Why is Nolan's Batman trilogy important?

I do not want to be Christopher Nolan this week. No way!!  My fragile shoulder would wilt under the impossible, insane, humongous expectations around The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR).
The yearning for the return of the caped crusader started right after the brilliant and cerebral, The Dark Knight. It has been four years (8 years in TDKR) since Batman vanished into the night.

It is probably safe to say that, TDKR, is the most anticipated Hollywood release of the year. Yes, there were The Avengers, then there was Prometheus and then came the spidey reboot. These movies only acted as appetizers to the splendid meal awaiting us.

Whether or not the movie lives up to all possible expectations, Chris Nolan and the movie shall go down in history as one of the most cerebral, celebrated, successful and influential works ever in cinematic history. The trilogy shall be remembered for the technical brilliance, the sheer musical genius of Hans Zimmer, Heath Ledger's immoratalisation (If such a word exists) of Joker the audacity of Nolan is not bowing down to studio pressures and presenting our fav superhero in 2D.

We all know about all this, and appreciate the facts and the trivia, but why I really love this man is because of the way he injected sociopolitical themes with amazing clarity into a superhero movie. While, all the other comic book  superheros dealt with their foes, their struggles were one dimensional. their struggles were limited by the strength (or the lack of it) of the foe. What Nolan bought to the table was refreshing. He did something very special. He seeped in social sentiments like crime, law, pain, fear, oppression, ideals, hope and yearning for an Utopian world into a superhero movie script.
While Batman might fight his battles in Gotham, Nolan showcased the landscape of modern America. It was, as if, he was taking potshots at people in power. He insists that this is a world we live in.It is Nolan's way of asking us to choose between the the man without a face (Bruce) or the symbol of change, Batman. He creates Batman out of anger, the fury of a world gone wrong.

What began as a stark reflection of the times we live in, got reaffirmed in The Dark Knight. Batman believes that Gotham is not the best city to stay in, not the safest place to live in, but has certainly got better. He realizes that this is not only his doing. People who have rallied behind him, against crime are also responsible for the state of the city. Hence, the importance given to Harvey Dent, the white Knight of the city, the crusader without a mask.

Nolan's Gotham is not very different than the Mumbai we live in. we too need the dark and the white knights. We too need to be taken care of. People suffer from pain, anxiety, crime and fear. Ras Al Ghul, Scarecrow, Joker and Bane (TDKR villian) embody the above mentioned plight of our city. Nolan makes us believe that a knight will come, when the night is darkest to lead us to the dawn.

With just 2 days to go for the IMAX premier in India, I can hardly wait to watch the most badass superhero take on his most intimidating enemy. Will he prevail or will he falter and pass on the baton to a younger ideal?? Questions and more questions.
Move on Avengers. Move on Spidey, The Dark Knight is here. And a new dawn for cinema is imminent.
Cannot wait to write the movie review.

Hail Batman, Hail Nolan!!!

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol (Mission almost accomplished)

Brad Bird’s Mission Impossible tries to make up for all the crap Hollywood threw at us over the past 2 months (Tintin being an exception). Must say, mission almost accomplished!!!

15 years and 2 sequels later, Tom Cruise returns to large screen as international spy from IMF, Ethan Hunt. But wait, this is not about Tom Cruise.

This movie is all about the animation veteran & wizard, Brad Bird (making his live-action movie debut here). He borrows a lot of elements ( self destructing messages, masks, people suspended in air, and the works) from the first three installments and adds his own brand of blistering , pacy, no holds barred thriller / action narration to juice up a dying franchise.

He is in top form here as he marries his characters from the movie to one of his earlier animation film, The Incredibles. The IMF bunch stays together, fights together. Also, his sense of choreography is apparent as he brings amazing details to the action set pieces, making each frame rich and pacy.

The script as such does not inspire much confidence. It has the usual plots / scenes from all big budget Hollywood action money spinners.  A bunch of Spies on the run to prove their innocence. The action takes them from Russia to Dubai to Mumbai ( shot in Vancouver & Dubai, sadly) to Seattle.

Performances are pretty much “standard offer” affair with Tom Cruise doing the thing that he has done all along now.  The aging star (pushing 50) has lost some amount of his charm and the Ethan Hunt character  was never a great / funny / warm / super awesome guy. The rest of the bunch is capable as well. Jeremy Renner, playing the mysterious analyst in Ethan Hunt’s team gets some of the best lines in the movie.

If everything is just standard affair, what makes the movie paisa vasool, you may ask? LOADS, let me tell you.

1)     The Burj Khalifa sequence (rumored to have been done by Mr. Cruise himself) is gobsmackingly awesome. Something worth experiencing in IMAX.

2)     Chase sequences are aplenty in spy movies. What cool about this one? Well, this one is a breathless foot and car chase in a binding sandstorm!

3)     The use of tech makes James bond & Iron Man look primitive.

4)     The Kremlin blast sequence. Easily one the finest blast sequences ever shot. In spite of the fact that everybody knows that it’s CGI, you jump when the bomb goes off.

5)     Last but not the least, the Mission Impossible signature tune. There is an Indian instrumental version thrown in as well.

The most disappointing bit in the movie is the India bit where-in you see an aging Indian star (Mr. Anil Kapoor) play a lecherous Indian tycoon. The whole sequence is unintentionally funny. Also, more research would have helped. Greens autos, Kannada font in Mumbai parking lots, high tech multi-level parking lot with UAE license plates in Mumbai just do not let you feel awesome.

But, as I said, it has enough going for it in terms of action, cinematography and a brilliant edit job. This makes Ghost Protocol a treat for the senses. This movie does enough to keep the franchise alive. Anyway, Jeremy Renner's character Brandt, was specifically created as the eventual replacement for Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt for when Cruise decides to step away from the franchise.

Go ahead, the movie is worth the big tub of popcorn. 2 big tubs, in fact!!