as a filmmaker isn’t one to tread lightly on dark material, often giving audiences moral quagmires that feel like intellectual landmines. And his ambiguous conclusions – like the spinning top in Inception or the open-endedness of Memento – are a welcomed change to the happy endings we have come to expect. Instead of dumbing down Nolan is smartening up audience expectations when it comes to mainstream cinema. The arrival of The Dark Knight Rises comes as we see our country overrun with movements (be it occupational or the tea-serving variety) and with a system of government that continues to live up to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” And yet we always keep falling for the new boss.

The Dark Knight may go down as the most revered of the three films, presented as an epic crime saga but with comic-book characters (and a theme that echoes the turbulent times in a post-9/11 world), but The Dark Knight Rises has a greater relevance to our current state of affairs. We as a society are content to be lazy, docile creatures that take what life gives us. As we work forty-hour weeks in order to buy things we don’t need, allowing ourselves to be susceptible to a stilted perception of quality of life, our infrastructure continues to rot. The greediness of a select few has caused instability from below, to the point where the support begins to give way and everything falls. Without proper sustainability and stable ground the children of today may be stuck with no options, unable to cross the suspension bridge to a town called Hope, instead having to stare intently at the no man’s land that is their future.

The wasteland I describe is evident in the film, as the City of Gotham becomes the playground for Bane, a mercenary for hire that is distinguishable by his Hannibal Lector-inspired facemask and Darth Vader-esque cadence. Tom Hardy plays the villain but you wouldn’t notice it’s him at first. While Hardy plays a formidable adversary, he comes at a disadvantage following Heath Ledger’s masterful performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Whereas The Joker was about madness and lunacy, Bane is about brutality and force of will. Our Caped Crusader is at a substantial disadvantage – Bane is just too powerful – so when Gotham’s silent guardian finally does save the day it is in resounding fashion.

The story is eight years removed from the events surrounding the death of district attorney Harvey Dent, a white knight in legal briefs. Or so the citizens of Gotham are led to believe. Millionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) sacrifices his alter ego’s cape and cowl so that the city could have a better future. But it is a future built on a lie concocted by The Batman and put into practice by Commissioner Gordon with the passage of the Dent Act, a piece of legislation that put an end to organized crime.

Bruce Wayne, here depicted as a hobbled hermit dweller not unlike real-life millionaire Howard Hughes, is content to live out his remaining years at the famed Wayne Manor (fully rebuilt after being burned to smithereens in Batman Begins) without much face-to-face interaction. While the still hobbled after eight years is a hard sell, considering Wayne has enough money to make himself the six million dollar man if he wanted to, we basically have the Dark Knight as an aging pugilist who has taken off his gloves feeling physically incapable to go one more round. Needless to say, he does put on the suit again and in the process goes on to justify a signature line spoken in The Dark Knight.

Living high on the hog away from the Gothamites Bruce Wayne is still able to see the misery that exists in the citizens. But the solution isn’t as easy as writing a check or starting a scholarship fund. Batman must come back. More than that, Batman must live as an extension from Bruce Wayne the man. So Wayne must be destroyed. And just like the City of Gotham, the old money millionaire is outsmarted and outmatched, before eventually being carried to a secluded location where he can begin his final transformation to become something more than a man. To become the legend he was meant to become.

Fans of the famed DC Comics hero may find fault with Christopher Nolan and his interpretation. While I contend that The Dark Knight Rises isn’t the story he originally wanted to tell, as Heath Ledger’s untimely death nixed the possibility of Batman matching wits with The Joker again, he does his best to present the audience with a rewarding story that completes a saga. That’s not to say the film is devoid of problems. There are moments where the narrative becomes too much with too much exposition and ancillary characters (feeling like Batman and the Inception All-Stars at times), and trivial things to nitpick.

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the trivial, though the passage of time is a glaring concern as is Bruce Wayne’s return to the city after being in a secluded location far removed from Gotham, or even a busting metropolis like Metropolis.

Fortunately, audiences will be treated to some strong acting, even for roles that looked to have been introduced with little rhyme or reason. Planting my tongue firmly in cheek, Anne Hathaway’s cat burglar Selina Kyle is simply purrfect. She again proves that you shouldn’t take a casting decision at face value alone. (Remember the reactions people had when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker?) Though she is never referred to as Catwoman the audience knows better. Kyle gets the better of Wayne on more than one occasion and acts as a moral compass unsure if she wants to go right or wrong. Given some of the better one-liners in the film, Hathaway makes an impression, cutting a figure so slim it’s easy for her to get the better of her male counterpart marks.

Morgan Freeman is still having fun as Bruce Wayne’s tech-guy Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon provides an interesting study in character. Having been seen as a sergeant, lieutenant and police commissioner in the span of three films, Gordon is a morally conflicted man, having held true to lamenting Harvey Dent each year on the anniversary of his death knowing full well that his police record as commissioner is built on a lie. His determination for a better Gotham has led to his wife divorcing him and taking the kids to live in Cleveland. The city is all he has left. She was his mistress and they are both still dirty.

By far the best standout of the old regime is Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne’s trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth. There is one scene where Caine and Bale share a tête-à-tête inside the manor that may be troublesome to comic-book readers who hold their relationship in high regard, but it is an intimately profound conversation that only helps Wayne in his transformation.

Marion Cotillard plays Miranda Tate, a member of the Wayne Enterprises executive board, who also may be a friend with benefits for Mr. Wayne. Her role looks to be a throwaway, but why waste a throwaway role on an Oscar winner? That question is answered eventually. You just need to have patience.

By the time The Dark Knight Rises reaches its conclusion it leaves us with wanting more. That’s a compliment. But Christopher Nolan is done. He wraps everything up, slaps a bow on it, and calls it a day. I’m done telling my story, now it’s somebody else’s turn.

The Dark Knight Rises has its share of problems that prevent it from being as iconic as The Dark Knight, but the film will remain that last hurrah giving Nolan’s Batman trilogy superiority over all other superhero movies. And it may never be supplanted.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan based on characters created by Bob Kane
Notable Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman

http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dark_knight_rises_ver2-120×120.jpg

Media is also reporting that Warner Bros. may in fact be considering changing the pivotal scene in the actual film before its September 7th debut.

Gangster Squad is described as follows:

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and—if he has his way—every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop…except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

Under the direction of Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”), “Gangster Squad” is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time. The film stars Oscar® nominees Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “True Grit”) and Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “Drive”) as the LAPD’s Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters, and Academy Award® winner Sean Penn (“Milk,” “Mystic River”) as real-life mobster Mickey Cohen. The film also stars Oscar® nominee Nick Nolte (“Warrior,” “Affliction”) as LAPD Chief “Whiskey Bill” Parker, and Emma Stone as Grace Faraday, Cohen’s moll and the object of Wooters’ attention.

More on that film can be found on their official website.

Staying Connected

Please see my profile below “related articles”.

Please follow me on twitter and kindly friend me at Facebook too.

BabosScribe is the handle.

For well over a year now I’ve tried to accomplish an almost impossible task in this day and age, and that was to avoid any and all things related to The Dark Knight Rises. That’s right, no trailers, no TV spots, no Internet stories (all 15 billion of them), and no on-set pictures; hell, I never even looked up a simple tagline. Nothing. I don’t know how I did it, but somehow I did. All I knew was that Bane and Catwoman were in it (as if that could be avoided), but other than that I went in completely blank, unprepared in any way for what I was about to see. And what I ended up witnessing was the conclusion of one of the greatest trilogies ever created done to perfection.

Director Christopher Nolan has created a film that will blow away any and all expectations that anyone could have going in, as there’s simply no better way that he could have wrapped up this epic tale of the legend known as Batman. A saying began a while back that goes, “In Nolan we trust,” as his legions of fans have come to realize that whatever he chooses to do, he does for a reason. Even if a certain casting decision may not make sense to the fans of the comic books, or even fans of the previous films, they take a deep breath and realize that nobody knows what they’re doing better than Nolan right now – and he proves it once again with The Dark Knight Rises.

Nolan and his brother Jonathan (with a story credit also going to Batman Begins co-writer David S. Goyer, who’s helped shape the trilogy in a story capacity) have created a story that brings their tale of Bruce Wayne full circle in the best way possible. The story goes back to its roots, as Wayne must rediscover himself in this film in order to combat the evil that threatens to destroy Gotham once and for all. The structure to the story is fairly balanced, with a slower build leading into an epic climax that rivals that of The Avengers. That’s all I’ll say about the story, as there’s not much more I can talk about without spoiling even a fragment of this masterpiece. In short, this is a film is an experience, and it’s one that must be seen (especially in IMAX, if possible) in order to be fully appreciated.

One of the most vital aspects to this experience is the fantastic musical score by composer Hans Zimmer. His music for this series hasn’t been recognized by the Academy as of yet, but that will likely change, as his score adds so many epic layers to almost every scene that the movie wouldn’t be the same without it. Then again, I thought Alan Silvestri deserved to be nominated last year for Captain America: The First Avenger, and that didn’t happen, so maybe I don’t know what they’re looking for in the music category.

Major credit must also be given to the special effects team, set designers, sound department, cinematography, editing; honestly, the entire production crew deserves any and all accolades that this film will receive as they’ve all done a fantastic job creating a Gotham City that actually feels like it exists somewhere in the United States. Doing such a wonderful job at this helps make the film that much more engrossing, as everything that happens within Gotham feels that much more real.

On the acting side of things, all the major players are back, and they all bring their A-game. Christian Bale returns once again as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and as both Nolan and Bale have stated, this is the last time they’ll work on a Batman film. While it’s understandable after so many years, it’s still sad to see Bale go, as he truly is the definitive Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Also returning are: Michael Caine, as Wayne’s butler and guardian Alfred; Morgan Freeman as the always entertaining go-to man for gadgets, Lucius Fox; and Commissioner Gordon himself, Gary Oldman. These three have done their roles proud throughout this series, and each give wonderful final performances this time out, which is no surprise.

As for the new blood to the series, there are three major players that are a welcome addition to the franchise. First, there’s the film’s main villain, Bane, played by Tom Hardy. Hardy gained 30 pounds for the role and looks absolutely menacing, giving him an astonishing intimidation factor that really ups the ante physically for Batman like never before. In the previous films, there was never a moment where the audience thought Batman may not win. In the first film, Ra’s Al Ghul is a formidable foe, but he’s also one we know Batman can overcome, while in the sequel the Joker is a criminal mastermind who uses brains over brawn, as he’s someone that Batman can throw around like a rag doll. With Bane, there’s an overwhelming feeling that this is a guy who can honestly break the Batman. The voice of Bane (which is also Hardy) takes a minor amount of adjustment to get used to, though it’s never incomprehensible, and it adds a unique flair to his character as well.

The second new major role to the series is Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, played by Anne Hathaway. While her part isn’t as prominent as some may have initially thought, it actually works perfectly with how it’s handled, and much like Bale, Hathaway proves herself to be the best big-screen version of Catwoman yet. Finally, the third new major character is officer John Blake of the Gotham Police Department, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt is a great talent (as Nolan likely realized when he worked with him on Inception) and the addition of his character to this franchise is a welcome one.

There are plenty of new minor characters to go around as well, which may throw some people for a loop for the first few scenes; however, the Nolans do a good job of giving everyone a clear role and purpose, with nobody ever just being thrown to the wayside, or just being placed in the story for the hell of it. There’s a plan for everyone, even if it’s just a minor one that simply helps underline or push forward the themes of the film.

Back in 2008 there was a major uproar when The Dark Knight wasn’t nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards; however, I believe things will be different come awards season next year. And while some may think that a Best Picture nomination will be given to it simply to make up for the Dark Knight mishap, or to finally pay heed to the final chapter of a magnificent trilogy (much like what happened with The Lord of the Rings films), I don’t believe that will be the case. No, you see, The Dark Knight Rises deserves that nomination because it’s earned it. It’s the best picture of the year thus far, a brilliant conclusion to an epic trilogy, and just another reason why when it comes to creating something extraordinary, “In Nolan we trust.”

Directors: Christopher Nolan
Writer(s): Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan & David S. Goyer (story)
Notable Cast: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dark_knight_rises_ver4-e1342794730257-120×120.jpg

When all is said and done, Christopher Nolan has changed the way we look at comic book heroes forever. With Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Nolan changed the way filmmakers can view the men and women in spandex; more than just stock characters, they can be given archetypes of grand operatic heroes and storylines without feeling out of place. Bruce Wayne just wasn’t a guy looking to avenge his parents; he wanted to be more than just a man fighting crime. Being the Batman was something that defined him and took over his personality; being Bruce Wayne was just a cover identity to his true calling as the Batman. But what happens when he wins?

That’s what Christopher Nolan ponders early in The Dark Knight Rises. Gotham City has rid itself of organized crime, the death of Harvey Dent inspiring legislation that has effectively crippled the mob in the city. Batman is no longer needed and Bruce Wayne has gone into seclusion, rarely seen, as he takes on Howard Hughes level gossip amongst the people. What’ll it take for Batman to come out of hiding? A new foil in Bane (Tom Hardy), a man with the Joker’s love of anarchy but with a brutality the clown never had in him. Throw in the challenge of tracking down a jewel thief (Anne Hathaway) with whom he has an interesting connection, and green technology guru Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) who wants Wayne Enterprises and Wayne to finish up a funding project on a potentially game-changing project.

Throw in Michael Caine as the ever dependable butler Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Wayne’s tech guru Lucius Fox alongside Gary Oldman in the always underrated Jim Gordon role, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a beat cop who wants justice badly, and you have a recipe for a brilliant final act in the Nolan Batman trilogy. And it starts off magnificently with an entrance for Bane that even a James Bond villain would have a hard time topping; it’s easily the best full set piece of action that Nolan has done in his career to this point. Unfortunately it’s all down here for a variety of reasons, culminating in a mediocre at best final film in the trilogy.

Nolan might not have a bad film in him, but he certainly has a pedestrian one in him it seems. The Dark Knight Rises may be the most heavily anticipated film of 2012 after The Avengers but it also may be its most disappointing because for all its positives, The Dark Knight Rises suffers because it doesn’t do much with its villain and doesn’t develop a key relationship between Miranda Tate and Wayne that hinges a key moment in the film’s finale.

A problem with the film is its length. Easily the longest of the three films, there’s a feeling that Nolan is trying to do better than TDK by making this a grandiose ending. Running nearly three hours, it’s a good flow and pace to it but it’s too much plot for what he’s trying to accomplish. There’s plenty of exposition and flashbacks but for what is supposed to be an action film there’s remarkably much more dialogue and expositional moments than it needs. The one thing that has defined the Batman franchise so far is that they’re tight in that department. There’s no excess in the first two films as everything included in the film mattered. In Rises there’s a large amount of bloat; this is a film trying to do too much in terms of stories and characters. Trying to add so many new high profile characters into a film with a plethora of established characters already is difficult to do and Nolan tries to give these new characters an added weight into this universe he’s created. And it starts with his villain, who may be the dullest antagonist in a comic book film in quite some time.

Bane may not be the most high profile villain in the Batman universe, having a major run in the comic books at one point apparently (this writer isn’t well versed in comic book lore), but Nolan tries to do a lot with him. Hindered by a mask that wrecks part of Tom Hardy’s voice isn’t a good start but Nolan has a plan for him that’s fairly interesting. He’s a terrorist for hire, a mercenary with a shared history of sorts with Wayne, and he’s a unique physical challenge for Batman. Batman initially loses his first battle with the man, reenacting a fairly famous comic book moment from the “Knightfall” storyline, but outside of Bane’s physicality there’s nothing new or original he brings to the table. Hardy’s natural charisma and presence are far removed from the equation; Nolan’s version of the character is nothing more than brute force combined with an ideology. Bane is more of a destructive force than the Joker, pure in his destructive thoughts, but it’s not a particularly memorable one.

It makes you appreciate how much of an important part of The Dark Knight that Heath Ledger was; Ledger was able to fully exploit a character that was anarchy incarnate. Hardy isn’t given much of a character to work with and he’s a functioning goon, nothing more. He’s a Bond a villain in a franchise that has generally given more depth and development to its bad guys. Twoface, The Joker, Ra’s al Ghul and the Scarecrow all made appearances in the first two films of the franchise in various forms and they all had development. Bane is a thug, nothing more, and Nolan doesn’t develop any sort of nuance to him. It’s a shame because Hardy has a physical presence to him that makes Bane feel dangerous and yet nothing is really done with him outside of the perfunctory bad guy tactics. There’s nothing new or unique to him; his underlying motivations feel out of place.

You sort of half expect him to go “No Mr. Wayne, I expect you to die!” at one point.

The film’s biggest disappointment is in how it handles Marion Cotillard. Given a prominent role that turns into a really well executed plot moment towards the end, the relationship between Tate and Wayne is critical to this part of the film. It drives the film’s final act and a good chunk of Wayne’s actions revolve around this. Unfortunately there’s nowhere near the sheer amount of plot movement to be able to justify his actions. It means significantly less than it should because Cotillard is given a small role and screen time but is given a pivotal role in the film’s finale. An interesting take and storyline twist, it is intended to mean a lot but ultimately falls flat because Wayne and Tate’s relationship isn’t as developed as it could be. We see them have a handful of moments but Christian Bale spends much more time on screen with Anne Hathaway than Cotillard. That plot resolution feels significant because we have enough of a history between the two that it matters.

It’s a shame because Nolan has a unifying theme to this film that brings the franchise full circle. This is about warriors fighting one last battle, long after their glory years. Batman is long past his relevance to the overall crime problem in Gotham but can’t leave that part of his life behind him. Jim Gordon is in the same boat; crime may be gone from its peak but he’s still a warrior, looking to rid Gotham of even littering. Both men have sacrificed everything for what they are; Wayne’s body is broken and he walks with a cane because of the damage being the Batman has done to him. Gordon’s conscience weighs on him heavily, the cost of covering for Harvey Dent’s murderous rampage for the greater good of his legacy tearing him up.

Nolan examines this concept fairly strongly; this is about the cost of being the hero and how it affects the man. It’s something he started looking at in Batman Begins and developed further in The Dark Knight, culminating in this film. For Bruce it’s the physical cost that tolls on him the most, though having lost the one person for whom he thought he could have a life with afterwards in Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes then Maggie Gyllenhaal) has affected him nearly as much. Gordon’s life revolves around his job; his family has left him and being Police Commissioner is all he has left. The Dark Knight Rises examines this aspect of both their lives but not as in depth as it seems to want to. Both of these men are warriors who have won the war but at tremendous cost.

For Wayne it’s the physical cost, as he may not have what it takes physically to handle Bane and his minions. The way Bale walks and the way he interacts with people show him as a beaten man instead of a champion making a comeback. It’s a marked difference in character from the first two films in that this is the person Alfred never wanted Bruce Wayne to be. He’s someone who gave everything into what he thought was right and lost everything in the process. Bale and Caine’s interactions are at their peak in this film; the nature of their relationship has changed in the meantime too. In the first film Alfred was a mentor. In the second he’s an ally. In the third he’s now the one trying to get him to keep the cowl hung up and come back to the world he left.

It’s a remarkable turn and these small moments between the two are easily the film’s better and more memorable moments. Caine is the film’s standout this time around; given his least amount of screen time in the three films he manages to make every moment he’s in matter and feel important.

For Gordon it’s a mental cost; living with himself all these years with a grand lie, despite its reward, has cost him part of his soul. It may be in passing that his wife has left him and taken their children, moving home to Cleveland with her family, but Gordon is hailed as a hero and Batman the villain when he knows the truth implicates someone else entirely. He waits at night where the disabled Bat-signal used to be, hoping that Batman will show up again after eight years of being away. Gordon’s waiting for one moment of redemption, one moment where the truth can come out and his unknown ally Batman can bathe in the light that a man with a murderous rampage attached to his name can’t have.

It’s those main plots that drive the film but Nolan diverts away from them for other purposes that take away from the film’s overall arc. If they were for interesting things it’d be one thing but Nolan doesn’t have the focus on this film that he did in the prior two films of the trilogy. This is a film that’s bloated and lacking focus in major portions of the film; when critical moments are reserved for characters without the dramatic heft required to carry them it falls flat.

The Dark Knight Rises certainly isn’t a bad film, not by any stretch of the imagination. It just isn’t a good one.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan based on characters created by Bob Kane
Notable Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman

http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Dark-Knight-Rises-banner-RISE-120×120.jpg

There is a lot of speculation on the internet that due to this being the last of the Nolan/Bale trilogy, that Batman dies at the movie’s end. There is also word that during a recent appearance by Anne Hathaway, Dark Knight’s Catwoman, on David Letterman’s TV show, that the actual ending to the film was spoiled. So, for those that expect me to comment on that, don’t because I haven’t watched the footage nor do I plan to. It might be a joke, it might be real, it might be a swerve, or it might be something else. On the off-chance it does spoil the film directly, I will steer clear.

However, whether Batman dies or not, Nolan’s Entertainment Weekly comments certainly tease a different fate if you follow the bouncing ball. He also comments on when the movie takes place in the overall trilogy narrative.

According to the Nolan interview piece on EW, the story starts as follows:

“[Dark Knight] Rises takes place eight years after The Dark Knight left off and finds Bruce Wayne living as a recluse in a Gotham City where peace and prosperity flourish anew – all thanks to a lie. At the end of the previous film, Batman had taken the rap for crimes committed by ‘white knight’ Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) so Gothamites would be inspired by Dent’s example of hope and heroism. (In truth, Dent was driven mad and bad by the Joker played by the late Heath Ledger, who won an Oscar for the role.) Now new threats force Bruce back into the Batgame…”

Those new threats include cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and the Occupy Movement’s “99%” terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy).

When asked about what guided his work to unify all three movies when there wasn’t a real “master plan”, Nolan note that:

“It all comes back to Batman Begins, and the scene between Bruce and [his mentor / butler] Alfred on the plane, when Bruce explains what he’s going to do. It’s not about beating up criminals one by one. It’s about being a symbol. Bruce sees himself as a catalyst for change, and only ever thinks of this as short-term thing. I talked about this idea with Christian during the making of all the movies; it was the only way we knew to understand the reality of Batman”

So, while not definitive in any way, that does imply that there may be more of a choice for Bruce at the end of Dark Knight Rises than a funeral, but we’ll have to wait until the movie hits screens to know for sure.

Lastly on the subject of the Joker and Heath Ledger as it relates to Dark Knight Rises, Nolan was equally candid about his take on the subject:

”I felt very strongly that the Joker was off-limits. I don’t want to trivialize a tragedy like that [actor Heath Ledger’s death] by explaining it away in some fashion. I made the choice, immediately, that talking about the Joker [in the film] was off the table. It’s just the way I feel about it, based on my relationship with Heath. Other people may have handled it differently. But that’s what felt right to me.”

I think that is a very classy thing for Nolan to do. I think having the Joker pop up, even in shadow, or what-have-you would be a bit morbid in light of the actor’s death and the fact this is the last Batman project for the Nolan/Bale version of the character franchise.

In the same issue, Christian Bale is interviewed and provides an interesting take on how to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman:

“[I] was playing with the idea that there being three Bruce Waynes. The public, vacuous billionaire. The private Bruce Wayne who is still a child. And then the vengeful one is the monster [as Batman].

Interesting!

Can’t wait for the movie.

Staying Connected

Please see my profile below “related articles”.

Please follow me on twitter and kindly friend me at Facebook too.

BabosScribe is the handle.