The Surprises of 'Rises'

By Thomas Willett

Hello, and welcome to Operation: Best Week Ever. If you haven’t been keeping track, the mission is to indulge in the single best releases of this year on both fronts. On TV, we had Breaking Bad, whose debut episode may have singlehandedly brought back people’s desire for magnets. It also has brought us the new podcast the Ones Who Knock, which is hosted by one of my favorite critics David Chen and is well worth Breaking Bad fans’ time. We also got a new Black Dynamite cartoon (which could be great with some tweaks). These are all well and good, but how can it be Operation: Best Week Ever without one more treat? We need a movie that has the chutzpah to even be as good as Breaking Bad. Well, think no further than the Dark Knight Rises.

There is little that I can say to distinguish myself from everyone else at this point. The Dark Knight Rises is one of my highest anticipations of the year. It follows the Dark Knight, a film that changed my world to the sound of paying to see it five times. It remains the winner for most theater visits for a movie and the only other film to come close is Inception with four paid viewings. I plan to see this quite a few times because it looks great. I remember seeing the trailer before Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and director Christopher Nolan basically saying “Whatever you’re about to watch won’t be as great as this trailer.”

Maybe the hype is too big around this movie, but can you blame it? The Dark Knight was such a phenomenon and turned comic book movies on their head. It managed to make me read both “the Long Halloween” and “the Dark Knight Returns” simply because I was that impressed with the movie. I like to think that I have indie movie sensibilities, but Christopher Nolan spits at them rather successfully. I think it is because he isn’t like Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay, but some director who manages to go the extra mile.

That also probably explains why he managed to get these people to be in one movie. The cornucopia of names makes my knees weak. Even the last minute reveal that Tom Lennon somehow managed to fit into the movie makes me hold out hope for some surprise cameos. Maybe rumors that Adam West or Ellen Page (a rumor that barely lasted an hour, so I doubt you remember it) seems plausible. Even if they’re not, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are nice additions.

However, what made the Dark Knight great was not just the movie. It almost created a culture of its own. By the following Monday morning, everyone had seen the movie twice and had their Joker impression down. Pencils were mysteriously sticking out of desks. Then there were those that just wanted to watch the world burn. I cannot attest to that, but that movie struck a nerve that didn’t go away for a long time. Even the enigmatic Inception didn’t hold a candle despite gangbusters at the box office.

Basically, it comes down to one show. Do you prefer the Abed Batman or the Betty White Inception description on Community? Both are very valid jokes, and I feel reflect on which you consider to withstood time better. I side with Abed.

What does this have to do with the Dark Knight Rises? Everything. The reason that this movie is so exciting is because it is more than a movie. It is an extension of the culture that came to fruition in 2008. We already had Bane cosplay at Comic Con last week and it is only time until new elements come to define our culture along with it. I am excited because this isn’t just a chance at a great movie. It is a chance to be a part of the moment and look back fondly in years to come. How many modern trilogies can you say are great? The Lord of the Rings and Toy Story most likely, but naming a superhero one is hard. That is where we could be at by this Saturday. By Monday, those who haven’t seen it cannot walk out of their house without hearing a spoiler.

But what am I specifically looking forward to outside of the movie? There is actually quite a bit that has nothing to do with the actual content. You don’t have to see it to be aware of these things. These are the external elements of the Dark Knight Rises that I am looking forward to.

1. Box Office

If you listen to our Tuesday shows with some frequency, you will notice a pattern. I tend to scrutinize about where everything is at the box office. I have been that way since 2000. I enjoy seeing how much money movies make on a week to week basis. I am even excited to see when indies like Moonrise Kingdom spend more weeks in the Top 10 than Battleship. However, there hasn’t been a more exciting time than the Dark Knight. It broke records for weeks on end and I followed it for months as it came very close to crossing a billion without 3D surcharges or an abundance of IMAX screens. It is fascinating to even consider that most movies now have inflated prices for those things. I was excited to see how long the reign could last, and I feel the same way here. While I was skeptical that the Avengers would be a viable opponent, I still believe that this movie will be big for months on end. It won’t be like the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and mysteriously make a billion months after we forgot about its existence. We’ll know when it happens and care.

2. Ratings

One of the more fascinating things that I have become aware of is the ratings. I have always had interest in reading reviews, but I recently have become interested in peer analysis and just their thoughts. I notably turn to Imdb for this information. Like the box office, I kind of find interest in where the films rate on their Imdb Top 250, or the highest rated movies by users on the website. Nolan’s last two movies both peaked at number one and both remain in the Top 15. Those are moments you’ll never get again. You’ll never get to see these movies be so buzzed about and I feel will be detrimental to understanding why people clamor for them. I felt that part of the reason that Inception was big was because it was the definition of “water cooler talk” for a whole summer. Those discovering the movie now will not understand what that means, and it may be detrimental to their enjoyment. I am sure that this movie, given that it’s good, will be big on Imdb, and may make for one of the few trilogies to have every entry featured in the Imdb Top 250. Even if it presumably fails, there is a chance that the message boards will have a lot of fun, informed opinions and theories on plot points.

3. Awards

I am a big fan of the Oscars, and I am all about supporting my favorite films. However, I have found it amusing that there seems to be an underdog status around Nolan’s movies. He wins a lot of technical awards, but otherwise he has been ignored in the major categories, only winning a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor statue for Heath Ledger’s performance in the Dark Knight. He has never gotten a director nomination, even though Inception was nominated for Best Picture. I am curious to see if this will have a Return of the King effect in which all of the awards were saved for the final film. Of course, the Oscars have shown more love towards Peter Jackson’s trilogy, but there is nothing to hold back this speculation. Either way, it will be exciting to watch the fans try and get this movie nominated for some acting, writing, and directing slots. At most, I think that it will stand a better shot than the Avengers, but I think that the complex comic book movie is a field that the admittedly old voters at the Oscars will ignore. The irony (and overall outrage) may come if the Hobbit gets recognition. If all else fails, this may go down as some people’s proof that the Oscars don’t recognize all types of films. We’ll just have to wait for the big reveal in February.

4. New Slang

Do these phrases sound familiar: “Why so serious?” “Want to see a magic trick?” “You’ll miss the fireworks.” Those are all lines that within a matter of days have filled up conversations, become punchlines, and remain the most synonymous legacy of the Dark Knight. I am sure that people who haven’t even seen these movies will be aware of those lines. While Nolan’s work doesn’t tend to be recognized for great one liner, the Dark Knight has been scrutinized and taken apart word for word. I have a few Lucius Fox lines that I save to stump people. I hope that with this movie, we’ll not only get equally annoying Bane impressions, but just new lines that I can casually throw around and people will know my reference. They may not be as familiar to most as the Hangover, but it is the language that connects movie lovers and is recognition of decent characters. I know that it won’t be as sexy, but I hope to take some Anne Hathaway lines away from this to sound cool.

5. Resurging Interest in History

Like I have said, the Dark Knight was a crucial effort into making me care about Batman. While I am more likely to be stormed with merchandise for the Dark Knight Rises, I am kind of excited to see if the craze for tolder media will emerge. Now that I am inside the nerd circle more than ever, I have more access to what are good comic series, TV shows, and just overall Batman memorabilia. Speaking I haven’t read a Bane story; I could be weeks away from discovering some magic. Somehow Batman has withstood time so well, and revisiting related media reflects that. I am wondering if maybe this will all become more prominent when a million articles become posted online stating great stories to get into for beginners. If all else fails, I am getting slightly closer to seeing the Batman 60’s TV show in my collection. At very least I can continue watching that and see both sides of the spectrum.

There you have it. Those are the few things that I am hoping will result from the Dark Knight Rises finally coming out and bringing an end to a solid trilogy of movies. While I have the same worries as everyone else that the third usually fails (see: Spider-Man 3), I have faith in Nolan for not just churning these out quickly. He seems to put TLC into each film, and I like that. I hope that this movie is great. It deserves to be, speaking it feels like all of the other studios are failing to even compete with it this summer.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel that the reason that this movie is so anticipated is not just because it is a good movie, but a good talking point? Do you agree that Nolan will get ignored during the Oscars, only to have fans decry the ceremony? Do you feel any acting nomination will come of this? Why not share your thoughts. Write to me and let’s get a dialogue going.

You can read Thom’s blog every Wednesday and hear him on Nerd’s Eye View every Tuesday and Thursday at nevpodcast.com. Send your thoughts to nevpodcast@gmail.com. You can also read Thom’s movie reviews for Cinema Beach at cinemabeach.com.