The Dark Knight Trilogy

Well, I finally got it! The Dark Knight Trilogy on Blu-ray and I've got to say, it's fucking awesome! It's funny how there was a time when I was totally against the whole rebooting of Batman. Yes, I hated 1997's Batman & Robin with a passion, but I guess I just wasn't ready for another Batman movie let alone one that would restart everything. I boycotted seeing Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in theaters. I was uninterested in the fact that Bruce Wayne's origins of the Dark Knight was going to be told. Man, what a mistake that was!!! After seeing The Dark Knight on DVD and actually enjoying what I have seen, it brought my interest to watching Batman Begins and although I didn't like Begins that much, I did regret not seeing the movies in theaters. But, live and learn I guess.

Now, when Rises came out, I was really into this series. I'm a bit of a late bloomer I know, but I'm glad I caught on this new vision of Batman when Rises came out. I was waiting for years, reading about new things and who the main villain was going to be in the movie. Was it going to be Riddler? Clayface? Black Mask? My thoughts and opinions on the next villain kept changing and changing. One time it was a huge rumor that Johnny Depp was going to be the new Riddler. I thought that might have worked. But it got to the point where everyone thought the Riddler was going to be the next villain. I remember a lot of fan fiction, especially here on deviantART, had campaigns with Riddler on the poster and rather than the film being called The Dark Knight Rises, the movie would have the title of Gotham City. Anyway,  after Heath Ledger's performance I knew it would be difficult to top that. How on Earth could they make a villain more menacing and evil than the soulless Joker? Well, when months of speculation finally passed, I was actually pleased to hear that Bane would be the next villain. Now, Bane, a strong, powerful, smart villain is known as the man that broke Batman's back in the comics. He was fighting Batman and with his classic like, "I WILL BREAK YOU!" Broke Batman's back and left him for dead. Of course, Batman comes back after months if not years of healing and retraining.

This version of Bane was not one that survived off venom or anything like that. He didn't have any tubes or gigantic large muscles. The Bane seen in the disastrous Batman & Robin was gone. This Bane was going to be something new. Something realistic and something violent and massive and deadly towards the Batman. By the way, why they ever made Bane a henchmen/idiot in Batman & Robin I will never know. Ugh, best left forgotten. The new Bane, played by British actor Tom Hardy was indeed Batman's match. Even more so than the Joker! Where the Joker fucked with Batman's head and used him mentally, Bane is Batman's equal and is physically his match if not more so. The final film in this new trilogy is by far my favorite.

Now, going back to this series as a whole, the Dark Knight trilogy is something you all have to see at least once. It is very real and in my opinion doesn't even fall under your typical "superhero" movie in the sense that everything is resolved and the world is saved and we all go home with a smile on our face (save for the Joker). This movie series depicts the beginning of the hero and his rise to protecting the city, to his almost defeat by the Joker and utter isolation from society for eight years, to his rising from the abyss and showing that evil can never win and Batman will always be there to protect the innocent from the ruthless and corrupt. I highly recommend getting this trilogy on Blu-ray and see it with an open mind. Don't compare it to the Batman films of the past as you will not get a connection save for the obvious characters. This is a fresh new look on Batman and while I enjoy the other movies, these are the most entertaining and realistic.