I went to see the final instalment in the Christopher Nolan trilogy of Batman: The Dark Knight on Thursday last week with my friend. Thank God the tickets were not sold out and we were able to get some really good seats. It was better than The Amazing Spider-Man!
The first thing I noticed during the movie was the lighting. I am the first to admit that I am not a big fan of mood lighting, I believe that the actors and the scene should speak for themselves and create the mood. To me mood lighting is just a tool director’s use when they have low confidence in their actor’s abilities to get the audience feeling what they should be. Shakespeare was able to do it, if the material is good enough, then ditch the mood lighting, but I digress.
I understand that the series is dark, and having a sunny and bright scene would be contradictory, but I felt that I was missing a lot of the movie with how dark the scenes were, especially with the lovely Anne Hathaway. With all the dark lighting I missed a lot of the hard work she put into her roll physically because it was hidden behind an empty blackness that is mood.
I could tell that this was the final piece in a trilogy, the whole movie and cast seemed to have an air of giving up. A lot of the main characters were out of action in the movie from injuries. For an action movie there was very little actual fighting. The movie was just as long it seemed, as its counterparts, yet there seemed to be more talking and whining about Bruce being The Batman, rather than The Batman kicking some whiny ass. Alfred made a few scarce appearances, Gordon’s addition was served mainly from a hospital bed, and Anne’s fighting scenes were over quicker than you could say the title of the movie.
All of these people are fine actors, and know what to do with good dialogue. Despite the context - and like most movies of this genre, the plot of "The Dark Knight Rises" cannot withstand much scrutiny - they make their characters into people first. Of course, Hardy is challenged, being shielded by rows of metallic exo-teeth. But as it turns out, even Bane's personal history is important to the action.
"The Dark Knight Rises" introduces one more key player, and like Hathaway's cat burglar, it's a welcome addition. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is young police officer John Blake, whose orphan background mirrors Bruce Wayne's, minus the untold riches. He does not believe the media cover story that a murderous Batman killed saintly Harvey Dent. And lately, he's picked up some leads on other nefarious activity around town.
It was a bit obvious where the plot was heading with him, in all the movie did not surprise nor thrill me like the others, but it was a fun watch and not an overall terrible way to say goodbye to Christian Bale as The Batman.
The downside is that at least some of the violence really is visceral and immediate, something that is worth considering in the wake of the murderous attack on an opening night crowd in Colorado. Of course, Batman did not create that sort of mental dysfunction, but both are products of a common culture. At the very least, "The Dark Knight Rises" should not be a movie for young children or impressionable young men.
On its own terms, however, it has few shortcomings, though they include that pandemic of the genre, the overly talkative super-villain. Where's Scott Evil when we need him to advise, just shoot him and let's eat? Another minus is Hans Zimmer's thunderously generic score, which drowns out the occasional line of dialogue while subtracting from the pleasure of watching "The Dark Knight Rises."
Those were just my random thoughts on the movie, hope they were coherent enough. 4 out of 5.
