At long last The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman Magnum Opus is in cinemas. Although I was hoping to write reviews for all the previous Batman films prior to the release of TDKR, thanks to a combination of busy work hours and devoting most of my spare time to catching the rest of the Summer Blockbusters' released already in cinemas my time for writing about other films has been severely cut into. As I am now less than an hour away from hopping on the train down to Cambridge to catch a 1pm showing at the Picture House I just wanted to throw together a very quick piece setting my expectations down on the table.
Wednesday I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight for the first time since probably about 2009 and, for the first time on Blu-Ray. Having watched Batman Forever and Batman & Robin just a few days prior it really put into perspective just how amazing it was that we managed to go from such a dire extreme to what will undoubtedly be not only the greatest superhero film trilogy of all time, but in-fact probably one of the greatest film trilogy's ever. That may sounds like hyperbole I know, but if you actually take the time to think about series' of 3 films which consistently deliver and leave you with a satisfying beginning, middle and end they are very few and far between. Of the top of my head I can think of- Toy Story (definitely), Lord of the Rings (certainly), Star Wars (just the Original Trilogy), Indiana Jones (Dips a little in the middle) and Back to the Future (maybe). In the huge canon of cinema that's a pretty small list.
Christopher Nolan more or less single-handedly turned the world of superhero filmmaking on it's head back in 2008 with The Dark Knight, but it's obvious watching both films back to back that Batman Begins laid those foundations even further back in 2005. Not only is it equally as good as TDK, but I think perhaps after repeated viewings of both films that it actually holds up better. I don't want to give too much away on what I think about the films here as I do still plan on writing full reviews for the remainder of the Batman films in the coming weeks. Needless to say however I am a big fan, and am as a stalwart Batman fan eternally grateful for what Nolan has done with the franchise. I'm practically trembling in anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises right now. Thinking back the last time I was this excited for a film would be The Dark Knight. Nolan delivered the goods then and I think that unless he somehow manages to miss the mark completely here I'm just a few short hours away from one of the best cinema experiences I will have this year.
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