pinartarhan.com

Fun and comprehensive entertainment blog feat. movies, TV series, actors, movie-makers, music & books: 1980 - Present

  • Home
  • Hire Me
  • Books
  • Privacy Policy

The Dark Knight Rises: A GREAT MOVIE!

Posted on November 18, 2012 Written by ripitup

Share

The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy & Anne Hathaway

The Dark Knight Rises movie poster
The Dark Knight Rises movie poster via iceposter.com.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), physically and emotionally damaged after what happened with Joker and Harvey Two Face, has stayed away from the public eye- both as Bruce the billionaire businessman and Batman.

Not that Gotham seems to miss Batman much. Organized crime has come to an halt, or so it seems, and the police can handle the petty criminals. And everyone remembers Harvey as a hero, blaming his death on Batman. Of course Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) knows the truth, but is not quite ready to reveal it yet. Another person who intuitively knows the true nature of Batman is Officer Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

And while Bruce is being more reclusive than ever, Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) won’t let his “retirement” get in the away of her acquiring what her dangerous clients demand from her, and she is more interested saving her own butt than protecting the Gotham citizens.

But when it becomes obvious that a very dangerous ex-convict, Bane (Tom Hardy), is putting a very dangerous plan into motion, Bruce decides that it is time to put on the costume. Unfortunately his company is in financial trouble, and he needs help to protect their biggest invention yet.

His biggest allies are Fox (Morgan Freeman), board member Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and Blake.  Unfortunately, Selina keeps sabotaging his efforts and Bane is a lot smarter, more patient and more well-connected than any other villain he has encountered. And his plans…well, even Selina’s “the storm is coming” warning” doesn’t quite cover it…

*

The Dark Knight Rises is not just the best Batman movie I saw (and I have seen them all, apart from the George Clooney one, but you can hardly blame me for it), but it is one of the best movies I have watched. It’s just the perfect action/drama.

Now, diehard Batman (comic book) fans might prefer the first or the second movie. But as much as I love the idea of Batman, I had never been able to find the perfect Batman movie, up until The Dark Knight Rises. They were either too absurd (whether it was Burton or Schumacher – Schumacher exaggerating even further) or too dark and depressing. Nolan’s first two films didn’t make me like, respect or root for Batman. I didn’t understand him either. Bruce seemed one-dimensional, and so did the villains.

The female characters were there to complicate things for Bruce and to look pretty, but they didn’t add anything interesting to the flow. Not for me. And both movies left many questions unanswered, and I was extremely disappointed in the second movie when it came to character development and motives. We  were given a second villain like 20 minutes into the movie and supposed to accept the transition. Please don’t say it is silly to expect character development from a comic book movie. It’s directed by Christopher Nolan!

But The Dark Knight Rises is different. It does add the other dimensions to all of its characters. We understand Bruce better. He is not just depressed/rich/reclusive or dark – he is human, with many other adjectives to describe his personality. There are two women, who are way more important to the plot than to being just eye candy or be part of a love triangle. Hell, it even makes me see why the first two were made.

Commissioner Gordon is more significant than ever, and the Blake character also challenges and motivates Bruce a lot more than any other ally or friend he has ever had.

And the villain…We understand him, and we are intimidated by him. He is just worthy.

The Dark Knight Rises has it all for the comic book adaptation lover that doesn’t necessarily read the comics. But in addition to being fun and engaging, it is really intense, emotional and full of good twists. I have never seen 165 minutes run faster. And it has one of the best casts ever: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Matthew Modine, Tom Hardy, Brett Cullen, Gary Oldman…And hell, we even have Liam Neeson for about 10 seconds!

 

Other Posts on the Cast:

Christian Bale:

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseoh Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cottilard, Ken Watanabe and Tom Hardy

10 Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles & Larisa Oleynik

500 Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel

Latter Days starring Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss and Joseph Gordon- Levitt

Share

Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Anne Hathaway, anne hathaway cat woman, bane the dark knight rises, batman christian bale, batman the dark knight rises, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, christopher nolan the dark knight rises, joseph gordon levitt bartman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, marion cottilard batman, the dark knight rises, the dark knight rises 2012, the dark knight rises cast, the dark knight rises review, the dark knight rises villain, Tom Hardy, tom hardy bane

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

Posted on August 20, 2012 Written by ripitup

Share

Equilibrium (2002) starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen & Sean Bean
Equilibrium (2002) starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen & Sean Bean.

In a post-WW3 world, Libria has been founded on peace. In Libria, there are no wars because citizens are devoid of feelings and urges of aggression, violence, greed, anger or jealousy. This is managed by the obligatory daily dose of the drug Prozium which prevents Librians from feeling any emotion, including passion, lust, love, joy…

In this war-free world, the only crime committed is “sense offense” as some of the citizens rebel against the regime and don’t take the drug. People aren’t allowed to keep anything colorful, personal, different-including art, books and furniture. Anything that can urge feelings…

Offenders are caught and killed. Their stuff is confiscated by the sweepers, armed forces enforcing the Father’s law, all in the name of “peace.” Outranking Sweepers are Clerics, men dedicated to further enforce the law. Clerics have been exceptionally trained in combat, whether it is with or without weapons.

And the best is John Preston Christian Bale), who despite the lack of feelings, has the ability to think like the criminals, making them all easy prey and the master of fighting skills. While he is a favorite because of these, he is also monitored very closely as he has failed to spot one sense offender, his wife.

However when an incident hits too close to home and coincidences end up Preston missing a dose, he gets a taste of what the offenders are fighting for.  This confuses him, but he can’t help but continue feeling. But as Preston tries to cope with all of these new sensations and keep his feelings for a inprisoned offender (Emily Watson), he will have to pretend that he’s still the same Preston, hide the changes from his kids, his partner (Taye Diggs), Father’s representative (Angus Mcfadyen.) But how the hell can he do his job, which involves killing many people who are just guilty of wanting to feel?

Will he be able to rebel against a system he so loyally believed in? Will he be able, or have the guts to, try and demolish the system- especially when his latest official mission is to destroy the rebels completely?

*

Why Equilibrium Is a Must-See

Sorry for the long plot summary, but I needed you to envision the world of Libria, to fully engage you in the dilemma of John Preston. I purposefully didn’t include the trailer as it is misleading (as in the event(s) that lead him to rebel) and shows a bit too much, without covering an example of change in Preston’s attitude.

Christian Bale’s portrayal of John Preston is one of the things that make this movie.

While there are practically no twists (probably nothing you won’t see coming anyway) that the movie will use to entice its audience, it really doesn’t need to. Equilibrium gets its strength from how well the artificiality of the manufactured state is shown, how impressively the fight scenes were choreographed, Christian Bale’s character’s transition, the sufficient action scenes and how it is easy to identify with the rebels, and picture how hard it would be to adapt to a world like that, had we known what feeling was like before Libria…

It’s regime draws parallel to a regime we still see in a lot of countries, and it is a wonderful display of irony, hypocrisy of those in power, and the irony of using extreme violence to “protect” “the peace.”

It’s in a movie viewer’s nature to look for plot holes, or at least to naturally “detect” them when he/she is not captivated by the movie. I can’t help doing the same with movies that bore, annoy or fail to entertain me. However, when it comes to Equilibrium, I urge you to pay attention to the dialogue and the clues thrown around. The “popular plot holes” suggested by some viewers are actually incidents whose reasons are explained or implied.

Oh and if you need an addition to the cast, Sean Bean is in it.

This is the movie that made me a Christian Bale fan. Because it actually shows that he is not just into the projects that are considered indie and/or artsy, and/or including characters that are hard to (or impossible to) relate to. Equilibrium is a lot more mainstream than most of his films, shot before the Batman trilogy.

It is fast, emotional and relevant to our world. Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer (who I also became a fan of with this movie) in 2002. Currently rated at 7.6 on Imdb.com, I’d rate it higher.

Notes on the Director and Cast:

  • Kurt Wimmer is also the writer/director of Salt (action film starring Angelina Jolie) and Law Abiding Citizen (an action/thriller starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. He is also the inventor of the fighting style and “education” used in Equilibrium.

 

  • Salt 2 is being shot and is also written by Wimmer.

 

  • The movie also features the talented actor William Fichtner as the leader of the rebels.

 

 

  • Angus MacFadyen is better known for his pivotal role in Braveheart, where he played Robert the Bruce, a nobleman who was torn between his faith in William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) and his privileges.

Related Movie Suggestions

The Island starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson

Gattaca starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law

Related Articles

Christian Bale Trivia

11 Actors, 11 Drastic Weight Changes for Roles: With Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Tom Hanks and more

Cake starring Heather Graham, David Sutcliffe and Taye Diggs

Salt starring Angelina Jolie & Liev Schreiber

Share

Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, angus macfadyen, Christian Bale, christian bale equilibrium, director kurt wimmer, drama, emily watson, emily watson equilibrium, equilibrium, equilibrium 2002 movie, equilibrium cast, equilibrium christian bale, equilibrium movie, equilibrium movie review, Kurt Wimmer, kurt wimmer movies, Law Abiding Citizen, movies, salt angelina jolie, salt movie, salt movie review, sci fi, sean bean, Taye Diggs

Why Movie Taste is Relative feat. Christian Bale, Quentin Tarantion, Ridley Scott & More.

Posted on October 3, 2009 Written by ripitup

Share

Your favorite painter, movie-maker, musician, …Who you like and why you like them are easily defined by you. Depending on how fanatic you are, you are ready to argue the merits and reasons of your taste. And yet the argument is unlikely to have a winner.

Take my student advisor for instance. He is one of my favorite people and one of the few that I respect, and yet he was very skeptical when I told him about my intentions  about studying film. His reason? I don’t like Quentin Tarantino and therefore I do not belong there. I thought he was insane. I am skeptical of all authority when it comes to passion and dreams, and when a business T.A. condescends you about your dreams, you just want to punch him in the face.

The thing is, people don’t have to like Polanski or Tarantino. Or Spielberg or one of the Scott (Ridley Scott, Tony Scott) Brothers. You might think the Coen Brothers have got it all and some will remain unfazed by their efforts. And that’s completely alright.

You don’t have to follow all the festivals. It is OK to like a movie just for the sake of loving a low-budget, character-driven film,  just like loving a good old epic film  (in my case I love Braveheart) does not make you unworthy of applying to the MFA area of your choice.

Christian Bale is quoted to have said “I think there’s a kind of pretentiousness to the idea that serious work is only found in low-budget independent movies–I can’t stand that snobbery.”

I couldn’t agree more. He has proven himself in a variety of roles. I think only mentioning The Machinist and Batman in the same sentence will suffice to prove the point.

Some people loved Black Swan. Some people hated it. Some couldn’t see why many people adored The Social Network. Some people thing The Hangover is an awful movie, and some just laughed their butts off while watching it…

It is all relative. It depends from person to person, and that is all the whole point. That’s why it is so fun to share- you never know what the other person might think.

Share

Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Christian Bale, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott

Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard

Posted on July 23, 2009 Written by ripitup

Share

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8xOgO7_eT8[/pro-player]

Public Enemies (2009)

Directed by: Michael Mann

3694551785_529848bf92
Johnny Depp in Public Enemies. It is a fun and fast ride. And it takes a really good movie to be just that at 140 minutes!

Johnny Depp is John Dillinger. He is smart, fast, loyal to his friends and romantic & sweet to his girl. He robs banks because he just loves the thrill of it. He can escape prison, saves his friends from prison and tries not to harm any innocents in the mean time.

The movie involved less robbery scenes than we expected-as one friend put it. It includes more violence than you hope for and it occurs where you don’t really want it. But is it a bad movie? Absolutely not. I love period pieces. I love the glory and the romance of it. Set in the 1930s, Public Enemies offers well-crafted costume design. Johnny Depp is sexy, mischievous and addicted to action as Dillinger. Bale is well…some complain that his acting is flat. But then so is his character. He joins forces with the bureau who is run by Hoover (Billy Crudup) – a man more interested in looking good for the press and getting publicity than justice. Otherwise they would have spent half the effort on other criminals.

Our respect and admiration for Dillinger weakens as he makes mistakes and starts to act more like a pawn than the expert chess player. His weakness and love for his girlfriend (Marion Cotillard) don’t really help him either.

Funnily enough, I have gone to see the movie with two friends and ran across three other friends who happened to be watching it in the theater next to ours. The group of three were disappointed. I turned out to be the only one who thoroughly enjoyed the movie; until the last 15 minutes or so – at least.

The whole John Dillinger myth the movie built was completely destroyed towards the end.

As desperate he was, he made mistakes that he would have seen coming and could have solved.) Still, John is a very interesting character and immensely enjoyable to watch. Recommended.

Share

Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Billy Crudup, biography, Christian Bale, crime, drama, John Dillinger, Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard, Michael Mann, movies, Public Enemies, public enemies movie, Public Enemies trailer

In the mood for a fun romcom novel?

Copyright © 2025 · Focus Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT