The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises, by Christopher Nolan, 2012

I probably won't say too much on The Dark Knight Rises, because there's not a whole lot left to say, and if you're like me, you probably got tired of hearing about it weeks ago. I liked it. I like most movies I see, so that's no surprise. I did have the same reservations a lot of you have had about it, though. A bit plodding, a jumbled, overly complex plot, some awkward dialogue. But I still loved the scope and ambition, and appreciated a lot of things about it. I'm just going to list a couple of observations, and then leave you to your day.

- Where was Batman? Bale had very little screen time in the Batman suit this time around. I'm no fan of his ridiculous Bat-voice, but this is a Batman movie, after all.

- Tom Hardy rocked the house as Bane. Nolan really knows how to create a memorable villain. He finds talented, creative actors, and collaborates with them, and together, they find ways to make the villain as menacing as possible, while still having a quality that reminds you of their humanity. For me, it was the way Heath Ledger's Joker always licked his lips that cemented him into a kind of reality. Bane's performance is all in the eyes, but Hardy brings a great physicality to the character, and the fun-to-mimic vocal performance was good fun. The character was under a lot of pressure to live up to the Joker, and while it didn't, it was a nice effort.

- That said, the mixing of his muffled voice into the front and center of the soundtrack was a mistake. I know everybody complained about the mixing in the preview, but they overcompensated in fixing it. I liked really having to listen to work through his accent, and I always got his intent. I don't mind working a little, but I guess the movie-going public does.

- I love Christopher Nolan's commitment to maintaining the cinematic integrity of his films. He shoots on film, uses these amazing IMAX cameras. He steadfastly resists the dreaded 3-D takeover. I would love if more directors fought back against it, but very few have the power to do so, if Spielberg and Scorsese are on board, I'm sure it's here to stay. His special effects are virtually seamless, and he uses them sparingly.

- Another thing I like about Nolan's films, is that he doesn't hold back. He throws everything into the pot. It's common practice these days to save the good stuff for the sequels. Franchise movies are often seeded with foreshadowing and hints for later entries, more often than not, entries that haven't even been conceived yet. Conversely, Christopher Nolan and company have put all of their ideas into each individual movie. This leads to big payoffs, a real sense of scope, and full arcs for his characters. Yes, it also leads to things getting a little too complicated, but I still think it's refreshing.

That's all I have to say about The Dark Knight Rises. It's a flawed beast, but it's ambitious, full of big ideas, and special in its way. Christopher Nolan has built his name up to mean a certain kind of movie, a kind that nobody else is making. Now that his Batman epic is complete, I'm eager to see what new worlds he will create under his unique brand.

Green Lantern

It's time for another superhero movie, everybody! Wait, scratch that, let me try it again. Siiiiiiiiiigh, it's time for another superhero movie, everybody. This time it's Green Lantern, Warner Brothers' first go at one of their DC comics characters that is not a bat or a super.

For those unfamiliar, Green Lantern is about Hal Jordan, a hotshot pilot who finds a dying alien cop who gives him a ring that allows him to create anything he wants with his mind. There's way more to it than that, and while that stuff works pretty well in the comic books, in movie form, it is just booooooooooring.

That's my main problem with the movie. It is about 95% clunky exposition, where we learn all the rules and history of the aliens and the ring. It's mostly a bunch of mumbo jumbo about overcoming fear. In fact, if I could retitle the movie, I would call it "Blah Blah Fear".

The dialogue is, as I said, pretty clunky. When we're in space with all the computer effects and aliens, the movie looks and sounds just like a cut scene from a video game. Like they're setting up the next board. When we're at home on earth, the dialogue just sounds like "this is the scene where I say this", and "this is how I'm feeling because this is how I'm supposed to feel at this point in the movie".

The acting isn't the best, but I can't really fault the actors. They weren't given a great deal to hold onto. There's not much that makes you care about them or believe them as humans. I haven't really seen Ryan Reynolds in much, but I don't see why he couldn't have played Hal Jordan just fine in a better movie. Same with Blake Lively's Carol Ferris. She actually did a pretty good job with what little she was given to do. Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett both have some pretty atrocious mouthfuls of dialogue to deliver. Mark Strong is wasted as Sinestro. He's supposed to be the big villain in the sequels, but in this one he's still a good guy. The powers that be really missed an opportunity to make us care for this guy. We are given no reason to feel one way or the other for him, besides the fact that his name is "Sinestro", so we know where that's going.

The one actor who really seemed to be having fun in his role was Peter Saarsgaard as the villain, Hector Hammond. He didn't just make do with the dialogue he was given, he added a bunch of strange flourishes and tics to his character. He made him feel more human, engaging and interesting. At times, he seemed to be doing some John Malkovich thing. I wish the movie this character in was better, I think you really get a glimpse of something that could have been special here.

There's one other scene that I think comes close to a fun movie. It's a wink and a nod to the original Superman, where Hal visits Carol on her balcony. He's talking to her in a poorly disguised deep voice and calling her "ma'am". She immediately sees through his silly mask. It's the one scene that got genuine laughter from the audience. It made me wish the movie wasn't so plodding and bogged down by all of this mythology about fear.

While Green Lantern is a failure, I'm actually, sadly, hoping for a small amount of box office success. There is still a good Green Lantern movie to be made, and hey, maybe they can get it right with a second try. Also, I worry that WB will give up on adapting some of their other DC properties and just continue on making great Batman movies and rebooting Superman every five years. I would love to see a good take on characters like The Flash, Green Arrow, and especially Wonder Woman. I hope Warner Bros doesn't give up on these characters just yet, but I also hope they can find filmmakers with a little bit more passion for the material.