Movie Experience and Review: The Dark Knight Rises

As mentioned in yesterday's post, this past Saturday I met up with my cousin Jan and saw The Dark Knight Rises, and y'all, it was so good!  Jan and I planned to go to the 6:30 showing. Since the movie was two hours and 44 minutes long, I decided an earlier start time would be good. I had dinner at my parents' house before the movie but of course saved room for popcorn.

I arrived later than I would like as I didn't know how long it would take from my parents' house. I bought my ticket and immediately went to the concession stand. There was a kid in line in front of me who looked to be all of 12 or 13; presumably his parents had dropped him off to watch a movie and can I just say that this sort of thing didn't happen when I was a wee lass back in the dark ages. So, the kid ordered a popcorn and big soda and his total came to $11.50. Clearly he didn't add up the costs in his head before ordering because he apparently only had $11 and gave it to the guy behind the counter. The guy asked him for the other 50 cents and the kids started searching his pockets and obviously had no more money. I told him to go on I would take care of the 50 cents and the kid just grabbed his goodies and took off - WITHOUT SAYING THANK YOU! Maybe he does this every time he goes to the movies. I mean, I was in a good mood that day so it didn't really get under my skin, but still, a thank you would have been nice! The cashier said thank you. I guess that will suffice.

I then made a pit stop where I had to dodge running and screaming children and a screaming mother and had to air dry my hands because there were no paper towels. After that detour, I went to the theater and looked for Jan who was already inside with a seat. I must have looked up into the audience for a good five minutes before I finally saw her - on the second row! I think it goes without saying that I was thrilled to finally settle into a seat.

The movie started a few minutes later and the theater was not nearly as crowded as I expected it to be. I guess the shooting in Colorado deterred some folks from visiting the theater. The previews started and they all looked good! I love previews and these made me want to spend every spare dime at the movies so I guess the mission of said previews was accomplished. 

The movie, as mentioned, was quite lengthy, but did not seem like it at all. I was sucked into this movie from the moment it came on the screen and the time passed by so quickly it seemed like it was only five minutes long. I have really enjoyed each of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and this one was no exception and in fact, I think was my favorite of the three.

I'll sum up the plot by saying that a villain comes to Gotham and overtakes the city. I think that much was certain. Bruce Wayne, who has retired as Batman, obviously comes out of retirement. I think that much you already knew as well.  Batman is aided by Catwoman, played by the always wonderful Anne Hathaway. She was fantastic in the role and I thought she and Christian Bale had great on screen chemistry - it was like watching a well rehearsed dance. The superb Michael Caine is back as Alfred, the enchanting Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox and the always intriguing Gary Oldman once again portrays Commissioner Gordon. (I'm using my adjectives today). Joseph Gordon Levitt makes an appearance in this film as the character John Blake who met Batman as a child. He, as always, does a remarkable job portraying his character.

The movie is jam-packed with excitement from the very beginning and I gasped at least twice that I can remember. There were a few times when I have no doubt I held my breath and probably another time or two when I wondered how in the world order would be restored in Gotham. There is more than one twist in this film and I will leave those to you viewing pleasure so that you will be just as pleasantly and shockingly surprised as I was.

This was the last of the Christopher Nolan directed Batman movies, completing the trilogy that has far surpassed all other Batman portrayals, in my humble opinion. The ending to this movie was absolute perfection! Absolute perfection, people! I really don't think it could have been done any better. I shed a tear, smiled and maybe shed another tear - it was just perfect. There's really no other way to describe it.

If you are looking for a movie to see to get out of the heat or get away from your life for a few hours, then do go see this one. It doesn't get much better than this in my opinion.