“Dark Knight” Marathon
Introduces “Dark Knight Rises”
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
Any fanboy worthy of
living in his mom’s basement will want to be on hand for “The Dark Knight
Rises.” You can catch a reprisal of this third film in the rebooted Batman
franchise this week at the Tropic Cinema.
If you’ve taken the time
to look up from your latest issue of Detective Comics, you’d know Christopher
Nolan resuscitated the Batman movies in 2005 with his grim-and-gritty “Batman
Begins.” And that was followed by “The Dark Knight.” The Cape Crusader had all
but been done in by Joel Schumacher’s 1997 “Batman and Robin,” the much vilified
film which featured George Clooney in a batsuit with rubber nipples.
Clooney reportedly offered
to give moviegoers their money back.
For a new take on the
familiar theme, Chris Nolan drew on the old Frank Miller comic books and retold
the story with a nihilistic panache. What’s more, his inspired casting gave us Christian
Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. And Michael Caine as Alfred, the butler who keeps
the Batmobile polished and ready for action.
Those first two Dark
Knight outings provided plenty of slam-bam action. And you can count of “The Dark
Knight Rises” to deliver the goods again.
No need to recount the
plots of those first two movies – fanboys have them memorized and can probably
quote the dialogue along with the actors on screen.
However, “Dark Knight
Rises” is another matter. Acknowledged to be the last film in Nolan’s Batman
trilogy, it’s a must-see.
Taking place eight years
after the last installment, we find that Batman (Bale) had been driven into
exile because he was credited with District Attorney Harvey Dent’s crimes. But
the appearance of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) forces him out of
retirement in a faceoff with a muscled supervillain known as Bane (Tom Hardy).
The action required
plenty of physicality. Bale studied a mixed martial arts discipline
called Keysi. Anne Hathaway says she “had to redouble her efforts in the gym to
keep up with the demands.” And Tom Hardy gained 30 pounds of muscle for the
role, increasing his weight to 198 pounds.
Familiar
faces include Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth; Morgan Freeman as the CEO of
Wayne Enterprises; Gary Oldman as Police Commissioner Gordon; and Liam Neeson
in a cameo as Batman’s mentor from “Batman Begins.”
You’ll
also meet Marion Cotillard as a board member of Wayne Enterprises; Joseph
Gordon-Levitt as an idealistic young policeman; Matthew Modine as a deputy
commissioner; and various members of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Christopher
Nolan only agreed to do a third film if a worthwhile story could be found. “I
have to ask the question,” Nolan said, “how many good third movies in a
franchise can people name?” He solved the problem by developing a script with
his brother Jonathan based on a story by David S. Goyer, a comic-book go-to guy (“Batman Begins,” “Ghost Rider,”
“Doctor Strange,” “The Flash,” “Blade,” and the upcoming Superman movie, “Man
of Steel”).
Batman is considered one of the Top Seven Comic Book
Superheroes (although he has no super powers). Created by artist Bob Kane and
writer Bill Finger, the Caped Crusader first appeared in Detective Comics #27
in 1939. Detective Comics was eventually shorted to DC and became the name of
the comic book company that’s owned by TimeWarner.
srhoades@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment