Re: The Dark Knight Rises
I'm really shocked about the casting just like everyone else here. I think this is a good thing, though. Looking back at everything, I've have come to appreciate Nolan's Batman films more and more, every year that goes by. I was always a major fan of the 89' Batman film as well as Returns, and even Forever, since I was very little. I had never read the comics growing up, so I didn't know of Batman's origin story. Funny thing was, I loved Batman Begins when it came out, but I hated how Joe Chill (the villain responsible for the Wayne's deaths in the comics) was the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents in the film, instead of The Joker (which was written in the 89 script). It was just so naiive of me to think, at the time, that Nolan was trying to "re-write" or do a spin off of the original Batman film of 89, and left out an important character like the Joker, LOL.
Many years later, after doing a little research, and a sequel (with the Joker) I found that Nolan's Batman films WERE authentic adaptions of the comic books
. Not only that, but much more grittier, and awe-inspiring than the originals made by Burton and Schumacher (even though I still love the 89' film)
And for whatever reason, I didn't care much about the hype for the Dark Knight, I thought Ledger would never out-perform Jack Nicholson. I went to the movies that night, and I was blown away, just as every other Batman fan probably was by Ledger's performance. I knew right then and there, we'd have a wonderful alternative to Burton's classics, and I also knew we'd have another Batman franchise on our hands. The only questions I kept asking myself, after walking out of that theatre in 2008 were "Why did they kill off Two-Face?? And What will happen to The Joker?? and Batman too!!??" I thought about this long and hard, and then I stopped over-evaluating everything, and just accepted Nolan's take on the Batman franchise. Batman's fate would be revealed in the sequel, and obviously I knew they couldn't bring back the Joker, but I kept pondering of the possibility with Two-Face...I mean, it seemed natural for Two-Face to be the next leading villain of the sequel, WHY DID THEY KILL HIM OFF?? So, that was that.
Now, as for TDKR, we know what's going down. The results from casting are finally in. I think Hathaway is a beautiful actress, capable of pulling off the Selina Kyle look, but I'm not a big fan of hers in the acting realm (not saying she's bad at acting, I'm just saying I'm not a big fan of her movie choices). I personally would have preferred Knightley over Hathaway, but Nolan knows his stuff, so I can't argue there. I'm also a little disappointed to hear that Bane is our new Villain. I expected Killer Croc, Clay Face, or even Scarface for crying out loud. But we got...Bane. Once again, I trust Nolan. I'm sure he will knock our socks off with this third installment. It will probably be one of those things, were you least expect it, and there's nothing but pure adrenaline pumping in you for 2 hours, just like the Dark Knight effect. He won't leave the fans without something to remember, I'm almost positive that he'll give us a great film, and he'll do anything to avoid a cliched ending. If this is Christopher Nolan's final Batman film, well, what does that tell you? You think he's going cheat us with poor performances, bad villains, and corny dialogue...I think not. The Dark Knight WILL...rise in 2012, like it or not, and yeah, I'm pretty confident, we'll get the ending we've been over-due since 1997. So haters, pucker up!