The Dark Knight Rises
As soon as we here the name our mind relates it to one gruesome incident in Denver, but we are here not to discuss about that, but to review on the epic finale of a Batman movie series.
And, even before I delve in to the movie i would like to talk about a strange coincidence which I noticed. In earlier times Indian movies used to run long hours (some as long as 4 hours) and Hollywood movies were synonymous for short movies, but now things are seeing drastic turn around Indian movies are becoming shorter by the day (Except some) and Hollywood movies are becoming longer. Bill 2 was only 2 hrs 09 minutes while the length of Dark Knight Rises was 2 hours 45 Mins. Should we say the team in Hollywood is overflowing with content that they have decided to make long movies or that Indian crew is running short of ideas that they are depending on older movies to remake or just stick to trimming the movies short or add senseless masala like half clad women dancing around.
Now for the movie, The central cast of Dark Knight Rises is the same, Charismatic Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman , Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and the ever so faithful Micheal Caine as Alfred , with Tom Hardy as the lethal Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/ Cat Women , Mario Cortillard as Miranda Tait joining in as fresh faces.
Many (ardent followers of Batman series) would know that the third installment is the concluding portion of this series and there by the expectation was huge, especially after the Oscar winning performance by Heath ledger, and this installment does not disappoint you a bit. There is enough action for kids and their dads, emotions run high at some scenes, especially when you see your favorite super star getting beaten up to pulp by the masked menace “Bane”, but it’s the laughter quotient that is missing and that is when you realize that we are not watching an Indian super hero movie to have comedy track. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF and the seriousness is rubbed n your face from the very first scene where an FBI flight carrying an arrested scientist is shown to be hijacked and grounded by Bane. This first cut is real high adrenaline stuff and sets the tempo for the movie.
From this note post title credits, the movie starts off with a retired Batman, all crime makers in the city behind bars and Gotham city the safest place on earth, and Harvey Dent (ex District Attorney) is the reason for Gotham City being so safe and Batman is the most wanted man for killing Harvey Dent. Bruce Wayne has gone in to a self imposed exile and has not seen the outside world for the past 8 years and all his riches are going down the drain. All this said and done, Bruce Wayne realizes that someone is seriously behind him trying to get more details about him and he has to figure out who and why, that’s when Batman decides to make c come back and how, Batman chooses the same day to make a comeback as when Bane decided to rob the stock exchange (wondering why someone would rob a stock exchange when there is no money there? Watch the movie to know) , and the inner plot thickens when Bruce Wayne realizes that all his wealth has been taken over fraudulently and he literally has nothing for himself let alone his big empire. He decides to empower Miranda Tait to control the Wayne Empire and safe guard the nuclear reactor they were building for peaceful usage.
All ends breaks loose when Bane takes control of Wayne Empire and also the reactor converting the same in to ticking nuclear bomb and to top it he has imprisoned Batman in a hell prison after being trapped by cat women who ended up being on the wrong side at the wrong time. Bane has now converted the Gotham city in to the most dreaded city in the world. How batman escapes from the hell prison, gets back control of the city and saves it from the nuclear bomb forms the rest of the story. The icing on the cake is the realization of the real villain of Gotham city, and the hardest part is when we realize that there will be no more Batman as he laid his life to protect Gotham City. The director has cleverly hidden clues about the emergence of Robin and does not leave out a possibility of the reemergence of Batman as well.
The Dark Knight Rises according to me is by far the best super hero movie, watch it to understand the art of storytelling and attention to detail and if you are parents then take your kids to see them go berserk when they see their idol on screen. I saw it and I loved every bit of the happiness on my five year old daughters face.
-PJ
