Apparently Batman\u2019s 85 years old this year, so my local cinema is showing a few films to commemorate the occasion. Here are a couple I rewatched from my favourite film trilogy of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Batman Begins<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christopher Nolan\u2019s bold entry into the Batman universe, and one that definitely paid off with its dark tone. Gone with the camp, in with the gritty. That\u2019s not a recognised phrase, but anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christian Bale\u2019s weight gain for the role was an impressive feat in itself, but doubly so when you consider that he put that all on after shedding an unhealthy number of pounds after his role in The Machinist<\/em>. He was apparently at 121 pounds for that, and by the time he\u2019d bulked up for Batman, he was at 240 pounds. Heck. I guess I achieved a miniature version of that in the other direction when I put on a decent bit of weight as a side effect of some steroids I had to take to stop my brain tumour swelling. After a big operation and a decent dose of chemotherapy I could hold down next to nothing for about six weeks, so I lost all of that flab and a fair bit more. Anyway, not comparable, but I can at least empathise with that unhealthy weight fluctuation. Moving on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond Bale (BB?), this was also the movie that introduced me to super scary stylish sexy Cillian Murphy. Those eyes. Whoa. He made a pretty convincing Scarecrow (no rhyme intended). His icy villain uses some weird tech during a scene to release a form of gas that makes the inhaler go a bit crazy. Apparently during my first viewing of this film at the Vue cinema in Reading all those years ago, I managed to release my own brand of toxic gas in the cinema arena at pretty much the same time. I can neither confirm nor deny these rumours, but if I did, I\u2019d say I was ahead of the game in developing realistic 4D effects. A pungent odour, as Ron Burgundy might say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Caine also makes his debut role here as Bruce Wayne\u2019s loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, one of his finest roles in his filmography. Sure, he doesn\u2019t have the longest screentime, but he gets in some killer lines, and it\u2019s always fun to hear him say the word \u2018bloody\u2019, which he practically owns at this point. Liam Neeson\u2019s big bad is also great, even though it\u2019s hard to see the actor without thinking of the Taken<\/em> speech. It\u2019s a smart move to show Bruce Wayne\u2019s training in the criminal underworld across the hemisphere rather than just going straight for an insular Gotham narrative, grounding the antihero in a realistic setting. The pace is handled expertly throughout, juggling the obligatory origin story and the present-day Wayne with a poignant ease. While Hans Zimmer might take all the fame for the trilogy\u2019s soaring soundtrack, it\u2019s worth noting that co-composer James Newton-Howard was responsible for some of the big emotional hard hitters in this first promising trilogy entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Dark Knight<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now for the big one. I saw this at the cinema six times when it was initially released, and every watch was worth it. I\u2019ve seen it multiple times since then, and the effect never diminishes. Heck, I even watched it when I was in hospital and it was still great. Is it dark? Sure. That\u2019s in the title, friend.\u00a0The Dark Knight<\/em>\u00a0set the standard for the darker sequel, a standard which was copied in other superhero films but never mattered. It\u2019s also a rare example of a superhero film where the villain wins, and a major character is killed off. What\u2019s that?\u00a0Avengers: Infinity War<\/em>, you say? Pah. Sure, it was brave to \u2018kill off\u2019 half of the big superheroes at the end, but come on. You knew they\u2019d be coming back in the next one. And yeah, a couple did stay dead, but the emotional impact just wasn\u2019t as big. The multiverse gimmick in the MCU has also just opened up the slightly dull idea that a character could just come back anywhere, any time, but just as a \u2018different version\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no sense of jeopardy in those scenarios. But the choice to kill off Rachel in The Dark Knight<\/em> was a bold one. It broke the Bat (well, not literally. Bane\u2019s gonna come along and sort that shiz out in a mo) and made Bruce Wayne a different man. It also created the origin of Two Face, Harvey Dent\u2019s alter ego played by Aaron Eckhart is his finest role. After losing the love of his life, Dent\u2019s path of vengeance completes the process of chaos that The Joker has been planning all along, with the soul of Gotham lost to murder and corruption. Also, props to the make-up department for Two Face\u2019s visuals. That stuff\u2019s scary. And props to the filmmakers in general for creating the only two instances so far where I\u2019ve genuinely been jumped scared in a movie theatre (1. When the fake batman corpse hits the glass, 2. When Harvey Dent\/Two Face shouts SAY IT at Gordon when he\u2019s in the hospital). That\u2019s impressive stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as for the Joker, well, enough has been written about how great Ledger\u2019s performance is. The Dark Knight <\/em>clearly refers to the protagonist (mentioned brilliantly in the last line of Gordon\u2019s kick-ass monologue), but we all know it\u2019s Gotham\u2019s clown prince that steals the show, whether he\u2019s throwing shade at mob bosses, sardonically clapping in a prison cell or just shooting the breeze as he leans out of a mobile police car. Every last little gesture is performed with gusto, especially during rare improvised moments like The Joker\u2019s bemusement when Gotham General fails to completely blow up at the command of his remote control (this was a general hitch with the controls that Ledger took advantage of). Bleak, bold and endlessly brilliant, this superhero sequel hasn\u2019t been topped in the 16 years since its release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for The Dark Knight Rises<\/em>? Unfortunately, that showing interferes with holiday plans. But that\u2019s no big problem at the end of the day, because Cineworld couldn\u2019t match the hype I felt at going to see it back in the day at a preview screening in IMAX format. Just facts, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Apparently Batman\u2019s 85 years old this year, so my local cinema is showing a few films to commemorate the occasion. 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