The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I don't know about you, but personally I had my reservations about whether or not the final nail in the Nolan Batman trilogy could live up to the standards that have been set thus far.  That is not to say that the series has been flawless up to this point, because it hasn't, and even though I gave The Dark Knight a near perfect score, there were elements of that film that simply didn't work for me and times I really felt the story dragged out.  But with the The Dark Knight Rises Nolan has managed to fix the flaws of the prior films and bring us a finale that not only satisfies but also provides easily the best written story a comic book film has ever had.

The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years to the date of the death of Harvey Dent (aka Two Face), who is still being held up as a pillar of justice by a city who is completely unaware of the evil he became, an evil persona that was instead placed on the shoulders of Batman at his own behest to attempt to keep hope alive in the hearts of Gotham.  It's also been eight years with no sighting of Batman, as Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has retreated into the depths of his newly re-built mansion to sulk, unable to continue his life after the events of the prior film.  It's here at a annual Harvey Dent benefit that we meet Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) Gotham's resident cat-burglar, sent on a mission to retrieve Bruce Wayne's fingerprints for first step in a plan that will bring Batman and Gotham to its knees.

Wayne's run in with Kyle and news of a new threat to Gotham named Bane (Tom Hardy) rekindles his desire to shed his now Howard Hughes reclusive lifestyle and return to the world of the living.  But the return of Batman comes with a cost as Wayne quickly finds everything is pulled out from under him and has to rediscover the will that he lost eight years ago to save Gotham, and himself for the last time.

In terms of trilogy closers The Dark Knight Rises is right up there with Peter Jackson's Return of the King, and as a comic book film it has the deepest and most well constructed story I've seen.  There were aspects of the previous two films that made it difficult for me to call them perfect.  Firstly I've always thought Nolan made poor choices when casting leading ladies, Katie Holmes... Maggie Gyllenhaal... both actresses bland performances were difficult to get behind, and when their character (Rachel Dawes) ultimately met her demise I couldn't say I cared.  Anne Hathaway being cast a Selena Kyle (Catwoman) sent similiar shivers down my spine being another actress I can't stomach, but I'll admit Nolan finally got it right.  Hathaway still wouldn't be my ultimate choice for the role (I still think Eva Green would have been fantastic) but in the end she really did nail the part and did a pretty fantastic job, as did Marion Cotillard as Miranda.

My second biggest issue with the Nolan Batman franchise has been flow.  Batman Begins didn't suffer from this so much, but it was clearly evident in The Dark Knight, with two big named villains it almost seemed like the story tried too hard at times, trying to give them equal screen time, establish their characters and then mold them into the story.  It was quite evident at times throughout that film that the story drags a little, that simply isn't the case here.  With an even greater ensemble of characters, the Nolan brothers completely succeed in meshing everyone together in a very powerful story that flawlessly weaves emotional and action into a story-line that I never felt once dragged on.  And in comparing all the villains in the series Bane is easily the best, even though Tom Hardy sounds like he's imitating Sean Connery behind a Darth Vader mask.

Honestly I could go on and on for paragraphs describing why everything simply worked so well, and how each performance was spot on, but in the end that's really not necessary.  The fact is The Dark Knight Rises is the best superhero film ever made to date, and this is because, simply put, it doesn't feel like a superhero film.  The Avengers was good, but Nolan's Batman series, and especially this final outing, has succeeded in taking a comic book series and making it about as plausible as a comic book series could possibly get.  In laymen's terms The Dark Knight Rises is just as much a certified drama genre film than a comic book film, if not more so.

In the end, it's going to be hard for anyone to top the overall caliber of The Dark Knight Rises, and the trilogy as a whole.  The upcoming Superman film shows some promise but only time will tell regarding that.  If Warner Brothers had any sense whatsoever they'd think long and hard about picking up where Nolan has left off (the ending of this film offers a variety of opportunities).  I don't think rebooting a series anytime in the next five years would be a wise move, so unless their willing to wait a while it would be interesting to see if they choose to continue the series.

10/10

Read More

The Avengers (2012)

Having been left with a somewhat bad taste in my mouth from Iron Man 2, I passed on the forthcoming Marvel films, which heralded the arrival of Thor and Captain America, with little interest.  My zeal for the "ground breaking" Avengers film, of which these were all building up to, was not as high as most.  But needing a day off from work, and not having ventured into the theater since last year's Cowboys & Aliens I thought this would be as good of time as any to give Marvel another chance.

Like most comic book portals there isn't much to the plot of The Avengers, it all surrounds aliens from another planet attempting to take over Earth lead by a stooge named Loki (Thor's brother who has major daddy issues).  He's obtained control over an unlimited power source which SHEILD was testing and has used that power source to open a portal for this alien race to come through.  The world's only hope is to bring a bunch of massive egos together and attempt to get them to fight alongside one another.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty, if you're a fan of action films The Avengers is unlikely to disappoint.  Being privy to all the prior Marvel films meant to lead up and connect to this one isn't necessary but definitely would help being familiar with some of the characters and this powerful cube they're all fighting over.  I enjoyed the film's balance of action, comedy and drama, but as expected some characters kind of fall flat in the mix.  

For me Robert Downey Jr. steals the show, which shouldn't be unexpected as he is the film's biggest star and Marvel's greatest success (not counting Spider-Man whose actually owned by Sony).  Tony Stark really shines in this hero packed atmosphere with his sarcastic wit and charm, and it worked extremely well for him.  Next the drab Scarlett Johansson, who let's face it is famous because she's incredibly hot.  These action films work incredibly well for her because acting talent very isn't the major key to success.  Black Widow was one of the few things I enjoyed about Iron Man 2, and her character doesn't disappoint here, she's given a nice opening fight sequence that easily tops her Iron Man 2 appearance and has multiple intentional shots of her curvaceous rear end in that tight cat suit.  I'm waiting for a Black Widow spin-off Marvel...

Aside from those two, for me the rest of the hero cast was okay.  Having not seen the Thor or Captain America films I was left rather un-amazed by their performances.  They had a couple sparks, a couple decent one liners but nothing really made me want to go back check out their films for the first time.  Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye was okay for his role, although it's easy to see why his character didn't get an introduction film.  And finally the Hulk, whose 0 for 2 in terms of box office successes, definitely appeared to be a crowd pleaser in the theater during the second half of the film receiving quite a few laughs and cheers from the crowd.  I've really never gotten the appeal of that character, but I'll admit aside from Iron Man he did seem to bring the laughs.

So overall, is The Avengers a masterpiece?  No. And at this point I'm not even of the mind to call it the best comic book film ever made.  But it is a class A action film, and undoubtedly will break all sorts of records.  But at this point I'm not ready to say it's better than either of the last two Batman films or Marvel's own first Iron Man film.  While The Avengers easily out-mans and out guns all three of those films combined, there's a more personal character driven aspect you always lose in these group outings, and for me that gives those solo films a slight edge.

8/10

Read More