DSNG'S MOVIE REVIEW OF THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!!

*OF COURSE THERE ARE SLIGHT SPOILERS INCLUDED!!*
 I shall try not to give away too much, but I make no guarantees!! If you just want  posters from this movie, click HERE!!


And the Batman saga by writer / director Christopher Nolan comes to an end.... But not without one hell of a bang. This sci fi action movie ended with a nuclear bomb going off. But the build up to that grand finale was actually very well done.

I will honestly confess that this is my favorite Batman movie out of the Trilogy by Nolan. It was well written, and it ended well, setting things up for the imagination of the audience to fill in the gaps on the future events.

Christian Bale donned the mask and cape for the third and final time, yet this movie actually started with him using a walking stick - it continued directly from the epilogue of the  previous Batman movie, in which he took one hell of a beating at the hands of Harvy Dent [two-face] and the insane Joker, before fleeing and becoming the "Wanted Dark Knight".

Catwoman [played perfectly by Anne Hathaway] was introduced rather early in the movie. She seems to have been a crook / thief since her youth, yet she was able to pass all the job interviews and infiltrate the ranks of the stewards at the Wayne Mansion [probably due to her good looks]. The sexual undertone between Catwoman and Bruce Wayne [Christian "Deep-Bat-Voice" Bale] was evident from the start; and  in her own unique way, she actually helped him get out of the pit of depression and self-pity... by stealing his mother's pearls and fleeing the mansion - but it later became apparent that Ms. Selina Kyle stole something else as well, on that night. They did kiss a few times in this flick... and Bruce Wayne actually Got Lucky with a hot chick - but I won't tell you who the lucky female was.

[You may need to Click on the "Read More" link to view the rest of this lengthy blog article!]

BATMAN TO BANE: "WHERE IS THE DETONATOR? WHERE IS THE DETONATOR?" LOL

And I know that I previously tagged the Joker as insane, in a paragraph above. But trust me folks, the new villain Bane [played by Tom Hardy] was just as crazy as that other guy with the white face-paint. Bane appeared to have a morphine addition that kept him from feeling pain, as regular humans do. And apart from beign an extremely muscular guy who had no fear [he was linked to the same secret society called "The League of Shadows" that trained Batman years ago], he was also a certified pychopath who believed in the ultimate ideal of freedom - social freedom, political freedom and financial freedom; freedom from rules, from social classifications and even freedom from all forms of judicial structure.

Instead, Bane's philosophy is that we should all be free to do whatever the hell we want, and the poor should have the right to judge the rich and powerful for using them, taking so much of the society's wealth and resources - while virtually leaving nothing for the humble guy at the bottom of the totem pole.

Truth be told, one of the ways that big corporations cheat their city and beat the tax system is by outsourcing jobs to foreign nations and building production factories there [the sweatshops with cheap labor that produce potato chips, small gadgets, t-shirts, sneakers, jeans etc]. And just by doing that, you actually do transfer jobs out of a nation, and the folks overseas don't even get paid what they really deserve for their hard work... and the corporation gets huge tax cuts, since they can even "cook-up the books" and hide the true profit numbers from their interactions overseas, which the diligent but limited IRS won't be able to fully investigate. Yes, I said it.... this is my damn blog and I can tell-it-like-it-is anytime I want to!! :D
 
Now back to the topic at hand: Bane and his universal ideal of complete Freedom. This is actually a dangerous thing... because freedom in itself, when abused, will lead to anarchy and actually a great deal of bloodshed. Somehow I felt traces of the French Revolution  [1789–1799] and the death of King Louis the XVI of France, when I watched this movie. There was a nostalgic vibe that reminded me of that true historic event that took place back in  1793, a few years after the national chaos began in France and King Louis was mercilessly judged for just... being himself - i.e., a greedy monarch. His innocent wife, Marie Antionette, was murdered several months later, in the same year of 1793. Her crime was... well, being married to the King. The ruling council of the commoners in charge of administering hard justice really couldn't tag Marie Antionette with anything such as embezzlement, fraud, mass-murder or other crimes. So they just killed her for being linked to the monarchy.


And in this new Nolan-Batman-Trilogy, there is a people's court established after Bane turns the whole city upside-down [remember the movie commercial in which Bane blows up a football field from underground, while derstroying all the bridges that lead into the "Island City" of Gotham, save for just one bridge]. And a bunch of rich folks get exiled / executed by "the people" while Batman was literally exiled, and he was facing his worst fears.

[BTW, You can find the colored version of that sexy Catwoman / Batman poster over HERE!]

Of all the superhero movies that I've ever watched, this one made me think. If you recall, the Joker [played by the late Heath Ledger] was a certified pycho, who just wanted to watch the world burn. But Bane actually wanted a New World Order, punctuated by the violent reform / forceful revolution of the people of Gotham; and this revolution would be culminated in the annihilation of Gotham City, as it would be wiped off the face of the planet with one hell of a bomb.
 
Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul [the main villain from the first Batman movie], was carefully intertwined into the movie plot. I have a popular article on her and all of the women that Bruce Wayne has dated over the years, in the Batman comics, cartoons and movies, over HERE. And somehow Talia proved that "hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned," especially a woman whose father was killed by Batman in the first movie of the Nolan-Batman-Trilogy.
[Batman and his EMP gun are shown on the left]

The introduction of Joseph Gordon-Levitt who played the young brazen police officer named Blake was actually a key move by the director. And Blake did play a critical role in saving day, even though he had no "super powers". But let's face it, no one in the Nolan-Batman-Trilogy has any real superpowers; the characters are all just freakishly strong and durable. And even Catwoman was kicking-ass & taking-names :) Plus, at the very end of the movie, we find out who will be the future "Robin"....
And the new Batjet hovercraft - simply  called "the Bat" - also took center stage, dominating the sky as it combated the the multiple rogue Batmobiles. After I saw its overall appearance, I really didn't like the design of the Batjet that much; honestly, it could have been done better. But generally, the fans will still enjoy the hi-tech vehicles shown off in this movie.

I haven't bought any of the previous Batman movies on Blue Ray / DVD.... but I just might have to add this one to my collection, because it was just that damn good. The action sci fi movie did last for 2 hours 45 minutes.... but I think they should have just made it 3 hours long. There were a few rushed relationships and fast-forwarded character interactions. And sometimes, when directors cut out critical "slow talking scenes" they don't realize that the movie can loose A LOT of substance. The Chronicles of Riddick [released in theaters back in 2004] is a perfect example of that "over-shortening" process. And if you watch the Looong Unrated DVD, you'll actually get to understand  and appreciate that Vin Diesel movie a whole lot better.

Well, after all is said and done, this new Dark Knight Rises movie gest TWO THUMBS UP from me :)

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BTW - The Batman Colorado Movie Theater Shooting - 
My prayers go out to the victims of the recent shooting in Colorado - some crazy guy opened fire last night at a movie theater that was premiering the Nolan-Batman movie around midnight, killing 12 people and injuring 59 others. That stupid crazy 24-year-old was grabbed by the police less than 40 minutes after he opened fire on the innocent people... and he literally claimed to be "The Joker."
The name of the fool behind the massacre is James Holmes, some idiotic post-graduate dropout who was once pursuing a medical degree. And I was also shocked to hear that there was an innocent young lady named Jessica [Redfield] Ghawi, 24-years old, who was shot and killed by James in the earliest hours of July 20th, 2012.... yet she had just survived a previous shooting at a mall about 6 weeks ago, on June 2, 2012. 
After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Jessica had been looking for a job in broadcasting. And after interning with Mike Taylor, a sportscaster at San Antonio's Ticket 760, she got a new job in Denver, primarily covering hockey. That was why she moved to Colorado, just to work, not to be terminated by an inane bastard.

I don't have any deep insightful comments on that event, but I do pray that the families of the bereaved will somehow find comfort in these trying times... and the S.O.B behind the shooting should get "The electric chair" for this one. Yes, I said it; because he deserves it. Period.
Putting this into context with the stuff I wrote in the paragraphs above, James Holmes is a man that abused his civil freedom. Yes he had a right to buy his AR15 and other automatic guns, but he did not have the right to execute innocent people for no damn reason... 

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Anyway, don't forget to check out the article that showcases various Cosplay posters of Catwoman over HERE!