Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Gadgets & Gear Of The Nolan Batman Universe
Chris Nolan has created one of the best trilogies and arguably the best Superhero trilogy. If you enjoyed these movies (like I did), this video is right up your alley.
Click on the link below to buy the Bat Trilogy:
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You might also like:
Justice League: War - Review |
Batman: Assault on Arkham - Review |
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Just came back from watching
TDKR. Without further ado, here are my thoughts.
Christopher Nolan has
brought the story of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) full circle. This is
first and foremost a Bruce Wayne movie. Christian Bale spends a majority of his
screen time out of the Bat Suit. When we first met Bruce Wayne in Batman
Begins, he was a disillusioned young man, searching for inner peace and
purpose in life. The death of his parents at the hands of a stranger had a
profound effect on Bruce’s psyche from which he never recovered. The training
he received from Ra’s Al Ghul and his subsequent donning of the costume did not
per se help Bruce overcome his rage and sadness, but served as an outlet for
them.
In The Dark Knight,
Bruce is confident of giving up the cape and the cowl after seeing the way
Gotham citizens responded to Harvey Dent’s crusade against organized mobs. The
Joker (Heath Ledger) wreaked havoc on Bruce’s personal life by causing the
death of Rachel Dawes, the one true love and symbol of hope for Bruce. At the
end of the movie, Batman took the blame for Harvey’s death for the sake of
Gotham city’s future.
As TDKR opens, we are
introduced to Bane (Tom Hardy) as he orchestrates a mid-air hijacking of a
nuclear scientist. The sequence was intended to showcase Bane’s determination
and willpower to achieve his ends against all odds and costs.
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Back in Gotham, Bruce
is a recluse in the reconstructed Wayne Manor. One of the Wayne Enterprise
Board Members, Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) is trying to get Bruce’s
attentions, but without much success. She has plans to use nuclear energy for
the general good of the society and tries to get Bruce’s help. But Bruce is way
too depressed to make any contact with the outside world.
One day, he runs into
a robbery in motion by one of the housemaids who steals his mother’s pearls and
his fingerprints. Intrigued by this unusual burglar, Bruce
does some research and discovers the offender to be one Selina Kyle (Anne
Hathaway). Fans of the Batman comics know Selina is the secret identity of
Catwoman, femme fatale and burglar with a cat fetish. Selina is never referred
to as Catwoman, though she spends considerable time in the costume.
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle |
But Selina’s antics
are only part of a much bigger plan against Bruce and Gotham city. Bane is a
brute with brains and he has meticulously planned the downfall of his enemies.
The other noticeable
newcomer is beat cop Blake (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt) who catches the attention of Commissioner Gordon (Gary
Oldman). Gordon is temporarily rendered out of action and he delegates the
detective work to Blake.
Batman takes Selena’s
help to stop Bane and this leads to disastrous results for the Dark Knight. To
keep this review spoiler-free, I would recommend the readers to find out
further details from the movie.
The amazing Chris Nolan at work |
Chris Nolan has crafted a superb closer to his trilogy. Nolan’s
decision to focus on the man inside the costume is testament to his sublime
moviemaking skills and he deserves applause for this. Despite the legendary pop
culture status of Batman, Nolan invested wisely in Bruce Wayne’s personal journey
and this has resulted in the finest movie trilogy (in my opinion, of course).
Bruce’s journey of self-discovery began in ‘Batman Begins’ and has reached its
due course in TDKR. Rest assured, this movie will knock your socks off, if you
followed Bruce’s story so far.
Wally Pfister and Hans Zimmer have always made major contributions
to the success of the previous movies and their success continues with this one
as well. Zimmer’s music especially is outstanding. His track “Mind If I cut in?”
is used at crucial points in the movie.
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne |
On the acting front,
the honors go to Bale, Hathaway and Levitt.
Bale does superlative
work in this movie and brings Bruce Wayne to life like never before. His work
is powerful and inspiring and is miles ahead of the other two movies. He is the
definitive Bruce Wayne, just as the late Heath Ledger the definitive Joker.
Anne Hathaway makes a great Selina Kyle |
Anne Hathaway does
some fine work as the morally ambiguous Selina Kyle. Selina has some motives of
her own and is willing to risk the safety of others. Selina’s character arc is nearly
as good as that of Bruce and all credit goes to Hathaway for giving us a very
alluring and nifty portrayal.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake |
Levitt, on the other
hand, has the relatively easier role of Blake, the cop with good morals and the
drive to make an active change to Gotham. Levitt’s character has major presence in
the movie and acquits himself very well.
Tom Hardy has bulked up for the role of Bane and thanks to Pfister’s
camera work, looks much bigger than he actually is. Nolan has written the character of Bane as someone with total belief in his capabilities to achieve whatever he sets out to do. Unfortunately, Bane's face is covered with a mask and has to communicate only through his eyes. For all of Tom Hardy's considerable acting talents, Bane ends up as a generic tough guy and is intimidating only in his hand-to-hand confrontations with Batman.
Bane and Bats go Mano-a-mano |
The recurring members
of the cast have varying levels of success. Gary Oldman comes out the best in
the bunch as the guilt-ridden cop. Gordon’s conscience weighs down heavily on
him and his internal struggles have taken a toll on his life. His wife has left
him, taking the kids with her. Oldman is amazing in the role.
Morgan Freeman does
his usual standard work as Lucius Fox, Batman's go-to guy for gadgets and
weapons. The Bruce-Fox chemistry is one of the strong points of these movies. This time around, Fox does not get to have much fun bantering with
Bruce, except for a couple of exchanges. But Fox's gadgets are stars in their own right. The new aerial vehicle, 'The Bat' joins the Batpod and together they steal the show in the action scenes.
Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth |
Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth is highly concerned with
the direction in which Bruce’s life is seemingly headed. Caine is good in the
initial scenes, but soon becomes melodramatic. My sincere apologies to you Michael, I do wish you had toned down your work a little bit.
The movie runs for nearly 165 mins long and suffers from an excess
of characters, extended action scenes that could have been cut out completely
and some gaping plot holes. To keep this review spoiler-free, I will go into
these details in a later post.
Right now, all you need to know is that this movie does full
justice to Chris Nolan’s vision and should notch up Oscar nods. Highly
recommended for Chris Bale's best performance yet as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
PS: My deepest
sympathy goes out to the families and friends of the victims in the tragic
shooting in Colorado.
Click here to read all my posts related to DC Comics.
Click here to read all my posts related to DC Comics.
Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)
Christian Bale as Batman |
Nolan’s epic starts
with a bank heist in motion. As the robbers
start killing one another, we are introduced to one of a kind mastermind. A brain
that is intelligent and crafty to the nth degree.
Batman, working with
Lt Gordon has the mob in retreat. The new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), assisted by Rachel
Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes) is working around the clock to
put the mob behind bars.
The mob under
considerable pressure from the combined onslaught, hire the aforementioned
mastermind, Joker (the late Heath Ledger). Joker emerges as an agent of chaos and has only one goal: unleashing anarchy in Gotham. He plans to achieve his ends by
making Batman reveal his identity, failing which Joker will kill one person each
day.
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Even as Bruce Wayne
struggles to make a decision, he faces trouble on an unexpected front. Reese (Joshua Harto), an auditor working Wayne
Enterprise’s records finds heavy irregularities and the prototype designs for
Batmobile and puts two and two together. He comes forward to disclose Batman's secret identity.
There a lot of plot
points and threads that I have not discussed in this review. As the movie is quite
densely plotted, the review will be quite long if I were to do so.
Suffice to say that
this movie turns the entire superhero movie genre on its head and comes out an
out and out winner. Batman’s decisions have
far reaching consequences for other characters, some of whom are quite dear to
him. From the start to finish, the screenplay is taut and the movie
rushes forward at a blistering pace.
Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent |
Hans Zimmer is in top form as always.
His Joker theme is probably the best in the album.
The acting all around
is excellent. As good as the returning players are, it is the newcomers
Aaron Eckhart and the late Heath Ledger who make the best impressions.
Harvey Dent’s character has arguably
the best character arc in the movie. As Gotham’s White Knight, Dent is looked
upon by Bruce as his rightful successor. Bruce intends to hang up the cape and
the cowl. But things take an ugly turn, thanks to the Joker’s machinations.
Eckhart is great in the role and conveys the pain of losing the love of his
life to a madman.
But the movie on the whole, belongs to
Heath Ledger. His is the kind of performance for which the term “tour-de-force”
was coined. This is a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Each scene featuring
Ledger as Joker is intensely riveting. Whether Joker is narrating the stories
of his scars or the prison scene with Batman, Heath grabs our attention and is
totally captivating. RIP, Heath.
Heath Ledger as the Joker |
But the movie is not without its share
of flaws. In the bank robbery scene, the Joker drives the much damaged school
bus out of the bank and joins a group of school buses full of children. Even
for a realistic Nolan movie, this is quite a leap of faith, considering that
none of the other bus drivers or other people on the street do not notice the
gaping hole in the bank out of which the considerably damaged bus came out.
Another point to be pondered over is the Bruce’s fundraiser for Harvey at his penthouse. The Joker arrives with his cronies and takes over the party. Batman jumps out of the window to save Rachel and the movie moves to the next scene. We never know whether Batman returns to rescue the rest of the people at the party or did the Joker decided not to harm anyone else or did he continue his search for Harvey in the penthouse.
Another point to be pondered over is the Bruce’s fundraiser for Harvey at his penthouse. The Joker arrives with his cronies and takes over the party. Batman jumps out of the window to save Rachel and the movie moves to the next scene. We never know whether Batman returns to rescue the rest of the people at the party or did the Joker decided not to harm anyone else or did he continue his search for Harvey in the penthouse.
Despite these flaws, this is a movie from a director at the top of his game. Christopher Nolan dealt with the concepts of Fear and Chaos in the first two movies. We need to wait for couple more days to see his take on Pain in the trilogy finale.
Heath Ledger as the Joker
|
Over to you, Chris. We look forward to be dazzled!
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Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Movie Review: Batman Begins (2005)
As one of the millions
of audience all over the world awaiting the release of The Dark Knight Rises,
I decided to take a trip down the memory lane ...
Christopher Nolan’s
trilogy is bound to go down in Hollywood as the definitive depiction of Bruce
Wayne’s story and possibly the finest movie trilogy ever. The cinematic journey of
Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) begins with Bruce imprisoned in an Asian prison.
After witnessing his parents getting murdered by a stranger, Bruce is consumed
with vengeance towards the man responsible. Due to unforeseen turn of events,
Bruce is disillusioned with the legal system and leaves Gotham quietly to begin
his study of the criminal classes.
Bruce after witnessing his parents' death |
Bruce is contacted by
Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train him. Ducard works for The League
of Shadows, a shadowy organization based in the Tibetan mountains. Ra’s Al Ghul
(Ken Watanabe) is the mastermind behind this organization. Ducard teaches
Bruce not only the necessary martial arts, but also the need for theatricality
and deception. As the final test, Bruce needs to decapitate a petty criminal.
Being a man of strong morals, Bruce objects and is forced to fight his way out.
The League of Shadows’ headquarters is destroyed. Ra’s Al Ghul and his
followers are presumed dead, though Bruce does save Ducard’s life.
Bruce returns to Gotham
and becomes the masked vigilante known as ‘Batman’. He is helped in his mission by Alfred Pennyworth (Sir Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).
Batman makes his first appearance in Gotham |
With the reluctant
assistance of Sergeant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), Batman successfully
apprehends the local mob boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Scarecrow
(Cillian Murphy) who are working together to poison the water supply system in
Gotham. However, more powerful forces are at play and Bruce has to face them as
the movie reaches an action-packed climax.
Prior to this movie, Christian Bale was famous for his work in ‘American Psycho’. No doubt, his work
in that movie helped him in getting the much coveted role of Bruce Wayne. Bale
captures the pain and the anger that are the defining characteristics of Bruce
Wayne. Bale essentially plays 3 characters – Batman, the public image of Bruce
Wayne as a drunken millionaire playboy and the real Bruce Wayne. The casting of
Bale as Wayne is to me, as superb a choice as that of Hugh Jackman as
Wolverine/Christopher Reeve as Superman/Tobey Maguire as Spiderman.
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Sir Michael Caine is a
veteran in the industry and brings a lot of wisdom and warmth to the role of
Alfred Pennyworth, the man who has been with the Wayne family for a long time.
He is the closest thing to a family Bruce has and provides the much needed
moral support.
Alfred and Lucius, the closest allies of Bruce Wayne |
Morgan Freeman plays Lucius Fox, the equivalent of James Bond’s Q. Morgan Freeman‘s voice and authoritative deportment have remained the hallmarks of his career. That Freeman’s performance as the cool and classy Lucius Fox is a standout in a movie that boasts of other powerhouse actors like Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson and Caine, speaks volumes of his acting talent. Christopher Nolan is a fan of the James Bond series and quite possibly, he based Freeman’s performance on Desmond Llewelyn’s venerable portrayal.
Gary Oldman has been cast against type as Sergeant James Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham. Oldman brings out well the world weariness we expect from Gordon’s character. Gordon is the official counterpart of Batman and both these men work together to rid Gotham of the corruption that has reduced it to a shadow of its original greatness.
Cillian Murphy plays Dr Jonathan Crane better
known as Scarecrow, the villain who uses fear-inducing gas on his unsuspecting
victims. Murphy is suitably chilling in the role. Trivia: he originally
auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne.
Ken
Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer and Linus Roache are competent even when
they make very brief appearances.
If there was one bad casting decision made in this movie (as well as in the trilogy), that would be the choice of Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. I at least never bought her as the Assistant District Attorney that Rachel Dawes is supposed to be. I only saw an untalented but well-connected actress bringing down the quality of the movie whenever she was on-screen. I wonder what factor(s) forced Nolan to cast her. Of course to Nolan’s credit, he recast the character in the sequel. There are some fine dialogues in the movie. I present here my favorite one: This is a gem of a movie and a must watch for fans of the caped crusader. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here. Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures |
You might also like:
Justice League: War - Review |
Batman: Assault on Arkham - Review |
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises - Complete Soundtrack online
The complete soundtrack for the
upcoming blockbuster 'The Dark Knight Rises' is available online at http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=34498.
Click here to read our spoiler free review of the movie.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here.
Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Click here to read our spoiler free review of the movie.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here.
Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The latest trailer for The Dark Knight Rises is out
I enjoyed the first two movies and the
trailer has confirmed my hopes that this trilogy will be one of my favorites,
on par with the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Chris Nolan seems to have the Midas touch. I have seen all of his movies except The Prestige and Following. Nolan has a knack for making engrossing psychological thrillers. The Batman movies are not an exception. In the first movie, Bruce Wayne dealt with fear. In the sequel, he had to deal with the anarchy unleashed by the Joker.
In the trilogy finale, he deals with the destruction brought on by the masked terrorist, Bane. Speculations have been rampant ever since the first teaser came out in July 2011, as to whether the Dark Knight will bite the dust.
Fans of the Caped Crusader will be familiar with the infamous storyline ‘Knightfall’ in which Bane systematically breaks down Batman both physically and mentally and finally literally breaks his back. Whether the movie will follow the same plot is debatable, I for one certainly do not think that Batman will be mortally wounded. It is after all his movie and the title also suggests otherwise. My personal opinion is that Bruce Wayne will either pass on the mantle to someone else or possibly go underground and create “Batman Incorporated”.
Christian Bale continues his stellar work as the titular character. The same praise applies to Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman reprising their roles as Lucius Fox, Alfred Pennyworth and Jim Gordon respectively. These men are the few allies, Batman can rely on in his relentless fight on crime in Gotham.
As was the case with Aaron Eckhart and the late Heath Ledger with the second movie, the focus this time is mainly on Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard also have supporting roles and have managed to arouse the curiosity among the fans about their possible dual identities.
Last but not the least, it is also speculated that Ra's al Ghul will make a cameo appearance. With such a strong ensemble cast, Nolan's record of making critically acclaimed movies, Hans Zimmer's music and the rest of the talented crew, July 20 2012 can’t come soon enough...
I would like to hear from the readers on their thoughts about the movie or the ending in particular. Please use the comments section to voice your thoughts.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.
You might also like:
Chris Nolan seems to have the Midas touch. I have seen all of his movies except The Prestige and Following. Nolan has a knack for making engrossing psychological thrillers. The Batman movies are not an exception. In the first movie, Bruce Wayne dealt with fear. In the sequel, he had to deal with the anarchy unleashed by the Joker.
In the trilogy finale, he deals with the destruction brought on by the masked terrorist, Bane. Speculations have been rampant ever since the first teaser came out in July 2011, as to whether the Dark Knight will bite the dust.
Fans of the Caped Crusader will be familiar with the infamous storyline ‘Knightfall’ in which Bane systematically breaks down Batman both physically and mentally and finally literally breaks his back. Whether the movie will follow the same plot is debatable, I for one certainly do not think that Batman will be mortally wounded. It is after all his movie and the title also suggests otherwise. My personal opinion is that Bruce Wayne will either pass on the mantle to someone else or possibly go underground and create “Batman Incorporated”.
Christian Bale continues his stellar work as the titular character. The same praise applies to Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman reprising their roles as Lucius Fox, Alfred Pennyworth and Jim Gordon respectively. These men are the few allies, Batman can rely on in his relentless fight on crime in Gotham.
As was the case with Aaron Eckhart and the late Heath Ledger with the second movie, the focus this time is mainly on Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard also have supporting roles and have managed to arouse the curiosity among the fans about their possible dual identities.
Last but not the least, it is also speculated that Ra's al Ghul will make a cameo appearance. With such a strong ensemble cast, Nolan's record of making critically acclaimed movies, Hans Zimmer's music and the rest of the talented crew, July 20 2012 can’t come soon enough...
I would like to hear from the readers on their thoughts about the movie or the ending in particular. Please use the comments section to voice your thoughts.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.
You might also like:
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