Goodbye Nol-Bat, Hello IMAX, Thank You Cinema

EDIT: I was originally going to not discuss much of the content within The Dark Knight Rises but I've since had the urge to so you'd better beware of some SPOILERS when reading this.

While I want to, I'm going to refrain from discussing much of The Dark Knight Rises because I'm sure not everyone has seen it yet. I need to collect my thoughts, as there was a lot to take in during the course of that films two hour and forty five minute running time. It did live up to expectations however, if not succeed them.

It was certainly the darkest of the trilogy, contained all the puzzles and plot twists one comes to expect from a Nolan film and was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. The 70mm photography was incredible, some of the most spectacular I've seen, and I'll return more to that topic soon. Also the dual female leads of Anne Hathaway and Marion Cottilard were particularly well casted.. As was Tom Hardy as Bane, and theres justifiably already a lot of talk about the power of his performance. I felt truely terrified at many moments during the film and I can't think of many other comic book films that have had that effect on me. Fans will probably feel that there wasn't much of Batman being Batman within the film. There was much of Bruce Wayne and his internal struggle, but Wayne actually donning the Batsuit and kicking full superhero-ass was kept to a minimum. I didn't mind this. I believe that the less you see of the Bat, the more effective a screen persona he is. So when we finally see him in full Bat get-up, it is a fantastic release of the tension built up by holding him back.  I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil anything... ..so I'll have to control my urge to discuss the ending...

I had a more general thought during the screening that I feel like sharing as well; that is that we shouldn't let America's terrible weapons laws and the sick mind of one individual stop us from enjoying the collective experience of the cinema. I'm echoing the thoughts of another blog post here: badass digest, but it is entirely true.

Lets not let a sad act of terrorism ruin an artform that is still relevant. I believe going to the cinema is still relevant, immersive and (dare I say it) magical experience. I shared the experience of seeing The Dark Knight Rises with my friend Ultraman, and a sold out theatre of captivated fellow cinephiles, and remained the fantastic experience that seeings films in the cinema has always been for me. Ultraman was inspired to draw this image today after our experience at The Dark Knight Rises last night:

Ultraman and Hambat (Drawing by Ultraman)

Films on the scale of The Dark Knight Rises are not easy to make. The hard work of the scriptwriters, directors, actors, technicians, artists and all other crew should be celebrated. Their hardwork should be experienced, with one another, within the cinema.

On another note, this doodle gives some indication of how I felt witnessing an IMAX film for the first time:

 

Ultraman is a much better artist

So thats pretty much a terrible drawing, but regardless, I couldn't get over just how much crisper, detailed and powerful the IMAX images were compared to the 35mm images. Not just in terms of the size of the screen they covered (which was huge) but also the clarity due to the extra resolution. The action scenes shot within this format (many of which contained CGI which still looked brilliant) were astounding as were the quieter moments, with Nolan using the format for many dialogue heavy scenes, filling the giant canvas with the actors faces.

The 35mm scenes looked so much more grainy, the colours so much less vivid compared to the IMAX footage, at least to my eyes. It makes me wish theatre chains spent all the money it required to update theatres with 3D projection technology on introducing IMAX into more theatres instead. Likewise, directors should film their blockbusters in IMAX rather then 3D. Fuck 3D. IMAX was far more engrossing and spectacular. Fuck your blurry, distorted and dark images that are after a while no more impressive than a pop-put book when I can have the glorious, huge, magnificent true film images that are that of 75mm IMAX. Oh yeah, fuck your high def digital cameras while your at it, your Red epics or whatever, IMAX takes what I love about film and ups it to the next level.

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little carried away over a piece of technology that to most people is probably old news. But it was pretty damn exciting for me. As for the HD digital film comment, I should probably wait to see The Hobbit in its 48fps before I can make a final judgement. But I'm sticking with film, be it 35mm or 70mm for the time being.

I'll be back for more film blogs soon, cause the excitements not over yet. Its FILM FESTIVAL TIME! That could mean some Moonrise Kingdom and quite possibly some Q & A to go with West of Memphis. We shall see..

Peace out ya'll.