BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I wasn’t ready for “The Dark Knight Rises” when it came out this past summer. I was all about it and ready to have my mind blown, but when it came out I just didn’t go see it. I heard some reviews from friends and around. Some people love it and some people hate it. Regardless I knew that I had to see it. I finally got to sit down with it on DVD. It wasn’t a big IMAX experience, but it was an experience nonetheless. “Batman Begins” was a great movie. Christopher Nolan painted a wonderfully dark and intriguing picture and Christian Bale kicked ass in the suits, Bat and three pieces. It made the superhero genre something more artistic. It didn’t have to be a cartoon with a lot of flash. Nolan made Batman gritty and as real as a superhero movie can. This carried on with “The Dark Knight”. That was one of the best movies of all time. People cling on to the great performance of Heath Ledger, but I think Bale’s Batman was once again the backbone of the movie. People seem to love these movies, but folks seem to take for granted the work of Bale. There are plenty of reasons why this franchise is great. The final installment, “The Dark Knight Rises”, concludes this version of Batman perfectly. In “Rises”, Batman is faced off with Bane. He’s the “bad guy” of this one and is played like a bad ass by Tom Hardy. We also get some side story love with Selina Kyle, basically Catwoman, and more goodness with Gary Oldman’s “Gordon”, Cillian Murhpy’s “Crane”/”Scarecrow”, Morgan Freeman as “Lucious Fox”, and about a dozen really awesome actors in really cool supporting roles. Of course Michael Caine holds it down as “Alfred”. His character never had any huge flashy storyline, but the arc over the three movies and his impact on the character shouldn’t go underappreciated. He should be nominated for a “Best Supporting Actor” award for damn sure. One cool addition to the world was Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character. He almost serves as the “fan” of Batman. The awe-inspired child who looks to Batman as a sign of hope and what is right in the world. I don’t need to get into the plot of this movie. I’d be wasting people’s time. If you’ve seen it you know it and if you haven’t you need to experience it for yourself. There is so much heart and soul in this movie that it’s crazy. Every character has a strong presence and purpose in the ongoing plot. There was no really over the top performance like “The Joker”, but the layers of subtext is amazing. Christian Bale brought the same level of acting he has brought his best of roles to this outstanding performance. We all know, love, and care for Batman but Bale brought it to a level of humanity and desperation that should go down as the best superhero performance of all time. I know that’s a crazy statement of hype and some big hyperbole, but it’s true. If anyone talks shit about “the Batman voice” after this movie then you’re just an uninformed douche. If you’ve ever enjoyed a superhero movie then you should have seen the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale trilogy. There is so much movie magic involved with these films that it’s not hard to see these are modern classics. If you’re old enough to appreciate these movies then there is no reason not to watch them. This movie is part of that. All three movies are “must see”. A
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