Movie Monday: The Dark Knight Rises

It took me a long time to figure out how to talk about this movie. Soo much surrounding it that it almost seemed too daunting to even begin. But, I saw it and I have thoughts so here we go.

First of all, this is a fantastic film.  Kind of had to imagine it not being great given the cast, director and previous movies success.  It has all of the stuff that great movies are made of. Cinematography, effects, acting, characters, villains and even a little hint of romance. And to top it all off, you leave the movie feeling “affected”. Those are my favorite kinds of movies.

I won’t lie, given the tragedy surrounding this movie there were parts that were tough to watch and anyone who has already seen it undoubtedly had the same flicker of a thought running through their mind during certain scenes. It didn’t help for us to see a guy standing in the doorway to the movie just kind of hanging out there for a few minutes during one of the particularly all too realistic scenes.

The emotional reaction aside, a lot of great stuff happened in this movie. Thinking long and hard about it for a week now, I have decided I like The Dark Knight better than this movie, but its hard to explain exactly why. I read THIS POST and think that she really touches on those reasons that are hard for me to put together. (Warning….more spoilers in her review but it is GREAT, so if you have seen it, I highly recommend clicking over to read her take on it.)

What I liked: 

Anne Hathaway hit it out of the park in my opinion. She has this amazing restraint and calmness to her that I just couldn’t get enough of. From her super slick straight hair and her super tight catsuit and her passivity even seconds before she starts high kicking and taking people out, I just loved it. AH is usually hit or miss for me, but she was two thumbs up in this one.

Bane (the villain) was a perfect compliment to the very different Joker in the previous movie. I thought the development they did for his character was better and more meaty than you get in a lot of other comic movies. The one thing that totally passed by me however was the mask. I just didn’t understand what the point of it was. They mention something about it controlling pain but there wasn’t really any other mention of it. It sure did contribute to make him look scary alright so if that is what they were going for they succeeded. I also felt that it made it much more difficult for him to convey his emotion. Everything was through his eyes and body language. I never really thought how difficult it might be to act when the majority of your face is covered up. I’ve seen Tom Hardy in other movies and without knowing this was him, I never would  have guessed. They show is full face once for like 2 seconds.

He also won the fight between who-can-have-a-creepier-raspy voice, Bane or Batman. Whereas Batman’s is just creepy, Banes sounded voiced over and not like it was really coming from him which was a distraction for me. I feel they could have done a better job with that.

I loved that they explored a little more of the emotional side between Alfred and Batman. Although I like Christian Bale, he just didn’t do it for me in this movie. I know he his trying to pull off moody, depressed and reclusively but he almost seems “too detached”. The scene with Alfred was one moment where I really felt there was some emotion there.

Lastly, the inclusion of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. BRAVO. He is by far one of my favorite actors and he was probably my favorite character in this movie. Just because he is usually my favorite character in any movie he is in, doesn’t lesson the importance of his role. I had a sneaking suspicion what was up with him near the beginning, but I think the ending tied it all together in a really cool way for other people (not as smart as me) to figure out what was going on.

This pic is just for fun  

What I didn’t like: 

Batman. I don’t know. For being the title character of the film I just felt there were a lot of problems with him. Whether it was the character itself or Bale’s embodiment of him, something just wasn’t working for me.

Overall there is obviously more like than dislike in this film. Go see it. Try your best not to get creeped out (even though it is probably inevitable) and then let me know what you think!

Overall Rating: Large popcorn, Large Drink
(Click on link above for rating description)

Tagged as: anne hathaway, batman, christian bale, Movie review, the dark knight rises, tom hardy