BEFORE: The Dark Knight Rises

Listen to this as you read.

When I saw the Dark knight for the first time, Gary Oldman said the title of the film, with Hans Zimmer’s score playing in the background, and with the words “Directed by Christopher Nolan” appearing on the screen. I knew then that I had seen the greatest comic book film ever made. All others before and since have been compared to this film. The words, “It’s good, but not as good as Dark Knight,” have left my mouth after watching every comic-book-rendered film since. As a comic book fan, and declared geek, I take my comic book films pretty seriously. They are idols (the heroes) that make me want to be a greater person. They are selfless characters of peace and justice. These are the greatest themes in literature.

    When I was a child I would pretend to be a superhero, as opposed to being a fireman or policeman. I wanted to be Batman; I wanted to be part of the X-Men, when I grew up. These stories and characters have  deep roots in my childhood and the formation of my adult identity. To see them on screen in brilliant realism fills me with wonder. I become a child again; a time when you could wear a cape in public and not get stared at.
    Why is the Dark Knight so good you ask? Do I have to explain this? For starters, Christopher Nolan made the world of Batman so real. You never are sitting there and doubt anything that anyone does, or doubt that Batman could not do any of it: It’s real. Batman is all of us, he is the hero that is just a man. He has no superpowers, he is more than just a rich guy, who also happens to be really bad ass. He is committed to being more than just himself, for the betterment of society.

Never before has any director understood this until Christopher Nolan. I used to really enjoy the first two Batman films by Tim Burton. Batman and Batman Returns are pretty good comic book films, in that you got to see the superficial aspects of Bruce Wayne. He is the orphaned, rich boy that wants revenge. No one had any idea how deep Batman could go, but Christopher Nolan did. The Joel Schumacher films are pretty much unwatchable. My God, George Clooney’s suit had god damn nipples, for fuck sake! And, Batman had a credit card, a Bat-card, or else it was called some other stupid name. I have tried to block it out.

I have only felt this feeling before in my life two times. The first was when I was seventeen, waiting in line to see Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The second was waiting in line to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Needless to say, these films were the biggest let-downs of my film watching life. I am just as excited to see the Dark Knight Rises as those two films. They have already made the best Comic book films ever made, how can you follow that? Can DKR live up to my expectations? It will have to do nothing short of face-melting-heart-pumping-goosebump-inducing-amazement to live up to the expectations I have. 

Going into the Dark Knight I knew it would be good, because the Batman Begins is so good, but I had no idea that it would THAT good. Can they repeat what they did last time, without their  missing element, Heath Ledger? He portrayed Batman’s greatest villain, and it was perfect. They got the intensity of the Joker perfectly. So real, that again, you never doubt that he is not crazy, or that he could kill anyone in the room. Such splendid horror and enjoyable insanity, you love to watch him, unable to look away, for he is amazingly evil and charismatic. I have heard some people argue that Two Face was sort of just tacked on in the end, and they feel that he is the worst part of this film, Nay, I say. For Two Face is the Joker’s final corruption, and he shows how twisted the everyman can become, if pushed far enough. Sheer brilliance. 

Can Bane be as interesting and thought-provoking as the Joker? He appears to be more physical, and seems to take over Gotham in the trailers, but will you be spellbound by his performance? Maybe not, seeing as we can only see his eyes, but I am sure excited to find out. And, there are already complaints about not being able to understand him. How many re-cuts did they do of his voice over? The trolls of the internet already make fun of Batman’s scratchy voice, and now it appears that we are in a scratchy voice sandwich. I, for one, will wait and see. Bane’s story line in the comics is a very interesting one. [SPOILER ALERT!!!!] He destroys Arkham Asylum, and frees all of the mad men that Batman had looked up over the years. Not only that, but he fights Batman and breaks his back. Batman escapes, and while he recuperates, someone else takes the Batman mantle. This is one of the best Batman story lines ever. Can they translate it to film? What will they change? I know that this is the end of Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale Batman films, but will this be the end of Batman?

Thank you for reading, I will write a review of the film, once it comes out. I hope this made you as excited as I am for this film.

The Amazing Spiderman Review

Even though the Tobey Maguire/Sami Raimi/Kirsten Dunst-version of Spiderman is loved by millions, and made buckets of money, I never REALLY liked it. For starters, I think the casting is totally wrong; I hated Tobey and Kirsten in these roles. I like them in other films, they just were not what I wanted from a comic-fan’s perspective. Second, I don’t really think Ol’ Sam was a good fit, he was too much a horror-movie-camp-director, and never really captured that tone of Spiderman. Third, James Franco was the best part of these films and they ruined him. They could have made him the best villain ever! Fourth, the third film in its entirety: crap, crap, crap.

    Having only been five years since that utter disappointment, I still had a bad taste in my mouth for Spiderman. When I heard about the “cash grab” that is The Amazing Spiderman, I was worried that I would be overly critical, or that it would be yet another disappointment, so I was hesitant to see the film.  I am happy to say these turned out to be non-issues. Maybe my expectations were just set so low, or I just wanted to see a good portrayal of such a beloved character. It made me happy to see such a fresh look.
    Not a perfect film, but a much better film than any of the Raimi ones. I enjoyed watching Andrew Garfield (Spiderman/Peter Parker), and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) actually doing some acting. Both got to the heart of the hero and the characters. I even liked Denis Leary (Gwen’s father) who had a small part but really got to me. I am so happy that they are giving films like The Avengers, Iron Man, and Thor to Directors that are focusing on the characters behind the masks instead of ACTION AND EXPLOSION directors. Great job, Marc Webb (500 days of Summer).
    Some gripes I had: More than half the film is a rehash; a re-telling of Spiderman’s origin. They changed a few small things here and there, but (spoiler), Uncle Ben still dies, and Peter Parker still gets bitten by a “science spider.” I found myself just waiting for these things to happen, instead of enjoying the film. I knew they were coming, so it was like knowing the end of a book: “Ok, get to it already!” There are some scenes that I found to be pretty campy. I will not spoil anything, so let me just say, “Cranes.” Come on guys, you had me until then. The lizard looked amazing in all its special-effects glory, but kind of a weak villain. No really epic plan, he just existed to look great and fly around Spiderman, giving us intense fight scenes. We don’t even find out what his motivation is until the last 30 minutes. Doctor Connors seemed very flat to me. He was missing an arm, so he wanted to inject himself with junk to get it back. Meh. Take a cue from The Dark Knight guys: your hero is only as good as your villain.
    Speaking of special effects, it’s no surprise this movie looked fantastic. I have never seen Spiderman look so good. More than just computer animation, but the idea of movement, showing him flip and move so fluidly and perfect as never before. I will be seeing it again in 3D, as I hear it looks even better. Also, love the inclusion that Peter is a scientist, making his own web shooters, and knowing answers to technical questions. Something they never had in the Raimi films that just enriches that character.

    Even though I was a little bored because I already knowing the character so well, I was happy with how this film turned out and would like to see a sequel. Now that they have the origin story out of the way, they can go anywhere. I understand it needed to be told. But they could have always gone the route of The Incredible Hulk, and have no origin story. What if we skipped all the Uncle Ben stuff, the lab full of spiders, and Peter Parker was already Spiderman? I think it would have played out just fine. I mean everyone has seen the first films. They made billions, with a B.

The Rating System
Production (Directing, Editing, Music) 4-5
Story (Plot) 2-5
Characters (Likability, Acting) 5-5
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness) 4-5
Emotions (Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care) 4-5
Overall Score: 19-25