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There is a lot of news coming out of Gotham city these days, even with the premiere more than 6 months away. Recently the prologue to The Dark Knight Rises was shown to journalists and bloggers, with reactions being mostly positive – which is impressive, considering director Christopher Nolan set the bar high, introducing Heath ledger in the bank robbery sequence that was used to promote The Dark Knight. Despite the superlatives (like jaw-dropping and mind-blowing), some did complain that the new bad-guy, Bane, was hard to understand. Bootlegs of the video are floating around the net but it is probably worth it to go and watch it on the big screen, you can see it as a preview to the new Mission: Impossible film. Here is a quick recap of the things that have come out over the passed weeks and months, thanks to interviews with Nolan and the media that has hounded the production team that has been everywhere from India to Scotland – did you know they have Gotham landmarks built in an old zeppelin hangar in the U.K.? Now you know. The story takes place eight years after the end of the last movie. Nolan tried to explain why, see if you can figure it out:
“But it’s not a great mystery — it’s the jumping-off point for the film — but it’s hard for me to articulate it. I think the mood at the beginning of the film will make a lot of sense. If I had to express it thematically, I think what we’re saying is that for Batman and Commissioner Gordon, there’s a big sacrifice, a big compromise, at the end of the ‘The Dark Knight’ and for that to mean something, that sacrifice has to work and Gotham has to get better in a sense. They have to achieve something for the ending of that film — and the feeling at the end of that film — to have validity. Their sacrifice has to have meaning and it takes time to establish that and to show that, and that’s the primary reason we did that. It’s a time period that is not so far ahead that we would have to do crazy makeup or anything — which I think would be distracting — but it gave them something to get their teeth into, particularly Christian in terms of [portraying] this guy who has been frozen in this moment in time with nowhere to go. He really has done an incredible job figuring out how to characterize that and express that.”
So that’s not exactly a synopsis in cleartext but it does provide insight into why Gordon was sick and in bed in the preview – and why Bale as Bruce Wayne looks a bit more haggard than any serious caped crimefighter should. We know from Liam Neeson, that his character makes an appearance in what we can expect is a flashback. We know that Christian Bale and Nolan won’t be doing another Batman film. In all it’s shaping up to be the epic end to a trilogy, there are many more details that have been released, regarding the appearance of certain actresses and what that might reveal about the plot, I’m purposefully avoiding them myself and I hate to speculate but judging by the poster and talk surrounding the film it seems unlikely that Bruce Wayne will carry on as the Caped Crusader, but that’s just speculation on my part.
For anyone excited to see Sean Bean once again don the chain mail in a medieval adventure film à la Lord of the Rings, be warned that his isn’t the adventure film you might expect, and his character Ulric is a litte more burdened, or haunted, than Boromir. A monk (Eddie Redmayne) volunteers to help Ulric and his motley crew of warriors find a village unscathed by the Bubonic plague. There is rumour of hedonism and a necromancer, capable of bringing the dead back to life – obviously the Bishop can’t have any of that, and it’s off with his head! Well, actually, they brought a contraption that will slice a man “from his asshole to his apple,” but you get the idea. When they finally reach the small Jonestown like village, they don’t come out with all guns blazing. In fact what appears a dark and spooky adventure film turns end up as more of a horror flick and religious polemic – instead of a final battle it’s a series of tortures interspersed with an existential debate about God. I still enjoyed it – I’ll watch a sabred Sean Bean kick ass and take names any day.
On a very successful promotional tour, director, writer and star Stallone stepped in for Jason Statham when the latter was asked to freestyle, without missing a beat he let out „Rap, rap, rap so fine, miss a word, and your little ass is mine,” to the beatboxing being performed by audience member or “jorunalist”. I myself was on the road for a couple weeks and while you try to make the most of your time, beating the pavement across Hell’s half acres looking at all the sights and going out at night can get tiring. Since we were in Berlin I figured we’d relax and take in a film at the Sony Center, at Potsdamer Platz – a sweet ass place to catch a flick. As luck would have it a movie of purportedly equal epicness was opening that week, The Expendables. It just so happens that Berlin is the same location where Stallone had been answering questions, busting rhymes, and passing wisdom about the movie making business, “It’s never about beauty. It’s about soul.” Indeed, Sly was spitting the truth everywhere he went, but it’s not like he needed to create buzz for this film, the list of cast members alone would have been enough to carry this film. Nevertheless the hype was palpable, and I couldn’t help but get excited to see this film. Nestled into reserved seats with a cold beer, the opening scene explored a modern problem – a hostage situation in the Gulf of Aden – and we were off to a good start. Even Lundgren’s “warning shot” which separated the ring leader’s upper body from lower mixed some laughter into the bullet maelstrom (Not a single hostage hit, really?). But from there on the story is really, well, old hat. I understand this film was meant to pay homage to action movies of previous decades, ones made without CGI and capes, but the story is run-of-the-mill, and may have otherwise gone straight to DVD. The dictator and his cocaine-financed banana republic, the bad white guy pulling the strings, the ex-teammate turned traitor. The notion is good but the delivery is at times almost cheesey which makes it more cliché than classic. Having said that, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy this film, good cameos, an unbelievable scene with Mickey Rourke, explosions and some of my favourite action stars make for good movie watching. Sly’s passion and wisdom when speaking about it made me want to like it more than I did, it just wasn’t as crazy or funny as it could have been. But, reviews don’t determine box offixe numbers, as is often the case (and almost always the case when it comes to 
I’ll be honest, the only exposure I’ve had to this television series has been with odd references, well spoofs actually, in animated series like Family Guy or the odd cameo by Mr. T – Not Another Teen Movie comes to mind: “Be the ball, and throw yourself.” Anyways, since the original series was before my time I’m arguably in the target market for this film, but a PG-rating would seem to indicate that it’s actually intended for younger audiences, so I guess I’m speaking then for the lost generation, old enough to be inundated with the pop cultural references but too old for the Disney-like bloodshed and bleeped cuss-words of the remake.
Gangster Number One