He Can Make That Choice (#20: The Dark Knight Rises)

I wanted to write a long essay about The Dark Knight and #20: The Dark Knight Rises. I would talk about how they’re the only Batman movies which directly confront the inherently messy contradictions of Batman the character and how those contradictions are emblematic of America itself. Both have a bloody and messy origin story, crave stability, but never accept it. Both believe in law and order but are willing to go outside the lines, as needed. Both believe in the People, but also the Individual. Both hold out certain ideals as unassailable, knowing full well those ideals are unattainable, but worth holding onto nonetheless. But instead of writing a long essay, I wrote this paragraph. Isn’t that better?

(Also, I really do have a job. And two kids.)

Anyway, maybe we need a few hundred more viewings of each, to really get our thoughts together. In the meantime, yeah, they’re good.

Final Verdict: KEEPER!

Also, here’s a rundown of our first 20 (yes, 20 already!) verdicts (links to past reviews on the right):

NO.	TITLE	VERDICT
1	Ace Ventura	KEEP
2	Adaptation	KEEP
3	Adventures of Babysitting	KEEP
4	Air Force One	PITCH
5	In the Line of Fire	PITCH
6	Aliens	KEEP
7	Amelie	KEEP
8	American Beauty	PITCH
9	Anchorman	KEEP
10	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	PITCH
11	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	PITCH
12	Austin Powers in Goldmember	PITCH
13	Marvel’s The Avengers	KEEP
14	Alien	KEEP
15	The Aviator	PITCH
16	Batman	KEEP
17	Batman Returns	KEEP
18	Batman Begins	KEEP
19	The Dark Knight	KEEP
20	The Dark Knight Rises	KEEP

I'm admittedly a bit terrified that we've already watched twenty movies and have barely cracked the B's. This is gonna take a while.

NEXT UP: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE! More KEATON!