Review - The Dark Knight Rises

Batman faces his greatest challenge yet in The Dark Knight Rises, in which Gotham city is threatened by potential nuclear Armageddon at the whim of a coldly calculatory and brawny terrorist, forcing the reclusive billionaire to dust off his batsuit after eight years out of the saddle. How to move on from the emotional and physical scars incurred from that fateful clash with The Joker and Two-Face, unaware of the even greater emotional and physical hurdles to come? As it proves the greatest challenge yet for Batman, so too does The Dark Knight Rises prove the greatest challenge yet for the trilogy's writer-director-producer Christopher Nolan. How to follow up the unprecedented commercial and critical success of his 2008 hit The Dark Knight with a third and final chapter that can satisfy geeks, general audiences, and critics alike? Well, he may have stumbled across that finish line somewhat, but cross it he has, giving his franchise the epic and stirring conclusion it deserves.

Compositing numerous character arcs and plot threads with which Batman aficionados will already be familiar, The Dark Knight Rises takes off with Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) been shaken from vigilante retirement upon the appearance of a new villain in town; the mask-wearing international master criminal Bane (Tom Hardy) who enacts an ambiguous plot which Wayne's concerned butler Alfred (Michael Caine) suggests might be connected to foes from Batman's past. It doesn't help matters that the Caped Crusader's list of allies is as flimsy as his injured right leg. The city wrongfully holds him responsible for the death of Harvey Dent eight years earlier, but he still has friends in GCPD Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a young cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt), and wealthy socialite Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) whose investment in Wayne's company have yielded a clean energy source which could be weaponized if allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Also along for the ride is anti-heroine Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a slick cat burglar whose allegiances are in question and flux as she tries to steal and slink her way out of an increasingly dangerous Gotham.

Oscar autopsy

Another year over. And appropriately enough to the nature of the season, it ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. There were few surprises to be had, as for the second straight year I managed to correctly predict 18 of 24 winners, including all eight major categories.

The closest thing to a surprise was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross collecting trophies for what might be the most atypical Oscar-winning score ever. I was not expecting it to win, but apparently that's one category where I should have given the voting membership the benefit of the doubt. Well done.

Unfortunately, there was little satisfaction to be had in the rest. The night's biggest disappointment came early, in cinematography god Roger Deakins failing to win an Oscar for the ninth time. Yo, Academy, do you not think he's due or something? What has he done to you to make you treat him this way? Disgusting. But to be fair, Wally Pfister is a worthy alternative. He's been putting out consistently astonishing work with Christopher Nolan for the better part of the decade now, and this win for his fourth consecutive nomination is a fitting way to applaud one of the best director/DP collaborations working today.

Other disappointment, albeit a less surprising one, came in the form of Tim Burton's hideous Alice in Wonderland winning both design categories over infinitely more deserving work. I might have known. Let this be a lesson: always always always predict for "most" to trump "best" when the Academy chooses winners here.

True Grit joins the ranks of Gangs of New York, The Turning Point, and The Color Purple as one of the biggest Oscar losers of all time, going 0 for 10. Guess the Academy didn't love it that much after all.

The King's Speech seemed to underwhelm as well, winning only four of its twelve nominations (all of them major categories though). Other multiple winners include The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Inception, the aforementioned Alice, and The Fighter, nailing down acting awards for Christian Bale and that nutty Melissa Leo, who proceeded to use the F-word on live TV. Some people are endeared to her antics and crazy behaviour, but I have to confess that I've never liked her, and her speech reeked of the same arrogance as have all her speeches this season.

The show itself left something to be desired. It didn't stink on the level of last year's fiasco, but it was pretty boring. Many reviews are pointing a finger (a bit harshly I think) at James Franco, who was either feigning reluctance to be there in a failed attempt at accenting Anne Hathaway's vibrant presence, or was actually reluctant to be there and doing a bad job at hiding it. I don't blame him for the show's overall lack of personality, but he certainly wasn't helping matters.

And that's really all there is I feel merited my commentary. All in all, not much of a finale to the season. Upsetting. But at the end of the day, some very talented artists got richly deserved recognition for their invaluable contributions to the medium we love so much, and I can never complain about that. Congrats to all the winners. I'm gonna keep a low profile in the coming months. I'll chime in here or there as we continue to experience the fallout this week, but mostly, I'll be busy looking into what 2011 has to offer us in the way of movie-going.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your Oscar off-season.

Favourite shots from the Cinematography nominees

Some people have let me know how disappointed they were that I didn't make time in my analysis of Best Cinematography this year to highlight my favourite shots from each of the nominees as I did last year. I didn't really think anyone cared about it, but I've had requests, so I'll gladly oblige.

But first, I have to refer you to Kris Tapley's annual top ten list for the best moving images of the year; an absolute treat I look forward to reading and linking to every Oscar season.

Like last year, I'm limiting my list of shots to the five nominees for Best Cinematography, simply because I haven't the time to go sifting through all the year's movies again to find my favourites overall. Anyway, see them after the cut.

One Category at a Time: Cinematography

This is gonna be the most nerve-wracking category of the night for me. Usually, I try not to emotionally invest myself in anything related to Oscar... but I wanna see Roger Deakins win for once, dammit! The man has shot some of my all-time favourite movies, and some of the most memorable images I've ever seen committed to film. If I have to watch him lose for the eighth time I'm gonna stick my head in an oven... and pump that oven full of chlorine gas... and then launch it into the sun.

What's worse is I'm actually predicting him to win, so if he doesn't there's the added sting of having guessed the category wrong. It's quite possible I will be wrong as well. You could make a strong case for any of the nominees winning.

Well, okay, maybe not so much The Social Network. Not that I don't admire Jeff Cronenweth's fine work, but it just doesn't say ''Oscar winner'' to me. But the other four nominees are all plausible victors.

Black Swan has the NY and LA film critics prizes under its tutu, but what it really has going for it is the sheer maddening brilliance of Lebatique and Aronofsky's vision.

Inception has the Critics' Choice and ASC going for it, plus that exhilarated feeling it leaves audiences with as they walk out of the theatre. Wally Pfister had better win an Oscar someday.

The King's Speech has the Best Picture frontrunner factor in it favour, and a potential sweep that threatens to rob dozens of deserving craftspeople of their rightful Oscars. Not that Danny Cohen's framing isn't effective. It's just not the best of the year.

Finally, True Grit has the BAFTA in hand and is the most traditionally beautiful of the five; postcard-perfect vistas and gorgeous lighting (Deakins' specialty, don'tchya know), which may be all it needs to eke out a win. The fact that it's clearly a well liked movie helps.

Damn well better win: True Grit
Runner-up: The King's Speech

Should win: Black Swan
Should have been nominated: Shutter Island

Wally Pfister wins ASC

Can he win the Oscar? Somehow I doubt it. Still holding out hope for Deakins.