The Dark Knight Rises | The Third Act | The Critique

We have waited long for this one. Nolan, once again, doesn't disappoint us. The Dark Knight Rises, in true sense. All the hype and doubts can rest in abyss as the movie delivers what you might expect. TDK was so gross because they had a gross supervillain. In TDKR, Bane is no Joker but still he is a Bane. He is dangerous because he exists in the time when Dark Knight is a lost entity.

The story starts where it finished last time. Joker is a past and Harvey Dent is a hero. Batman, despite of everything, is a fallen angel. Gordon has cleaned the city. Bruce Wayne has turned into a recluse of extreme variant. Alfred wants to take him out of the situation but Bruce cannot detach himself from Rachel. Wayne Enterprises is in shabby state and we have a new villain, Bane. Bane who? Well, a complex entity whose one point agenda is to turn Gotham into ashes. And yes, there are two more characters. Blake who believes Batman and Selina who believes herself.

Like Batman Begins, this movie is more about what and who Bruce Wayne is than Batman. Bruce is more vulnerable, more human and more astute. His character grows manifold as Batman diminishes. TDKR is Bruce Wayne Rises. Joker challenges Batman and his sanity. Bane challenges Bruce Wayne and everything he stands for. Unlike previous editions, this time Nolans focussed on subplots as well. They were well detailed and met the conclusion. If they say that this is the third act of the trilogy, Syd Field got a fine tribute.

As Bruce, Christian Bale just improves his act. Tom Hardy as Bane roars and make you feel weak. He had a difficult job as he had only his voice and body language. He does well. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman were usual self. Gary, however, got a better role in this edition. Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were good but nothing memorable. Technically, from screenwriting to visual effect, background score to art direction, everything is very much at par with TDK. Nolan and crew nailed it hard. Third act done well. Nolan, we will be anxiously waiting for your next.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Dara Singh And Dark Knight | Editor's Pen

Hi All,

Dara Singhji’s absence would be felt. The machismo he added to Indian cinema has no parallel. Maybe only Fearless Nadia left a more memorable imprint or may be a shade less. To most of the people who worked along with him, even if it meant a scene or two, he will be remembered as gentleman with huge persona. For rest, he was and will remain Hanuman. We usually forget our icons. Shameful but we do. Overtime people will forget Dara Singhji as well. But the everlasting impression he made on Indian cinema will remain and sing ballads in his praise. Dara Singhji R.I.P.

As Gyandeep would say, ‘after 20^th July, world will be divided in two factions – one who loved The Dark Knight Rises and other whoare yet to see it.’ Twitter and fb will tell you how crazy world is going in anticipation of TDKR. Maybe most powerful buildup before any release. Maybe even more than Avatar. Nolan is one of the most respected filmmakers. His greatest strength has been to exceed expectation each and every time. His films tests not only mental but also emotional strength of viewers. I can still find people who are yet to find what happened in Memento.

Well, in other news, in next edition we will bring up the list of most memorable heroes of Hindi Cinema in Uttkrishtt. Our search for the top ten will continue from there.

Love

Sujoy

Inception Movie Review | The Critique

Rating: 5/5

Some movies are simply a big mind game with its audiences. Whatever they call such movies; Chris Nolan is a pioneer of that genre. Hugely acclaimed Memento and The Dark Knight’s maker raise the cinematic experience of his movies to a higher level. Inception in one word is awesome.

Inception is about dreams and a hypothetical theory that we can influence some one’s dreams (I hope its hypothetical). Dom (Leonardo) is one such manipulator. With his friends and aides he plays with dreams of people to earn money. Dom wants to return to his children but he cannot, as he is wanted in his country. He wants to live in present but his past echoes in his psyche. He gets an offer to insert a thought into some one’s mind and in lieu he everything will be arranged. How he does it is the crux of the movie. Will he be ever able to forget his past? Will he be able to return home? Will inception be successful?

Strolling brilliantly between the different levels of dreams during inception, direction, cinematography, concept and performances; everything falls into right places like a big jigsaw. You will be simply awestruck by the development of the inception theory and the way everything is arranged. The movie itself is a maze and you need to be hyper-alert o understand it fully. The story and the concept deserve a big round of applause.

Inception has some amazing scenes. One, Ariadne, the architect of dreams folds the city and then weaves the bridge out of nothing. The personal dream world of Dom. The car being chased in a particular level of dream. And the classic one; paradoxes. Leonardo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthus and Ellen Page as Ariadne did justice to their roles but the delight of acting was provided by Ken Watanabe as the businessmen who gives the assignment. He was really good.

Watch this movie. Highly recommended… And get with an answer. There is a slight indirect reference to Citizen Kane (intentional of not; I don’t know). What is it?

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Under Lens: Genesis From Paper To Screen - 3

This edition of genesis features movies that are hugely successful, and even we didn’t know many of these were based on books.

Short Story-“The Sentinel” Movie-“2001-A Space Odyssey”: This is considered to be the greatest science fiction movie by rottentomatoes. Directed by legendary Stanley Kubrick, “2001…” was based on Arthur C. Clark’s “the Sentinel”. The author and the director collaborated on the script; author came out with the complete novel “2001: A Space Odyssey” around the same period.


Short Story-“The Minority report” Movie-“Minority Report”: This Tom Cruise starrer, was loosely based on a short story by Phillip K Dick. This Science fiction set in 2054 where criminals are caught by Pre-crime system. Minority Report is touted as one of the smartest movies of Steven Spielberg had a thrilling script.



Short Story-“Memento Mori” Movie-“Memento”: This Psychological thriller was based on Memento Mori written by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan’s brother. In the story protagonist manages to kill his wife’s murderer, the movie though is ambiguous about this. The movie is about what the protagonist becomes after his head injury, how he gets used and not about the killer’s discovery.



Novel-“The Silence of the lambs” Movie-“The Silence of the lambs”: This Pscyhological Horror flick directed by Jonathan Demme, was based on the novel by Thomas Harris. The novel is one of four novel of “Hannibal” series. The movie stars Sir Anthony Hopkins in his academy winning role of Cannibal “Hannibal Lecter”. The movie is one of the most chilling that Hollywood has to offer


Novel-“First Blood” Movie-“First Blood”(better known as Rambo): Definetly it is surprising to find Rambo based on a novel. This Ted Kotcheff movie propelled Sylvester Stallone to world wide fame. Stallone plays unstoppable Vietnam war veteran pushed to the edge. The book focused the effect of long wars had on the soldiers, their perspective and how Vietnam war turns Rambo into an efficient killing machine.
We’ll return next time with more novel-to-movie adaptations.


For The Reel;Written By: Ali ‘Rosebud’ Naqvi