The Dark Knight Rises

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.

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Honouring the writers (Film News - 12/02/11)

It's been a fantastic week for film fans, every day we've been treated to valuable nuggets of information all building up to exciting propositions for future cinematic releases. Some have been for the sort of box office behemoths that dominate the front pages however there has also been a tsunami of reportage for more high brow fare, including some projects that may bother the Academy over the next couple of years.

The Third Act/He Loves Me

We start this week with two very different projects that share a similar starting point: Writer's Block (something I imagine most bloggers are familiar with). In The Third Act we have a sucessful author of Western novels - set to be played by Morgan Freeman - He Loves Me will star Paul Dano as a former child prodigy trying to break into serious adult fiction (that's fiction for adults nothing saucy).

That's where the similarities end. Whilst the former involves Freeman meddling with the lives of the local inhabitants of the small town he retreats to for inspiration and the latter will riff on Pygmalion and see Dano writing up hs ideal girlfriend into existence. Behind the cameras will be Rob Reiner and Little Miss Sunshine duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris further highlighting the divergent styles.



You wouldn't have thought tht writer's block (as visualised above) would be such a hot topic in Hollywood, but with these two and Jason Reitman's upcoming Young Adult there definitely seems to be a trend forming. I would be tempted to say theres been a lot of it about but you could hardly argue the output has dwindled over recent years or that the quality of high end writing has dimished either in la-la-land or on the Waterstone's shelves. Maybe it's just an outpouring of nostalgia for the printed word before it finally gets subsumed by the instant gratification of the computer screen.

Read on for tragic siblings, runaway princesses, gospel singers, assassins, hypnotherapy, bible stories, werewolves, The Coen brothers, mad millionaires and the usual helpings of casting news.



Back Roads

Andrew Garfield (left) clearly has a good head on his shoulders, or at least a clever agent, as he's already signing onto the indie options tht will prove invaluable once the Spider-man cash cow has met it's untimely end. Once filming on the web slinger is over he'll be raising his youg sisters all by himself as a result of his domestically abused Mum murdering his Dad. Expect lots of wrought emotions, as well as steamy encounters with neighbour Jennifer Garner, in Adrian Lyne's film.

Girl's Night Out

The King's Speech has reminded everyone that good old-fashioned Royalty mixing with commoners is still as popular as ever so it's no surprise to see the tale of young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret sneaking out of the Palace on VE day and having a high old time in London. Expect Margaret (due to be played by Dakota Fanning!!!) to be having much more fun than her upright sister, now The Queen.

Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel

If you think one American Idol reject winning an Oscar is not enough then stand by for Fantasia Barrino (to be honest I have no idea who she is, but apparently she's well known on that side of the pond). She's taking the lead role in the biopic of the Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (right - in full flow). Unlike most biopics there's very little dirt to dig up on Mahalia, raised in an abusive household she found the Church fairly early on and never looked back. On the other hand she sung at the March on Washington in 1963 and at Martin Luther King's funeral as well as being the first Gospel artist to perform at the Carnegie Hall. So it should be a fairly affirming movie at least.

Headshot

I wouldn't normally go for Stallone movies, especially one where he plays a hitman lest it be a sort of sequel to the horrific Assassins. However the graphic novel has been adapted by The Messenger scribe Alessandro Camon which, given how powerful and nuanced his previous work is, makes me very interested indeed.

The Hynotist

Dragon Tattoo fans rejoice there's a new Swedish thriller set to ake the leap to the big screen, and even better it's not being made as a TV miniseries then being butchered into feature length episodes. On the other had Lars Kopler's first novel (left) in his Det. Joona Linna books is hardly Steig Larsson levels of notoriety. The plot involves a near dead boy being hypnotised to reveal details of who murdered his family in order to protect the other surviving siblings. Probably gory.

Noah's Ark

A few weeks ago we had speculation about Darren Aronofsky writing a comic book in order to obtain finance for his next projet. This week we found out that comic is for his Noah's Ark story. The odd thing is it's not even a metaphor. Darren Aronofsky really wants to make a biblical epic about the most famous boat in Genesis, covering themes of environmentalism and survivors guilt, it's the sort of film they definitely don't make anymore. Not sure how middle America will respond - but then I guess they didn't watch Black Swan.

Sharp Teeth

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy may be joining forces for the third time running (after Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours) with the adaptation of the Werewolves in gangland LA novel by Toby Barlow (right). It's had some very good press and won the Alex award for young adult literature. Clearly Boyle's highly acclaimed National Theatre production of Frankenstein has persuaded him to make the leap to onscreen horror.

The Coen Brother's next movie

Joel and Ethan Coen are in an virtually unheard of position as they have no project on the go, and as much as I'd like them to return to some of their abandoned ideas (The Yiddish Policeman's Union first and foremost) it seems they're going to bemoving on. During a recent webchat with Empire magazine they hinted a full blown horror may be on the cards - with Frances McDormand as the monster - or a faux documentary might make it first (according to Roger Deakins). Frankly, with the financial and critical success of True Grit I imagine the studios will make them make whatever they want to make this time.

Christopher Nolan's Howard Hughes biopic

Apparently Christopher Nolan (left) fancies making a small movie after Dark Knight Rises, aiming to follow the increasing bizare behaviour of reclusive Billionaire Howard Hughes. I'm not sure how much more needs to be said about the man, between Scorsese's The Aviator and the Melvin and Howard cameo I think we've seenit all, however Nolan clearly wants an Oscar and it might be that biopics are the only way for him to get one.


Casting News

Some interesting addtions to projects already in the pipeline including Richard Jenkins joining the card cheat fallout out in Cogan's Trade, Nicolas Hoult will be Jack, The Giant Killer out to dispose of the Bill Nighy and John Kassir's two headed giant whilst being manipulated by Stanley Tucci. Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake and Catherine Zeta-Jones will all be gambling on Lay the Favourite. Oscar nominees James Franco is the latest Wizard in Oz: The Great and Powerful and Jennifer Lawrence will be involved with drug cartels in The Savages. Finally - and I know this isn't cating - David Frankel (Devil wears Prada) is the latest diretor attachedto Meryl Strep marital therapy comedy Great Hope Springs.

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Inception

2010. Dir: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe. ●●●●○



To misquote Zhuangzi (4th Century BC Chinese Philosopher) "Last night I dreamed I was a butterfly and now I'm now sure if that was Inception". Although given the nature of the films climax that pithy (and not terribly original) start veers awfully close to spoiler territory. Chris Nolan's 7th and most expensive movie to date is all about the nature of our existence and our understanding of how dreams interface with reality.

Or is it?



Nolan has created a universe where accessing and manipulating dreams is a commonplace business, which is both tolerated by the establishment whilst being technically illegal. The main purpose of the procedure is to steal ideas and concepts from within the brain of the subject - it would appear to be generally industrial secrets - although it was strangely originally developed to allow soldiers to practise beating the crap out of each other in their unconscious.

After Leonardo DiCaprio and his right hand man Joseph Gordon-Levitt botch a robbery from the id of Ken Watanabe's Saito, Ken hires them (partly to protect them) to go to the next level and implant an idea into Cillian Murphy's brain. This theoretical implanting process (it's never been done thoroughly successfully) is named Inception. Like in all heist movies we then go through the process of getting a team together with the architect (Page), forger (Hardy) and untitled chemist Dileep Rao joined our band of mercenaries.

During this process the movie goes through the most interesting set pieces, including the folding Parisian street we saw in the trailer and exploding cafe scenes, as this serves as training for Ellen Page the exposition fits nicely into the scenes without feeling too talky. We also get introduced to Marion Cotillard as DiCaprio's deceased wife who's place within his tortured mind may just lead to his downfall.

The majority of the film then takes place in Murphy's dreams (yes that's dreams within dreams within dreams) as the team delve further into the recesses of his mind to place the macguffin of an idea.

As a heist movie Inception works very well. The team compliment and re-inforce each other strengths. The fuzzy action sequences are, at least, an improvement on The Dark Knight and nicely paced even if the stakes never seem as high as they ought to be - if you get killed you go to limbo where your brain works at an incredible rate possibly atrophying the faculties before your physical form wakes up... or something. In fact the film as a whole nips along at a fantastic pace ebbing and flowing in a way that seems both natural and easily carries you along with it.

The cast do good jobs with little to work with. I especially liked Ellen Page for her straightforward delivery of some of the more unlikely lines of dialogue and Tom Hardy for his slightly fey Britishness. Leo is unfortunately coasting on his far more complex performance in Shutter Island where the character had much of the same issues on his mind. Cotillard is icily beautiful as always and I couldn't help wondering what she'd be like as a pure femme fatale in a modern noir that really exploited her passion and poise. The fringe of the movie also holds some nice cameos for Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite and Tom Berenger.

The production design is crisp and precise, the way you would expect within the dream world, all tailored suits and new furnishings. The stand-out technical performance goes to Hans Zimmer for his delicious action score, it pounds it's way through the movie as both heart and soul and is an album I have no reticence in recommending.

I am slightly disappointed by the film as it introduces some interesting concepts but then drops them. We are in a world where people become addicted to dreams but this is barely touched upon as is the inevitable psychological effect of spending so much time hopping from dream to dream. There is also a strange lack of surrealism in these dreams, apart from a misplaced train and the ultra-cool hotel fight (which is horrifically justified as being natural consequence of dreams on another layer as opposed to being part of the way dreams are) there is little that doesn't take place in any major blockbuster. The act of Inception itself - snow covered bunker, hospital bed, safe contents - is a nice touch but it's not enough. It hardly seems fair to say that the subconscious of the victim will fight off attacks from a group like this but only allow them guys with guns as a means of defence.

There has also been plenty of Internet chat about whether the final scene is still within a dream and indeed whether the entire film takes place within DiCaprios head. In answer to that whilst the final shot is pleasingly ambiguous and the Mombasa chase sequence seemingly unlikely in reality (tapered alleyways and fortuitous arrivals et al) I find myself caring less and less about the issue as time passes. After all if Nolan doesn't really care about the effect of dreaming on his characters (see my comments above) then why should I?

Overall I would say Inception is a roaring heist movie that will keep you entertained and gripped throughout it's run time, but don't be fooled by the early reviews or solid marketing strategy this is not as clever as it thinks it is.

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20 for 2010 - Inception

No countdown for 2010 could be complete without my number 5 choice Inception.



Christopher Nolan's twisty looking sci-fi thriller is primed to be a major contender in the '10 summer market. Not linked to a comic book franchise, save that of the auteurial connection to the Dark Knight, it's rumoured to have a budget north of $250m. This will make profitability extremely hard to achieve, although the fan boy anticipation is pretty high, and James Cameron's proved just this month that you don't need a tentpole title to make some cash.



The story, which is being kept very guarded, involves hacking into peoples dreams and stealing intellectual property. This metaphysical angle to the heist movie at least explains the gravity defying action, and folding cities we've been witnessing in the trailers. Nolan has also hinted in interviews that the themes of madness and lost love, as well as the thriller elements are indicative of how persoanl the project is. This is his small movie between Batman films - only it's not small. In fact he's proud to admit it's his biggest challenge to date.

Nolan has assembled a top notch cast with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page leading the pack. This is also a good hint that either this script is fantastic, or there's enough goodwill towards Nolan based on his previous projects that Hollywood elite will sign up to anything with his name on it. Let's face it, whether this turns out to be masterpiece or a very expensive turkey, it's got must-see written all over it.

Don't forget to join in the competition to win chocolates with my countdown. Click on the Minstrels in the top right.

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The Dark Knight

2008. Dir: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal. ●●●●●

I wasn't actually going to review The Dark Knight. I had planned on just watching, enjoying and saying there are better reviewers and reviews out there. That remains the truth but I would like to make my own comments anyway.

The Dark Knight is breaking box office records on pretty much a daily basis - it's now the fastest film to £200m US domestic. Last night I went to the Birmingham IMAX and got caught up in the whole excitement of it. And it's good, it's very, very good. I urge you all to go and see it as soon as you get a chance.

It is not however as good as some reviewers/rabid fan boys are making out.

It opens with a bank job. The Joker and the usual array of no-name expendable henchmen are robbing the bank of Mob money. Later it transpires that this is a ploy in order to lure Gotham gangster population into working together to defeat Batman, alternatively it's purely because The Joker enjoys the sport and wants to be up against Batman.

The violence and threats escalate throughout the film with The Joker backed by the mob on the one side and Batman, Lt Jim Gordon and DA Harvey Dent on the other.

Of course large elements of the plot don't really matter, comic adaptations are about the clashes and the themes not the minutitae, and the clashes certainly work. Aside from the opening heist there are three major confrontational scenes.

In Hong Kong Batman kidnaps a mob accountant. Wonderfully shot, with fantastic editing and fast paced action the scene grabs you from start to finish. Kudos to Wally Pfister for this particular section, as Batman soars so does the camera, perfecting highlighting the dizzying expance of the city.

Back in Gotham there's an underground chase sequence as the Joker, leading a convoy of lorries and dustcarts attempts to assasinate a transferring prisoner - I won't spoil it by saying who that prisoner is... With this section Nolan is comfortably showing the naysayers who rallied against the action in Batmn Begins how much his skills have improved. And we see the batpod - that is one cool bike.

Finally in the thrid act showdown between Batman and the Joker a building site under construction is the setting for some spectular fisticuffs between our dark knight and both the Jokers henchmen and the SWAT teams sent in to do the job.

All of these sequences are great fun, showcasing the high quality of the film, however they are not without their problems. There is the traditional underlit quality of batman fights, yeah it's moody and dark but if we can't see who's getting hit how can we care about them. The sonar gear is nice touch for a bat to use, but "Operation skyhook" looked and felt like a reject from a Roger Moore era Bond film. I also have a problem with the way the batpod scenes were edited together. Essentially batman drives fromt he wreckage of the Batmobile out of the undergound road via car parks, alleyways and shopping malls to get to the Joker's juggernaught. I'll ignore the question about how he knew where he was going, but I can't ignore that there seems little reason for the shopping centre section other than to show how cool the bike is. It's not needed - it only shows up that whilst we see glass doors smashed we have no idea how Batman negotitated the lift into the shopping centre in the first place.

On the acting side most of the cast acquit themselves very well. Heath Ledger is, as you will have heard, excellent. Is it the best performance in a comic film ever? Probably. Will it win Heath a posthumous oscar? Probably not. Whilst Heath inhabits the role like his tailor made clown suit I would be very surprised if it is the best supporting performance we see this year. Also I would hazard to say much of the congratulations going to him should really be given to Christopher and Jonathan Nolan for writing the role in the first place. Not to mention the Joker is a fan boy favourite who would always get rave notices. Although the moments when Heath works the funny aspect are priceless; the disappearing pencil trick and walking away from Gotham Genral come to mind.

Aaron Eckhart does a good job as Harvey Dent, less so as Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, although I feel his performance will improve on repeated viewings. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman all make the best of expositionary speeches and the odd tear. Freeman also managed to get the biggest laugh of the night.

Bruce Wayne/Batman himself is a tough part to play, and I'm not sure Christian Bale gives us enough of the light and shade of the two personas to make him a rounded character.

The allusions to the way on terror are well made, and it's plea for tolerance and calm is refreshing. If some people walk away from the movie with the idea that brutalising prisoners is wrong and deciding to not pull the pin on the detonator is good then it will achieve more than a hundred Iraqi based "war is bad" movies will do.

Curiously I also felt extremely detached from the action, in spite of being in the IMAX. When I saw the Mist a few weeks ago I felt I was in the supermaket with the protagonists, watching the Dark Knight I felt I was merely an observer to the action.

In conclusion I have to say that whilst The Dark Knight is an excellent film and fully deserving of my 5 star arting (it would prbably be 4 and a half if I could do halves) I do not believe that it is the best film ever made, not even the best comic book adaptation - Spideman 2 was more fun, X2 hit on themes closer to me.

I'm looking forward to getting some feedback on this one...

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