Posted on 07/21/2012 6:39:37 PM PDT by Bratch
From a purely cinematic standpoint, director/co-writer Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" is a genuine masterpiece. Actually, it's a triumph.
Surpassing the extraordinary hype and expectations surrounding the conclusion to his epic trilogy seemed impossible, and yet somehow Nolan achieved just that. The fact that I'm even debating whether or not "Rises" surpasses its perfect predecessor speaks volumes. Without giving anything away -- without telling you if it's tragic or happy or bitter or sweet -- let me just say that the final few minutes of "Rises" represent one of the most intensely satisfying movie moments of my life.
And beyond filmmaking skills that will surely place him among the all-time greats, what kind of crystal ball does Nolan have access to that gives him the prescient power to begin a project years ago that upon delivery would be as timely and relevant as the latest refresh of the Drudge Report? "Rises" is about many things, but it is mostly about a rousing defense of an America under siege by a demagogue disguising his nihilistic rage and thirst for revenge and power as a noble quest for equality.
Sound familiar?
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
You don’t give up, do you? One idiotic accusation after another! Just like in the infantile comic books you “read”.
I can say without doubt, "Camp" does not mean gay. As to the 1960s "Batman" TV series, Adam West was not gay.
He and I drank a lot together back in those days... 
and he never hit on me.
And he never hit on me either... 
that hot summer we had in Spain!
Adam West was a man's man... 
but that fella that played Robin? He gave me the eye a lot--
I respect that, unlike all the junior development executives at the networks and studios, you don’t assert that you’ve seen actually seen “Rashomon,” despite your having called it a “masterpiece,” so I’m going to let you off the hook.
Good grief! I feel like you're just aching to tell me is that Abraham Lincoln wasn't really a vampire hunter...
The city’s rich were as much as a villain a Bain.
This movie NEVER depicted such a thing aside from a few people portrayed as crony Capitalists for the purpose of furthering the storyline. In fact, in the beginning of the film, the city's rich are enjoying 8 years of a relatively peaceful city that was coming out of DECADES of corruption (think Cook County Chicago).
Every rich person an oppressor of the masses.
There is not one scene in the movie that depicts or even suggest that. The lines that the rich are the 'people's' oppressors are spoken by Bane and his freed inmate mercenaries.
The government an oppressive regime.
Bane's 'Revolutionary' Government - YES. Because it was. Gotham's government before Bane arrives is not depicted as an oppressive regime. It's depicted as a government at peacetime.
Not one hero in the ordinary masses
One rookie cop and Jim Gordon were not heroes? Anyone standing up against the initial takeover by Bane was shot by rooftop snipers. The rest of the city was warned that any attempts to play 'hero' or to escape would result in the nuclear device being set off and everyone in the city being vaporized
instead they enjoy the rape and pillaging of the rich. Destroying their property that they didn’t earn.
Not one suggestion or hint of rape is even implied in this movie, and much of the violence on ordinary citizens by Bane's mercenaries left up to your own assumptions.
Actually, Bane tells the "ordinary citizens" of Gotham to go back to their homes, and that they should join his revolution and 'take control' from the rich who HE SAID oppressed them.
The 'ordinary' friend of Selina Kyle that makes a statement that everything the rich have is now theirs, was a thief in the beginning of the film and already had the mindset that she could help herself to whatever she wanted.
The movie could have been so much better if Nolan had faith in humanity.
Obviously you did not see The Dark Knight either. The entire point of the ending of that movie was Batman placing his faith in the humanity of Gotham's citizens, INCLUDING a barge full of convicts that were given an opportunity to blow up a barge full of 'ordinary citizens' by the Joker.
Where citizens fought back, where some of the rich offered food and belongings in support of the poor, where people helped people out of the kindness of their hearts, where honest businessman contributed in this time of need. Where people stood up and died for the cause of right. Nolan has no faith in America or the American people, his portrayal is the opposite of what America is.
You did not see the movie the Dark Knight Rises. Not possible with a statement like that.
Bruce Wayne and his acts for the city and the poor are EXACTLY what you say Nolan did not portray. In fact in Batman Begins it was the rich of the city after Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder that were galvanized into action and saving the city. Wayne even built a free public transportation monorail for the city with his own money.
Whatever your animus is for this movie - slandering it and depicting it as something it doesn't depict - is pretty pathetic.
Was told by someone in Hollywood, that these recent dark Batman movies are more true to the original comic book series. Not the original TV series. When I asked why could not they make it similar to the original TV series, they laughed and said that was impossible.
ew never noticed
I know that later comics became more 'dark'.
I never said the term 'dark' was in itself a liberal one, it is a liberal one in relationship to a hero.
Darkness is about evil, light is about good.
The implication in making the hero 'dark' is to associate him with evil, a 'dark side'.
I just read your profile and now realize I've bitten off more than I can chew. Laying down the sarcasm here and stepping back very slowly... :)
While I do think we take our pure entertainment way too seriously in this country, I also still have every comic book I ever bought as a kid meticulously stored away in little plastic bags!
Here again, I don't think I was painting Batman himself as "dark," although others have, i.e. "Dark Knight", but rather I was referring to the mood of the Batman/Gotham world. That's why I referred to the comics, and not Batman per se when I used that term.
You are talking about the background he is operating in.
I was discussing his character.
Well at least it wasn’t as bad as the liberal message in Avatar, and Marion Cotillard is pretty hot.
Ha !
Didn’t see that at all. The Marie Antoinette? Totally a leftist babe. And if you read the books, ALL the districts are treated like dirt: it’s EXTREMELY states rights vs. federal government sort of thing.
Just got back from this. While I might not go as far as Nolte in calling it a masterpiece, it was one of the few newer movies where the violence, mayhem, and explosions all had a point and none were gratuitous. Hathaway was likeable after a while, and the CLEAR villain of the movie was Occupy Wall Street, whose greedy criminals seek to steal from and execute the rich (in mock tribunals) at every opportunity.
Marie Antoinette a leftist babe? She’s the ultimate symbol of aristocracy, the 1 percent. She was put to death by the leftist Jacobins. In the movie there is no states right theme, or it’s extremely weak, because all we really see is one district — the dirt poor coal miners. Maybe there’s a disconnect between the book and the movie.
I don’t see the disconnect, and the so-called peacekeepers were pure UN. No, I took this as a total conservative book, written by the Catholic daughter of an Air Force officer. If you read the series, especially the first two come off as extremely anti-left. Heck, just read some of the comments on Wiki and you’ll see the lefties are desperate to make the story about “high school insecurity.”
The peacekeepers were anything but UN. There were employed by Panem, and they were doing the very non-Kofi Anon approved deed of hosing down the race rioters in the predominately black district. The lady who wrote the book may have been an Air Force brat Catholic, but she said she got the inspiration one night when she saw a new report of troops in Iraq followed by game show. Hence the analogy of rightwing patriotism and sending troops to Iraq with gameshow exploitation. The leftist American Library Association heartily endorsed her books. I doubt that was because they wanted the young skulls full of mush exposed to a states rights theme. Instead I think it’s because they saw the fairly overt theme of resistance to class exploitation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.