The Dark Knight Rises again

            Hello folks who read stuff online, my name is TheCinemaChick.  I’m here to review the newest films in theaters, but first…I have to discuss something that’s been stressing me out.  I’ve highly upset and depressed because of this.  Last night, in Aurora, Colorado, two men went to a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” and open fired on the crowd.  Last I read, fourteen people have died and fifty were wounded.  Some of the victims were in the military.

            I was at a midnight showing as well, but in Grapevine, Texas.  The shooting could have happened at my theater or one close by.  I enjoyed the movie, but now, it is forever going to be associated with death, carnage and fear.  While those are prominent in the film, I know Batman is a fictional movie where everyone went home safe afterwards.  Knowing that someone wanted to see a film with friends of family and lost their life…I’m fairly certain I have just attended my next to last midnight showing.  I would say my final, but I have already committed to a “Breaking Dawn” marathon with Fry, Kit Kat, Terra and Unown.  I cannot pull out of that because Kit Kat is flying down just for that and you know, to spend time with me.  She is my long lost, freakishly alike sister.

            With that said, if you are in Colorado, I send my condolences, my thoughts, and my wishes that everyone hurt recovers fully.  Random acts of senseless violence like that leave me dumbfounded. 

            Aurora, Colorado,  TheCinemaChick loves you.

            With that out of the way, let’s get into the heart of the matter.  I did go to a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” last night and I really enjoyed it.  Yes, it’s a very long film so wear your comfy clothes and get in a comfy chair because you’ll be in it for the long haul.  My seat, however, was painfully uncomfortable.  Plus, by the time the midnight showing had rolled around, I’d been in it for about eight hours.  

            I went to a triple feature at my local Cinemark, which showed “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises”.  It was a fun experience and I definitely enjoyed it.  Fry had never seen the films before so I was happy to show her the brilliance that is Christian Bale.  And to make things even better, a friend of mine from college joined us.  Keep in mind, it was fun until we heard about the shooting.

            I like the Batman films.  I grew up watching them starting with the old school Adam West version that is laughably over the top now.  I remember sitting in the living room with my family, curled up on this old blanket my brother and I used to fight over and watching Batman Returns.  To date, I have seen every live action film released into theaters.  Sadly, that also includes Batman and Robin which…let’s be honest, Joel Schumaker killed it.  He ruined that film so much.  It’s an embarrassment to superhero movies everywhere.

            Surprisingly, I did not see “Batman Begins” until this past Christmas.  I rented it and watched it with my dad, who’s not big on the comic book adaptation.  At the time, I didn’t get it, but since I have seen it a few more times since then, I understand the film and see why it is so important.  I would like to add one thing, I want more Cillian Murphy.  He pulls off Dr. Crane/Scarecrow so well.  He’s got that innocent, boyish face that makes him so trustworthy, but he’s actually a very devious man.

            “The Dark Knight” I saw on opening night, with Butterfly.  I had no intention of seeing it, but he insisted.  In all honesty, I think it’s one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen.  It had a solid plot, great action and the actors really got into their roles.  I won’t mention Heath Ledger’s intensity, but I fully agree that it was one of his best performances.  He is one of the greatest actors I’ve ever seen whose life was cut way too short.  Granted, I didn’t care for the plot as much in this one because it got a little muddled.  I understand how Lao fits in with everything, but he became such a minor character that he was forgettable.

            Then finally, “The Dark Knight Rises” came out and once again, I was blown away.  I have to admit, one thing I absolutely love about Christopher Nolan is that he has an amazing sense of continuity.  He reminds the audience of what happened to Harvey Dent and why Batman became an outlaw.  We are shown that Bruce still loves Rachel.  Perhaps what made me happiest is that the same actors appear in all three films.  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman have been in all of them, which really helps.  

            I admit, the movie was incredibly long, but I was never bored.  It’s also horribly flawed, which I’ll get to into a bit.  Bale was perfect as Batman.  Before this trilogy, I really only cared for Michael Keaton, but Bale was an excellent choice.  Tom Hardy, oh my goodness, let’s talk about him.  He is quite possibly the best casting choice made for this film.  He’s unrecognizable in both appearance and speech when he’s in full Bane gear.  I knew he would be good, but he was phenomenal.  This is quite possibly one of the best performances he’s ever given.  Personally, I think he looks quite sexy as a demented, scarred, masked anarchist.  But what can I say, I have a thing for villains.

            The ending is by far the best part of the film.  It has a huge twist that you will never see coming and is actually quite shocking.  Seriously, you’ll watch this thinking Bane is the one who’s the bad guy, but…there’s someone else.  Trust me, it’s a huge surprise.  The fight scenes were breathtaking so I was sucked in.  Then, there’s the fate of Batman, which had me bawling.  I won’t tell you what happens because honestly, you need to see this film.  Trust me, it’s more than worth it.

            I want to see this movie again, possibly in IMAX.  However, I have problems with this film.  Other than the running time, which I wish was shorter, there are things in the film I don’t like.  For example, this is a Batman movie but there is a surprising lack of Batman.  I know, it’s supposed to be about how Bruce Wayne has walked away from being Batman at the beginning, but he comes back.  But he’s really not in the movie much.  Same thing with Catwoman.  She rarely shows up.  If anything, this is Bane’s movie because he is the most prominent figure.  

            While I’m talking about Catwoman, I didn’t like Anne Hathaway.  When I think of her, I think upbeat, bubbly, not jewel thief.  She just didn’t cut it for me in this role.  I’ll admit, she was decent, but not incredible.  Then, her character was never really explored.  She was a cat burglar, but she was a good guy in the end.  She just switched teams so often it got annoying.  The movie could have left her out completely and the plot wouldn’t have suffered much.  She’s necessary in the first forty five minutes, but after that, she’s really irrelevant.

            Again, this is Bane’s movie.  He is seen the most, given one of the most descriptive background stories ever (which is put together in pieces that only come together during the huge twist at the end) and he’s just dominating.  Tom Hardy’s actual face is shown once, for a brief moment.  Even then, he’s still incredibly gorgeous.  In this movie, the man has the body of a god.  He is cut and I would not mind getting a nice tight hug from him.

            This is being billed as an “epic conclusion” and believe me, it is epic.  It’s a cinematic experience.  It does leave the ending wide open, which I hope they don’t do as a tease.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a major component in this film and for good reason.  His importance is shown in the final moments of the film.  To that I say, “Please, please, PLEASE, let another director pick up the franchise with Levitt!  Anyone but Joel Schumaker, Michael Bay and Tim Burton!  SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE A NIGHTWING MOVIE!!” (spoiler alert there).

           

            I know a lot of people are going to be apprehensive about seeing this movie because of the Colorado incident, but here’s what I think.  Don’t let one man strike fear into your heart.  Batman is exactly what we need right now.  We need a symbol of hope, a sign that bad people can and will be stopped.  He may be the dark knight of Gotham, but he stands for what is right.  Don’t see Batman as someone to fear because of the tragedy.  Look at him and see a man who wants to protect the innocent.  

            Believe in Batman.

            I’m TheCinemaChick and I will not let fear rule me.

I wouldn't say amazing...

            Hey guys, I’m known as TheCinemaChick and after a month long (and much needed) hiatus, I’m back!  June was a rather interesting month for me.  I volunteered at a local church and did vacation Bible school.  At the end of that, I managed to fall and sprain my ankle really bad.  So, I was laid up for about a week, then I got some really…heartbreaking news.  It seems I was causing some friction in a friend’s relationship so he has chosen to cut me out of his life very suddenly.  Yes, it was painful, but I think I’ll survive.  It’s not my fault his girlfriend thinks I’m someone I’m not.

            Then, some very exciting news.  My brother became a father for the first time last week!  Yes, I am now AuntieCinemaChick!  I got to hold her today and she is so tiny, but adorable.  I am over the moon right now.  But, you’re not here to listen to me ramble on and on about my new niece.  No…you’re here because I’m going to review a movie for you.  And for my triumphant return, I’m going to tackle one of the biggest anticipated movies of the summer.  And unfortunately, I hated it.

            Yes dear reader, I hated “The Amazing Spider Man”.  Trust me, I use the term “amazing” rather loosely.  I’m sorry, we had a trilogy of movies based on this same comic book hero a decade ago.  Why are we already doing a remake of it?  Not to mention, why can’t they make a DECENT remake?  The actors were so badly miscast its not even funny.  Andrew Garfield looks like a scrawny little nerd who only looks buff when he’s in costume.  He just didn’t cut it for me.  Also, I don’t really like Emma Stone.  I don’t think she’s all that great either in comedic or dramatic roles.  I hated “Easy A” and I wasn’t fond of “The Help” because it focused on her too much.  She’s playing Gwen Stacy in this one, the replacement for Mary Jane I guess.  I prefer Kirsten Dunst honestly.

            Before I went into this film, I was only half interested in it.  I’ll admit, I may be a Marvel girl, but I don’t really care for the Spider Man stuff.  I never really liked him.  I’ve seen the first movies, the ones with Tobey Maguire and I enjoyed those.  They weren’t my favorite films of all time, but they were good.  Let’s not get into Spider Man 3 with “emo Peter” and the stupid dance number.  Trust me, I’m aware of how much it sucked.  However, in comparison to the newest version, I’d gladly watch that over again.

            “The Amazing Spider Man” did not live up to its name.  They must have used the word “amazing” rather loosely.  Ok, time for a little bit of my thoughts on how a movie should go.  Let’s say you want 100% of a film.  Let’s divide that up and I will explain why I have done it this way.

20% Exposition

30% Rising Action

10% Climax

20%Falling Action

10% Dénouement

           Let’s discuss this.  Expostion is the backstory and giving us all the information we need for a film, unless its in a series.  Even in a series, such as Harry Potter, they remind us of what we need to know for the upcoming movie.  However, in some cases, this can drag on insanely long.  This causes boredom in the viewer.  Yes, we need to know what’s going on and how this character came to be, but keep it to a minimum.

            Rising Action should be getting us amped up for the climax.  It should present conflict and tension, possibly some humor as well.  This is when we should be getting a real sense of the character.  Well, sometimes this gets cut short.  It shouldn’t be.  With this, the viewer is sucked in and drawn into the world the film has created.  If we never get the chance to make that connection to the film, well, the movie kind of sucks. 

            The Climax is the pinnacle of the movie.  It should be exciting and gripping and have the viewer’s full attention.  In a superhero movie, this is where the hero would fight the bad guy and win.  Like in the Avengers, the climax comes when the giant space worm turtle things come and they have to fight even though they are hurt and tired. 

            Falling Action resolves the conflicts presented earlier and lets us know that things came out all right for our hero.  It should sum things up and give us a feeling of satisfaction.  Again, when it comes to a series, this can be left wide open since there will be a continuation of the film.  Look at Lord of The Rings.  The ending of “The Fellowship of the Ring” just sort of stops and doesn’t have a sense of conclusion or finality.  The view knows and is fully aware that there will be two more films in the series so there aren’t any lingering questions.  All will be brought up in the second film and resolved in the third.

            Perhaps I will write something later about Lord of the Rings.  We’ll see.

            And finally, the Dénouement.  This is the ending.  Consider this the final scenes, post credit scenes and credits.  This really isn’t a huge part of the film, but still, it’s something that should be considered. 

            Now that I’ve explained that, let me explain this.  “The Amazing Spider Man” was about 80% exposition.  I’m not kidding.  There was very little action, almost no conflict, other than some minor bullying issues and Peter not knowing about his parents.  Even that gets put in the background for the most part.  I just didn’t feel like it went anywhere for about an hour and a half when this film runs a solid two and a half hours.  A lot of it was just character interaction, with nothing really binding it together.  I just couldn’t get into it.  Not to mention, I couldn’t get past the fact that Andrew Garfield looks like the bastard child of Robert Pattinson and Daniel Radcliffe. 

            The movie just kept dragging on and on and on.  If the viewer isn’t sucked in quickly, the movie is doomed.  I couldn’t get sucked into this if you’d turned on a vacuum and physically sucked me into the screen.  There isn’t very much Spider Man action.  It’s mostly just Peter Parker being emotional and reading.  He doesn’t really seem interested in Gwen at all, so it felt very forced.  I wanted to like this, I really did, but I didn’t. 

            And the 3D was useless.  There was maybe a grand total of 6 minutes of cool stuff that I thought was ok, but for the most part, I had no need for my glasses.  I’ll admit, there’s a few scenes where we get a first person point of view shot that I liked a lot.  We get to see through Spider Man’s eyes as he swings around the city, which was interesting.  I’m not a huge fan of first person because I am prone to motion sickness.

            I couldn’t even get into the climax but it was a let down.  There was no awesome battle between Spider Man and The Lizard (played by Rhys Ifans, you know Xenophilius Lovegood from Harry Potter).  Personally, I didn’t even see him as a villain.  His intentions were noble.  Dr. Curt Connors lost part of his arm and just wants to get it back.  Ok, I understand why you’re doing these insane things to yourself.  He wants to help people who have injuries or disabilities by crossing species.  That actually sounds like a good idea, but he just went a little too far in his research.  I did not find him threatening at all.  A good villain should make me want him to lose.  Hell, I was rooting for The Lizard more than Spider Man.

            And to make things even better, Curt Connors tries to redeem himself!  He kills someone, but ends up saving Spider Man!  Of course the movie has its happy ending.  Peter gets Gwen, he’s allowed to be Spider Man but then there’s a post credit scene that had me going “Oh great…sequel fodder.”  And for those of you who don’t speak my language, sequel fodder is an ending or post credit scene that clearly hints at a sequel or pending series.  In this case, expect a sequel.  The villain is alive and can break out.  I have no idea who the guy in the post credits scene is, so if you know, please tell me.  So far, all I know is that it is NOT Norman Osborn, better known as The Green Goblin.  So that’s all I know for now kids. 

            But I mean, come on, Marvel.  Fry and I watched this, pointing out elements from Avengers that happened to pop up.  For instance, remember that giant blue cloud in the sky before the Chitauri invade?  It returns in this one. 

            This was an unnecessary remake.  It’s boring, way too drawn out and just doesn’t satisfy at all.  At one point, I was so bored, I started playing with my hair.  Yes, I took my hair down, which I never do, and braided it.  I gave myself a Katniss braid and braided my bangs while I was at it.  I’m sorry, but skip this one.  Go see Ted or Magic Mike, neither which I have seen.  I would rather see those that sit through Spider Man again.  If this tells you anything, I have seen all the Marvel movies at least twice, if not more.  (I’ve officially seen Avengers 5 times now)  This…this wasn’t worth the seven bucks I paid to see it.

            Well, that’s all the ranting I have to do about The “Amazing” Spider Man.  I’m back and ready to catch up some reviews.  I’ve got several things I’m working on.  Tim Burton will be a feature in August, where I look at some of my favorite films of his.  I’m also doing a “Better Late Than Never” review, where I talk about the movies I saw in June and didn’t touch.  So far, I’ve got to do Snow White and the Huntsman (disappointment) and Prometheus (confusing but brilliant).

            I’m looking forward to the upcoming release of the latest Batman movie.  I’m considering going to a marathon of the Christopher Nolan films, but we’ll see.  You never know with me.

            I’m TheCinemaChick and I’m back, baby!