Its the Nolan trilogy, that touches the deepest

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2016)

I have been a huge fan of Christopher Nolan's batman trilogy ever since it came out. Although many of the "true batman fans" don't consider you a batman fan unless you have read the comics or followed the TV episodes, I think this trilogy makes anyone who enjoys a good film makes him or her fall for batman. Christopher Nolan's superb direction and incredible storyline has been able to bring out the true emotions of batman as a human being rather than being a playboy billionaire. Whether it is Hans Zimmer's chilling background score or visual effects, this films has made me watch them again & again.
Batman Begins explores the origins of Batman, the angry fires of vengeance and the idealism of demolishing crime first born as he watches his parents gunned down by a petty thief. But though these early circumstances Bruce Wayne spends years spiraling through a pit of anger, fueled by his feelings of uselessness and despair as he recognizes the humanity's darkness. Beyond the incredibly physicality required for the role, Christian Bale spins on a dime between the easy smile of Bruce Wayne the Playboy Billionaire, the agony and frustration of Bruce Wayne the Wandering Soul, and Batman, the Dark Knight, and brings charisma and raw emotion to the dual- personalities. However, it goes well beyond the simple costume change. Donning the suit, and assuming a different voice, Bale creates two faces to both the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the films themselves. I found a smart, character-driven narrative tale about a man's descent into darkness and his attempts to rise upwards and create light in a city that was teetering on the edge of destruction. Joker's Killing Joke on Wayne, I've always preferred Christian Bale in the role as the troubled playboy, rather than Batman. His Bruce Wayne is troubled, believable and encourages empathy in my mind, despite his sometimes questionable character. One of the strengths of this film are Harvey Dent, who I'll touch on in a moment, and the other one is The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, who steals every scene he appears in, embodying everything that defines Batman's great external villains. Ledger delivers a performance that, in an opinion shared by many, is the Joker's definitive representation, in any media. I've seen Ledger in many roles, from small films like Candy, to teenage romantic comedies like 10 Things I Hate About You, and I've always been impressed by his versatility. I wasn't prepared to see him in the role of The Joker. Or, rather, I wasn't prepared for how little I would see of the Ledger I was familiar with in The Joker. From his first entrance, I didn't see the actor behind the mask, it was The Joker on screen, no questions asked. Aaron Eckhart, and his transformation into Two-Face, a white knight fallen to the chaos that threatens to engulf the city he was so close to saving. Dent is referred to many times as Gotham's 'White Knight,' in contrast to the city's opinion of Batman's 'thuggish' behavior and tactics, but he has a shadow over his heart that is just as dark as the one that haunts Wayne, and it's difficult not to question his motives and beliefs in the film's second half. Nolan plays on the duality between these two characters, using them against each other in a way that reveals their strengths and weaknesses to the viewer. It's a wonderful thing to see, and, even now, it's hard for me to decide whether Dent is one of the films heroes, villains, or something of both. Where The Dark Knight was defined by its villains, The Dark Knight Rises finds strength in its heroes. From Lucius Fox, to Alfred Pennyworth, Jim Gordon and Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises is full of secondary characters that buoy Bruce Wayne and Batman, and provide the foundations for his fight to save Gotham City. On the criminal side, Bane can't hold a candle to The Joker, despite an impressive and intimidating performance by Tom Hardy, but he does a serviceable job at propelling the plot forward and being catalyst to Bruce Wayne re-assuming the role of Batman, cast aside at the end of the previous film. Bane with a new look with that mask on and a strong voice with strong lines makes pays up. I wasn't thrilled with the casting of Anne Hathaway in this role, though I'm generally a fan of her as an actor. Aesthetically, in embracing her black cat visage, I tend to picture Selina Kyle as an African American woman, likely inspired by the version of her featured in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. But, as far as I know, Catwoman has no canon ethnicity, and there are no socio-economic reasons that she can't be of any ethnicity, so the complaint is a minor one and, within a few minutes of meeting her, I was impressed by Hathaway's charisma and her physicality brought a suitable sense of demure power and confidence that defines Selina Kyle and Catwoman. There's much to love about Nolan's adaptation of the Batman Series. Thematically, the films dig deep into the psyche and personality of Bruce Wayne, his ideals and the things that drove him to originally assume the role of Batman, and the drive to continue in that role, even when all odds are against him. True to the spirit of Batman, Nolan explores the duality of chaos and order, and the blurry line that separates them. Batman's ultimate challenge is to recognize that it's not what he owes to the people of Gotham that matters, but what he owes to himself. The films are also impressive visual and theatrical spectacles, delivering great performances, wonderful set pieces, and satisfying action. Batman is defined by his writers, legends like Kane, Miller and Moore, and I wouldn't hesitate to put Nolan on top of that list. A wonderful experience, and not to be missed.