If you missed the introduction to this week’s posts, go here, for part 2, click here and for Part 3, click here. We continue our look back at the first nine Christopher Nolan films the order of my preference for them to try to get an understanding of what to expect from Tenet. Yesterday we took a look at two pof Nolan’s earlier works. Today we take a look at his two biggest blockbusters. Ranking these two is also very hard and I hold them in virtually identical esteem. Ultimately the originality of Inception wins out. AS ALWAYS THERE WILL BE MASSIVE SPOILERS TO THESE FILMS.
Number 4: The Dark Knight
Release Date: 7/18/2008
Main Actors/Actresses: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine
Best Sneaky guest: Anthony Michael Hall host of Gotham Tonight
What is it about? Batman has staked out his claim to Gotham, and the criminals are on the run. In their desperation they turn to a wild card: Heath Ledger’s Joker. The Joker is established right out of the gate in an elaborate and brutal bank heist that sets the tone for the character as ruthless and amoral. Batman goes on the hunt. In the meantime, Bruce Wayne is trying to clean up the hallways of city government while Batman cleans up the streets. He latches on to Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart. Batman and the Joker’s paths connect over a Mob accountant that Batman grabs from Hong Kong in an elaborate kidnapping/arrest. Joker starts killing key members of the city until Batman reveals himself. To stop the killing, Dent claims to be Batman and is put in “protective custody” (thank God real life protective custody is a lot better than it is in movies). The Joker attacks a convoy with Dent, but is captured by Batman. While interrogating the Joker, Batman starts to lose his grip. It turns out the Joker has the upper hand, having kidnapped Rachel (now played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Harvey Dent. His plan is to force Batman to choose and torture his soul with the decision. Batman chooses Rachel, but the Joker sends him to Dent. He saves Dent (who is severely injured) but Rachel dies.
After a brief interlude (and a Joker escape) an insider in Wayne Enterprises deduces Batman is Bruce Wayne and threatens to reveal the information (an incredibly dumb personal decision) which leads to the Joker threatening to blow up a hospital if he isn’t killed and leading Batman right to the mole to save him. Most of the people in the hospital are saved before it is demolished (in the funniest scene in the movie). However, the Joker has gotten to Dent. He turns Dent over to his own deranged blood lust, and Dent starts a killing spree of those he believes killed Rachel (his girlfriend).
The Joker rigs up two ferries to play a game to see if the human condition will lead one to save itself at the other’s expense. Meanwhile, Batman creates technology that spies on the entire city (another challenge to his morality) and uses this dangerous tech to find the Joker. He eventually captures the Joker, and the ferries are spared by their own integrity. He reveals to Batman that Dent is lost to his rage. Batman races to the building where Rachel died to try and save Commisioner Gordon and his family. He stops Dent, but causes his death. Realizing that the city will descend into chaos if Dent’s evil is discovered, he chooses to take the blame, ending the Batman’s run of justice to save the city he loves. He becomes the hunted, removing himself from the role of Batman.
Why does it work? With one of the largest movie casts ever, a brilliant story, fantastic acting, stunning action sequences, a gripping soundtrack, expansive sets, and incredible visuals, Nolan set a standard for comic book movies that hasn’t been equaled since. It may never be equaled. It is hard to break down every aspect that went right, but let’s hit a few of the high points.
Heath Ledger as the Joker defines this movie, and his tragic death afterward only cemented the legacy of one of the greatest villain performances of all time. Many believe the depth of the character acting effected him on a personal level, leading to his demise. His Joker is played straight, with a comedy and darkness so ill-at-ease that it pulls every eye to him. Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart provide strong performances, but all is forgotten when Ledger is on screen. His dialogue is superbly written (a few highlights are the shifting scar tale, the pencil trick and the station interrogation) and his off-centered physicality indicate an actor solely committed to bringing a character to life.
The action sequences were astonishing at the time, particularly the convoy attack. The practicality of the sets allows for limited CGI, leading to a grittiness and believability that is very rare then or now for comic book movies. Zimmer shows his own skill with a soundtrack few composers can match which lends an urgency and desperation to the film. The story itself is well thought out, plotted and pulled off so fluidly that it makes its long run time breeze by.
What are its shortcomings?
This movie continues the trend of Nolan not writing or developing female characters, who mostly exist in his movies to die as motivation for his male characters. It also is pretty much devoid of diversity. Those are nits to pick though (I don’t think every film has to do both/either of those things, but I think it improves the movie if you do). The film is mostly joyless, which you could say lead to the DC universe eschewing fun or light moments in favor of hyper-darkness. It works here because of the Joker. As noted in Part 2, a batman movie is only as good as the villain. Superman and whoever the hell that was in the Justice League are bad characters and their arcs are uninteresting. Here, what Batman does matters so much more because we can see inside what he hopes to stop. It is dark. But a good dark, that we want to watch. The semi-sweet ending is perfect here, so there isn’t much to say. One wonders if the plan was to incorporate the Joker in the final movie (since he is captured alive). It is unfortunate that Ledger passed, because I would have loved to see him return. That isn’t the movie’s fault, but I need to be upset at someone. Batman’s voice is extremely annoying in the movie, but after what happens in part 3, I completely forgot, and it seems almost pleasant now.
Best Scene:
Number 3: Inception
The details: Debut 7/16/2010 (which makes me deeply suspicious of Tenet being an Inception sequel given its original 7/17/20 release date)
Main Actors and Actresses: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine.
Best Sneaky Guest: None really. The main cast does all the heavy lifting.
What is it about?
A skilled operative Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb is hired to insert a concept into the mind of the heir of a massive conglomerate. The film proceeds to be an elaborate heist film, taking us inside the process and out the other side. Using advanced tech that the movie makes no attempt to explain (process or origin), Cobb and his team take on the herculean challenge of planting an idea in the mind of the heir in his dream state. Cobb’s past looms over the film however, and his personal goals and secrets threaten to derail the project.
After a failed attempt to remove secrets from Ken Watanabe’s character, Cobb’s team is pursued and retained by Watanabe for a larger job. He gives Cobb direction to pick a better crew and offers him what Cobb desire’s most, a chance to reunite with his children. After assembling his crew for One Last Job™ and expositing all over the place with tons of detail concerning what happens in the dreamscape, Cobb and the crew (along with a nosy Watanabe) head into the mind of Cillian Murphy’s character. Once inside they discover a very dangerous environment, and realize the subject has been prepared for their arrival. A firefight ensues, and the stakes are laid out. Failure to complete the task could lead to death. They also quickly discover a new enemy. Cobb’s preoccupation with his mind’s perception of his wife causes chaos. Cobb tries to keep things under control but fails repeatedly. They head deeper and deeper down the layers of dreaming until Cobb is forced to reckon with the memory of his lost wife. In the meantime, his team members carry out their roles, the idea is successfully planted, and the team returns to reality unscathed.
Cobb successfully returns to the US to reconnect with his children, as he had hoped. The film is left open ended, however, as we do not ever find out for certain if he is back in reality or still in the dream state. Let’s just say this predicament stuck with 2010 moviegoers for a while.
Why does it work: A phenomenal cast all doing excellent work, combined with visionary action sequences, mixed with fantastic special effects, played out to brilliant soundtrack and driven by a creative plot, Inception holds your attention for virtually it’s entire run. Characters are provided some depth, but what really makes this work are action sequences. Whether it is the Cobb and Ariadne scene in France (and in the dream), the scene with Arthur and subconscious resistance in the hallway, the full blown battle in the arctic or the kick sequence, the action has a unique look that hypnotizes. It created in me the same feeling as when I first saw the Matrix, but with much better acting and a much more interesting story-line. The visual sequences are designed with extreme sets to allow for practical action and fantastic CGI work. In the 10 years since, I have not seen it’s equal.
Leonardo DiCaprio puts in great work as Cobb, showing the anxiety and desperation of his situation, but never overdoing it. His interactions with Marion Cotillard’s Mal are the high point of the film from an acting standpoint. You feel their tension and, as their relationship unfolds, you can feel the sense of loss and longing. To me, Cotillard does the best acting in the film, creating a very intense character but keeping her to a place where we can understand her motivations and we feel her suffering.
The soundtrack created a legend all its own, bringing the relentless pounding and energy that permeates the film. Taking The Dark Knight soundtrack and ramping it up, Hans Zimmer crafted a work that inspired many replications and adaptations over the next decade as action films tried to craft the same sense of power and urgency. While I have grown tired of the approach in the time since, when it first came out, it was a masterstroke that stands on its own without even needing the film.
When people left the theater however, the action, acting or soundtrack were not on their minds. The unsettled ending is what stayed with people long afterward. Determining if Cobb was awake or asleep kept internet message boards busy for years with many proposed reasons, circumstantial evidence and very intense scrutiny of a top wobble. While this twist aggravated some, it served to engage the majority and this is probably the biggest legacy of the film.
What are it’s shortcomings:
Nolan’s two female characters are a man’s projection of a woman and a stand in for the audience (she has every aspect of the film explained to her) who doubles as the wet blanket. While Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard do excellent work, this film offers very little in the way of developing any actual female perspective. It is never more clear in his work than here, when a female character is literally written only as a man’s view of her. To Nolan’s credit, Cobb acknowledges the limitation in the movie, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing that this is all we get. It will not be the only time this is the case (we just saw one above).
The depth of the characters can be lacking at times outside of Cobb and Mal. While Cobb and Mal are built up very well, the only other real character to receive development is Cillian Murphy’s Robert Fischer (an excellent, understated and underrated performance which was unfortunately limited by the scale of the film). While the goal of this film was certainly not to flesh out a bunch of unique characters, we can sum up the entirety of the characters surrounding them and their motivations in one word. Ariande – curious, Arthur – loyalty, Saito – money, Eames – adventure, Robert Fischer – approval, Browning and Yusef - ??? also money I guess. This sort of simplicity is a little wooden for my taste, and the reason this ranks lower than it would for most.
What would I have done differently if I were as smart as Christopher Nolan? I would have loved less explaining and more development of characters. Arthur and Ariande’s interactions are basically required reading for a course on exposition and little more. Imagine if the writer had trusted us more to understand, and let us see a relationship develop between Gordon-Levitt and Page. Sadly, I am guessing screener feedback probably demanded a half hour of explanation. More important than what I would change though, is what I wouldn’t. The ending was perfect. I like being trusted somewhat to fill in the blanks. I once read that the real beauty of the ending was not whether the top stayed up or down, but that Cobb didn’t stay to look at it. I love that idea, because he has moved on from worrying about defining reality and no longer is interested in his work (the Cobb at the start of the movie would NEVER leave the top out). What he cares about is what matters most in life, loving those who are close to you.
Best Scene: This was a VERY close call with the hallway scene and the kick.