Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

***EDITORS NOTE***Do not read this if you have not seen The Dark Knight Rises.  Includes spoilers.

Life is defined by moments.  Birth.  Death.  Love.  Joy.  Pain.  You name it, the common denominator of all of life's moments can be defined by one word.

Emotion.

When a person looks back on their life and reflects on the moments that define the life they have lived, an emotion is connected to each of those memories.  Good or bad.  Happy or sad.  Not to sound like a Jedi here, but....emotion is life.

Emotion is the first word that came to mind when I think about how I felt after seeing The Dark Knight Rises for the first time.  When the movie faded to black and the credits began, accompanied by the other worldly musical score of Hans Zimmer, I literally needed a minute to collect my thoughts.

In that moment I asked myself, if any movie, The Dark Knight included, had ever breached my emotional core the way "Rises" had.

The answer was no.  

At that moment I realized I was feeling something that I'd never felt before after seeing a movie.

The Dark Knight Rises, all 2 hours and 44 minutes of it, was the greatest movie I'd ever seen.  And I honestly don't think I'll ever see anything better for the rest of my movie viewing days.

It's the greatest Batman movie of all time and the greatest comic book movie of all time (yes way better than The Avengers and I loved The Avengers).  

Batman must rise once again to save Gotham.
You're saying to yourself: Hey wait a minute?  No way is "Rises" better than The Dark Knight.

And to that I say, no individual performance will ever top what Heath Ledger did when he took complete ownership of the role of the Joker.  Ledger didn't win a posthumous Academy Award because people were sad that he died before TDK came out.  He won the award because there was no better performance by a supporting actor that year.

That performance is what anyone who says TDK is better than TDKR is thinking about.  Not the movie as a whole, just that performance.  Nothing in TDKR can top that.  But that's just an individual performance, not an entire movie.  I'm talking about an entire movie and I'm saying that "Rises" overall, is the best movie out of the three (Batman Begins, TDK).  Let's see if a movie trilogy is ever made where the third movie gets that kind of praise.  I don't see that ever happening.

TDKR is a well put together collaboration of three major Batman stories from the comic books.  Knightfall (which introduces Bane, the man who literally broke Batman over his knee while taking over Gotham in the process), No Man's Land (which shows a Gotham overrun by evil and so dangerous it's cut off from the rest of the world, leaving only Batman and his allies to save the day) and The Dark Knight Returns (which shows a much older Batman who has to come out of retirement after many years of inactivity to save Gotham once again, faking his death in the process, so that he may finally have closure in his life).

This isn't an apple tablet.  What kind of sick people are these?
Of all these elements from the pages of the comic books that appear in TDKR, nothing stood out more than the presence of Bane, played brilliantly by Tom Hardy.  Hardy's Bane is ruthless, cunning, cold and cut throat.  Ledger's performance as the Joker was so legendary that you found yourself rooting for him as he always remained two steps ahead of everyone.  With Bane, his mere name will give you the shivers, and he's very hard to root for.

There's a moment in TDKR when Selina Kyle (more on her later) says to Detective John Blake (a LOT more on him later) in regards to Bane, "you should be as afraid of him as I am."

Born in darkness.
That is no understatement.  That moment where Batman is lead into a trap, a steel door shutting behind him (and in a sheer moment of camera work brilliance by director Christopher Nolan) his head turns to reveal Bane, arms hanging from his chest, oozing with confidence, I think it's safe to say that's the first time in the history of watching a Batman movie where you generally were scared for Batman.

Pending doom.
Anyone who's read Knightfall knew what was coming in that instant, and Nolan did not disappoint.  The only thing better than watching one of the most iconic moments in the history of Batman comics being reenacted in live living color (Bane's back breaker), was listening to the words spoken from Bane's masked mouth as it happened.  

As Batman fearfully realizes for the first time in his life that he is physically outmatched by Bane's sheer strength, he begins to revert to his utility belt, throwing smoke pellets at Bane, and that ushers one of TDKR's best lines.

"Theatricality and deception.  Powerful agents to the uninitiated," Bane says.  "But we are initiated Bruce."

The exact words Ras Al Ghul taught Bruce in his training.  Bane is letting Bruce know he knows everything.

There are few moments more intense after Bane utters those words letting Batman know that he knows everything he's going to do before he does it.  He's in his head.
A last ditch effort by Batman, using a device to turn out all the lights, hoping to use the darkness as an advantage, just reveals that he is about to suffer his first defeat.

"You think darkness is your ally?  You merely adopted the dark," Bane says.  "I was born in it."

At that point you realize Batman is doomed and Nolan gives us the moment every comic book fan was waiting for from the moment it was first revealed that Bane would be a villain, the breaking of the bat.  Right before it happens Batman gives one more defensive stand.  Back peddling, with barely enough strength to keep a defensive position, he lets out a scream, very uncharacteristic of him.  All to let you know he's lost control of his emotions.

Just like in the comics, Bane shows Batman that he is his superior in every way.
I'm sure every theatre was silent when this moment happened.  The cracking of Batman's spine over Bane's knee.  Throwing Batman to the ground like he's trash.  Ripping off a piece of his mask.  This was defeat in the highest regard.  This moment in TDKR establishes Bane's dominance, and sets up the last part of the movie, which is intense till the very end.

Before we get to the last arc of the movie, let's go ahead and get the cat out of the bag (pardon the pun).  Anne Hathaway was absolutely fantastic as Selina Kyle (who is never called Catwoman in the movie, never purrs, doesn't drink milk-which is an ode to Nolan's constant realism of his Bat-films).  She added a sexuality to the film that wasn't needed, but was sure appreciated.  She truly plays both sides in TDKR going form burglar to ally to traitor to redeemer.  She's good.  She's bad.  She's funny.  Everything you would have wanted out of Catwoman she brought to the table.  She knocked it out of the park, even going so far as to have so-so chemistry with Bale's Bruce Wayne, but off the chart sparks when Bale is wearing the cape and cowl.  Her eventual team up with Batman in the end is great to watch.  I mean who revs up a Bat-pod when Batman is trying to give you instructions?  Catwoman does, that's who.  Despite being betrayed by her earlier in the film, Batman let's Catwoman know he still has faith in her and believes she's still a good person underneath her mask, goggles and perfectly fitting black leather outfit.

Good or bad?  A little of both.
So back to the story.  Batman is broken.  Dumped into a prison that's impossible to escape.  Bane makes him suffer mentally by making Bruce watch him take over Gotham on tv.  Selina is on the run.  Bane blows up a football field and half the city, trapping almost all of Gotham's cops underground.  Hope is lost.  But we know that's not really the case.  Batman builds himself back up, but he can't make the jump necessary to escape the prison.  He's told a child has done it and he doesn't understand why he can't.  He's told he must make the jump the same way the child did.  Without a rope.  This leads to one of the most exciting moments, when being cheered on by fellow prisoners, Bruce makes the jump, frees himself, and sets the stage for one final showdown with Bane.

In leading up to the final battle Batman reconnects with (after saving his life) Detective John Blake (played perfectly by Jospeh Gordon-Levitt).  Blake has on his own, come up with a plan to save many of his officer comrades stranded below, but in the moment he helps them hatch an escape, he is discovered by Bane's men.  As they are about to kill him, Batman swoops in, saves the day, and tells Blake that if he's going to be working alone taking on evil, then he should put on a mask to protect those he cares about.

Detective John Blake is more than he seems.
In this moment, this very quick moment where Batman is telling Blake to put on a mask, I was overcome with excitement.  Young man fighting alongside Batman?  Batman telling him to put on a mask?  Could it be?  We wouldn't know until the end.

Hope.
And what an end.  Batman and Catwoman (Batman by air in the "bat" and Catwoman by street on a batpod) leading the newly freed police into battle against Bane and his mercenaries with the soul of Gotham on the line, and in broad daylight no less.  Everything is going Batman's way in the battle until he's literally stabbed in the back (again, but this time literally) by Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate who reveals herself to be none other than Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ras Al Ghul (she's also the child who escapes the prison years ago.  You think it's Bane, but it's her.)

I wish I can say I was shocked by this, but when Nolan revealed that TDKR would bring the movies full circle and that Marion Cotillard was involved, I knew she was Talia.  

Talia had come to lay waste to Gotham, after previously laying down with Bruce Wayne, and I knew it all along.  Just like I knew the true identity of Gordon-Levitt's John Blake (but more on that later).

I'm running Wayne Enterprises now so let's have an emergency meeting...hey what's Bane doing here?
Batman manages to retrieve a nuclear bomb that Bane and Talia were set to detonate.  Batman gets the bomb with about a minute left on the clock, and realizes there's only one thing he can do.  Fly the bomb over the ocean and let it go off.  This is what he does.  Zooming along in the "bat" until a loud BOOM is heard and you see a large mushroom cloud over the sea.  Batman has sacrificed his life for the lives of Gotham's citizens.  Or so it seems.  A small funeral is held for Bruce Wayne (who reveals to Commish Gordon before he "dies" that he is indeed Batman. Blake quits the police force, disgusted at times by how they can be crippled by their laws and rules, and Alfred cries horribly thinking everything was his fault for enabling Bruce for so long.  

But in truth, Bruce installs an autopilot in the "bat," saves himself runs off with Selina Kyle and leaves the Bat-cave for someone who he feels can carry on his legacy.  And who is this person?  None other than Blake, who when picking up his inheritance from Bruce (Bruce leaves the rest of his money to Alfred, his mansion to orphaned boys), has to give his real name to the person holding the items.

Blake is surprised to see that there is nothing for him.  He then realizes that the items are probably under his legal name.  You see Blake himself was an orphan, just like Bruce.  The first clue to who he really was.  He lost his parents tragically just like Bruce as well.  So more than likely "John Blake" was a name given to him by a foster family.  He reaches into his jacket and grabs his identification, which has his legal name.  The woman takes his card, says that she indeed has something for him, and hands him a small bag.

"You should go by your real name.  It's a nice name," she says.  "Robin."

When she says Robin, Blake looks at her and smiles, but he's really smiling at the audience.  Yet another big reveal in this movie.  John Blake, Gotham City cop, is really Robin the Boy Wonder.  This revelation leads to the most dramatic and heartfelt scene in TDKR.

Alfred, still very sad over the death of Bruce Wayne, goes to a frequent vacation spot.  A place where he said he always visited in his past, when Bruce had gone missing for seven years to do his training with the League of Shadows.  Alfred tells Bruce earlier in the movie that he had always hoped that Bruce would never come back to Gotham where he would only find pain and misery.  He always wanted Bruce to start a new life and had hoped that one day he would see Bruce sitting at a table, with a pretty girl at that very vacation spot.  He says in that fantasy of his he would see Bruce happy, Bruce would see him, they would never acknowledge each other, but they'd both know that Bruce was ok.

The beauty of this scene is that when it happens at the beginning of the movie, you don't realize that Nolan is setting up the end.  So after Bruce's funeral when Alfred goes back to that vacation spot, you know what's coming.  And with the final strong percussions of Hans Zimmer's score, we see Bruce, sitting at a table, with Selena Kyle, relaxed, happy, and at peace.  Bruce and Alfred look at each other.  But that is all, Alfred tips his head to him as to say "I know you're alright," and he gets up and happily leaves Bruce to his new life. 

At the same time, back in Gotham, Commissioner Gordon notices a brand new Bat signal has been put in the city and Blake is following directions that are left to him from Bruce Wayne.  He comes to a waterfall.  A waterfall that conceals an entrance to a cave.  The cave.  The Bat-cave.  Blake swings on a rope through the waterfall and when he lands on the ground, he looks up in amazement.  Bruce has left him his legacy.  The mantle of the bat to continue fighting crime in whatever way he chooses.  Looking on in amazement at the grandness of the cave, Blake doesn't realize the ground is moving beneath him.  He is rising to his destiny.  Batman has saved the city for the last time, but with Robin now positioned to take his place, the Dark Knight will rise once again. 










Saturday, October 8, 2011

Batwing a Pleasant Surprise

Out of all the new titles that have debuted with DC Comics "New 52",  I must say the biggest surprise in terms of titles that I like, but didn't think I would like, has to be Batwing.

I wasn't too interested in Batman Incorporated when it debuted last year.  If anything I thought DC Comics was just giving Grant Morrison free reign to do whatever he liked with Batman knowing that a company wide reboot was right around the corner.



The first glimpse I got of Batwing was when the DC/New 52 reboot was announced.  My first impression?  That it was lame.  Coming from me that may seem out of the ordinary given the attention I give to minority superheroes.  This was the mantle of the bat extending to Africa.  A black Batman!  I should have been hyped.  But I wasn't.  I was not impressed with Batwing's suit and I thought this was just an effort by DC Comics to get a chunk of the Black Panther's fan base.

I'm happy to say I was wrong.  The book has a nice vibe.  Judd Winick is the writer, and he usually hits it out of the park more than he swings and misses.  I figured he'd strike out on three pitches with this one, but he didn't.  The art, which has been so so at best for a lot of the new 52 titles (minus anything done by Jim Lee) is probably my favorite part of the book, solid story aside.  Ben Oliver, the artist on the book, does great work.  I'm really glad that this title has fantastic art to go along with a decent story.  DC is trying to establish this character for the first time.  They've given him one of their best writers, he deserves a good artist too.  I hope this creative team gets to stay together at least the first 12 issues.

Batwing, which recently published its second issue, is in the process of helping establish his presence in Africa with occasional help from Batman.  He's a cop on a corrupt African police force.  And best of all...his name is David.

The book is a lot better than I thought it would be and much to my surprise, is my favorite of all the new 52 titles from DC.  Winick is developing a strong supporting cast, great villains and plenty of mystery.  I never thought I'd say this, but Batwing has the chance to be the top black superhero comic in the market.  Not that there's much competition, but that's not a designation I planned on throwing this titles way when I first got word of it.

So far Batwing has impressed me.  Here's hoping this title can keep up that pace.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Mr. Terrific isn't Terrible

So I'll be completely honest.  I had no intention of picking up a copy of Mr. Terrific when I found out he would be one of the 52 new titles in DC Comics complete reboot.  I've never particularly had an interest in him and also never been a big fan of his overall look (a painted on mask?).  Add that to the fact that I've also rarely ever read Justice Society of America and there wasn't really much reason for me to give this title a try.

However, there is a different feel in the air with both of the two major comic book companies (Marvel and DC) making a conscious effort to address a previous lack of diversity throughout the history of their universes.  Of course Marvel has Miles Morales, the new biracial (Black/Latino) Ultimate Spider-Man and DC Comics has Batwing (the Batman of Africa-which I enjoyed a lot and will be writing about soon) Static Shock (yes he's still around) and Mr. Terrific getting their own books.

I'm fantastic.  I mean terrific.
Efforts such as these deserve at least a consideration.  So at the last second, as I was picking up my stack of comics from Big Planet Comics in Georgetown, I decided to give Mr. T (I'm guessing that nickname probably won't work) a glance.  I've read it twice and while I wasn't blown away, I was entertained, or shall I say...amused.  

Mr. Terrific (aka Michael Holt) is the third smartest man in the world.  The identities of numbers one and two are a mystery (perhaps Lex Luthor is in the top two...if he's even in the new 52 universe).  He's a billionaire.  A former Olympic athlete, and a widow.  His allies include a cute assistant named Aleeka and a 16 year old genius named Jamaal.

The first issue deals with Mr. Terrific trying to solve a mystery involving something that's making people more intelligent and violent with no explanation.  He's also hosting a potential presidential candidate at an event while unaware of the tension between his aforementioned black assistant Aleeka and his current house guest Power Girl.  Yes that Power Girl.  The I have the largest breast in the comic book world Power Girl.

I spent the night at Mr. Terrific's house.  Just don't tell my parents.
We are supposed to believe that there is no relationship between Mr. Terrific and Power Girl despite the fact that she is staying at his place and walking around wearing only a t-shirt.  That's what Power Girl says anyway when she's getting the evil eye from Aleeka.  That's what has me interested in this book.  Not any potential mystery.  I mean if this guy is the third most intelligent man on the planet then clearly he's going to get down to the bottom of any mystery eventually.  It's the drama.  

Eric Wallace, the writer of Mr. Terrific goes there.  Which I was happy to see.  Many times the few black characters we see in comics seem to be immune or unaware of the world they live in.  Everything is always peachy keen.  Which is great for them, but not very realistic.  If Mr. Terrific is supposed to be one of the world's most eligible bachelors, super rich, super smart, a super hero, black and he's possibly getting it on with a "white girl" as Power Girl dubbed herself in issue one, surely there's going to be a woman of color in his life who will have something to say about it.  

I will say that Aleeka goes out of her way to say that she has no problem with the possibility of Mr. Terrific being with a white woman, but is instead concerned with having to compete with a superhero (Power Girl) who herself is also very wealthy.  So the whole black woman angry that the black man is possibly with a white woman is not at the center of this confrontation, but the fact that it was at least acknowledged and hinted at was entertaining for me (or maybe I was just having a flashback).

Oh no she didn't!
That's what I liked the most about the book.  The women in Mr. Terrific's life.  I'm interested to see where that goes and I'll stick around to see what happens.  I can't say the same for MTV Geek, who didn't have many nice things to say about the first issue.  Hey, you can't please everybody.  They bashed this issue for all the reason that I liked it.  Forgive me though, if I assume that there aren't to many "brothas" over at MTV Geek.

Regardless, a book I had absolutely no interest in is now on my pull list. 

Still Digging Spidey's Duds (the biracial one that is)

As I've already devoted a blog post to the subject, you're well aware that I love the new Ultimate Spider-Man's costume.  Having said that here's a look at the cover to issue number 2, which I must say, looks awesome.

Dominican girls.  Puerto Rican girls.  The possibilities are endless.

In case you're wondering when I'll have something to say about the first issue with Miles Morales, which debuted last week, I'm currently working on a write up for the Comic Riffs blog of The Washington Post.  As soon as it's publishsed, I'll provide a link to it.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Truth, Justice and No Trunks

One of my favorite websites Superhero Hype released some on set photos of Henry Cavil as Superman in the Man of Steel movie.  The up close shots confirm what has been suspected by this blog all along.  That Kal-El won't be wearing red trunks.

You can see the pics from SHH here.

The look confirms my suspicion that Warner Bros. and DC Comics (WB owns DC in case you didn't know) wanted to make sure that their newest Superman movie had a look similar to the new Superman duds being worn by the last son of Krypton in the pages of their comic books.

When I spoke with DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio in an interview for The Washington Post, we talked about this particular fashion change.  He told me that the original look for Supes, with the red trunks, was originally designed in the 30's and that considering them when designing a Superman suit for the 21st century, wasn't an option.
Jim Lee's New 52 version of Superman is the best by far.
I myself, think it's a good look.  Especially the comic book version, which seems to be more like Kryptonian battle armor.  From all the different pics I've seen, Jim Lee by far draws the best modern day Superman.


Interview with Dan DiDio of DC Comics

I had the chance to speak with DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio 24 hours before the debut of the New 52.  The interview ran in the Comic Riffs blog of The Washington Post.  If you'd like to check it out, click here.
I'm talking to David who?  Betancourt?  Is that French?  They read comics in France?

The New Spider-Man is WHAT?

You may recall a post I wrote back in July where I was singing the praises of the new Ultimate Spider-Man costume.  Despite the fact that I was very upset that Marvel decided to kill off the Ultimate Peter Parker (one of my all time favorite characters) I couldn't hold back my awe for the newly designed black and red duds of the new Spidey.

At the time Marvel had not yet announced who was behind the mask of this new web-head.  All I knew was that I'd probably check it out just because I thought the costume was so cool.

So imagine my shock when Marvel released the news that the kid behind the mask of the new Ultimate Spider-Man was named Miles Morales....and that he was half black half Latino (I've read online that supposedly the Latino side is Puerto Rican, which as you can imagine makes me THAT much happier, but that has yet to be confirmed).
Is that one of my cousins from Queens?
I'm not going to get too much into this for no other reason that when the news broke, a good friend at The Washington Post, fully aware of my biracial background, sent me a message and basically said I had to write about this topic for a number of reasons.  So I did write about it, pouring all my heart and soul into the story, which ran in The Post shortly after the news broke.

I can honestly say that my write up on Miles in The Post turned out to be my favorite thing I've ever written for them.  So if you really want to know what I think of the new Ultimate Spider-Man, click here.