The Dark Knight Rises (2012) review

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Review by George Elcombe

‘So that’s what it feels like’

Well here it is. Advertised as ‘the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy’ and my most anticipated film of the year. Does it live up to my expectations? Yes.

This is a fine film and overall I am very happy with how they ended the trilogy. The performances are fantastic, the action and story are great, it closes Bruce’s story and all gets a bit emotional at times.

But this is a fantastic film so go and see it.

Still here? Ok, we have a SPOILER ALERT!!! Consider yourself warned for the rest of this review.

Plot: 8 years after the death of Harvey Dent, Gotham city is at peace as all the major criminals are locked away. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse locked up in his mansion with the guilt of the death of Rachel Dawes. But a mercenary called Bane is coming to Gotham and building an army. It’s time for Batman to rise up once again to save the city.

Ever since The Dark Knight (2008) I have been really looking forward to this film! As an avid reader of sites such as Aint it Cool News, I’m afraid that I spoilt some bits of this film for myself and as such closed myself off a year ago from all gossip and news besides the fantastic posters and trailers. But having been a fan of the comics and Batman: The Animated Series (1992 - 1995) I knew what to expect and foresaw the plot twist where Maranda was actually Talia al Ghul. But this film had a few surprises for me and I’m glad the trailers didn’t spoil this (unlike Prometheus (2012)).

I’m glad they didn’t mention The Joker as Heath Ledger’s performance is iconic and should not be repeated within the Nolan universe. When I heard that Tom Hardy was cast as Bane I was excited as he was a brute in Bronson (2008), and fully expected the film to recreate the iconic image of Bane breaking Batman’s back over his knee. But this was slightly ruined for me with Bane saying “your body” as he done this. Personally I would have had him say it after he broke his back as it would have been colder, and Bane wears a mask so it’s not like they would have a problem lip syncing it!

So it appears I start this review talking about Bane, but he is a standout. But what’s with his accent? I’ve never heard anything like it before and I found it distracting to start with. I thought Heath Ledger’s Joker voice was unique until I saw Shoot Em Up (2007) and heard that film’s villain with the same creepy accent. But the mask is sinister and I like the design. But it wasn’t explained enough why he has it. Apparently he was injured in a cool underground prison and the morphine addicted prison doctor (Alien 3 (1992) anyone?!) caused this. But when the mask is broken it hisses out some gas that Bane needs. He mentions earlier on in the film that if he takes it off it would cause him great discomfort, but it isn’t explained! Also, I would have liked to have seen him without it and was disappointed when this didn’t happen.

However Bane is revealed to be part of the League of Shadows and the whole film is about his quest to finish Ra’s al Ghul’s work from Batman Begins (2005) and wipe out Gotham and its corruption. Thus we have this films subtext: capitalism and power. This is summed up by Bane saying something along the lines of “just because you’ve paid me doesn’t mean that you have power over me” just before crushing a greedy corporate directors skull in. Nice.

The global recession has hit us all and if it hadn’t happened then I would be working in a Soho editing house which went bust. Yet we glamorise people who are rich (see The Only Way is Essex. Actually, don’t) and see them as happy because they can buy the right clothes and things. But everyone else has to work for a living and have little to show for it. Poverty is writhe and you just have to look at last summers riots to see that what should have been the lower classes rising up against injustice and being trapped by poverty quickly descend into idiots stealing trainers and phones to increase their social status.

Which brings me to Catwoman. Some have said that casting Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle was a mistake, but the girl can act and was very professional when I worked with her on One Day (2011). Catwoman only steals from the rich for herself and never stands on the shoulders of the poor. She warns Bruce that “a storm is coming” and the lower classes will rise. But when this happens the party ends quite quickly and she sees that the class system is needed. But her performance is great and she is the best Catwoman seen on screen to date. She’s cheeky, possibly a lesbian with her blonde friend, smart and very sexy. Call me a perve but she looks great in her cat suit with her knife edged high heels.

Her chemistry with Batman is great and has some great lines when disagreeing with Batman’s ‘no guns’ policy.

Another subtext is her desire to have a clean slate and have all records of her past removed. In this digital age, he who controls and edits information has power. We can read up on anything online about anyone, and I like how this film addressed this.

As in the comics she is independent and aligns herself to anyone she can benefit from, thus leading Batman into the trap where he fights Bane. But Batman and herself make a great team and she unexpectedly comes around to help him save the city.

And save the city he does. As I knew this would be the last film I was honestly expecting Gotham to be doomed and for Bruce Wayne to die. However Batman is an immortal symbol which would live on. I heard of a new character called John Blake who is an honest and resourceful cop, so I instantly presumed that he would take on Batman’s mantle. He is also an orphan and inherits Wayne manor and the Batcave. I would love to see a sequel with him becoming the Dark Knight but believe that he will become Nightwing after the surprise reveal of his real name: Robin.

Yes folks, Robin is in this film contrary to what Christian Bale said ("If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I'll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work”) a few years ago, and I’m glad of this ‘in joke / sequel fodder’. I did also like Robin’s line about searching the sewers and being asked “did you find any giant alligators down there”. He quits the force after being effected by the rules of the law so it makes sense that he will become a vigilante and become Nightwing. I also liked the fact he doesn’t like guns after shooting two suspects and throwing his gun away. But I’m confused of how he knew Bruce’s secret identity, did I miss something?

But Christian Bale puts in his best performance of his career as the mentally and physically broken Bruce Wayne. He was under credited with his performance in The Dark Knight (2008) but shines in this, my standout moment being when he says goodbye to Alfred. Yes this film gets emotional and so did I especially when Alfred was crying over the Wayne graveyard apologising to his parents as he had failed them in protecting their son.

But it was touching during one of the last shots where Alfred fantasy of seeing Bruce with a lady, hopefully starting a family, as Alfred got closure as Bruce has hung up the cape and truly moved on to live his life without pain and guilt.

But this wouldn’t be a Batman film without some excellent action set pieces. The opening mid air plane rescue was stunning and reminded me of my skydive. I want to see this film again in Imax just for those shots. But the film truly kicks off when Batman returns (no pun intended) after 8 years on the Batpod outrunning most of Gotham’s police force. And the Bat is so much cooler than the Batwing seen in Tim Burtons Batman (1989) and I want one! We see a lot of these vehicles and the special effects used are un-noticeable. The end action set piece actually amazed me with all the tumblers, Catwoman on the Batpod, the Bat swooping in at the right moments, the bit with the bridge being blown up, and the nuclear explosion which had me think that it was the end for Bruce. But I’m glad he survived.

The Batman / Bane fight midway through the film was brilliant but I was expecting it to be a bit more brutal. But these films are not in my opinion all about the action. Director Christopher Nolan skilfully uses action to progress the story, which is what these films are all about: how and why a man dresses up as a bat to fight injustice.

Now for some nitpicky bits: it took 8 or 9 minutes for the programme to be uploaded at the stock exchange, but it changed from sunlight to total darkness during that short time. How did Bruce get back into Gotham undetected when all the bridges were down? And who told him that the bomb would detonate the next day? Where was Bane born and raised?

But I unintentional cracked up when Batman was asking Bane where the detonator was. Just watch ‘The Dark Knight Kills Christmas’ on YouTube. 

But you should ignore those things as the film is stunning. The cinematography is excellent. Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are great and I loved Liam Neeson’s cameo, but I would have liked him to be more than a dream and a flashback. Cillian Murphy has a cameo as the sentencer, but I felt he was underused.

The dialogue is memorable and each character has a chance to shine. The story line was great and I felt it brought great closure to all the characters. It is a long film but never dragged and I was engrossed with every minute.

So in conclusion this film is as excellent as the last two. I will watch it again but the question is: is it up there with the Bourne trilogy (2002 - 2007) as a perfect trilogy: where each sequel is better than its predecessor and it wraps up the protagonists story whilst leaving the audience satisfied?

Is it a perfect trilogy? Yes. Thank you to Christopher Nolan and everyone involved with these films. And lets hope that the next reboot of Batman will be just as good.

9 out of 10

If you like this try:

Batman Begins (2005)

The Dark Knight (2008)

Alternative movie poster site

He is something I feel the need for sharing as some of these designs are just awesome!

Enjoy!

http://www.alternativemovieposters.com/tron1.html

Shanghai (2010) review

Shanghai (2010)

Review by George Elcombe

“I guess you start looking for something then end up finding something else.”

John Cusack is cool. He will always be remembered for the iconic image where he’s holding a boom box in Say Anything (1989) and his superb performances in High Fidelity (2000) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).

But now he is looking slightly brooding and confused as he seeks out the truth about his friend’s murder in Shanghai. But he’s still cool.

Plot: in 1941 American navel intelligence agent Paul Soames (Cusack) returns to Shanghai to discover his friend and fellow agent Conner (Jeffery Dean Morgan) has been murdered. Soames takes a job at the Herald newspaper as a cover to investigate his friend’s murder and to act like a journalist to meet the right people connected to Conner’s death. He acts as a Nazi sympathiser and befriends Chinese crime lord Anthony Lan-Ting (Chow Yun-Fat) and Japanese Captain Tanaka (Ken Watanbe) at a German Consulate event. However his investigation draws him into something much bigger on the eve of Pearl Harbour and he falls for Anthony’s wife Anna (Gong Li).

At this period in history most of China has been invaded by Japan yet Shanghai is neutral, continental if you will with its British, German, American, Chinese and Japanese sectors. Most people would rather look away from the atrocities on their doorstep rather then get involved, but as always in a time like these with genocidal tyrants, there is always resistance. Soames discovers that Anna is working for the resistance in planning assassinations of key Japanese diplomats and military personnel. Tanaka knows someone close to Anthony is involved but is unsure who it is and a game of deception begins.

I liked this film. It’s an engrossing film noir / spy caper which tells ultimately a story of the Chinese resistance during the Second World War leading up to America’s involvement. In this you have good dialogues, action, twists, suspense and the real mystery of the film is only revealed in the last 10 minutes.

But I found this to be a story about love. Love for an old friend and finding out why they died. How to love in a marriage of convenience, when all that’s left is on the surface. The love for ones country, history and way of life. And what people will do to preserve this.

Love is blind and an idea. It makes us weak and strong at the same time. This is summed up by Tanaka when talking about a captured member of the resistance:

“It's amazing how a man holds onto an idea, even when that idea is so obviously false, but I suppose it's all we have to keep us going”.

Technically I thought that the film done a great job at recreating 1940’s Shanghai in terms of sets (created in Bangkok) and costume. The cinematography is colourful when showing us the glamorous side of the city, to murky tones when dealing with the resistance. One thing I did like was the way the violence was edited in order not to glamorise it, but to show its sudden and devastating effects. One technique they used was to hold the camera above a body in black and white to recreate the scene of a photo. This worked well showing the shock and brutality of what needed to be done depending on which side you’re on.

This film has a talented cast and I am please that the main characters all had a chance to shine, even if Ken Watanbe’s character is a bit wooden.

So this is historical thriller / film noir / detective movie with an all star cast and a moderate budget produced by the Weinstein Company. So how come I have never heard of this? It was released 2 years ago overseas but never got theatrical distribution in the United States or here in Britain? I have no idea why but I think this film would have performed fairly well at the box office.

The DVD menu shows a montage of the film with a publicity stills underneath. Not too exciting. The film is presented in Dolby 5.1 and only features subtitles.

There are no extras besides a few trailers for other films, but I would have liked to have seen a documentary about Shanghai during this period, and to know what happened after Japan invaded. I would have liked to know how the cast got involved, the films reception (if any) or even a trailer for this film! Somehow I doubt there will be a special edition, but it would have been nice to have something less vanilla.

Ultimately this is a great historical thriller for those who love mysteries and period pieces. With the story unfolding as you get sucked in to the characters and events, this is an entertaining and satisfying story of a time few knew about.

7 out of 10

If you like this try:

Chinatown (1974)

LA Confidential (1997)