Hollywood's finest

Rating: 10/10 (25 July 2012)

There are no perfect movies and there are no perfect directors. But there are great movies and great directors. 'The dark knight rises' may not be the greatest movie ever made (comes close to that) but Christopher Nolan is definitely 'The Greatest Director' Hollywood mainstream cinema has ever produced. I'm not kidding or this is no bombastic exaggeration.
Four years ago, Christopher Nolan delivers one of the finest pieces of modern cinema, complemented by a stunning performance by Heath Ledger as 'The Joker'.
The Joker is considered the best arch-nemesis of Batman. He has a dark and twisted sense of humor, he's psychotically intelligent and a sadistic genius. Nolan recreates a sinister psychopath like no other Batman comics did. Remember how the joker narrates two different stories to Rachel and Gambol on how he gets the scars? That said, Ledger's mannerisms have pushed the Joker to the ultimate levels of villain-ism so much that he is 'The Only' actor to have ever won the Oscar for playing a comic book character.
Even before the movie was released, everyone was doubtful if Joker's role could be reprised. Tom Hardy's 'Bane' is no Heath Ledger's 'Joker'. 'Bane' is all about power and control by force. Joker does this by corruption. True to the character in comics, Bane is the only arch-rival of Batman who has inflicted physical pain to Batman, thus pushing Batman to the limits of human endurance and emotions, which wasn't done by Joker. So, if you ask me, who's great, Joker or Bane, I will have diverse answers but with justifications.
Back to the movie, if 'Batman Begins' is a towering adaptation of the comic book character, 'The Dark Knight' is a grandiose noir epic. And 'The Dark Knight Rises' is? With expectations running high among the fans after the highly successful and critically acclaimed 'The Dark Knight', Nolan has directed this intricate end to the trilogy trying to live to the expectations. Did he succeed? My answer is yes.
The horizon of super-eminence set by the spectacular 'The Dark Knight' is mercilessly trampled over by 'The Dark Knight Rises' in a transcending phenomenal tale of rage, destruction, power and redemption. The incredible story telling is well supported by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Micheal Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathway (not in any order though). Each of them delivers thumping and truly amazing performance.
If you are wondering that I missed Tom Hardy and Christian Bale, I just parked them for a bigger praise. Tom Hardy as Bane is ruthless, strong (stronger than Batman), intelligent and organized. He delivers one of the finest roles by in a villainous role, where he's equally matched against Batman. The mask through which an analgesic gas passes without which Bane cannot survive, adds to his demonic demeanor which is accentuated further by his voice. His voice is cold, scary and chilling.
Christian Bale is tailor made for Batman. He has immortalized Batman, forever. His emotions, choices, rules and transitions between Bruce Wayne and Batman make him perhaps the pick of the entire acting prowess in this movie.
Technically speaking, this has to the best movie ever made. Hans Zimmer's background score is definitely a mile better than his own score in the previous installment. In fact, I can rank this next only to James Horner's score in Titanic, the best ever BG score ever in a movie.
If a picture is worth thousand words, then Wally Pfister's cinematography is worth every splendiferous word found in the dictionary.
This movie has set a new level in Hollywood-film making. The transitions between the scenes happen very butter-smooth. Every scene is executed meticulously well. The IMAX scenes are superbly shot giving us the immersive feeling into the movie. Couple of shots (not mentioning them as I don't want to spoil your movie watching experience) are genuinely new and can be ranked as the best ever in any movie.
If you ever wanted to know what adrenaline rush means, if you ever wanted to know what master-class film making means, if you ever wanted to know what an impeccable movie should be like, rush to your nearest theater, preferably an IMAX and I assure you that you will slip from your comfortable resting-the-back position to the edge-of-the-seat with time as the movie gets better and better with every passing minute.
For the first time ever while watching a movie, I was sad because the legend has finally come to an end. You will just fall in love with this movie. And don't go by those murky reviews out there, which will spoil the fun. I will watch the movie a second time and a third. Perhaps a fourth time too.