Monday, July 23, 2012

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES



Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Run time: 164 min 

It's the one we've been waiting for such a long time, the epic conclusion of the Batman saga by Nolan. Eight years have passed after the events in The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lives in recluse because he let himself being blamed for Harvey Dent's death but he cannot stay recluse forever since a new villain, Bane (Tom Hardy) appeared and wreak havoc in Gotham. Not only that, past ghost still haunts him. With story elements ripped off from Karl Marx's guide book on how to stage a proletarian uprising against the bourgeois and fancy gadget, Batman must save the city that has once condemned him.

As for me, the first half is boring, as if Nolan is still having a raw script to build up the setup for the awesome second half. Like it or not people will have to put it apple to apple with The Dark Knight and sorry to say, Rises is not better than The Dark Knight. I am not saying that Rises is bad, it is still better than The Avengers.

In The Dark Knight we have the maniac Joker which has been acted brilliantly by Heath Ledger with can creep you out. Joker can give Batman the feeling that Batman's existence is meaningless without him, whilst Bane is just another straightforward thug that has less brilliance than Joker.

With sequel, the director is challenged to top his last film, not in terms of explosions fanfare but in terms of story and for this one Nolan is half successful. Nolan could be more provocative with the proletarian uprising elements and financial injustice but the whole thing seemed to be sidelined by a nuclear bomb ready to explode in Gotham. One crucial thing is being left off, where is Joker? He is involved on Harvey Dent's death that become the starting point for Rises. How come not even his name (and existence) being mentioned at all?

Additional character is just decent, like Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) as the burglar which does not even mentioned as cat woman or Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) who is very important and John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt) who gives a breath of hope for sequel.

Rises is just like Spider-Man 3 to Spider-Man's Raimi franchise, The Godfather Part 3 to The Godfather saga and Return of the Jedi to the Star Wars saga. A decent ending that sometimes feel like an overlong coda for the whole series and struggle to look better than the second film.

Fan boys will praise it, Nolanites will be screaming in orgasm (and perhaps some tears are shed)
, but not for me. I think the film is good, a honorable ending for the epic saga but it could have been better.

Special Note: My deepest condolences for the shooting victims in Denver, Colorado during The Dark Knight Rises premiere.



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