Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review (No Spoilers)


I always thought Super Hero movies to be fun movies; I guess Spider-Man and Iron Man left that impression on me. Despite being a Marvel Fanboy at heat, I do have more DC Comics at home than Marvel. Undoubtedly, my favorite DC hero is Batman and you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Christopher Nolan is doing a series based on the Dark Knight. But as soon as I saw the first movie, my initial reaction was the same as the famous joker quote; “Why So Serious?”

Anyway, not going to review the trilogy here, just the last one. Here’s The Dark Knight Rises… as I see it.

Plot
Oh let me tell you, Nolan had done a super job trying to knit all three movies together. If you haven’t seen Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, then go watch ‘em before you watch The Dark Knight Rises. This isn’t Expendables you know (Seriously, I watched Expendables 2 without watching the first one since all it has is just killing). Unlike the 2nd movie, I didn’t felt bit bored. TDKR even threw in some good jokes here and there. Major plus point of this movie is that they kept all the reveals to the end. It’s like reading a Sherlock Holmes novel or watching Doctor Who. I can’t go in more without spoiling you.

I’m praising the overall flow of the movie which is executed very well indeed. I kept on anticipating things to happen but the movie kept giving me surprises; which I found rather entertaining.

Action
I’ll give it a solid “Good”. I expected a bit more Batman than Bruce Wayne. I’m sure those who saw the movie knows exactly what I’m talking about. Never-the-less all the vehicular chases got me intrigued. The flow of the movie made up for all the lack of action. But I guess more action could have ruined it.

Actors
What can I say, with an awesome ensemble cast, you can’t possibly go wrong. In my opinion Anne Hathaway is the best onscreen representation of CatWoman (er.. no I’m not talking about her physical appearance here). Wayne, Alfred, Gordon and the new cast member for the good guys (hem hem) are all believable and perfect. What can I say about the villains?… well, same as above.

Visuals
Well, no doubt about this one… done very well; The Gotham Skyline and a very nice “Invasion Sequence”. There was a cool new vehicle (I don’t want to give away) and the scenes associated with it were done right. It gave a sense of power and freedom. Bats being bats they do fly you know (hint, hint).

Music and Audio
Whoa Nelly! Now this is what I’m talking about. The score, the sound effects are absolutely perfect. I enjoyed the movie at Majestic City Platinum Theater and let me tell you, they have a super sweet sound system complimenting the movie. The audio throws the audience straight into the heart of the movie; especially the “Rise Chant”. I couldn’t help but murmuring it without any idea of what I’m doing. Yes, Amazing Spider-Man… you can learn from this.

Continuity
Indeed, for the fans it’s the little little things which makes the movie special. Generally, as I said before, all three movies are tied together and all the loose ends are closed. However, at the very end the fans are teased with a possible spin-off movie series. “Of What?” is up to you to find out.

Afterthoughts
Not much can be said since that I have already told what must be told. All-in-all The Dark Knight Rises is the Swan Song of the trilogy and rightfully so. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing, so I’m happy that the series came to an end without making it go stale. The upcoming Superman movies are going to be similar in tone to the Dark Knight Trilogy judging by the trailers. I’m not skeptical whether or not the formula would work since pretty much if you have read both Batman and Superman comics know that they are indeed the same.

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