The Dark Knight Rises

First off, there's something I need to get off my chest.  I've thought long and hard over the past several months about exactly what it is I'm doing with this blog and more importantly, why I'm bothering to record my thoughts on film for posterity and (limited) public consumption.  I read a great many film sites and follow the luminaries that run and contribute to them.  I read message boards and twitter, keeping up with the conversation and taking note of the contending opinions that tend to crop up with most genre film.  So, where do I fit into this black-hole-miasma of blowhard pontificating?  Well, what I've come to realize is, "film critic" isn't really a thing I believe in anymore.  The democratization of our society via the Internet has rendered the term meaningless.  When everyone can give their voice wings, the sky becomes a crowded place.  Some soar above others, but ultimately, we're all circling pop culture vultures, emphatically squawking into the void.

Don't get me wrong, I love film dissection and firmly believe it is its own valid form of art and expression.  I depend on the writers I respect to round out my understanding of a film and challenge me to not look past the flaws my boyish enthusiasm shields from me. But the bottom line is, at this point in the evolution of humans as technological animals, film criticism has morphed into a wide ranging discussion, at least as far as the Internet is concerned.  So what I imagine I'm doing with this blog is contributing my thoughts to said discussion, in whatever manner I feel relevant, addressing whichever talking points I consider pertinent.  I assume you've seen the films if you're reading this, so before I begin in earnest on the conclusion of Nolan's Bat-trilogy, be aware I eschew plot synopsis and spoilers shall abound.

Let's step back from all the noise surrounding this massively important film for a bit, shall we?  Let's forget about the Rotten Tomatoes commenting kerfuffle, the wild box office speculation, and let's especially ignore the despicable midnight show shooting perpetrated by a deranged monster. Let us look at The Dark Knight Rises as a standalone film and as the conclusion to a trilogy.  I would argue this is a film you need to go into having seen and being well versed with the world of the previous entries to fully understand what's going on.  That's not really an issue though when you're discussing a series as monstrously successful and culturally important as Nolan's Bat-films.  This is that rare series whose thematic through line and sub-textual relevancy can be viewed as a consistent, circular journey, as satisfying as it is profound and profoundly moving. 

Nolan's trilogy is the story of the psychological state of Post 9/11 America, viewed through a surrogate city watched over by flawed, complex protectors and constantly beset by amoral or outright malevolent terrorists.  The tragic protagonists in these films are no more equipped to deal with the evil they face by possessing bottomless resources than the purposeful antagonists are limited by their simplistic means and archaic approach. Gotham's enemies view it as a hopelessly corrupt beast whose inhabitants are compromised caricatures of humanity, waiting to be put out of their misery as the den of iniquity that spawned them is swallowed in flames.  Batman and his ever dwindling allies see Gotham as a struggling, impetuous child that needs guidance and protection. A troubled metropolis full of basically decent people that require positive symbols and patient reinforcement to properly flourish.

It's a challenging series of films that begs complicated consideration of the notions of fear, justice, personal responsibility and all consuming guilt.  It also poses uncomfortable questions about what we as a society have become since that first seed of fear was planted.  The lengths we've gone to to keep our loved ones safe and the sacrifices we've made to our code of ethics in the interest of pursuing justice.

I went into The Dark Knight Rises enthusiastically expecting more of the same I got from The Dark Knight.  Another tortured, angst ridden descent attempting to decipher the current political climate, updated for the Occupy movement and its attendant focus on inequitable living conditions and glaring class contradictions.  That is present, but it's definitely NOT the carrot that wags the dog here.  Nolan has delightfully subverted expectations and delivered a rousing conclusion to his series that pays off huge (and unexpectedly effective) emotional dividends while beautifully tying together the trilogy in a confident manner that never feels cheap or forced.

Everything comes full circle here back to that scared little boy in Batman Begins, who learned why we fall, how to pick himself up and to not be afraid.  Bruce Wayne finally comes to grips with his limits in this film and it has nothing to do with strength or endurance.  It's no mistake that the clean energy machine Wayne Enterprises harbors hidden and unused (a deliciously convenient narrative contrivance) is so easily converted to a nuclear weapon when it falls into the wrong hands.  It's a metaphor for Batman's entire quest to save Gotham and how such undiluted vigilantism can turn poisonous over time, to not only himself, but his beloved city as well.

 Ra's Al Ghul and Thomas Wayne both believed there was a problem with Gotham and desired to alleviate it in very different ways.  One through patience and hard work, the other with a scorched earth mentality.  Their respective offspring continue this battle to its logical conclusion in The Dark Knight Rises.  Bruce Wayne realizes that he himself is that bomb, a vessel of retribution slowly and surely melting down to extinction event, and he wisely, selflessly extricates himself from the equation.  It's extraordinarily pulpy, replete with a third act ticking clock, but it is deceptively resonant and didn't hit me until a full 24 hours after seeing the film.  I can only imagine how much more this masterpiece will reveal to me upon the innumerable viewings surely to come.  That's why I feel tentative in writing this, unwilling to put my opinions into a concrete, lasting statement.  Film criticism is, as I stated at the onset of this piece, now a fluid conversation.  The conversation on this film is just getting started and it's far too gargantuan an undertaking to dismiss with a paltry "review".

I'd still like to touch on some of the more clear cut observations to be had.  The film is a staggering technical achievement, though that should be expected with a master auteur given free reign with a quarter of a billion dollars.  The IMAX footage and cinematography in general is the standard bearer for how magnificent a medium film is and serves as a forceful rebuttal to the digital revolution.  Zimmer's score is an unhinged master work with atonal bouts of swirling, tribal insanity off set by familiar melancholic themes of grim resolve.  The practical stunt work and set pieces are a joy to behold and hold so much more weight and power than the out of hand CGI spectacles that have come to dominate the genre.

Nolan continues his fascinating casting approach, pitting interesting B-level character actors against A-list Oscar winners while throwing in the occasional washed up reminder like Matthew Modine and peppering in unforgivably bad soap-opera-level ham slingers just to spice it up.  The truly awful performance by the CIA operative in the opening scene is classic Nolan.  Inexplicable, memorable and deviously charming.  It's jarring at first, but over time, that guys stilted delivery will come to be as cherished to me as "No More Dead Cops!!!" in The Dark Knight.

Bale is terrific as always.  People just expect him to be great because he's reliably amazing and scarily dedicated.  He's my favorite and most respected actor working today and this film is a showcase for why.  His crazed, animalistic primal scream trying to psyche himself up during his first fight with Bane is why that scene is so horrifying and heartbreaking.  Speaking of Bane and those fights:  Tom Hardy is a God in this film.  His presence, his voice, his eyes.  He makes this character every bit as compelling and charming as Ledger's Joker, just infinitely more terrifying.  I had ridiculously unreal expectations for Bane and the fights he has with Batman and the film totally exceeded them.  I was breathless.

I've only seen The Dark Knight Rises once.  I gave it a day before I put anything down.  These are my initial impressions.  I plan on seeing it a few more times in glorious 70mm IMAX and look forward to future marathon sessions with the trilogy at home on bluray.  Nolan has done something unprecedented here, changing the superhero game forever.  He succeeded wildly and on his own terms, reinventing the genre and pushing it irrevocably forward and upward.  This is a series as important to cinema as it is to our cultural identity.  Events like this don't come around often, we need to stand back from the deafening noise surrounding it and come to our own personal conclusions.  Finding cohesion is hard at first, but over time, the work will come into focus.