If you've read even half my posts, you may have gathered that I'm quite a fan of Christopher Nolan (although not quite to the extent that you might think), a veritable Orson Welles among Batman film directors (his other films deserve credit as well though). Therefore I am naturally very excited about his next film, The Dark Knight Rises, out on the 20th of July. So here are five reasons why it's going to be good:
1) Tom Hardy - I initially thought that was an odd choice to play Bane, since I'd always thought of Hardy as the suave British guy from Inception. How can Bane be suave? That doesn't make any sense. But when I heard he was in Bronson and Warrior, it started to make sense. And he actually put on some extra muscle to play the part too, so he ought to be suitably bulky to play Bane, yet I'm sure he'll give the character his own unique twist. He may just be the first good Bane ever to grace the screen (except maybe the Bane from Batman: The Animated Series, which was pretty good).
2) Hans Zimmer - In case you haven't heard his soundtracks for Christopher Nolan's previous films, I shall say that they fit each of the films perfectly, and are in fact good songs just on there own. I can't really phrase Zimmer's composing abilities enough so I won't try to, I'll just say that they're good.
3) Inception - Well if his last film was good, surely his next one will be too? Okay, maybe not. But nonetheless, I can hope.
4) Anne Hathaway - On IMDb, it describes Hathaway's trademark as 'sassy, free-spirited women who attempt to remain independent', which pretty much fits her role as Catwomen. Besides, she can't be worse than Halle Berry (Catwoman, 2004).
5) The Prologue - The first six minutes of the film were released a few months back, so I read a review of it which seemed pretty positive. Overall reception is good (although not great), so can the rest of the film really be much worse?
Well... perhaps. Because there are some things the film has got going against it. Here are a few of them:
1) Heath Ledger - In my opinion, the two best single things about The Dark Knight were the the Joker and the soundtrack. Now, without Heath Ledger as the Joker, it's all down to Hans Zimmer to serve up a stellar soundtrack, but that won't make the film great on it's own. I can only hope that Tom Hardy is a suitable replacement villain.
2) The Trailer - The trailer was pretty poorly received by critics, but to be honest this factor can be ignored because the prologue provides much more detailed information.
3) The Ending - No matter what they do with the ending, it won't work. If Batman dies, it will be the end of that continuity and many people will be annoyed. If Bane dies, it will be too simple. If Catwoman dies, it will be a cliche. If no one dies, it will be too happy for such a dark series.
4) The Bat... thing - How can they possibly explain this? Seriously, when I saw that all the film's realism and grittiness died. Just look at it. Admittedly, it looks good for what it is, but really.
What do I personally think? To be honest, I expect it to be the worst of the trilogy. I know that's going against pretty much everything I said to begin with, but it's true. I just can not see the setup they've got working.
Well... perhaps. Because there are some things the film has got going against it. Here are a few of them:
1) Heath Ledger - In my opinion, the two best single things about The Dark Knight were the the Joker and the soundtrack. Now, without Heath Ledger as the Joker, it's all down to Hans Zimmer to serve up a stellar soundtrack, but that won't make the film great on it's own. I can only hope that Tom Hardy is a suitable replacement villain.
2) The Trailer - The trailer was pretty poorly received by critics, but to be honest this factor can be ignored because the prologue provides much more detailed information.
3) The Ending - No matter what they do with the ending, it won't work. If Batman dies, it will be the end of that continuity and many people will be annoyed. If Bane dies, it will be too simple. If Catwoman dies, it will be a cliche. If no one dies, it will be too happy for such a dark series.
4) The Bat... thing - How can they possibly explain this? Seriously, when I saw that all the film's realism and grittiness died. Just look at it. Admittedly, it looks good for what it is, but really.
What do I personally think? To be honest, I expect it to be the worst of the trilogy. I know that's going against pretty much everything I said to begin with, but it's true. I just can not see the setup they've got working.
-PWN-
