Last Friday I hurried out of work at around 1pm, and ran to the cinema to watch The Dark Knight Rises! I could have watched on the opening day the previous day, but I realized I haven’t seen The Amazing Spiderman. So just for completion I had to watch Spidey instead. I am one of those people who think that it’s too soon to have another Spiderman movie, because although the third one tanked, it wasn’t nearly as horrendous as, say, Batman and Robin. When Batman Begins was released in 2005 it didn’t feel “too soon” just after 8 years since Batman and Robin, because we were in a hurry to forget the nipples and the plastic lips that protected Chris O Donnel from Poison Ivy’s pheromonic kiss.

I did not like The Amazing Spiderman at all. I remember leaving the theater after Spiderman and Spiderman 2 genuinely awed and in good spirits because they were really fun without being campy. The angst and humorlessness of this version of Spidey just overwhelmed the entire movie, and Andrew Garfield’s shaking head was kind of distracting. Maybe the sequel would be better, but for now, I still think they should have just made another superhero movie starring Garfield. Maybe a Daredevil reboot, I think he could play a good Daredevil with that level of angstiness. Except that movie would make it difficult for him to showcase his pretty humongous eyes.

Now The Dark Knight Rises. Spoilers here, of course, if anybody cares. Now that is a great superhero movie. Watch it back to back with the first two parts and we have one cohesive trilogy with a huge magnificent ending. I’m not sure why, but I kinda got all misty and actually teared up during the last few sequences. I would have probably lost it altogether if it was revealed that John Blake’s real name was Dick Grayson after all, so good thing he was just a new, invented character. The final scenes were precious, and the tension just didn’t let up. “Ayan, montage na,” the nerdy college student beside me quipped.

My only real complaints: not enough Batman, as if the supporting cast were all trying to hog the limelight. And also, those sunglasses that sorta look like cat ears just don’t cut it–we want a full-on Selina Kyle Catwoman, who cries MEOW and plays with her pet cat. And also, the first screen caps of the TDKR filming years ago showed Talia in costume and aptly identified her as Talia, so the supposed twist was quelled early on. But STILL, this movie is a big triumph for me. I regret that my father is no longer here to watch it with me. Or maybe he is.

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