The Dark Knight Rises

Four years ago, I wrote a post called "A few thoughts on The Dark Knight". It wasn't a review, it was just a couple of thoughts that I wanted to write down because I felt like nothing I could say would be outside of all of the stuff that so many others have said. Having seen The Dark Knight Rises three times now, I would like to do the same thing -

1. This is probably the most perfect ending to this trilogy I could ask for. A lot of other people have denounced it, but, I think it's amazing and I love it.

2. It is one of the only movies I can think of that, while I don't agree with the ending, every time I watch it, any problems I may have with it wash away. When I'm separated from it, I can think clearly and identify the, relatively, few things I have a problem with, but when I'm watching it, I'm purely in love with it.

3. This is the only movie I can think of that has a significant "twist" in it, that has never lessened my enjoyment of watching the film on repeat viewings.

4. While I do LOVE this film, at the same time I feel like it was cut really tight to keep it from being too long. It feels like it should have been two films. At almost three hours long, and with the revelation that, potentially, noteworthy scenes were cut out to slim down run time, I'm wondering if we will see a three hour, or more, directors cut of this film? I'm assuming not, as Nolan has never done a director's cut of anything.

5. As much as I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I feel like the addition of Blake, as a primary character, was a lot. There's SO MANY characters in this film, it's kind of crazy sometimes. One of the things I think Batman Begins and The Dark Knight share, and do better than The Dark Knight Rises, is keeping a simplicity and economy to how many stories are being told. I feel the same way about Matthew Modine's character. He rarely feels necessary.

6. I have yet to see this in the normal theater. All three times have been in IMAX, so far. This is, truly, the way to see it, as over 60 minutes of footage in the final film was shot in the IMAX format. I do want to see it once in the regular theater, though, just for that experience.

7. Michael Caine's Alfred finally gets his day in this film. I feel like that character finally graduates to having some real evolution in this script.

8. Bane was the perfect villain for this one, and Tom Hardy was the perfect person to play him.

9. I don't understand what the big deal was about Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I have no reverence or nostalgia for Michelle Pfeiffer's performance, and it was 20 years ago. Someone's going to play that character again, eventually, and thank goodness it was done better than Halle Berry's Catwoman. I think Hathaway was perfectly cast for the role and she did the best job I could have hoped for.

10. In summation - I loved, couldn't ask for more.

Inception

I don't hesitate to say that Christopher Nolan is easily the rightful successor to, and our generation's, Steven Spielberg. His mastery of storytelling is top notch, and while Spielberg often seems to make sacrifices and compromises to sell every bit of his films to as broad an audience as possible, Nolan seems to have gotten away with being able to avoid that. Movies like The Dark Knight, Insomnia, and Memento are uncompromisingly dark, even in their sheer genius. While Inception shouldn't strike anyone as dark, it is, without a doubt, uncompromising.

The film follows a band of, well, let's call them agents (it's never defined in the film exactly what they are). Their job is to use a complex system of gadgetry, chemicals, and their own minds to inhabit someone's dream and steal their secrets. The group is led by Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who, of course, has a complex history which most of the film hinges on. His objective is to find a legal way home so that he can visit his kids in America without being arrested upon entry for the murder of his wife (which she framed him for). He is offered a job by a mysterious Asian man (who's mind he had broken into earlier), with the promise that, upon the jobs successful completion, strings would be pulled and Cobb would get to return home legally. Cobb rallies a group of top experts to invade the mind of the heir of one of the worlds largest companies, and sets forth to do the job that will take him home.

Inception is amazing. In fact, it's beyond amazing, though I don't know what other word I could use that would really qualify just how awesome it truly is. The story is the key to it, and it's so solid, and so labyrinthine, that one barely has a chance to catch it all on the first go (the film definitely demands multiple viewings). The acting is top notch, and the effects are truly amazing. Nolan sets the bar so high with Inception, one is left to wonder if anyone will be able to top it, and if so, when will it happen?