2012. Dir: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway. ●●●○○
Last week I admitted to being lazy, this week I'm going to admit to being a coward. I've been holdign back on my The Dark Knight Rises review because my opinion may be unpopular. So here we are, three weeks too late, I didn't much like the closing chapter to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. I felt it to be an ambitious, glorious piece of film-making sadly let down by an overstuffed, incoherent and dull plot. It is both an improvement and a let down compared to Nolan's previous work and I only hope he pares down his narrative fancies for whatever non-chiropteran project he works on next.
Seven years have past since the thrilling climax of The Dark Knight when Bale’s Batman took the fall for Harvey Two-face Dent’s murderous rampage and Gotham has radically changed. The Dent act, which allows draconian charging for organised syndicates has virtually destroyed the Falcone family interests and created a crime free zone, whilst an arrest warrant sits over Batman’s head. Bruce Wayne, with no crime to fight, has sunk into a deep depression, brooding over the death of Rachel Dawes and shut off from all society; an effort to create a cold fusion generator macguffin was thwarted when a Hungarian scientist pointed out how easy it was to turn it into a bomb and the entire R&D budget has been sunk in keeping the device, handily stored under the city, leaving Wayne industries close to insolvency, all in all things are not looking good for Batman.
Yet something under the city is stirring, gangs of youths are disappearing into the sewers, lulled by the promise of jobs still denied to the Gotham underclass. A few switched on cops led by aging Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and angry young pup (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are imagining the worst and wondering when the bat signal will once again need to be turned on. Even sophisticated jewellery thief Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) knows enough to spout warnings of a war coming, an inexorable tide that will bring the rich and powerful of the city tumbling to the streets. Yet even Kyle isn’t completely prepared for the changes, because it’s no campaigning Victorian with concerns about social harmony, nor is it the financial meltdown the real world has experienced, Gotham has a more substantial foe, international terrorist and towering brute Bane (Tom Hardy in a mask) is about to reveal himself as Gotham’s reckoning.
Two paragraphs of exposition on and I’ve yet to mention other key characters brought forward from previous movies (Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy) and new batch (Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Ben Mandelsson) all of whom almost have story arcs of their own to get through, even if the arc precludes the possibility of character development. Inevitably many of actors get shafted in the screen play, we've seen plenty of Morgan Freeman's witty and taciturn technogeek, and not just in this trilogy, but Marion Cotillard who really should make an impact in order to justify her ropey romance with Bale and her third act journey, yet Miranda Tate is always a cypher to the audience, seemingly there only to give the fanboys something to shout about at the end.
Instead of the supporting cast Nolan turns the camera back on the Batman, returning to the story of a scared orphan falling down in order to learn how to get up, an angry child emotionally scarred by his parents untimely death and his battle to clean up the streets. It's thematically linked to the first film in that examination of Bruce Wayne's psyche and the surrogate parental relationships formed with butler, Alfred, and Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul and the infamous League of Shadows.
Against this most introspective of comic book hero's it takes a really special performance to steal the limelight, and alas Tom Hardy's Bane whilst superficially fulfilling the flipside to Wayne - a man who started with nothing intent on destroying the world order rather than protecting it not to mention the yin and yang of their masks - is given so little to do about from a couple of rousing, only just decipherable speeches and a chance to pummel the Batman. Indeed Bane is able to build an army and mount a revolution yet the audience aren't given a chance to understand what makes his men follow him, not just into battle but also to a sacrificial alter.
When considering the film I find myself constantly returning to Bane, his plan and his motives. Each time I confuse myself more and more, did Bane want to stir up a revolution to overturn corrupt capitalist society, or was the whole thing a ruse to get Batman so riled up he crawls out of a hole? Doesn't Bane and his key accomplices know the bomb will explode? Did Nolan not think it would be interesting to see the results of Bane's tyrannical overthrow, or was a montage of the rich being thrown out of their hotels enough to satisfy? It's not even as if the politics of the film hit the zeitgeist, Bane doesn't represent the 99% as he's pushing not for equality of opportunity and social justice but another kind of inequality. Even the attack on Gotham's own stock exchange isn't to break the bank but to make some high value transactions of his own. It's the filmic equivalent of Robespierre and Idi Amin keeping the masses in place by routinely executing the old order and redistributing wealth with reckless abandon.
Thank God for Anne Hathaway, from the moment she appears on screen her cat-burglar (geddit???) steals every scene, by turns vulnerable, playful and vindictive, she's the proof Nolan could help create significant, rounded female characters (sorely missing from most of his back catalogue).
Technically this film delivers in spades. Wally Pfister knows how to use IMAX cameras like no-one else in the business, there were times I was as giddy as a school-girl watching the camera work. Lindy Hemmings costumes, always a highpoint of the series once again impress, from the stylish duds of Gotham's partying rich to Gary Oldham's cardies and from the utilitarian suggestion of cat to Anne Hathaway's suit to Bane's coat, which I fully expect to see everywhere this winter.
Overall though I have to say it doesn't matter how much I try to big up the successes in The Dark Knight Rises, the bar was simply too high to climb. Flawed and unwieldy this is not the closing episode any of us wanted and I can really only recommend it to fans of the Batman.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
The Dark Knight Rises
Sunday, 5 August 2012
The Dark Night Sets (Out this week - 03/08/12)
After last weeks appallingly uninspiring cinematic choices it's good to be back to double figures of releases, with a fair mix of genre's styles and nationality I think we can probably guarantee something for everyone. And if not I believe The Dark Knight Rises is still out in multiplexes. At the top end of the table there are four films with generally positive reviews to choose from, but giving the timing of the release I have to say one of these has the edge. All the Batman fans out there take note that there's an alternative Christian Bale performance to catch up with, starring as a drifting mortician caught up in the Rape of Nanking, and one of the first of a new wave of US/Chinese collaborations the Runs like a Gay Film of the Week is Flowers of War.
Last weekend The Dark Knight Rises fell a predictable 49% in revenue yet was still taking more than every other release in the top ten combined. The Lorax may not have performed as well as producers would have liked, but it still took second place in the charts, although that's third when adjusted for previews. All this means there's plenty of scope for a new film to out-perform expectations. Now with it's limited art-house release strategy Bale has no chance of knocking himself off the top of the box office so the best contender is probably Seth McFarlane's Ted. Defying the odds in America earlier this year it opened very well and is the highest grossing R-rated comedy of the year and "Family Guy" is surprisingly popular on this side of the Atlantic. It's going to be a very close race, but I think The Dark Knight Rises dropped further than expected last weekend because of the Olympics opening ceremony and this week we'll see a much more sedate decline with Ted taking a comfortable Silver.
Flowers of War
Yimou Zhang visionary action films Hero and The House of the Flying Daggers introduced him to the world as a meticulous, operatic director with a gorgeous eye - every frame from those two hits could be displayed as a example of screen craft at it's best - but this film about the rape of Nanking marks a new stage in his career, both in terms of the gritty modern content and the eye to the international market with Christian Bale in the lead. Serendipitous release date for Yimou, who directed the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony that they said could never be topped.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Read on for aging maids, talking teddies and a cult with one foot in the future. As well as all of this weeks trailers.
One thing we know from this trailer, Yimou Zhang hasn't lost his touch for finding beauty in conflict.
A Simple Life
At the other end of the scale for Chinese cinema, the clue being in the title, is this low-key examination of selfless acts showing the shifting relationship between a successful film-maker - Andy Lau - and his elderly Amah and former nanny - Deannie Yip. Exploring contemporary attitudes to the elderly and the debt we owe our forebears it deserves a much bigger audience than it's art-house release will generate.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Ted
As a boy Mark Wahlberg has all his wishes come true when his Teddy comes spectacularly to life. Thirty years later the full consequences become clear as foul-mouthed, womanising Ted holds back Mark in his relationship with Mila Kunis, his job and his life generally. Essentially 90 plus minutes of watching a child's toy drink, swear and have sex it's clearly not looking for an Oscar, but there's plenty of chuckles to be had in the trailer and MacFarlane's fans will eat it up.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Sound of my Voice
The ascendancy of Brit Marling continues with this strange haunting American indie about a couple investigating a bizarre cult, led by a woman claiming to have time travelled back to the present. I hear great things about the movie, especially it's open ended conclusion and simple believable script.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
The last two wimpy kid movies have been popular thanks to the established kids books with their dedicated fans. That said the cast are clearly not getting younger so you have to wonder if the younger potential audience will still identify with the leads.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Jism 2
Take your mind out of the gutter, jism is the Hindi word for body. That said Sunny Leone's debut lead performance is hitting plenty of headlines thanks to her past as a porn actress and the films themes which hint at woman being masters of their own sexuality, something many traditional Bollywood audiences shy away from. It'll be interesting to see if this is the third Indian movie to hit the top ten in as may weeks.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Leave it on the Floor
I feel like I should want to be more excited by this trailer, a gloriously camp concoction of the African American New York scene, dance competitions and stunning bodies, but honestly the cliches just keep coming so I'm not sure it's for me. I do hope it finds an audience though, it's cotton-candy design and fierce cast deserve that.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Mirattal
Multi-genre Tamil release without an IMDb page - honestly it's like they don't want anyone to see it - but the inclusion of scenes filmed in my home city of Bath do make me a little homesick and act as something close to a recommendation.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
The Reverend
There are two British horror movies taking in a select few cinemas before their inevitable trip to DVD bargain bins this weekend. Of the two this has the most notable cast with Rutger Hauer showing up to remind us he'll do anything for money in this Vampiric updating of Job. The production values like quite good too.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Truth or Dare
But The Reverend looks like Shakespeare compared to this tosh about five friends going to a party only to find it's been set up by a psychopath interested in finding out what happened to his brother and torturing a few screamy teens on the way. Yawn.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
The Fighter
2010. Dir: David O. Russell. Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and Mickey O'Keefe. ●●●○○
Everywhere I looked in late January there were posters advertising David O. Russell's The Fighter with the strangely unambitious critical quote "The best boxing film since Rocky". It's not, far from it, but like Stallone's breakout it shares the same metaphorical use of pugilism. Rocky is at it's core a working-class love story with a boxer, The Fighter is a working class family drama with a boxer.
Showing the fall and rise of light Welterweight "Irish" Mickey Ward and his crack addicted brother Dicky Eklund (Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale respectively) the film focuses on the family dynamics between the brothers, the rest of the family - led by over-bearing mother Melissa Leo - and the more sedate influences on Mickey's life in his cop-turned trainer Mickey O'Keefe (here played by himself) and girlfriend Amy Adams.
I won't deal with too much detail of the plot, not least because as it's a biopic the whole story is largely in the public domain including the influential crack documentary about Dicky's fall from grace. Indeed the biopic structure seems awfully forced in this movie, the happy endings seem contrived even though we know that's what really happened. It's a strange feeling where reality doesn't feel real. The attention to detail even extends to the boxing scenes which were filmed in the same way the original games were shown on TV even hiring the same commentators to read over their, at the time, improvised discussion of the action unfolding. This deliberately removes the viewer from the ringside we're used to in boxing movies and back into our armchairs however it also removes the tension from the fight. I rewatched Champion and Cinderella Man in recent weeks to prepare and both had more exciting boxing even if neither seemed realistic.
The performances from the main cast are exemplary. Wahlberg and Bale play introvert and extrovert brothers perfectly, one being the yin to the other's yang, with each performance only working because of the alternative extreme of the other. It's the kind of sibling pairing we often see in real life but rarely in the movies. Don't be fooled by Bale forthcoming supporting actor Oscar his is a co-lead performance and the battles he faces are as central to the plot as Wahlberg sporting encounters.
Melissa Leo and Amy Adams add some needed character to the underwritten female roles the former especially transcending the material conveying so much with a sidewards look or a hand on the hip. On a side note the level of misogyny in this movie is shocking with every woman being presented as manipulative, cold or stupid.
The technical work is fine with some excellent make-up work being done and quality set decoration but a cliche ridden script (the scene where Wahlberg says he wants everyone to get along is particularly risible) and pedestrian direction doesn't help.
I really wanted to like this movie going in but performances aside it's the least effective of the best film nominees I've seen so far.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Christian Bale
Happy Birthday to
Christian Bale
37 today
And a very hearty congratulations on your Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actor category for The Fighter. I expect it's a well earned nom for an actor who always gives his all to a role. Of course the film we're all looking forward to seeing Bale in next is The Dark Knight Rises.
