The Dark Knight Rises

Will the 10am show at The Fenway be safer than the midnight show in Aurora, Colorado? Will The Dark Knight Rises deliver the goods? Yes and no. Each Batman movie seems to be tainted by a tragedy of one sort or another. Loosing the talented Heath Ledger before the opening of The Dark Knight, and now the insane shooting in Colorado. These tragedies highlight the fact that as bad as it is, and it's bad, this is still only a movie.

Beyond the creative opening scene, reminiscent of a James Bond opening, The Dark Knight Rises is a long, dark slog through Gotham (aka Manhattan). With a cast including big name Hollywood talents like Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Gary Oldham, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and The Batman, how could Christopher Nolan have gone so wrong?

The movie's back and forth between subplots and scenes can make one batty. Is it day or night? What season is it? Are we in the city or a hole in the desert? How long do we have until that nuclear bomb goes off? The use of space & time is erratic. The action is diminished by the constant scene changes.

The shots of lower Manhattan with it's bridges blowing up and New York's finest trapped underground in the subway are reminiscent of 9/11. Yet any connection is lost in the confusion of this big, brash movie. The nuclear ending is contrived and serves only to set up the Batman and "Robin" sequel.

The Dark Knight rises is an action film of epic yet empty proportions.