Movie Review of
'The Dark Knight Rises'
I might have
mentioned this in previous reviews, but I'm not particularly a
"superhero" type of gal. I generally find the idea of a person who
wears spandex and a cape yet is still somehow tough enough to beat the snot out
of someone, kind of----weird. So when I agreed to take my son to the midnight
premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, I felt I was a prime candidate for "Mother
of the Year" by #1) staying up past 9:30 p.m., and #2) sitting through a
2½ + hour movie about a man with an extreme case of fashion faux pas.
THE GOOD:
Several years after District Attorney Harvey Dent's untimely death, Gotham has
been somewhat successful in cleaning up it's streets, but it's those who are in
charge that have become corrupt---and the citizens are growing uneasy. There
are only the rich and the poor, so clearly what we need is a revolution. As if
on cue, a new villain emerges, by the name of Bane----so named, I would assume,
because that is exactly what he ends up being to society. His charming
suggestion is to put an end to class inequality through tyranny and
destruction. Things begin spiraling out of control as normal law abiding citizens
begin taking what they believe is rightfully theirs, and chaos abounds. The
entire city of Gotham seems to be on the brink of self-annihilation, so where
is Batman when you need him?! Well, he's lying in a giant pit of a prison with
a broken back, watching all of it happen before his eyes on the evening
news---it's the final piece to Bane's plan, letting Bruce Wayne suffer, both
physically and mentally, while Bane and his minions systematically destroy
everything.
Christian
Bale's sometimes stony performance in previous films is exceptional in this
concluding chapter, and he is joined by Joseph Gordon Levitt who plays the
rookie cop, John Blake, with a childhood connection to Batman (DC comic buffs
will know exactly where this is headed), along with the talented Anne Hathaway
who plays cat burglar Salina Kyle. Although she is never referred to
SPECIFICALLY as "Catwoman", except in an allusion by a newspaper
headline, she does so much justice to the character-----and that
bodysuit----that you may never be able to imagine anyone else playing the part.
On a side note, I came home and immediately googled what diet and exercise plan
she followed to fit into that costume. I am not ashamed to admit that I now
have a picture of Catwoman on my diet motivation board on Pinterest.
THE BAD: It's
tempting to compare Bane's character to that of the late Heath Ledger's
"Joker", and if you do, be prepared to be disappointed. There
certainly isn't the depth or charisma, but clearly Bane (Tom Hardy) is a force
to be reckoned with, and kind of reminded me of my Russian hot yoga instructor
when he was in a foul mood. The man is obviously pissed off about something,
and we come to learn that it's mostly about his crappy childhood. Clad in his
"Silence of the Lambs/"worst-orthodontic-headgear-nightmare-you've
ever seen" mask, Hardy is a great actor, but is at times difficult to
understand. I will be the first to admit that there were moments in the film
when, after he uttered a line meant to incite panic or terror, I fully expected
some of the characters to look around at each other and shrug. "I don't
know WHAT he's trying to say dude----what did YOU hear?"
If you're going
to be a fearsome villain, you have to ENUNCIATE.
THE UGLY: Yes,
the movie is dark and brutal. And yes, it's almost excruciatingly painful
listening to people hypothesize that this movie is CLEARLY an analogy of
certain political parties involved in this year's election. (For the
record---give me a break. How about it's simply a story of really bad things
happening to a society when greed and lawlessness takes over? Do we REALLY want
to pull at the string of WHICH political party that best describes?) But let's
talk about what is the most unsavory part of the film----and that is how you
can take a looker like Tom Hardy and make him virtually unrecognizable---and
icky. Please see my previous review for 'This Means War' to get a complete
understanding of just how far of a leap this is. If nothing else, this film
should get an award for makeup and special effects.
'The Dark
Knight Rises' will undoubtedly go down in history as one of Christopher Nolan's
greatest achievements, and will definitely please even the diehard fans who
felt the Dark Knight didn't get the credit it was due during the 2008 awards
season. It even made me reconsider my view of men who wear latex-----I still
draw the line at capes though.
The Trophy Wife
gives this movie 4 trophies.
The Dark Knight
Rises has a running time of 2 hrs 45 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense
sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language. (No F words)
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