1.12 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

The Dark Knight does not 'rise' up to expectations

Published
By Sneha May Francis

What is touted to be this year’s most anticipated movie has already failed to create a spark in cinematic history, while at least that’s what some reviewers have claimed on movie website Rotten Tomatoes.

Their unflattering observations that ditched Christopher Nolan’s grand finale as mediocre fluff resulted in a messy war of words among the die-hard Batman fans and movie critics online, forcing the website’s big wigs to disable the user comment option.

The Batfans reportedly badmouthed and threatened reviewer Marshall Fine of HollywoodandFine.com for calling ‘Dark Knight Rises’ the weakest in Nolan's trilogy. Interestingly, the rebuke came from fans who were yet to watch the film that releases worldwide on Friday.

Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of the website, stood by his reviewer and states, “If a critic often goes against the majority, but has well-reasoned arguments, it’s unlikely we’re going to ban them, at least not just for having a different opinion. We’re not looking for groupthink here.”

Associated Press reviewer Christy Lemire, who wrote, “’The Dark Knight Rises’ is plot-heavy, obsessed with process, laden with expository dialogue and flashbacks that bog down the momentum and–dare I say it?–just flat-out boring at times’ also had to face the ire of numerous fans, who even questioned her credibility as a critic.

Barring these sporadic incidents of dishonour, Nolan’s epic tale still holds its ground, with the Wall Street Journal calling it: “A Grim, Spectacularly Black Beauty”. Their reviewer Chris Tookey wrote; “The final half-hour is cleverly written and on a spectacular scale. You may have seen an American city trashed, but never quite like this.”

He describes the baddie Bane (Tom Hardy) as “a French revolutionary of the 18th century, hoping to unite the oppressed masses against the capitalists, police and authorities who have kept them under control for so long”. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, it’s the run-time that is “astonishingly bloated”, he claims.

“Like any true finale to a trilogy, the picture doesn't work nearly as well if you haven't seen the previous two installments: It's not designed to stand alone,” writes the reviewer.

Xan Brooks of The Guardian writes, “the dark knight duly rises for the bruising final stanza in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, a satisfying saga of revolution and redemption that ends the tale on a note of thunder”.

Peter Howell of Toronto Star was all praise; “This Knight not only rises, it also cuts deep -- not just as spectacular entertainment but also as harrowing drama”.

“Potent and provocative, The Dark Knight Rises is the King Daddy of summer movie epics,” is how Peter Travers of Rolling Stone best describes it.

Even the twitterati had only words of praise for the movie, with @iamToddyTickles tweeting, “I'm no movie critic, but I'm pretty sure I just saw the BEST MOVIE EVER. #Batman Dark Knight Rises - Even better than Shawshank & Encino Man.”

But for fans in the UAE, the verdict will have to wait, for another month, with movie distributers confirming that the superhero flick will only make an appearance a month later. “It will release on August 16, in time for the Eid Al Fitr holiday after Ramadan,” an official added.