Film Review- "The Dark Knight Rises"

The Dark Knight Rises
Directed By Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Tom Hardy as Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake


How rare is it do we find a "threequel" that does justice to its predecessors, if not perform better than them? There are those rare films, like Toy Story 3, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, and now The Dark Knight Rises, which brings Christopher Nolan's Batman film series to a close, in a spectacular, dignified, and more than satisfying way.

Taking place eight years after The Dark Knight, we find Bruce Wayne a shut-in, having hung up his cape and mask, and Commissioner Gordon tired of carrying the guilt of what truly happened to Harvey Dent. When Bruce Wayne catches cat burglar Selina Kyle (you may know her better as Catwoman) stealing his fingerprints for the criminal mastermind Bane, he comes out of retirement to uncover and stop Bane's master plan, much to his faitful butler Alfred's dismay. Batman soon faces his greatest challenge, as Bane threatens to literally destory Gotham.

That's the basic storyline, but once again Christopher Nolan has brought to the screen a story filled with so much depth and emotion that concludes the legend that began with Batman Begins beautifully, as both Bruce Wayne and Batman are pushed to the very limit, as the character must confront the question Can he both Bruce Wayne and Batman? Will there ever be a time when Gotham no longer needs Batman, or when he no longer needs Batman? Can he find a life beyond the Batman? That is the emotional core of the film, and the stellar performances by Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Joseph Gordon Levitt emphasize that. Bale and Caine are at their usual best. Ask for Levitt, I can say this is his finest performance, and I can't wait to see where his career goes after this film.

Tom Hardy as Bane is perfect. There are moments when it is difficult to understand him, but the moments are so minimal it can be overlooked (I'm sure if you really can't figure it out there'll be subtitles on the DVD). Bane's prescence, motivation, and drive, God forgive me, make him so much more intimidating The Joker. The stakes are so much higher with Bane.

Supporting players from the previous films like Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman are given less to do with Rises, as we spend more time with new additions to the Nolan/Batman universe like Levitt, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, a business woman looking to revitalize Bruce and Wayne Enterprises. These three give us some of their best work. If you ever had doubt that Hathaway could pull of Catwoman, you will be proven wrong. She is one of the highlights of the film. On a side note with Levitt and Cotillard, and I will put this next section in white to avoid spoilers: there was a great deal of speculation about the true identities of their characters, and there were alot of theories out there. Let me just say, somebody got it right.



One apsect of this film I really enjoyed was that it is very much an esemble film. Every actor, character plays a major part in the story. What's at stake in this film is the very exisistence of Gotham City, and it's not just Batman fighting to save it. He becomes very much a symbol for the other characters, and the citizens to rally behind. It's a war for the city, and it's an epic one with incredible players. This is one of the finest casts put together for a film I've ever seen.

I'll say this right now, if you're expecting an action-heavy film, you're not going to get it, at least right off the bat (no pun intended). Act 1 and 2 spend a great deal of time helping build up to an EXPLOSIVE, MAGNIFICENT Act 3, which, and again, to avoid spoilers: contains one of the best chase scenes I've ever seen in film. It works though, so don't let my words sway you away from this film. There is plenty in the first two-thirds of the film that will keep you on the edge of your seat regardless, as you wait for the $#!T to hit the fan in Act 3.

I don't want to say The Dark Knight Rises is better than The Dark Knight, because I feel it's like a sense of betrayl...but damn I think it really is. I don't know I'm probably going to have to see this one again to be absolutely sure. This is a spectacular trilogy that will go down in film history, and The Dark Knight Rises is the perfect way to end. To the person who has to reboot Batman for film I truly feel sorry for you, but I also wish you the best of luck. Lord knows you're going to need it...

Film Review- "The Lorax"

Considering the critical success rate of films based on Dr. Seuss's classic works, where both the live-action How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in The Hat failed, and the animated Horton Hears A Who succeeded, I was willing to bet that this film would succeed. The odds seemed in its favor, with the only successful Suess movie before it also being animated. According to the mainstream critics of sites like Rotten Tomatoes, one could I say I bet on the wrong horse...or did I?

The Lorax

Directed By Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda

Starring Zac Efron as Ted, Ed Helms as The Once-ler, Taylor Swift as Audrey, and Danny DeVito as The Lorax

I understand that there's a certain difficulty in adapting something like a children's book into a 90 minute feature film. The original source material may not provide enough to meet the run-time, so you may have to "pad" the story or fill time. So in a way what The Lorax does can be justified, but it doesn't really do it all that well.

The nameless child from the book who asks The Once-ler what happened to the trees is given the name of Ted, and a drive in the film, and the voice of Zac Efron. He ventures out of his futuristic, plastic town to discover trees to impress this girl Audrey (Taylor Swift). Once out in the desolate wastelands of yesteryear he meets The Once-ler (Ed Helms) who tells him the story of his encounter with The Lorax (Danny DeVito) and how he eventually caused the destruction of the Trufula Trees.

While all this is happening, the head of town O'Hare (Rob Riggle), keeps a close eye on Ted, determined to make him fail in his mission, and ensure his business of bottled air will continue to thrive. Now if you remember from the book, The Once-ler wasn't exactly the nicest guy. In the film, he's a bit of a goof, and instead of doing things on his own, he's persuaded into chopping down more trees by his greedy family. The film makes him a more sympathetic character. The filmmakers might have been afraid to make him a bit unlikable, but they should have taken a page from the classic Disney films of old, where the villains can be just as well liked as the heroes.

There is a clear and real conflict between The Once-ler and The Lorax in the book, but in the film it's more of an unlikely brotherhood, and how The Once-ler betrays it, and because of this, and the dumming down of The Once-ler's character, is where O'Hare comes in as the film's main villain. The Once-ler could have still have served the purpose of the villain, if the filmmakers were brave enough. O'Hare is kind of there to help shove the whole environmental message down the viewer's throat, which also hurts the film. Had he not been in the film, perhaps the movie would have had a stronger impact, like say that of Wall-E.

Like most animated films, The Lorax relies on some musical numbers to get the story moving along. But unlike Disney musicals, they really just don't fit, well most of them, the final number is quite catchy. The songs The Once-ler sings are just too "modern" for this story. Just because Ed Helms can sing and rock out on a guitar doesn't mean he should. That and the song "How Bad Can I Be?", which depicts his transformation into a greedy miser, enjoyable as it is, hurts the film. It would have been so much better to see his turn into this character, rather than flash through it in a two minute musical sequence. Also kind of ironic that the only member of the voice cast known for her singing (Taylor Swift), doesn't sing...

When I watched the clips and trailers online, I thought that the celebrity voices they picked were just too celebrity. I could not distinguish the voices from the character. Thankfully, that problem did not transition into my viewing of the film itself...well, except maybe Betty White's character of Granny. Ed Helms does get very close to playing the typical type of character we expect him to play. I would have liked to see him play the actual version of The Once-ler from the book. Finally, it felt like they were trying too hard to make the fish, bears, and birds do what The Minions did in Despicable Me.

I understand the creative decisions behind the making of The Lorax, but I do not completely stand by them, when there were better options. Nevertheless, I'd rank it 3rd out of the 4 Dr. Seuss films, and definitely think it's viewing at least once.