HOLY SHIT WAS TDKR GOOD.

Nolan anticipates and handles all the Qs we discussed about Bats and / or Bruce dying and / or passing on the torch or flat-out retiring. It all gets sorted out one way or another.

What really struck me was, unlike Avengers, this is a superhero movie where the bad guys have machine guns, and the main bad guy and good guy fight it out not with magic hammers or super-soldier serum, but simply by punching each other repeatedly and very hard, until one of them doesn’t get up anymore. It’s refreshing and beautiful.

Bale is great in it. It’s mostly a Bruce Wayne movie, however. I liked Avengers. Thought it was terrific dumb fun. But this will make everyone forget that for a while, because it’s got a lot of substance and heart and appeals to humanity and the hero in us all. Not everyone can be Thor or Hulk. In fact, nobody can. But hypothetically, anyone could be the Batman. And they say as much here.

But there are other heroes–esp Gordon. He’s the Timex watch of Gotham cops. A truly PROFESSIONAL civil servant.

TDKR makes you more aware of the concept of “the greater good.” It’s the kind of movie that makes you want to leap on a grenade, or risk taking a bullet by tackling the robber at the liquor store, or simply just punching some asshole’s lights out because you know doing so would make a dozen other people’s lives that much better. I walked out of there mentally shoring up my theoretical list of people I’ve always wanted to just kill, and it took me a while to calm the fuck down.

Everyone in it is terrific. Oldman is practically John McClane in this. Caine gives us his most emotional Alfred ever, tearing up at every turn. Matthew Modine is great as the sniveling deputy commissioner who cares more about catching Batman (when he shows up again) than the mounting threat from Bane.

Hathaway is good as Kyle. Thankfully, she is never once referred to as “Catwoman.” She is simply a great cat burglar in a great suit, torn between causes. Her mask and earpieces serve techincal purposes and just happen to complete the feline likeness. But yeah I’m glad she is not actually called Catwoman.

I loved Hardy’s Bane. If you’ve seen Bronson or Warrior you already know how physical an actor he can be. He really uses the voice and works around the mask with his eyes. He carries himself with a primal authority, he’s like Napolean in the body of a gorilla. And as we all know, he’s really the only bad guy in any movie to prove himself superior to Bats in a fight. He doesn’t need tricks or artifice. It’s just bare-knuckled fighting.

It’s been suggested we all move on from these superhero movies. Move on? From Batman? To where?

And why would you want to move on from PURE FUCKING AWESOMENESS?

I’m going to have to see TDKR again this weekend. It’s a biblical experience. Amateurs just won’t understand. This is not necessarily a Batman to be easily consumed by mass culture a la Spidey or Avengers. This hero is more like Jesus Christ in his willingness to give and keep giving, to fall and rise three times. Fuck, the only thing missing now that I think of it was a crucifix and Veronica to wipe Bale’s face. And a crown of thorns.

But Bale’s done that already, praise him. And soon people will be schooled.