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  • Canister X Movie Review #27: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

    Dark Knight Rises
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    The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
    Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
    Directed by Christopher Nolan
    Runtime 165 min.
    5 out of 5

    It has been eight years since the Batman took the wrap for the murder of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Eight years since the last time the Dark Knight was spotted in Gotham. The streets are safe, the police are receiving praise for doing a good job—except Commissioner James Gordon knows it’s all based on a lie. About to come clean of what really happened that fateful night, Gotham is suddenly thrown into chaos at the hands of a mastermind, muscle-loaded criminal named Bane. With the city about to fall, the Batman must return to restore order to his beloved city otherwise it will fall into the hands of a sadistic genius bent on its destruction.

    To complicate matters, a mysterious female cat burglar is working out an agenda of her own and her endgame is tied into the legacy of Bruce Wayne.

    Will Batman rise from the shadows to defeat evil once more, or has he had his day and should stay in the dark?

    Saw the midnight screening of this gem before it hit theatres all over the world. This movie is epic on a scale that is hard to fit into a simple review, especially since I don’t want to give away any key plot points and/or spoilers.

    The Dark Knight Rises picks up immediately after The Dark Knight storyline-wise, and eight years later in movie-time. Running throughout the whole flick are threads from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, plotlines that reach their ultimate climax in what I have to say is one of the best endings to a trilogy I’ve ever seen. It’s on par with, third-movie-wise, Return of the Jedi and Return of the King. All comes to a head as we’re led down a deep tunnel into who Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) truly is and what being Batman has done to him. Glimpses of his scarred psyche were hinted at in the previous two movies, but really get hit home in an emotional and powerful way throughout this final installment.

    Batman himself also shines as he gets to show off his physical skill against a villain that can truly stand toe-to-toe with him, something we never saw in the previous two films. The battle with Bane (Tom Hardy) is realistic, strongly-delivered, and one where this reviewer felt the punches thrown as if they were happening to him. Yeah, it was that good of a fight.

    The other Bat-flicks struggled with having two villains in the same movie. To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day where a modern superhero movie would have more than one villain and be just as good as if it had just one. Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is the best rendition of the character I’ve seen on screen, both in movies and on TV. She had to play multiple roles given her identity as a thief and work her deception in such a way that a lot of the time we weren’t sure who’s side she was on. I’m an Anne Hathaway fan, but this movie easily contains her best career performance to date.

    Bane was a crazy good villain, a kind of cross between Joker—intelligence-wise—and Ra’s Al Ghul—combat-wise—of the previous two movies. Especially since most of his face was covered with a mask throughout the whole flick, Tom Hardy had to act with his eyes in such a way as to deliver a performance as if he wasn’t wearing a mask at all. It was something he did in spades. Bane was one of those on-screen villains that you were afraid of because he’s that smart and that powerful and that sadistic.

    Gary Oldman did an amazing job, as usual, as Jim Gordon, and Sir Michael Caine nailed it once again as Alfred. In fact, I’d be shocked if Sir Michael doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for his emotional portrayal of a hard-headed vigilante’s butler.

    It’d be so easy to give away several key plot points in this review, but I’m keeping it vague on purpose because you simply need to see this movie for yourself. You might think you have it figured out, but you’d be wrong, my friend.

    All dangling story threads from the previous two movies are resolved, the SFX did its job but the movie didn’t rely on it, and The Dark Knight Rises had one of the best movie endings in history, to me, one equal to the incredibly-satisfying ending of The Shawshank Redemption.

    Hats off to director Christopher Nolan and crew for the amazing stories and respect they delivered to Bat-fans everywhere throughout the entire Dark Knight Trilogy.

    Go watch this Bat-flick. You must return to Gotham. You must.

    Recommended.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #26: The Dark Knight (2008)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    The Dark Knight (2008)

    Dark Knight
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    The Dark Knight (2008)
    Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
    Directed by Christopher Nolan
    Runtime 152 min.
    5 out of 5

    Where do we begin?

    Three years ago, movie-goers wouldn’t dare touch a Batman movie. I mean, what happened? Did you get your act together and deliver us one of the best Bat-flicks ever?

    Seems so.

    And now you’ve done it again . . . times ten!

    Batman has made a difference in Gotham. Criminals are running scared. Underworld organizations are toppling. He has indeed become the symbol he set out to be.

    Now a psychotic clown-faced criminal is tearing his way through the Gotham City underworld, quickly establishing himself as the Clown Prince of Crime. His method: death, and lots of it. His motive: madness. But is he crazy? As he would say, “I’m not. No, I’m not.” And he’s right. He’s not crazy. This man—this “Joker”—is brilliant, and if he gets his way, Gotham will fall into his hands.

    Unless Batman can stop him.

    The Joker’s reign of terror starts in the underworld but reaches deep into Gotham’s social structure, various men strategically placed throughout the police, mayoral offices, everywhere. And they listen to him. Except for Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent, the do-gooding district attorney who’s dedicated himself to cleaning up Gotham and taking down the crime syndicates that have oppressed it for so long.

    Death reigns supreme in this movie. People die, and Batman is faced with the hard choice of becoming that which he hates . . . or risk losing Gotham and those he loves to this madman.

    I cannot say enough good things about this movie. Going into this thing back in 2008, and despite the crazy good trailers for The Dark Knight, I wasn’t sure if Batman Begins could be beat or even tied. Batman Begins was what put serious superhero flicks back on the map in a big, big way. It was what restored the faith of us fans in DC Comics and gave us hope that they started the journey to taking down their number one competitor at the box office, Marvel. And with Superman Returns being just plain poopy, I hoped against hope they’d at least get Batman right a second time.

    And they did. They so did and me and everyone in that theatre were gushing with joy that not only was The Dark Knight as good as Batman Begins, it was even better.

    Christian Bale delivered another solid performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The new suit rocked hard. Loved the detail. Though he was less buff than the previous film—why? who knows? You’d think a crime fighter would maintain a fitness regimen—he did a great job differentiating between the boring and dull playboy Bruce Wayne and the rage-filled-justice-driven Batman. My only issue was the voice. In Batman Begins, it was gruff, cool and tough. In this one, he sounded like he was growling the whole time and he had to force the words out to make them all gravelly. (And, FYI, WB, Batman’s voice doesn’t have to be like he’s talking through pebbles and sand; Kevin Conroy proved that.)

    Heath Ledger’s Joker was utterly amazing. Creepy. Gothic. Funny, but not comical (like Jack Nicholson’s was). Eerie, disturbed, crazy—delicious. What I loved the most was two things: 1) the clown makeup was just that: makeup. At first I didn’t like this idea and wanted the Joker to have been a victim of an acid bath ala his comic book backstory, but after watching the movie, I see why they went this route. Bringing us to 2) Joker was a genius. It was his brilliant criminal mind that enabled him to quickly establish himself as a powerful evil force in Gotham and the makeup was his edge in doing that both in a scary-because-I’m-crazy way, but also it made others think he was merely a lunatic in turn making them drop their guard so he could move in.

    Once more, I really dug Gary Oldman’s James Gordon and seeing him officially become commissioner in this was cool.

    Likewise Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and, eventually, Two-Face—hey, he did a good job on both sides of the, um, coin. My only thing with Two-Face in this flick was that I wasn’t expecting him to show up. I thought this movie would establish the Harvey Dent character in turn setting him up to become Two-Face in the next one. So, yeah, that part was a bit rushed but them’s the breaks.

    I enjoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes better than Katie Holmes. Maggie’s kind and cute, but can be rough and tough when she needs to. Worked well for Bruce’s childhood friend/love interest, especially when that twist came that changed Rachel’s future forever.

    My only other little quibble was the whole bat-sonar thing. That was venturing into Batman Forever territory and we all know how that one turned out, but the positives of this movie more than made up for the couple of minor issues I had with it.

    This movie is just tremendously good. Good fighting. Good story. Good stuff.

    Very recommended.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #16: Batman: Year One (2011)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Batman: Year One (2011)

    Batman: Year One
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    Batman: Year One (2011)
    Written by Tab Murphy
    Directed by Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery
    Runtime 64 min.
    4.5 out of 5

    After spending many years abroad, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to fulfill the vow to rid it of crime that he made to his deceased parents when he was a boy. At the same time, Chicago cop James Gordon moves to Gotham to start with the GCPD. Soon, Bruce adopts the identity of the Batman and makes war on Gotham’s crime families, with James Gordon hot on his tail as the cop tries to take down the vigilante crime fighter.

    I love origin stories. The mythology of characters, their history, their motivations, the events leading up to the creation of a super identity—all of it’s gold in my book. Batman: Year One is such a story, giving you not only Batman’s origin, but the chance to walk a mile in his shoes during his first year as a crime fighter. You get to see him test the waters, make mistakes, have some wins and losses, and watch as he earns the trust of Gotham’s finest.

    This movie is a down-to-earth story about Batman and James Gordon, very much a crime story versus a superhero-vs-supervillain tale. Batman deals with real world criminals in real world ways. You also get a glimpse into the hard life he leads, what he gives up to be Batman, and how he balances life as a fool in the public eye so he could be a fear to the criminal underworld at night.

    You also get to see a different side of James Gordon, the marriage trouble, his humanity, and the plight of being a good cop in a bad town. His portrayal makes him every bit a hero as Batman in this story.

    This flick is based on the one-shot comic book by comics superstar Frank Millar and matches the book’s style for the most part, really bringing it to life.

    This is a story of beginnings so the pacing is different than what most people are used to, and instead of having a beginning, middle, big lead up to a climax then end, it has—to me, anyway—more of a beginning, middle and then part of an end because it’s really a prequel to all the other Batman stories that come after it. Which is fine. It works, but I remember going, “Is that it?” when it ended after I first watched it.

    I’m glad that Batman’s first year was brought to the small screen and I hope more first year stories are made for other heroes. Superman next would be great.

    Recommended.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #8: Batman Begins (2005)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Batman Begins (2005)

    Batman Begins
    Click Here to Order from Amazon.com

    Batman Begins (2005)
    Written by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer
    Directed by Christopher Nolan
    Runtime 140 min.
    5 out of 5

    Bruce Wayne’s parents are brutally murdered right before his eyes. He is only eight years old. His father holds his hand. His mother lays in her own blood beside them. His father’s dying words: “Don’t be afraid.”

    Vowing vengeance, Bruce travels the world, learning all that he can to become a one-man army against crime. He leaves behind the life of a billionaire playboy and instead seeks to find the man rooted in pain and anger, the one inside him.

    Trained by a man named Ducard, a representative of Ra’s Al Ghul, Bruce learns how to harness his rage and use it to exact vengeance on those who would dare break the law.

    But to do so as Bruce Wayne would only put those he cares about in danger and would not be the symbol required to get the job done, and so is born . . . the Batman.

    Drugs are secretly being pumped into Gotham City’s waterways, the underground crime circuit somehow connected to a mysterious figure overseas who has big plans for Gotham. No one knows his face . . . until it’s too late.

    Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow, uses his position in Arkham Asylum to get the inmates gathered for what’s to come, and when the moment finally arrives, all hell breaks loose on Gotham’s streets.

    The night grows dim, the knight grows dark.

    Batman is born.

    Wowser.

    This flick was amazing.

    After the disaster that was Batman & Robin, I was so scared about how this would turn out. Sure, the trailers looked cool, dark, and edgy, but studios always put the best bits in the trailers anyway. All we had were hopes and good-sounding quotes from those involved in the film’s production.

    And, man, did they deliver!

    This stuff was real. Real-real. Batman Begins was grounded in reality in a way I hadn’t seen since X-men. This stuff could really happen. It was that tone that brought a level of seriousness to the movie that the other Bat-flicks—except Batman in 1989—didn’t have. This wasn’t a superhero movie, but a story about a man lost in rage, darkness and needing a way out. It was about the very real contrast between revenge and justice, and making right what once went so terribly wrong.

    It’s a story about redemption, love, and fighting to protect strangers in a city where crime, filth and evil are the everyday norm.

    Christian Bale is Batman. Period. When the mask was on, you could tell Bruce was channeling pure rage and distaste for evil, focusing all that anger on the task before him. When the mask was off, he was the Bruce Wayne who was a spoiled rich boy, dumb, and no one took seriously. Excellent duality.

    Katie Holmes as Bruce’s childhood friend/love interest, Rachel Dawes, was a good thing. The other Bat-movies always had a girlfriend for him. Though there was romantic interest here, it was rooted in friendship, which was a nice change.

    Michael Caine as Alfred—brilliant. He was your loving father-figure, yet was stern with Bruce when the need arose, and even got behind him despite reservation when Bruce told him his grand plan for saving Gotham. Only the love of a friend would allow such a thing: to believe in an ideal and not necessarily the method.

    Cillian Murphy was downright creepy as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow. I only knew him from 28 Days Later so wasn’t sure how he’d play this. Let’s just say I was happy.

    Liam Neeson as Ducard/Ra’s Al Ghul was all right. As Ducard, sure, made sense. He did a great job as Bruce’s mentor. The two were the same at heart. Just chose different paths. As Ra’s—that twist didn’t surprise me (solely because I stumbled upon the script online before I saw the actual movie), but it did surprise me in the sense that Liam Neeson will always be Qui-Gon Jinn to me. It was hard to see him as a bad guy.

    Gary Oldman is James Gordon. He looked the part, acted the part, and I fully sympathized with him being pretty much the only good cop in a bad town.

    Batman Begins is the quintessential Bat-film.

    Very recommended. Ten times over.


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