Extremely loud and incredibly long, The Dark Knight Rises for a third and perhaps final time.
After an eight-year respite, where Bruce Wayne has been hiding out in his mansion and the Batman has apparently retired, a new baddy arrives in Gotham which both Wayne and his alter ego must confront, Bane. Joined by Commissioner Gordon, Catwoman and an enterprising young detective, Batman has to thwart an army of bad guys toting a nuclear weapon.
Fighting infamy, injury and old age, can the caped crusader survive this last incarnation? We say, you pretty much have to see this one, don’t you?
HOWE: Oh, Batman. You’re my all-time favourite superhero and you bring me this pile of guano. Disappointed is a huge understatement of how I felt after watching this. I know I’ll get slagged off, people won’t agree, but it felt slow, boring and predictable. I thought the best was to be saved for last, not this time.
TAYLOR: I didn’t think it sucked, and I wasn’t disappointed because I had rather low hopes, not being a big fan of the series. It’s not so much that the movies are bad, just that their rather unremarkable, considering the talent involved. However, it’s way too long and way too loud and I don’t really give a damn about it.
HOWE: The film looked beautiful, overall. I do like that Christopher Nolan doesn’t use CGI. The opening scene with the planes flying over the mountain range is fantastic and if he used special effects, I don’t think it would have looked or felt real.
TAYLOR: Nolan is a very talented director and I too like that he does things the old fashioned way. As films go, there were very few noticeable errors in the movie, but then there are other things that have bugged me about the Dark Knight series from day one — Batvoice, for instance. I can accept that Batman has to have a different voice than Bruce Wayne, but does it have to be indecipherable? “Sorry Batman, what was that?”
HOWE: I don’t know, I was too busy trying to decipher what Bane was saying. If your bad guy is wearing a mask, just get James Earl Jones to voice it for you. At least you can understand what he’s saying.
TAYLOR: There was some good acting in the film. Christian Bale seemed old and tired, Alfred (Michael Caine) was the ever-doting Uncle figure, but I don’t think people are going to Dark Knight movies for the acting. At the end of the film, I got to hear the sound of one man clapping, which pretty much sums up the experience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad; it just made my ears and butt hurt. It was a bit of a letdown and perhaps over-indulgent.
HOWE: I suppose I will still buy a copy of it to finish off my Bat collection.
Howe gives the Dark Knight Rises two Catwoman’s heels out of five. Taylor gives it three Baterangs out of five.
The Dark Knight Rises is playing at the Pen Mar Cinema Centre in Penticton at 6:45 p.m., 7:40 p.m. and 10:05 p.m. with weekend matinees at 12:50 p.m., 2:50 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Weekly matinees are 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. This move is rated PG for violence.
Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are movie reviewers from the Okanagan.