5 Reasons Why The Dark Knight Rises Will Be Awesome
July 20th will mark the end for revolutionary director Christopher Nolan's venture into the world of Batman, as Warner Bros finally release The Dark Knight Rises worldwide. From Batman Begins in 2005 to The Dark Knight in 2008, Nolan has given us not only two of the greatest comic book movies ever, but two of the most well recieved and adored cinematic events of all time.
This week, the third and final movie recieved a standing ovation at its first official screening. Film critic Tom Mcauliffe pointed out that the movie stands as a fitting conclusion to the series, stating: "The trilogy is greater than the sum of its parts, and for me the third was the very best part of the whole story." Fellow critic Lauren Hiestand gave the film 9/10, adding: " I’d put Amazing Spider-Man at a 7.5 and The Avengers at an 8.5."
Sounds promising huh? Here are 5 reasons why, in my opinion, The Dark Knight Rises will be awesome.
In Nolan We Trust
| "Just crossing off how many billions I'm about to make, lads." |
It's 2003. Batman is wounded. No one has seen or heard from him for years. The last sighting was the Batman series getting crossed off somewhere on director Joel Schumacher's "franchises to destroy" list, shortly after the laughably uncool (there's another Mr Freeze pun) Batman and Robin movie in 1997. After a few frantic attempts to search for him, Warner Bros. stop and ask a nearby fellow if he's seen Batman anywhere. "No," says Christopher Nolan. "Here's what I'll do, though. I'll give you a new Batman."
Lo and behold, Batman rose again darker, bolder and better than ever before thanks to one director's simple idea to tell Bruce Wayne's story from the very beginning. Christopher Nolan took a 'superhero' whose reputation had been tarnished at best, and breathed new life into the Bat. Batman Begins forced fans to sit up and listen to what the visionary had to say, until The Dark Knight completely blew us away with a stunning performance from Heath Ledger as The Joker and a story full of more exciting twists and turns than any cinematic thriller in history.
| Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. |
And yet what makes Nolan so much better than some other directors is his refusal to use CGI unless absolutely necessary. The spinning corridor fight scene in Inception? An entire revolving cube was created for actor Joseph-Gordon Levitt to jump around in. Also, let's not forget the scene in The Dark Knight in which Batman flips the 18-wheeler truck driven by The Joker. Lesser directors may have used CGI or more effortless methods, but not Nolan. "Let's just flip it, film it and see what happens," he said. "We'll try not to destroy any buildings." Look out for a plane being hijacked in mid air by another plane in the first few moments of The Dark Knight Rises. No, seriously. That actually happens. Classic Nolan!
IMAX
| "Looks good. Now let's make it look awesome." |
Forget 3D, this is where it's at. Although I've had a negative experience with IMAX in the past (Transformers 2 was a fail - "so the green one's fighting the red o- oh, no he's fighting the grey one."), the medium is one which has been hugely well recieved. It's marketed well, too, whereas 3D decides to slap its filthy glasses all over every film that sees the light of day. Whereas The Dark Knight had roughly 30 minutes of footage filmed in the format, The Dark Knight Rises will feature at least an hour of footage in IMAX.
In With The Old, In With The New
| Never has there been a better ensemble cast. |
Christian Bale portrayed Bruce Wayne as a dark man with a desire to conquer his fears, shooting the actor further in to mainstream stardom with the experienced support of Michael Caine as Alfred. The rest of the brilliant ensemble cast from the first two movies, including the likes of Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhall, gave the films their incredible emotional push. This year sees the addition of Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy, all of which bring their own style and originality to their roles. I mean c'mon. It's Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman in the same film. Casting doesn't get much better than that!
Hans "Epic" Zimmer
| Just shut up and take my money, Mr Zimmer. |
A movie is nothing without a soundtrack. Hans Zimmer's amazing score to Nolan's Batman trilogy has given huge emotional and heart pounding impact to the movies. The exhilirating final scene in The Dark Knight, where Batman is chased and hunted by the Gotham police, is nothing short of epic with Hans Zimmer's "A Dark Knight" music accompanying Gordon's rousing speech to his son. This year, The Dark Knight Rises sees Batman's signature two-note theme return, with Bane's rousing chant putting a sharp pin in the proceedings. To create the sound, Zimmer and Nolan posted on Twitter inviting fans to take part by recording their own vocals chanting. Combining hundreds of voices together, Zimmer created music literally for the fans, by the fans. A one minute sample of each track from the soundtrack of The Dark Knight Rises has recently debuted online so get googling!
Why Do We Fall?
| Begins. Falls. Rises. |
The story of Batman has been told countless times, from comics to cartoons and hilariously awful Mr Freeze puns. Yet none have quite told the story as thrillingly, as dark and as epic as Nolan and his team. "Lets start from the beginning," he said. And so, Batman Begins.
Young Bruce Wayne acquires a severe fear of bats as a child after falling down a well and disturbing the creatures in their home. "Why do we fall, Bruce?" asks his father, saving him from the well. "So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."
| "Let's introduce a little anarchy." |
Shrinking into the shadows as an unconvicted criminal, Batman goes into hiding. Eight years later, the arrival of the ruthless terrorist Bane pushes Bruce to rise once again to defend the people of Gotham - an act which may cost him his life.
| "Some people just want to watch the world burn. Well, Bane's ready to pull the pin on that grenade." - Tom Hardy. |
Ra's al Ghul forced him to conquer his fears and become Batman. The Joker pushed him to his emotional limits. Now Bane will challenge everything Bruce Wayne stands for, forcing Batman to rise from the shadows and reclaim Gotham for the forces of good. "You see only one end to your journey," says an emotional Alfred to Bruce.
"Sometimes, a man rises from the darkness."
The Dark Knight Rises is released on July 20th, at which point 'awesome' shall be redefined.
By Dean Johnstone.
Dean Johnstone is a Media and Communications student who desperately seeks your approval. Let him know much you love him by sending heartwarming comments/love letters/poems to:
Twitter: @DJJohnstone
Email: dean.james.johnstone@hotmail.com
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