The Year Ender Post of 2013

Hey, it’s the end of the year and my gosh has it been a year; the year when I left the singlehood despite my geekish and grumpy tendencies, the year that I finally got to teach literature among high school students despite poetry being my “math”, the year that I finally got to record podcasts with friends, the year that… “Okay, Evil Dr. Bok! We appreciate the fact that all these things happened to you, but what about the movies?!”

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Oh yeah, sorry about that. Yes, I acknowledge that I was not able to update this blog as much as I wanted to because of life stuff; don’t worry, nothing too serious happened, but there are just too many stuff happening at work and at post post-grad school that I wasn’t able to review that many films this year. Regardless, here’s my Tops, my Bottoms, and my Honorable Mentions. As usual, my Honorable Mentions aren’t necessarily the movies I loved or hated, but rather these are the films which I thought should be mentioned for the sake of exposure. As for my Tops and Bottoms, they aren’t arranged in any particular order.

Top 5 for 2013

1. Pacific Rim: My mentor complained that this film is plagued by the Transformers syndrome, that is “too many humans, too little Transformers”. While I do acknowledge that problem with Pacific Rim, that the human story isn’t entirely too impressive, and that there were certain plot-holes that could have been ironed out some more, it doesn’t change the fact that this film is quite possibly one of the most stupidly fun and entertaining films of 2013. Sure there were more human drama than giant robots and monsters fighting, but at least in the latter category, this film delivers.

2. Prisoners: Man was I unprepared for this movie. Sure it takes its sweet time for the story to unfold, and there were scenes which, arguably, went on for too long, but I stand by my argument that if this film were paced faster than it already is, it would have been one of the most tiring films to see for the year. The timed and tested premise of a father taking matters into his own hands to look for his missing daughter and the cop assigned to solve the case works in this thriller. The police procedural took a backseat for this one; instead it focused on the effects on the individuals affected by the tragedy. Once more, the examination of the human condition put in extraordinary circumstances makes for great stories, and Prisoners is definitely one of those great stories for 2013. And speaking of extraordinary circumstances…

3. Gravity: This again is one of those films: an astronaut gets stranded in space and has to get back home safely even if Fate (or Providence) had been quite shitty to her. While some praise this film for being deeply profound (it’s not, I’m telling), I enjoyed this because of the direction. For a film to be able to hold your attention for 90 whole minutes with minimalist casting is an achievement.

4. Olympus Has Fallen: This could have been Die Hard 5 as it follows the classic Die Hard formula: a group of lowlives hijack a place, and a lone meathead kills them one by one. Okay, maybe that’s an oversimplication, but it still delivers some solid action set pieces.

5. The Last Stand: Are you serious? Do I really need to explain why this film is in this list? Isn’t the poster enough? Okay, fine: Arnold Schwarzenegger is a sheriff who has to prevent an escaped drug lord from heading back to Mexico because… Oh screw it, it’s the Governator killing bad guys and Peter Stormare, and that’s awesome!

Honorable Mentions

1. The Conjuring: I feel bad that James Wan is leaving the horror genre because The Conjuring is proof that despite having the most cliched horror script (minus the more obviously stupid characters which plagued horror films), atmosphere, build-up, and the ever important human element is what makes horror movies terrifying.

2. Ender’s Game: This is a film adaptation of one of the most influential science-fiction novels of all time. Despite Gavin Hood‘s rather lackluster direction, at least shadows of Orson Scott Card‘s brilliance found its way into the film.

3. Man of Steel: This is neither a Christopher Nolan film nor script; this is a film directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer. As such, you can expect certain issues in plotting and even logic, but where a solid story fails, Snyder and company make up for it in the spectacle. Yes, this is a “sound and fury” kind of film, but at least we finally get to see the Last Son of Krypton slug it out with ridiculously overpowered bad guys.

4. G.I. Joe Retaliation: This could have been side by side with Pacific Rim, the only issue being that I didn’t have that much with this. Regardless, the film fixed certain issues with Rise of Cobra. Retaliation is a live-action cartoon, nothing more, nothing less.

5. Thor: The Dark World: While I wasn’t too impressed with Iron Man 3, at least this film managed to put on some pretty impressive worldbuilding. It’s still nothing compared to the first one by Kenneth Branagh, but it manages to expand on the world of Thor. That and Tom Hiddleston once more steals the show.

Bottom 5 for 2013

1. Evil Dead: I really wanted to enjoy this film, I really do. But the one thing you do not do in a film about blood, dismemberment, and gore is to take it seriously. Put stupid characters, but wink at the audience; let them know that this is a whole joke and we’re just having fun. You do not tell the story of a recovering addict and make the possession a metaphor for the distrust friends have towards a junkie, most especially if the title of the film is Evil Dead!!!

2. Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters: This would have been more forgivable, but again it committed the same mistake Evil Dead did; it took itself more seriously than it should have. Plus, I don’t see how Hansel and Gretel turned out to be the best witch hunters in the country, considering that they spent most of the time being thrown around by the witches. “But surely the action sequences are fun?” you asked, to which I reply, “No. They’re generic, they’re boring. Pirate this film some more.”

3. The World’s End: Now take note that this movie isn’t as badly made as the first two choices in this list. Rather, I’m placing this here because this is one of the BIGGEST LETDOWNS of 2013. The charm which made Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fun is gone in this installment. Simon Pegg’s character is one of the most unsympathetic characters around, unlike Shaun and Nicholas Angel from the first two Cornetto films. And my goodness, that argument with Bill Nighy’s voice is one of the preachiest dialogues in recent film history.

4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Same complaints with no. 3, as this is a pretty big letdown. You’ll know something’s wrong when all I can remember from the film while watching it on 48fps is that the higher frame rate isn’t as distracting as it was in An Unexpected Journey.

5. Blue is the Warmest Color: Just watch porn. I’m sorry, but if this film happens to be the best movie of 2013 according to the Cannes Film Festival, then I wouldn’t be surprised if some  actress wins awards for her extremely believable facial expressions during coitus. “Wait, Dr. Bok; didn’t they award Halle Berry an Oscar for his performance in Monster’s Ball?” … … … Yup, Western Civilization’s going down.

Happy New Year, fellow minions! 😉 Here’s to the film industry for 2014: may the bubble that is superhero movies not burst yet. 😛

Related articles

• 2013 in Movies – Top 20 List (willswardstrom.wordpress.com)
• Ten Surprisingly Good 2013 Movies (fandangogroovers.wordpress.com)
• The worst movies of 2013 (metronews.ca)

Hitting Two Birds with One Post (mostly Catching Fire and an underrated James Bond film)

First of all, I have finally seen Catching Fire on IMAX with my girlfriend a few days ago. For now all I have to say that it was pretty good. It is certainly an improvement over The Hunger Games, but overall, it’s at best just another YA film adaptation. It doesn’t break new ground, nor does it offer something life changing. At its best, it’s a pretty entertaining film, though a bit overlong at times.

Additionally, the Arena sequence was shot in IMAX so you can really see the screen filled up. I have reservations about this as the image quality isn’t that all impressive. At most, the IMAX resolution seemed to highlight the obviousness of the CGI so, yeah, it wasn’t all that impressive. I’m guessing the benchmark would still be Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (at least for the Burj Khalifa scene) for IMAX feature presentations. Still, check it out; it’s definitely sorth the Php401.

Secondly, I’ve been going on a James Bond marathon of sorts. So far I’ve seen Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (I’m planning to skip all but one Roger Moore flick). For films made in the Sixties, I definitely expected to see how certain aspects of the filmmaking have aged, especially the first three Sean Connery Bond flicks. However, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (OHMSS) was one which surprised me: while I admit that this film seemed to have aged, it didn’t age as much as compared to the first three ones.

Now, I don’t want to delve too much, but I really think that OHMSS is one of the best Bond films ever made next to Skyfall and Goldfinger. The character development is top-notch (though not necessarily George Lazenby‘s acting), and the action sequences are actually quite modern. There is a reason why Christopher Nolan did an homage to it in Inception; the ski-chase is indeed a well-photographed sequence, and despite certain aspects of it being aged, still hold up till now.

Related articles

• You: ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ sets Imax November record (latimes.com)
• Blofeld could return to Bond movies (bbc.co.uk)
• Martin Scorsese Lists the 11 Scariest Films, Steven Soderbergh Defends His Favorite 007 Pic (slashfilm.com)
• James Bond May Face Blofeld and SPECTRE on Film Once More (slashfilm.com)

Thoughts on “Man of Steel”

*This will be extremely short as I’m in the middle of something.

I’ve got to hand it to the marketing department of Warner Bros. If anything, Man of Steel is such a well-marketed piece of work that it definitely succeeded in creating a buzz. Add the fact that it was produced by Christopher Nolan, we’ve got a film that will be highly anticipated. And it’s usually when a film is heavily marketed that I can’t help but feel that something quite possibly be wrong.

Before I hear the multitude of angry mob crying out for my blood, let me quell down the incoming hate as this film wasn’t the extreme disappointment that is Prometheus (seriously, I can’t believe I fell for that film’s marketing). But it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t help feel that this film is somewhat lacking in something.

If there’s anything I enjoyed about the film, it’s Zack Snyder‘s staging of the action sequences. He doesn’t revert to his “Snyder-Cam” for his action sequences: the action in Man of Steel is relentless. It’s a brawl. It’s a fistfight on steroids. It’s, well, manly. And it’s really refreshing to finally see Superman fight brigands as strong as he is. There are other good things about the film, but most of what I have to say have already been mentioned in other reviews. For now, all I can say is that I enjoyed the fact that I’ve finally seen Superman in action.

On the other hand, I can sense some comic book fans that what they saw on screen isn’t Superman. One of my friends said that “for me, Christopher Reeve is STILL Superman.” Obviously he didn’t like the film but I can see where he’s coming from. Superman fights for truth, justice, and the American Way. Superman is a boy scout. Superman, with all his strength and morality, makes him an admittedly bland character. And David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan’s attempts to reinvent the character to be relevant in today’s cynical age, while interesting, resulted in a character who you know is the Last Son of Krypton, but isn’t. This Kal El is too brooding and too humorless to be relateable to the fans, and this, I understand, can be quite difficult for some people to get over.

Overall, however, Man of Steel is a well-made, decently written re-imagining of a classic character. I certainly got some minor issues with Superman himself in this film, but Snyder’s direction of the set-pieces, as well as the world of the film, got me hooked in it that it makes the film experience worthwhile. It’s certainly no Dark Knight, Spider-Man, or Avengers (and thankfully isn’t Superman Returns), but this is still a solid superhero film for the summer.

Nolan Sucks

“Can it be?” you minions of mine gasping in unison at the title of this page. “What does it mean, Evil Dr. Bok? Surely you mean this as a joke, right?

How I wish. What this guy said is quite possibly one of the most offensively stupid things I’ve ever heard.  Seriously, Nolan’s fame seems to be getting unto his nerves.

Better hear it for yourselves.

A Year-Ender/Opener… 27 Days Late

The more I procrastinate, the more likely my Top, Special Mentions, and Bottom Lists will appear in the middle of the year. So without further ado, I present to you my top 5, my special mentions, and my bottom 5 for the year 2012.

Top 5 for 2012

1. Wreck-It Ralph: How I wish that I  could enter the cinema not knowing what to expect and come out feeling like I just discovered the most valuable treasure known to man. All I knew was that this film was (based from the marketing) Toy Story with videogames. By the gods, that totally doesn’t give this film justice. It’s more than a nostalgia trip for those who grew up on videogames. It’s more than *wink wink nudge nudge* look at Bison, Bowser, Q-bert, etc., the Easter eggs serve a purpose (namely the world building, in that the videogame references make this world believable). But what tops the spectacle of this film is a truly thought-provoking story, including a passage which, I believe, is the main argument AGAINST the Pro-Choice Movement.

2. The Avengers: Yeah, this was bound to be found here, if not only for the sheer balls Joss Whedon and Co. had in attempting a Marvel Cinematic Universe ala the comic book universe. Featuring some of the wittiest banter, Whedonisms, and flat-out effective filmmaking in general, Marvel’s The Avengers is definitely one of 2012s highlights (despite the somewhat dragging 2nd Act).

3. Skyfall: I was honestly quite scared for this film when I saw the teaser trailer as it brought memories of another Sam Mendes flick which featured an action-packed trailer, only for the film to be Waiting for Godot in Iraq (Jarhead). Just imagine the relief as the film turned out to be everything the trailer hinted at, and more. Forget the fact that I’m not a huge Bond fan (having only appreciated Casino Royale, and to an extent, From Russia with Love), but this film actually made me want to be a Bond fan. The action sequences were well shot and choreographed, the tension in certain scenes were certainly palpable, and the image of an even more human Bond truly made Skyfall a worthy addition in this list.

4. Rurouni Kenshin: The original anime and manga was one of my very first fandoms. I recall a time when my bestfriend and I had a pretty heated debate on who the better swordsman was: Himura Kenshin or Haijime Saito (personally, they’re equals). I recall a time when I pretty much memorized all the moves of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. I remember the chills that crawled up my spine when Yukishiro Enishi’s ultimate move defeated Kenshin’ Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. *sigh* Those were the good days. Oh wait, I’m sorry, why Rurouni Kenshin despite the pacing issues, and lack of characterization on Sanosuke, and the amalgamation of certain characters for the sake of a smoother narrative? Because this is one very interesting and successful experiment on adaptations. Despite the changes, the film remained true to the spirit of its source material. By focusing on Kenshin, the filmmakers capitalized on his atonement, a very important theme of the source material.

5. The Expendables 2: Do I really need to explain why this is one of my top movies of 2012? =)) If Wreck-It Ralph gave me a good time because I didn’t know what to expect, The Expendables 2 gave me a good time because I was expecting some manly action, corny one-liners, really bad over-the-top acting from Van Damme, and explosions worthy of a Michael Bay film, and the film exceeded those expectations. Plus, the fact that the filmmakers actually decided to follow up on the humanity theme from the first film really got to me. Not only was this a pretty good vanilla cake: this was a pretty good vanilla cake topped with delicious frosting.

Special Mentions of 2012 (once more, in no particular order)

1. The Dark Knight Rises: Yeah, I guess it was pretty good, and I think that was its problem. A film directed by Christopher Nolan can’t be “just good”.  That’ll be like Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw saying that Silent Hill 2 was “just pretty good” (for the record, that’s Yahtzee’s favorite videogame). If you recall my review of the film, I mentioned that it didn’t opt for the cheap visceral thrills offered by The Dark Knight, but instead went for a more cerebral take on comic book heroes, specifically an examination of Bruce Wayne’s definite redemption for his being a vigilante. Overall, I think that The Dark Knight Rises is what Superman Returns should have been, if in the hands of a more accomplished filmmaker.

2. Les Miserables: This film is no perfect. Complaints to it includes the sometimes admittedly silly moments when the characters would sing out when dialogue is preferable. Most critics are quick to bash Russell Crowe‘s singing. Personally, the only problems of Russell Crowe are that: he’s Russell Crowe the douchebag, and he’s playing Javert, who happens to have some really cool songs. Other than those things, Russell Crowe’s performance was functional (neither good nor bad, it’s just okay). But the film had way more serious problems than the singing. Strangely, I wasn’t too distracted with the actors’ singing here, but rather the cinematography and the direction of the musical sequences. I plan to expound of this detail some more if I get the chance to write a review of the film, but the film’s lack of flair in its musical sequences is what ultimately led this film down. Still, these complaints are somewhat overshadowed by emotionally moving performances by Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Samantha Barks. Those are good enough to overcome the film’s limitations.

3. John Carter: I actually enjoyed this movie. It was pretty fun: the action sequences were well directed, the visual effects look pretty, and Taylor Kitsch gives a pretty good performance here. The only weakness was that this film had an overly complicated (yet solid) plot, and it lacked focus, most especially on the villains. It’s such a shame that this film bombed at the box office for I am honestly hoping to see the next installment of this film.

4. Ruby Sparks: This was another one of those pleasant surprises this year. The story travels the path of the Pygmalion myth, where an artist falls in love with his creation. For a film which oozes of hipster culture on the surface, Ruby Sparks actually presents a very thought-provoking discussion on free-will.

5. Battleship: I know this film appeared on many bottom list of 2012, but shut up, I own this blog, and I think that Battleship, though admittedly a film which could have been A LOT BETTER, actually serves up more than enough fun and creative moments, despite it being based off a freaking board game. This is one of those rare films where it could actually be possible for Michael Bay to work his magic and present a significantly superior film than the current release. I’m not saying that this film isn’t bad: it is pretty bad. It is pretty bad because of a really insulting storyline where Taylor Kitsch must learn to be a responsible man, yeah, America F*ck Yeaah! And what else? Nothing! Everything else in this film is serviceable; from the action sequences, the visual effects, and the circumstances of the alien invasion (which admittedly, is quite plausible). This is a far from perfect film, but for all the really bad stuff this film contains, it managed to be entertaining enough at times (especially that dumb burrito sequence).

Bottom 5

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2: I haven’t seen it. I’ll probably pirate it off the web because this franchise deserves to lose money. And I don’t care if you guys mention that the epic fight in the end is awesome. I’ll prolly watch that sequence when somebody decides to post it on Youtube. But to sit in the cinema while waiting for that scene to arrive? F*ck no! It’s almost as bad a watching a Lav Diaz movie where the protagonist washes his carabao for a full 45 minutes (and no, “washing his carabao” is not a euphemism for self-abuse you bloody pervs).

2. Prometheus: This falls on the bad kind of prequel. Wait, scratch that: this film was bad precisely because it decided to be a prequel to Alien. Read my review and post-review analysis for my complete thoughts on it. It’s definitely one of the biggest letdowns of 2012.

3. The Grey: I remember giving this film a pretty high score early in 2012, and it’s precisely this film that I decided to discontinue my star ratings. This film is extremely frustrating because its first two acts are really good in terms of the man against nature story, as well as it being a meditation on death. What killed this film: the ending. Some might argue that thematically, the ending makes sense because it’s the hero accepting that he isn’t afraid of death. But could we argue in the sense that because he has decided to fight the Alpha Wolf, he is still afraid of death? Why not show the fight scene, have him kill the wolf, and upon discovering that the protagonist as a potentially mortal wound, he still moves on towards safety? Doesn’t the act of moving on despite having a potentially deadly wound reinforce the theme of the acceptance of death much stronger than cutting the film right before a climactic wolf fight?

4. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: … Yeah, it has vampires and a president fighting vampires. Who would’ve thought that extremely lazy filmmaking would make an exciting genre-film trope so freaking boring?

5. ALL THE FOUND FOOTAGE FILM RELEASED IN 2012: Paranormal Activity 4, V/H/S, etc. Dear indie filmmakers and Paramount, Cloverfield worked because it had a plot, and because it presented a monster film from a ground zero perspective. Pretty much, Cloverfield is the only film where the found-footage technique works. Fine, even if everybody died in the end, at least the character arc was resolved. P.A.4 and the rest are pretty much us knowing that they will die in the end. All we’re treated is see how idiotic these characters are, and how much we’re rooting for them to die because they’re idiots, and they deserve they fate.

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Whew, that was a mouthful. Hehe. Welcome to 2013, my fellow minions! 🙂

Technical Difficulties Resolved (and some random movie stuff)

Who would’ve thought that all I needed to do was to uninstall my browser, and reinstall it again? Hehe. I’m back! 🙂

On an aside, I just want to say that despite my relatively positive review of The Dark Knight Rises, I don’t think I’ll be including it on my Top 5 of the Year. Now this is just a possibility, but it seems to be coming closer to reality, considering that I’ve seen quite possibly one of the best films of the year.

But what the hell, I’m spoiling my surprises. Just wait along. We only have one month left before 2012 ends so I hope I still get to see some really good films before the year ends.

Oh! One last thing. I know that I’m a Tolkien fan, but it’s precisely that I’m a Tolkien fan that I have to say that I’m not too excited with the upcoming Hobbit films. There’s a lot of factors as to why I’m not hyped up, but the main reason is my skepticism of extended a relatively short novel into three epic length films.

That and I think that Tom Hooper‘s Les Miserables and Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln are far more interesting films for the year. 🙂

Anyways, good night my minions! 🙂 See you at the end of the world!

The Dark Knight Rises (A Review)

Before We Begin:

Super Hero Season 2012 comes to a close in a very somber mood. While Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises is one decent film, its opening was marred by the Denver shootings during its midnight screening, effectively hurting the film’s sales, but more importantly, tragically changed the lives of the survivors and the victims’ relatives. So before we proceed with the review, let us offer a moment’s silence for the victims of the Aurora Shootings. May the Heavenly Father welcome them into His kingdom, and may His grace bring comfort to all those affected by this tragedy.

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I wasn’t kidding when I say that The Dark Knight Rises effectively brings Super Hero Season 2012 to a close, despite it being a somber close. What we have here is something of an anomaly. While the film’s disappointment isn’t quite surprising considering that a third film in a trilogy usually is the disappointing one to say the least (yes, I’m looking at you Matrix Revolutions, X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3, The Godfather Part 3), this movie manages to dance around it’s underwhelming qualities and give us, thankfully, a satisfying conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. It’s definitely not the best superhero film I watched this year (controversial statement alert, I’d have to go with The Avengers), but thanks to a magnificent story and screenplay, some standout action sequences, stellar acting, and some of the best cinematography and musical score out there, The Dark Knight Rises is a pleasant and satisfying entry in Christopher Nolan’s filmography.

The Good (Possible Spoilers Alert!!!)

What I enjoyed most from this film is the core human story. I’ve mentioned time and time again that despite having a relatively mediocre filmmaking, a core human story would more than compensate for a film’s flaws. Taken is testament to that claim. Sure, it’s basically a Jason Bourne wannabe, with the gritty hand held cinematography and the brutal hand to hand combat, but what most enjoyed in the film, aside from the action sequences, is the story of a father rescuing his daughter from a bunch of Arab slave traders.

That said, The Dark Knight Rises is probably the most human of the three Nolanverse films. This is primarily a Bruce Wayne story. More specifically, it’s a conflict for his soul. Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the film shows us a damaged Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), suffering from the injuries sustained from his showdown with the Joker and Harvery Dent, as well as grieving the loss of his beloved, Rachel Dawes. But with the emergence of the masked menace known as Bane, Bruce must take up his cape and cowl once more. But Bruce isn’t the same person he was eight years ago, and is literally no match for Bane. As Bane breaks Bruce (literally and figuratively), Bruce must finally come to terms with his doubts and his fears in order to defeat the evil consuming Gotham. He must trust in the once corrupt Gotham police force, his own misgivings, and Alfred (played by an ever fantastic Michael Caine) who’s main concern is for Bruce to finally move on with his life, away from the destructive force that this the Batman.

Yes, I purposely left out the significant plot details as the Bruce Wayne storyline is definitely the best human story I’ve seen this year. What we have here is a battle for the soul. While the Batman symbol was good for a while, just how long can this lifestyle remain healthy for Bruce? He lost the love of his life, resorted to a lie in order to prevent the Joker from completely winning, and is basically rotting away in his mausoleum mansion. Despite having donned the cape and cowl once more, it only led to more suffering, not only for him, but for the rest of Gotham. Thus the Rises in the title because this film is primarily about Bruce finally coming to terms with the tragedies of his life, and finding redemption for the Batman as Gotham City‘s protector.

Enough philosophizing. After all, this film is still a summer blockbuster. The one thing I have to say about this film is how absolutely gorgeous this film looks and sounds. Wally Pfister shows his naturalistic flair, thanks to the high quality IMAX images. The panoramic shots of Gotham City, the opening hijacking, and the epic third act showdown between the forces of good (Batman) and evil (Bane) all look stunning on IMAX. While, sadly, we are still far from a full-length 100 % IMAX film, The Dark Knight Rises is definitely the closest we can get. Additionally, while Nolan and Pfister’s shots aren’t as stylish as most filmmakers nowadays, it does evoke a certain Kubrick sense of a cold and calculated composition of shots. Forget about the flair, what we’re looking for is a superb image quality.

Additionally, Hans Zimmer‘s brutal score effectively accompanies the images on screen. While they may not be the best for a pure album experience, Zimmer’s score is definitely perfect for the film. While it still doesn’t match the thematic beauty of Danny Elfman’s score for the 1989 Batman, his score packs a whallop as it makes the events on screen feel even bigger than they already are.

Finally, while most of the cast did great, the standouts for the film would be Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy. For those who still hate Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Selina Kyle, you guys should definitely bleed out like the stuck-up pigs you are. Hathaway’s voice and facial antics make her a pretty believable Selina Kyle in the Nolanverse (most especially in the opening burglary sequence in Wayne Manor). As for Tom Hardy, while he cannot possibly top the ferocity and the visceral quality that the late Heath Ledger brought in as the Joker, his take on Bane is just still a pretty menacing take on the villain. And my goodness, those eyes: Tom Hardy made Bane even more menacing just with his eyes. In fact, Bane reminds me of a more terrifying Darth Vader than a Batman villain.

The Bad

I did say that this film is something of a disappointment, didn’t I? Let me point out that this film is definitely solid. The filmmaking is solid, the plot is solid, and the acting is solid. Just what is it that make this film such a disappointment? While I exactly cannot point it out explicitly, at best I would describe this film as less visceral than The Dark Knight.

What exactly does this mean? Remember when the Joker did his magic trick? Remember when Nolan and company flipped a full semi-truck in Chicago? Remember that moment when Gotham’s prisoners and law abiding citizens refused to blow each other up? Remember when Rachel died and Harvey became Two-Face? If you do, you’ll understand when I say that you won’t find those visceral thrills in this film.

In a way, I’m quite relieved that Nolan stuck to his vision for the film. He didn’t sell-out or anything (no trying to be more profound like in the second and third Matrix sequels), he just wanted to tell the story as best as he could by sticking to the theme. And that, I think, was the “downfall”. The film didn’t opt for the “cheap visceral thrills” that made The Dark Knight so unforgettably good. It was more of the spiritual redemption of Bruce Wayne. Take note that what I’m saying that it was the human story that sold this film, this “intellectual” quality of the film was probably not what most film-goers thought when they entered the cinema. Hell, I sure didn’t expect it to be the way it is: I was expecting something even more visceral than The Dark Knight. I guess what I’m really trying to say here is that The Dark Knight Rises isn’t what me and probably most other audiences expected.

The Verdict

I watched this film three times: first on IMAX, the second on a regular screen, and the third on a bigger IMAX  screen. If I absolutely hated this film, I would have stopped after my second viewing (like what I did for Prometheus). This just shows that despite it’s flaws, it’s still a very enjoyable film. Sure, it’s not Dark Knight, it’s impossible for Nolan and Co. to top themselves after The Dark Knight and Inception. Lightning sure wasn’t captured in the bottle, but the bottle did capture some of the energy, leaving that bottle glowing.

Oh, additionally, IMAX is the way to go for this movie. While the standard screen is still good, it’s definitely worth your money on IMAX just for the picture quality and the sound.

4 stars out of 5.

P.S. – The film neither ended with a bang nor a whimper. It was just an “okay” film. But to call a Christopher Nolan film to be “just okay” is definitely disappointing.

I wonder…

If Christopher Nolan were to make a romantic comedy/chick flick for his next film, I wonder how that’ll turn out…

To Watch List of 2012

2011 will be remembered as the year over-saturated by superhero films (Thor, Captain America, X-Men: First Class, and Green Lantern), and the year when Harry Potter ended. In short, it was an okay year (still waiting for Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to be released here in the Philippines though).

Meanwhile, I still haven’t seen a promising film for 2012…save for the following. With that, here’s my “To Watch List for 2012″…

1. The Dark Knight Rises: This should be quite obvious. Christopher Nolan‘s about to close his take on the Batman legend, and we’re all anxious as to how he’ll do it. He’s surprised us before with Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception. Let’s hope he doesn’t burn out with DKR.

2. The Avengers: Honestly, I’m not fully sold here yet for a couple of reasons. As talented as Joss Whedon is, let’s face the fact that his audience never seems to be the mainstream (except for the Buffy TV Series). His directorial debut, Serenity, while loved by fans, was largely ignored by the general film goers. In short, I still don’t see him as a commercially viable director.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed all the recent Marvel Studios releases (The Iron Man films, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America). So I guess Whedon’s take on The Avengers would be worth checking out.

3. The Expendables 2: Stallone, Willis, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, and Chuck-F*cking-Norris. Plus, Simon West (who directed Con Air) is helming the film alongside Stallone as the writer and producer. Need I say more?

4. Prometheus: The title may be pretentious as hell, and Ridley Scott‘s career may be plateauing with his recent films. Still, this won’t stop me from heading over to watch what could be one of the best Alien films since…uh… Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron‘s Aliens. Plus, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, and Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth Salander) are in it. Fine, this may be the weakest reasons, but screw you, I’m the writer here! :))

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5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: My MA Thesis was on the heroism of Boromir, the virtue of Faramir, and the demise of Denethor. I wouldn’t be a Tolkien fan if it weren’t for Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. Let’s just hope Jackson’s able to capture lighting in a bottle for a fourth time with the “prequel” to LOTR.

See you at the movies! 🙂

In defense for the “disappointing” Selina Kyle costume design, and another unpopular opinion…

 

 

 

Seems like the haters are geek raging to the interwebz (not surprisingly) about the disappointing costume design for Selina Kyle, most particularly to the goggles. Some comments I’ve read range from, “I’ve trusted Nolan’s vision until now” to “This look’s cheap” to “Where are her ears?”

I personally think the costume design is underwhelming. But somehow, I’m not that surprised. I’ve had my doubts with Christopher Nolan‘s previous design and directions with the previous Batman films too. Take the following as examples.

The first time  saw I the new Joker make-up of Heath Ledger, I found it too dirty and weird, and said to myself that “I still prefer the old Joker make-up of Jack Nicholson. How did that end up?

The first time I saw the Tumbler from Batman Begins, I thought it was okay. But how about those who were used to the corvette-like design of the earlier Bat-mobiles? I’m sure some were also skeptical of the new design. How did that end up?

The first time I saw Ra’s al-Ghul  played by Ken Watanabe, I honestly laughed at how goofy he looked. Come now, don’t deny it: loose robes, and a white goatie divided in half? It looked goofy! How did that end up?

Point: take it easy with first impressions. These are simply stills. And I’m pretty sure the story will justify the designs.

P.S.- As for an unpopular opinion, what the hell is this?

I’m sure Tom Hardy will be able to pull this role off, but what’s up with the goofy looking Bane mask? Hehe! 😛 Still, I can’t wait for the movie!

Peace out! 🙂