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Today’s wallpaper of the day features the various representations of Batman over the years, from his original comic book appearance to the latest film The Dark Knight Rises.
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Every good story is said to have three parts:- Beginning, Middle and End.
Beginning – The start of the story sets the scene and introduces audiences to the characters. The beginning can be as in your face as you like for the first couple of minutes to get you hooked, but then it needs to slow down to give a real taste of the story and the characters.
Middle – After we are introduced to the characters we need to get to know them better so that we’re invested in them and what they have to go through. This is what the middle of the story is for. This is where the characters’ journeys happen, establishing who is good, who is bad, who is hot for who etc. Basically it’s how the characters change from how they were in the beginning to how they are in the end.
The End – After our characters have gone through their trials and tribulations, this is where they end up. The ending is by far the most important part of the movie. If you have sat through two hours of amazing cinematic goodness and the ending is crap then it ruins the entire film. It can have twists and turns, be huge and action packed or just leave you with a nice warm feeling of fulfillment. It can make a bad film worthwhile and an amazing film complete and utter rubbish! But, good or bad, it’s the part of the movie that sticks with you the most, so we at WOTN are going to celebrate our favourites, right now!
WARNING – This post is going to be filled with spoilers! So check the titles, they are not hard to miss, they’re the words in the bold print that are underlined, and if you haven’t seen the movie and intend to then don’t spoil the end for yourself! You have been warned.
So off we go……………
Pulp Fiction
A lot s**t went down and characters you liked died, but with the non-sequential timeline, it ended with everyone happy and alive. I thought that was well done on Tarantino’s part to have a happy ending without jumping any sharks. – Becca Nark
First up today is a modern classic from movie god Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction. The movie follows a group of robbing, cheating gangsters as they go about their robbing, gangsta business and is perfectly summed up by Becca. The movie jumps to different points in the characters time line and ends in the same place it starts.
The end sees enforcer duo Vince (Travolta) and Jules (L. Jackson) face off with robbing duo Pumpkin (Roth) and Honey Bunny (Plummer) when a very cool discussion between the latter pair leads to them holding up a coffee shop at gun point. This is a good ending due to the fact that we see Vince gunned down by Butch (Willis) earlier in the movie. But thanks to the jumpy time line all four leave at the end of the scene alive and happy! Great movie, amazing ending.
Cabin In the Woods
Our second choice is another film full of mad twists and turns, mental horror, zombie, werewolf, slasher, mind f#$k movie, Cabin in the Woods.
A group of teen/twenty something’s, played by actors that are well in their thirties, end up at a cabin in some woods. Turns out that they are being manipulated by a group of technicians into playing out a scenario set to end with their deaths.
The movie ends with Dana (Connolly) and Marty (Kranz) in the basement of the technician’s facility where they meet the Director (Weaver). They find out that they are part of a ritual to keep the Ancient Ones, giant god like beings, from destroying the world. The pair decide that humanity isn’t worth it and sit down to enjoy a joint as the Ancient Ones wake up!
Because of everything I was expecting, I was not expecting THAT. – Becca Nark
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Anime-tastic Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust follows D, the son of Count Dracula no less, as he searches for a young girl, Charlotte, who has been kidnapped by a vampire Baron. The movie is a race against time as D is not the only one on the trail of the girl and the Baron and the movie becomes a right old monster fest involving ghosts, shape shifters, shadow manipulators and all manner of baddies.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust had the perfect ending to it. It was bittersweet and it reflects the immortal nature of the main character. – Joseph Furguson
The very end of the movie jumps to years later and we see D attend his friend and companion Leila’s funeral. D and the still human Leila made a pact that would see the one that survived the other bring flowers to their grave. The immortal D is seen talking to Leila’s granddaughter who offers him a place to stay which he declines to continue his adventures to who knows where.
Shawshank Redemption
Hailed as one of the all-time greatest movies, The Shawshank Redemption follows the story of the ill-fated Andy Dufresne (Robbins).
Because it made all the pain of the previous two hours worth it. Best good-guy-wins ending ever. – Rachel Proffitt
The start of the movie sees Andy returning home to catch his
wife getting nasty with someone else and walking out without being seen. The next thing we know Andy’s wife turns up in deadsville and he is coping for the blame. Andy is sent to Shawshank for the murder of his wife; unlucky. While there he meets Red (Freeman, a good bad guy, as opposed to Andy who is a pretty bad good guy!), makes a library for the inmates, sneaks some music on, does the warden’s tax returns and manages to get some convenient masonry tools to make a stone chess set.
At the end of the movie we find out that Andy has been a busy boy. Not only has he made his chess set he has also made an Andy shaped tunnel out of his cell to freedom. Before going he tells Red a story that leads him, upon his release, to some money that’s under a tree and a little further to meet Andy on a beach sanding a boat! Great movie, lovely ending.
The Dark Knight Rises
The last movie in the Nolan trilogy, TDKR managed to swoop its way up to number seven in the list of highest grossing movies of all time. Pitted against Bane (Hardy) we see the Dark Knight (Bale) broken and pushed to the limit as Gotham is held hostage once more by the League of Shadows. The movie sees the bat helped (sort of) by Catwoman (Hathaway) and a young cop known as Blake (Gordon-Levitt).
I freaking LOVED that slightly-but-not-really ambiguous ending with JGL finding the BatCave and us realizing he’s about to become Robin/Nightwing, plus the happy ending for Bruce Wayne with Selina of all people. When Alfred saw him and they smiled at one another in the cafe, it felt so full circle and complete. – Liz Chenery Long
And that about sums it up. Batman/Bruce Wayne presumed dead, sneaks off to live the good life with Selina ‘Catwoman’ Kyle leaving Blake, also known as Robin, to stumble in to the Batcave to continue the legacy.
Any Indiana Jones Movie That Isn’t Crystal Skull
The ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s such a good conspiracy theory ending with the long shot of the man pushing the cart containing the Ark of the Covenant amongst a sea of other crates. And the set up line of the ark being examined by “top men” is brilliant. Also, the ending of The Last Crusade. Before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Crusade gave us a great wrap-up to Indiana’s adventures with the emotional payoff of the relationship between father and son with the added bonus of learning Indiana was named after the dog! Salah’s laughter is so wonderfully contagious. Plus, they get to ride off into the sunset, so to speak. Perfect ending. – Samantha Cross
I’m not going to go through the Indy movies for you; if you haven’t seen them then you have issues, big ones, see somebody. The first three Indiana Jones movies took us all over the world and dealt with such subjects as religion and………………. well religion and their masterpieces (I have to say that I also really liked the fourth movie, but I will shut up about that while I still have most of you onside). We followed Dr. Jones (Ford) on his adventures to secure some massively religious relics including the Ark of the Covenant, The Sankara Stones and the Holy Grail. So here are the three endings summed up real fast.
Raiders of the Lost Ark – Nazi’s melt, Ark secured, stored in a warehouse to be ‘studied’.
Temple of Doom – Stones recovered, bridge cut, crocodiles, drought cured.
The Last Crusade – Old Knight, Nazi melts, Grail lost, Indiana = dogs name, ride into sunset.
Awesome right.
Shallow Grave
Shallow Grave has a perfect ending, but because it is a movie I’m not sure many people have seen (AND THEY SHOULD), I don’t want to say any more. Directed by Danny Boyle, starring Ewan McGregor, and the 9th Doctor himself, Christopher Eccleston, it is a fantastic 90s “Holy S#*t” thriller. – Rachel Proffitt
Oh, isn’t Rachel nice not to spoil the ending for us? Good job. I don’t really give a rat’s arse: you have had a warning. In Shallow Grave we meet three roommates looking for a fourth. When Hugo (Allen) moves in with the group it’s not long before they find him dead of a drug overdose. But, as luck would have it, he is also holding on to a large bag of money. The other three roommates discover the money and the body, decide it’d be better to keep the money and bury poor old Hugo in a ‘Shallow Grave’ (good, eh?)
The ending of the movie sees David (Eccleston), who has grown massively paranoid that the three of them will be discovered, start a fight with the other two. Getting the best of the pair he stabs Alex (McGregor) through the shoulder and is about to finish him when Juliet (Fox) stabs him in the neck, dead. Turns out that Juliet is a bit of a greedy cow as she uses a shoe to hammer the knife in Alex’s shoulder all the way through and in to the floor, pinning him, and bogs off with the money. Unfortunately for poor old Juliet, Alex has to laugh as he has hidden the money under the floor and filled the case with scrap paper. Worth a knife in the arm if you ask me.
Aww….I completely forgot about Shallow Grave! Must watch that again soon. – Dieter Zimmerman
Right, that’s your lot for now. Stay tuned for some more in WOTN – Favourite Movie Endings #2 around the same time next week!
“We do not comment on rumour and speculation” is a phrase we hear oh-so-often these days. Well, not here at Word of the Nerd!
When HitFix.com reported earlier today that Joseph Gordon-Levitt “absolutely will be appearing in Justice League as the new Batman” and will be making a cameo appearance in the upcoming Man of Steel, my fellow nerds and I were immediately rife with opinions.
Obviously, after the end of The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt would be a no-brainer to star in the next Batman movie. However, Christopher Nolan said he wouldn’t direct another Batman movie, and recent reports claim that the next actor to play the Caped Crusader would debut in the upcoming Justice League movie, so the future of Robin John Blake seemed uncertain.
But now, that future seems a shade brighter. Thanks to director Zack Snyder, the potential for Man of Steel to become part of a bigger DC movie universe has never been higher.
It would seem that Warner Bros. is looking to follow Marvel Studios’ example of individual superhero films building to a team-up blockbuster. After the mind-boggling success of The Avengers, we certainly wouldn’t blame them for trying.
So the casting news can only be a good thing, right? Well, not quite. The idea of a Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake starring alongside Henry Cavill‘s Superman hasn’t been met with entirely positive feedback.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises.
One of our Comics division managers, Hilton Collins, is big fan of Gordon-Levitt’s skill on screen but is not as keen on the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight joining forces if the man under the cowl isn’t Bruce Wayne. He’s also hoping for Blake to somehow end up being Dick Grayson, which seems very unlikely.
Samantha Cross, a writer for both our Entertainment and Comics divisions, would rather see John Blake become Nightwing (like the aforementioned Grayson) than Batman. She believes that Nolan’s stance against continuing his involvement in the franchise (apart from his producer role on Man of Steel), means that Warner Bros probably won’t want to continue his story into their next group of films. Sam also made a very interesting point about the confusion Gordon-Levitt’s casting may cause. Anyone who went in to the Justice League movie without seeing The Dark Knight trilogy beforehand would be instantly baffled as to why John Blake is Batman instead of Bruce Wayne. On the other hand, if John Blake simply changes his name to Bruce Wayne for the sake of continuing his legacy, it would also lead to much confusion with the audience.
My fellow British Correspondent, Jay Martin, agreed with Sam, stating that he’d love to see Gordon-Levitt continue Blake’s story as Nightwing and that it would make more sense to cast a new actor to take up the mantle of the World’s Greatest Detective in Justice League (much like Marvel did to great success with The Hulk) so that the momentum could carry over to the next Batman film.
Co-founder and Chief Creative Director, Jason Padua (JP to us lowly mortals) thinks it would be very difficult to maintain a balance between establishing Gordon-Levitt as Batman in his own right and acknowledging the history behind the name from Nolan’s previous films. If DC/Warner wish to create a larger universe, they would need to start fresh. Interestingly, he would also prefer to see The Dark Knight Rises’ Robin become Nightwing as opposed to the next Caped Crusader.
Personally, I’m very receptive to the idea. To me, The Dark Knight Rises was all about Christian Bale passing the torch (or in that case, the Batcave) to Gordon-Levitt. I wasn’t a big fan of that movie and Gordon-Levitt was my favourite part. In my opinion, if John Blake doesn’t become Batman (or at the very least, Nightwing) the impact of the ending of Nolan’s Batman trilogy is entirely negated. After being unimpressed throughout the majority of the film, the final scene had me literally cheering out loud in the cinema. I’m a big fan of the Batman Beyond series and I can definitely imagine Blake taking Terry McGinnis‘ stance as Bruce Wayne’s successor. Gordon-Levitt certainly seems to have the acting and physical prowess to do the Dark Knight justice like his predecessor did, so why not continue Christopher Nolan’s final awe-inspiring shot?
Could this be the next Dark Knight rising?
Less exciting, but also very much worthy of note, is that Hollywood.com has reached out to Gordon-Levitt’s reps, and they have refuted the rumours entirely. However, considering the fact that agents and representatives are very fond of not commenting on rumours and speculation, that statement may not hold as much weight as it seems.
At this point, it’s impossible to tell what’s true and what’s not. But boy, is it sure is fun to discuss!
On that note, please do sound off in the comments, on our Facebook page and on Twitter.
We always want to hear what our fellow nerds think!
Frank Miller‘s groundbreaking and pivotal Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns brought an interest and darkness to Batman that was desperately needed in the late 80s. I remember reading it in the summer of 1989 and thought to myself it was the greatest comic story I had ever read. To this day it still ranks high on my list of all-time favorite stories.
Then news began to break about voice casting for the film and my expectations began to lower somewhat. The choice of Peter Weller (RoboCop) for Bruce Wayne/Batman on the surface sounded like a fair to good idea at the time. After seeing the it, I have to say that Weller is quite literally the Achilles heel of the film. More on this later though.
Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as Carrie Kelley/Robin was promising. She was already a DC animated film veteran having done the Green Arrow short. Based on her limited involvement in the first of the two-part film series, I think she pulled it off nicely.
Most of the other voice actors worked for the most part, but compared to the poor performance of Peter Weller, it could be easily dismissed. My first bout of disappointment with The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 1 was Weller himself. In my opinion the perfect actor to voice Batman would have been Michael Ironside (Top Gun). He voiced the character in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series in a scene taken directly from The Dark Knight Rises. He was absolutely spot on and my feeling is that he was overlooked to reprise the role. Ironside voiced Darkseid in Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
On to the film itself…animation wasn’t the gritty styling from the original Frank Miller piece, but that could be easily overlooked (at least by me). The Dark Knight Returns takes place in the not too distant future, ten years after Bruce Wayne hangs up the cape and cowl. Miller’s graphic novel portrayed a somewhat futuristic Gotham City not on the scale of the Gotham in Batman Beyond, but slightly ahead of the city we’re use to. That was completely ignored in the film and I felt it took away from the nuance of Miller’s story.
There were also slight changes in the story and dialogue that I felt were significant to capturing the feel of Miller’s original story. One thing in particular that caught my attention was Commissioner Gordon and his nicotine gum. The political correctness machine was churning on this for sure and it omitted Gordon’s cigar smoking and the effects of it on him.
One of the most memorable aspects of The Dark Knight Returns novel were the inner monologues of the characters. It helped tell a great deal of the story and gave it more than just the spoken dialogue and images on the page. Batman’s inner thoughts especially were significant and were also left out of the film, leaving the action on the screen to tell those subtle little pieces. It wasn’t a good choice by director Jay Oliva to leave out those (in my opinion) crucial bits.
Batman’s last fight with Harvey Dent/Two Face was completely off base compared to the same scenes from the graphic novel. Those missing pieces of inner dialogue is what made the story move along the way Miller meant it to. With that aspect missing from the film, I almost felt as if the story wasn’t being told, at least not the way it was intended.
That brings me to Peter Weller and his portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Weller delivered a completely cold and emotionless performance. His monotone voice made it sound as if he were simply reading the dialogue off the page and contained no heart or soul. The Batman character was empty and void of passion that should have been called for.
A few things saved this film for me. One was Ariel Winter and her performance of Carrie Kelley/Robin. Not that she was given a lot to do to begin with, her performance was what I was expecting and compared to Weller’s, she was stellar. Another saving grace was the voice talent of Michael Jackson as Alfred. The blend of concern and sarcasm was dead on and was probably the most noteworthy performance in the film.
The third and probably the most important thing that saved this film for me was the fact that it is only the first of two parts. There was no way that I could see how they could have crammed all of Miller’s story into one 90 minute film. So we will be treated to part two of the story sometime next year. And really the second installment is when all the really juicy stuff will happen. The Joker will have a bigger role, Bruce’s dealings with Selina Kyle, Oliver Queen and of course Superman.
Let’s hope that it’s not too late for Jay Oliva and company to take fan criticism to heart and redeem themselves by giving The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 the attention it needs. We’re stuck with Peter Weller at this point so we will have to suffer through another film of his emotionless performance, but I am willing (as a fan) to watch the final installment with an open mind.
To sum up everything I have said about The Dark Knight Returns Part 1…this wasn’t the movie we as fans deserved. Although I didn’t out right hate it, I was very sadly disappointed in it and feel it had much room for improvement. This is definitely a major let down after so much anticipation. This film is far from perfect and won’t top my list of favorite DC animated movies.
As ScreenRant.com reports, the summer of 2012 was set to be a record year with two of the largest movie releases of all time falling into the same season, but ultimately even The Avengers and The Dark Knight rises combined couldn’t save the box office results.
The Avengers is currently ranked the 3rd highest grossing film of all time. It lags shortly behind small James Cameron flicks Avatar and Titanic. According to Boxofficemojo.com, The Avengers has grossed over 1.5 billion dollars, which if you ask me, is a small sum (NOT!).
According to that same list on Boxofficemojo.com, The Dark Knight Rises is ranked 12th and has grossed over 1 billion dollars.
With both of these smash hits falling only a couple months apart, how did we almost have a record low year at the box office? Well after reading the article at ScreenRant.com, the results are misleading in a way. If we were to look at the revenue, then the box office actually had the second best year of all time. So what is the big deal? The big deal is that ticket sales are steadily decreasing. Decreasing ticket sales is a really bad sign of things to come. Without the super successful, smash hit that was The Avengers and the moderately less successful The Dark Knight Rises this summer’s box office results would have been terrible. It would not only have been terrible in respect to the ticket sales, but to revenue as well. It was something we can probably shrug off this year, but there is no guarantee that future years will have the same blockbuster hits pulling in revenue.
Will next year’s releases of Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel do the same thing for box office revenues, or will we witness the box office steadily decline until we no longer see the same blockbuster films with massive budgets due to lack of revenue? What are your thoughts on the subject? Sound off in the comments below.
Sideshow Collectables has done it yet again. I love these guys, they are bringing the most realistic products I have ever seen to the fans and this Batman figure at $464.99 looks awesome. They also offer a monthly payment plan of around $77 a month.
This beautiful sculpt features many accessories including three different head sculpts with or without the cowl, three different sets of hands from open fists to hands that are set to hold many of Batman’s great and recognizable gadgets. It comes with everything from batarangs to the grapnel gun, a light up emp gun, transformable sticky bomb gun, and the list goes on and on.
The estimated shipping date is May 13th. They do have another Batman figure from this series that you can get sooner at a little bit of a cheaper price and to tell you the truth I would love to own either one of these, but fact is that I don’t want to have to get another job to buy stuff like this.
This thing is really exciting! If you’re a big fan of Batman I suggest checking out the Sideshow Collectables website because their are so many extras and features, like one of the heads features the sonar vision device which was seen in The Dark Knight complete with light up eyes that are nice and bright. If you like to collect all things Batman, then this quarter scale collectable is the holy grail you’ve been looking for.
I could ramble on about this all night but why don’t you see for yourself? Who knows, maybe if Word of the Nerd gets enough of you to click on sideshows site they will give us all free Batman figures. It never hurts to dream. One more thing is that Sideshow has so many great items that no matter what you’re a fan of, they’re sure to have something you would love to have.
This article contains the biggest spoilers of all time. Do not read it if you have not watched The Dark Knight Rises yet.
It will ruin the end of the film for you so heed the warning.
Okay, last chance. Here we go.
Christopher Nolan, the director and co-writer of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has released a statement responding to the tragedy that ripped through the small town of Aurora, near Denver, Colorado.
During a midnight screening of the new film, 12 people were shot dead and 59 injured after a man in a bulletproof vest and mask opened fire on the packed cinema screen.
You can see more details here.
Nolan’s statement reads, “Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie.
“I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.”
A terrible shooting in Denver have left fourteen people dead and up to 50 more injured after man wearing a mask opened fire inside a cinema.
The attack took place during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, the new Batman film, where cinema goers originally thought it was a prank or stunt to do with the film.
Witnesses say that a masked man came in through the emergency exits wearing some sort of gas mask. He proceeded to throw a gas canister into the audience before opening fire.
Dan Oates, the police chief in the Denver suburb of Aurora said: “This is a horrific event. Our hearts go out to all of the family. We have mobilized the witnesses that we could get our hands on to an area high school where de-briefings are under way.”
A man in his early 20’s has now been taken into custody after he was found in possession of a knife, rifle and handgun and also wearing a bulletproof vest. The arrest took place in the cinema car park where the man gave up without a struggle.
President Barack Obama has responded to the events that took places, saying: “Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my Administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time.
“We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded. As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors, and we must stand together with them in the challenging hours and days to come.”
The story broke as local hospitals were alerted to a mass casualty that had happened in the vicinity. 10 people are said to have died on site, while a further four died later in hospital.
The number of injured is still not specified as more and more are being taken to hospital. Expect more details to come through out the day.
Below is a video of people leaving the cinema screen, some with help from police and some covered in blood. It just goes to show how serious the incident is and what it has meant to all these people.
UPDATE
Reports are now saying that the shooter is one James Holmes, 24, of North Aurora. It was also his apartment block that was evacuated after he suggested that explosives were there.
Other witnesses are suggesting that the shooting was timed to take place during a shooting in the film. This will quickly bring rise to questions that films are too violent and also the Batman franchise.
UPDATE 2
Conflicting reports are bouncing around news sources. Some are claiming 10 dead, others 12, and some 14. This should be clarified in due course.
The Daily Mail, CNN and some others are claiming the youngest injured was a three month old baby. If true, that is truly shocking and our thoughts go out to the family.
After The Dark Knight hit theatres in 2008, it wasn’t hard to believe that there would be a third film in Nolan’s Batman franchise. What was hard to believe was that it could even come close to touching what The Dark Knight had achieved. The brilliant story, the stunning visuals, and of course the performances that will never be forgotten, all were key parts to making The Dark Knight a huge success. When the announcement came that there would be a third film, The Dark Knight Rises, the fans were unsure of what to expect. Would this film be as good as The Dark Knight or Batman Begins? Could Christopher Nolan and Co. even come close to the success of the second film? Well I am here to tell you that the answer to those questions is a big, massive: YES!
Don’t worry, this review will be spoiler free. Anything I say in this review that pertains to the story will be what you already know from having read the synopsis or watched the myriad of trailers on the web right now. I am just going to tell you what worked, what didn’t work (which was pretty much nothing), and why this film is a MUST see.
The story of The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight. Batman has been declared an outlaw (although, technically, he was always an outlaw), and has disappeared from Gotham. The city has galvanized itself after the death of Harvey Dent and have put a stop to organized crime. But when the menacing brute known as Bane comes to Gotham City, Bruce Wayne must, once again, don the cowl. In a fight for Gotham City’s freedom from this new terrorist threat, he will need to once again become the symbol of hope for Gotham’s Citizens. But how will he overcome a threat as mentally and physically strong as himself, while dealing with the Gotham City Police Department and a seductive cat burglar? Well you will just have to watch and see for yourself.
First off, lets start off with the story. Christopher Nolan, Johnathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer, have out done themselves. After watching The Dark Knight, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, it was hard to believe that they could write something as compelling, deep, and incredibly rich as their second movie. But if you really think about it, Batman Begins was an incredible story and I thought it would be hard to top that. But The Dark Knight brought on an even deeper, more intricate story, so it is not surprising that the story of The Dark Knight Rises is incredible as well. It wraps up the series in such a succinctly sublime manner that it is hard to think that this wasn’t originally written as a trilogy. Threads from both previous movies make their way into this film. The themes of corruption, fear, chaos, and, as always, good versus evil, are all very much present in this film. I am not going into too much detail as to how each one shapes this film, as I would need to give much more away than I want to. But it is safe to say that this film ties the story of Bruce Wayne up into the package every fan could possibly want and with a the presence of the previous films and a few nods to the comic books, it really doesn’t disappoint.
As for the acting, everyone is stop on in their roles. After watching Heath Ledger as the Joker, I knew that no matter who Christopher Nolan picked for the leading roles of The Dark Knight Rises, that I would trust his judgment. And you Anne Hathaway naysayers will rue the day that you spoke negatively about the actress. She is plays Selina Kyle/Catwoman better than many of her predecessors (about a billion times better than Halle Berry). She is the femme fatale that Catwoman should be, portraying a character that is not only smart, but sexy and incredibly tough. After watching this film you will no longer bash Anne Hathaway. As for Tom Hardy, who plays the incredibly frightening Bane, it is hard to imagine anyone else in that role. Heath Ledger’s Joker was scary for many reasons. He just exuded this chaotic nature that bordered on insanity that you were scared of the unpredictability and anarchistic nature of the character. Bane is frightening for different reasons. Not only is he physically dominating in every scene, but his facial expressions beyond the mask, are just intense. Tom Hardy had to act with his eyes, and you see the exact emotion he wishes to convey behind his menacing looks. Of course, all of the other characters are incredibly performed once again. Michael Cain as Alfred again is the heart of the movie, stealing a few scenes away from Christian Bale. But that doesn’t mean that Christian Bale doesn’t perform the hell out of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He fully stepped up to the challenge of having to play a character that has really lost everything and really delivered on the emotional front. Of course, there are countless other actors in the film: Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard, and they all do wonderfully in their respective roles, and I could go on for days why each of them played their roles so well, but I will let you experience the film and realize for yourself why they were so great.
As for the cinematography and visual affects, this film really kicks things up a notch. The last film had some amazing set pieces and incredible shots of various action scenes, but this film takes it to another level. The war to save Gotham is so well choreographed that you are literally at the edge of you seat for the last act of the film. Wally Pfister who has worked with Nolan on all of the Batman films, has proven with this film that he is one of the best cinematographers of this age. If you can, I do recommend spending the extra coin and seeing this film in IMAX and experiencing it the way that Pfister and Nolan intended. With over an hour of pure IMAX footage, it is a beautiful piece of film making and it is hard to think of seeing it in any other format. As for the visual affects and the action set pieces, this film is definitely on par with any other blockbuster of this year. While it may not have as many explosions or CGI animation, the major scenes have you on the edge of your seat and just when you get to the edge and are pulled back, it throws you right back to the edge again.
Now, all movies have flaws. You have to look at it from so many angles that it can be hard to let yourself get immersed in the story while keeping that critical eye (which is why I often see a movie like this on more than once occasion). But this film was so enjoyable it was hard to find anything that might be considered detracting or jarring. Except on thing. Bane’s voice. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds frightening and fits the character perfectly. But when the prologue was released before Mission Impossible; Ghost Protocol, there were many audience members that had a hard time hearing him and understanding his lines. It was then reported that Nolan went back and edited it in a way to help clear up the dialogue. For the most part you can understand him perfectly. Even in that said scene, the audio was much clearer than when I first experienced it a few months back. But there were a few times that it was still incredibly hard to pick up every word Tom Hardy was saying. Not enough to make me upset or angry, but enough for me to notice. I would say that 95% of the time you can understand him, but there were a few scenes were I had to pay close attention to the dialogue. But that would be my one and ONLY gripe with this film.
Overall The Dark Knight Rises is a perfect closing to Nolan’s Batman franchise. It surpasses every one of my expectations (and my expectations were VERY high indeed). Whether or not it will gross as much as The Dark Knight did in 2008, especially with the hype surrounding Heath Ledger’s death, is unknown. But I believe that once people start seeing this film and the word of mouth spreads, it could be within the top ten highest grossing movies of all time. And furthermore, it will definitely get the Best Picture and Best Director nomination at next years Academy Awards. Whether or not they win is an entirely different argument, and I will say that, If it doesn’t I will boycott the awards for the rest of my life. So get out there and see why I have such high praise for this film and comment below if you agree or disagree with anything I have written here today!
Oh, and if you’re wondering why I didn’t give it my usual ‘whatever star rating out of five’, it is because that this movie is so good that I couldn’t possibly rate it on a scale so small. You’ll understand when you see it.
NERD IT UP!!!
With just one day to go until the biggest film of the year, The Dark Knight Rises, is released, I couldn’t be more excited. However, some people have already gotten to see the film, so this, this is for you.
I hate to say it, but some reviewers out there, some critics and some idiots just love to spoil films. Well Liam Neeson has my back, so if you spoil the film, watch your back.
As a fan of comic book movies of all stripes and oftentimes dumb and mindless action films (such as The Expendables) I have long had a love/hate relationship with film critics who often forget to look at the movies they review through different filters. But for the most part, I’ve learned to simply tune most of them out and look for my reviews from other sources and enjoy what I want to enjoy despite what anyone else says. Seriously, I’m a fan of the Star Wars prequels.
That being said, this particular story about what has been going on over at Rotten Tomatoes over some critics who gave The Dark Knight Rises less than stellar reviews has made me more than angry. In fact, it has pissed me off. Despite still boasting an 86% “fresh” rating, the film carries at the moment 16 reviews from critics who rated the film as “rotten.” And after reading several of the reviews, it feels like it was for good reasons. It’s not that these reviewers “don’t get” the character of Batman or comic book movies in general, but instead offers actual criticism of the films, from Tom Hardy trying to deliver Bane’s lines through a face mask (seriously, who thought that was a good idea?) to Nolan’s apparently ham-handed attempts to speak about the recent Wall Street movements through the film.
This is nothing to be ashamed about!
Plain and simple, this movie had a lot to live up to. Batman Begins started a trend in recent superhero movies. The Dark Knight, released three years later, elevated the genre to dizzying heights (lessons of which Marvel has taken to heart with the latest releases of their IP’s films if The Amazing Spider-Man is any indicator). And because of the incredible success of that film, I fear that The Dark Knight Rises was doomed to some amount of failure and disappointment before it even began. Speaking personally, I haven’t been able to get excited about the movie, and I’m not sure how much of that is coming off of the acclaim and accolades that The Dark Knight garnered.
However, this hasn’t stopped numerous “fans” of the movies from lambasting these critics, using everything from ugly words to death threats against these critics on Rotten Tomatoes’ site. It has gotten to the point where moderating these comments becoming so difficult that the simpler solution became simply turning off comments on the movie altogether. And while the really offensive comments have been removed, the remaining ones really go to show you how bad fans can get and how quickly the label of “fan” can quickly change to the label of “fanboy.” I won’t do them the service of posting any of them over here, but you can still go and read them over on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is about what I picture when I read them.
Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of the site has taken the lesson of what has happened here to heart and they are looking to the future, as well as talking about overhauling their site’s comment engine.
“There are a lot of options on the table. We may do away with comments completely or get to a place where comments are only activated after a movie opens.”
Other options apparently include linking the site with Facebook to remove an overwhelming number of anonymous posts. And any of these moves wouldn’t be unheard of. Other aggregating sites already have some of these policies in place to cut back on “ too much hate based on reactions to reviews of movies that people hadn’t even seen.”
Whatever they do, expect to see a change made soon, as the next film they are worried about having this kind of reaction is part one of Peter Jackson’s telling of The Hobbit coming out this December.
In the meantime, fans of Batman (or any popular IP for that matter), do the rest of us that you’re representing on the internet a favor and check your egos at the door when you encounter these situations. You aren’t doing anyone any favors and it gives all of us a bad name when this is the kind of press people see.
As for which camp of critics has the right of it, we’ll just have to wait for Friday to come so the rest of us can see what they’ve seen.
Source - The Huffington Post: ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Fans Force Rotten Tomatoes To Suspend Commending On Reviews
Happy Wednesday Nerdites! As many of you know tomorrow night marks the beginning of the end for Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy, or at least let’s hope it does. The Dark Knight Rises has been a constant point of conversation for years at this point, and to be honest I am quite happy just to see it all come to an end. Do not get me wrong, that is not to say that I do not love the series, I will be at the midnight showing tomorrow myself, I just am not as fanatical about it as others.
At least part of my diminished enthusiasm stems from the fact I still do not think Nolan and Bale’s Batman is anywhere near the best. Oh it certainly can make a claim as the best film version of the character, but even that is debatable. I can name a number of Batman writers over the years that have done better things with the character, but that is like comparing apples to oranges.
A comparison we can make is that to the DC animated films and TV shows. Batman in particular has been the most well represented in the animated universe and it is hard to compete with the Batman: TAS version of the character. Certainly no one can argue that Kevin Conroy’s Batman voice is infinitely better than Christian Bale’s attempt at a sore throat. That is why when I saw this TDKR trailer inspired by Hub‘s BTAS marathon I almost started squealing like the Geico Pig. To highlight Friday’s ten episode marathon, Hub cut pieces of BTAS into a trailer that closely resembles the original TDKR trailer. It is phenomenally done, and it seems like they even pulled in voice talent to make the dialogue match.
This is some pretty effective marketing as well. if I still had conventional television I might consider staying home Friday just to watch, but alas I will miss it. For those of you still recovering from the midnight showing of TDKR, the marathon will begin 4 pm eastern and 1 pm pacific. Now enjoy the wonderful trailer and let us know what you think in the comments below! Oh and did I mention that Hub also has ALF…. just saying.
