A Little Interruption for the Dark Knight.

 So back home in Toronto the film The Dark Knight Rises came out on July 20^th, here in Japan it came out a week later on July 27^th. I would have gone to see it that night, unfortunately I was teaching at my far school so I couldn’t go see it until the 30^th.  This was the first movie I’ve seen in Japan and there are some interesting things about going to see films in Japan.

The first thing is that the latest films end in Japan is 11pm or just after so that means the latest they start at is at 9pm (this could be just Niihama, but looking at other places this seems to be the case there too). I found this interesting because at home it seems that you can find almost any time at night to go see a movie. Also the late show at home is at 11pm so you’re getting home pretty late.

The other thing about going to the movies here is that you mostly buy your tickets from a machine, like at home, but they really only have one person working as a cashier. At the machine like at home you choose your film and the time, but as a bonus you get to choose your seats. So everyone has assigned seating in the theatre whether it’s a sold out show or there are only 5 other people.  This means that you know which seat you will be getting before you even get into the theatre.

Everything else before the movie is the same. You get your popcorn and your drinks and then you head in to enjoy the movie.

So the final instalment of The Batman Begins Trilogy was very good and I really enjoyed watching it. I have to say that I’m not that big a fan of the DC Comics world but I have always liked Batman as a character and a hero. It started with the original Tim Burton movies and the story only got better with these Christopher Nolan films.

I was looking forward to this film since The Dark Knight and it didn’t disappoint. It had the darkness that we’ve come to associate with these films, yet it ended on quite a hopeful note and I liked that. I also have to say that I did shed a few tears before the end, which I wasn’t expecting when I went in to see the film. The story came together in quite a surprising way. It tied together the entire Christian Bale arc of Batman. Everything came together and it had a satisfying ending that let Batman come to a natural conclusion and yet left it open for a Nightwing movie, though I’m not sure that it will ever happen.

The acting of the film was very good. Though I wasn’t sure how anyone could follow Heath Ledger as the Joker, but Tm Hardy as Bane was able to hold his own. Even with acting with a mask covering his face, he was able to convey evil, anger and at the end sadness and love with just his eyes. Tom Hardy was great and I think that Christopher Nolan made an excellent choice with him.

Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard as the two lead female roles were very intriguing. Both women were independent and yet both played different ends of the spectrum. Hathaway’s Catwoman was sexy and yet strong enough to stand up to Batman. Cotillard’s Miranda Tate was very good in her double role. She also never played the damsel in distress to a point where it looked like she was helpless, you could see that there was something strong about that characters.

Gary Oldman, Martin Freeman and Michael Caine were flawless. These acting legends just as in the previous two films gave their characters depth and brought them to life. The scenes close to the end with Oldman and Caine were the ones that brought me to tears.

Christian Bale is Batman for me now. He made him seem less camp and made him a real person with real feelings. He throughout the film brought you to his side and through the whole scene in the jail you could sense his desire to get back and save Gotham. I don’t think anyone else now could really take over the role of Batman without comparisons to the depth and passion that Bale brought to the role.

I would give the film 4/5 stars. I liked it, had fun and would recommend to people. (I do have to add though that I still enjoyed The Avengers more!)