Post by jmodlinc on Jul 20, 2012 5:50:37 GMT -5
The concluding chapter to writer-director Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman/Bruce Wayne comic book mythos has finally arrived. Critics are generally positive on it, although quite a few point out they do indeed feel it doesn't quite live up to the standard(s) of "The Dark Knight" (or even "Batman Begins" in some cases).
On the more positive side...
"A disturbing experience we live through as much as a film we watch, this dazzling conclusion to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"For once a melodrama with pulp origins convinces viewers that it can be the modern equivalent to Greek myths or a Jonathan Swift satire. TDKR is that big, that bitter -- a film of grand ambitions and epic achievement."
- Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
"Big-time Hollywood filmmaking at its most massively accomplished, this last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish."
- Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
"The most thrilling and satisfying spectacle this summer, Nolan's third and final chapter of the blockbuster saga is the kind of movie that gives mainstream Hollywood a good name."
- Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
"The Dark Knight Rises" is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant and critically important for America itself - as a mirror of both sober reflection and resilient hope.
- Todd Gilchrist, The Playlist
"At a time when Hollywood seems incapable of doing anything that isn't a grand-scale fantasy, Nolan has hijacked the form to bring it down to earth."
- Scott Tobias, AV Club
"The Dark Knight Rises is the movie a filmmaker makes after they have earned the freedom to break the mold and to reach for something bigger than the franchise."
- David Poland, Movie City News
On the negative side, however...
"Others will see it differently, but for me this is a disappointingly clunky and bombastic conclusion to a superior series -- Nolan's biggest and worst movie to date."
- Tom Charity, CNN.com
"Pompous, oppressive, without humour or humans: a sort of giant plinth for which no one has remembered to make a statue."
- Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
"What worked beautifully in "The Dark Knight" seems overworked and almost ridiculously grim in "The Dark Knight Rises.""
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"My faith that a truly important piece can be gleaned from these tales of costumed champions has been broken."
- David Fear, Time Out New York
"This is the problem when you're an exceptional, visionary filmmaker. When you give people something extraordinary, they expect it every time. Anything short of that feels like a letdown.
- Christy Lemire, Associated Press
"It is much bigger. But it's also much colder, much more dour and emptier as it plods its way through a flurry of chaos and silliness."
- Neil Miller, Film School Rejects
"The whole movie feels so like a series of contradictions - bloated and long yet rushed, deeply serious yet utterly silly, politically minded yet ultimately vapid - that being both wildly entertaining and a bad movie would be exactly right for it."
- Devin Faraci, Badass Digest
"Profound disappointment."
- Harry Knowles, Ain't it Cool News
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight_rises/
... What says you?
On the more positive side...
"A disturbing experience we live through as much as a film we watch, this dazzling conclusion to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"For once a melodrama with pulp origins convinces viewers that it can be the modern equivalent to Greek myths or a Jonathan Swift satire. TDKR is that big, that bitter -- a film of grand ambitions and epic achievement."
- Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
"Big-time Hollywood filmmaking at its most massively accomplished, this last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish."
- Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
"The most thrilling and satisfying spectacle this summer, Nolan's third and final chapter of the blockbuster saga is the kind of movie that gives mainstream Hollywood a good name."
- Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
"The Dark Knight Rises" is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant and critically important for America itself - as a mirror of both sober reflection and resilient hope.
- Todd Gilchrist, The Playlist
"At a time when Hollywood seems incapable of doing anything that isn't a grand-scale fantasy, Nolan has hijacked the form to bring it down to earth."
- Scott Tobias, AV Club
"The Dark Knight Rises is the movie a filmmaker makes after they have earned the freedom to break the mold and to reach for something bigger than the franchise."
- David Poland, Movie City News
On the negative side, however...
"Others will see it differently, but for me this is a disappointingly clunky and bombastic conclusion to a superior series -- Nolan's biggest and worst movie to date."
- Tom Charity, CNN.com
"Pompous, oppressive, without humour or humans: a sort of giant plinth for which no one has remembered to make a statue."
- Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
"What worked beautifully in "The Dark Knight" seems overworked and almost ridiculously grim in "The Dark Knight Rises.""
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"My faith that a truly important piece can be gleaned from these tales of costumed champions has been broken."
- David Fear, Time Out New York
"This is the problem when you're an exceptional, visionary filmmaker. When you give people something extraordinary, they expect it every time. Anything short of that feels like a letdown.
- Christy Lemire, Associated Press
"It is much bigger. But it's also much colder, much more dour and emptier as it plods its way through a flurry of chaos and silliness."
- Neil Miller, Film School Rejects
"The whole movie feels so like a series of contradictions - bloated and long yet rushed, deeply serious yet utterly silly, politically minded yet ultimately vapid - that being both wildly entertaining and a bad movie would be exactly right for it."
- Devin Faraci, Badass Digest
"Profound disappointment."
- Harry Knowles, Ain't it Cool News
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight_rises/
... What says you?
