142. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES UP TO EXPECTATIONS

So this weekend was one of epic proportions for me as I was invited to an exclusive press screening and film junket in LA for one of the year’s most anticipated blockbusters; Christopher Nolan’s final part of the Batman trilogy, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.

It was a chance to revel in nothing but the Batman from taking pictures of myself next to the suits worn by the main characters in this film to getting a chance to sit in the interview rooms and gawk at the principal cast made up of Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Gary Oldman and the director, Christopher Nolan, in a director’s chair barely 3 metres away as the host of an entertainment show I produce, interviewed them on camera.

Of course, all this pales in comparison to the film which I got the chance to watch in IMAX the day before the junket and all I can say about it is that this last part of the trilogy has blown me away for a film that sits quite comfortably in the comic book action hero genre.

Me, beaming away next to the actual suits worn by principal characters featured in the upcoming ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ movie at the LA junket this past weekend.

While a lot of films today in this genre offer up spectacular visual effects with loads of popcorn humour and entertaining moments, many fail to embrace characterization and storytelling in these films, which is sad really because most comic book heroes are men and women living marginalised lives in societies that see their freakish powers and abilities as threats. Batman is also no exception and Nolan and his team, recognise this and have taken those elements to disturbing new levels in this series

Being a Batman fan since I was a early teen, after watching the Tim Burton movies, then the animated series produced by the WB in the 90s, the comic books and even Adam West’s version of the hero in the early TV series, this assignment must’ve been a culmination of all my geek girl dreams.

Batman, unlike other super heroes has always been fascinating to me because of its Gothic look and feel. The tragedy that has besotted millionaire, Bruce Wayne’s life becomes not only a driving force for him to become the Dark Knight to fight injustice in Gotham City but also something that consumes his mind and body in a way that is no different from the evil that motivates all his enemies.

Batman’s struggles straddles a very grey area between bad and good and light and dark. Yet, this is a character that has no in-betweens. For the Dark Knight, it is all or nothing.

His foes, from the Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze, The Riddler, Bane, The Penguin and even his occasional allies, Catwoman and Robin are like the Batman – all born out of chaos and violence that have made them what they are.

While Tim Burton conceived and executed a thrilling, quirky, most comic-book looking trilogy in the late 80s – early 90s and still a series I admire to this day, it is Christopher Nolan’s version of Batman that has taken it from the studio sets that Tim created and thrown it right into the real world that has the fans gawking.

The realism that pulsates through Nolan’s trilogy cannot be ignored and the mental psychoticness that permeates through the dialogue, characterization and story sequences is rampant.

Nolan takes this all these elements and serves us up a tasty triple decker mad club sandwich in this final part of the trilogy featuring Bane, Batman’s ultimate foe played by Tom Hardy.

This epic conclusion to Nolan’s trilogy definitely rises up to expectations and fans of the comic book hero will not be disappointed.

The Dark Knight Rises opens 20 July worldwide. Don’t miss it!