Tonight's marathon is deeply exciting and emotionally satisfying by the time it ends. The formula for it is pretty traditional with a hero either going into retirement, fallen from grace, facing the reality that they are getting too old for this stuff, or coping with a personal tragedy involving the loss of a loved one. However, the theme is consistent throughout each movie but the heroes and villains differ in motives and heroism. What makes this marathon special is it contains some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture having to rebuild themselves from the ground up and face their antagonists for one final showdown. Themes such as loss, revenge, and believing in a hero are all present here making for one of the most creative and powerful marathons one can come up with. Our heroes for this evening who rise are Zorro, Peter Pan, John McClane, James Bond, and Bruce Wayne/Batman. For tonight's triumphant and undeniably stellar marathon, we have on the following menu:
The Mask of Zorro 1998, Hook 1991, Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995, The World Is Not Enough 1999, and The Dark Knight Rises 2012
The Mask of Zorro 1998, Hook 1991, Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995, The World Is Not Enough 1999, and The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Tonight's all about our heroes experiencing tragic and unfortunate fall from graces and finding their way back to the top not just for themselves but for the fate of everyone they fight for. This marathon was carefully planned to show the parallels between each different story and draw comparisons towards the style each filmmaker approaches regarding the theme. All of these films have gone onto become box office hits as well as being iconic films in movie history regarding trilogies or the characters they depict. Some of these films got the box office success but got criticized by moviegoers for being lackluster compared to the filmmakers body of work. Examples are Steven Spielberg's Hook being considered a disappointment upon it's release in 1991 because it didn't compare with ET, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Jaws, and Last Crusade. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises is a polarizing film in which it received much critical acclaim but is often considered the Return Of The Jedi of The Dark Knight Trilogy by many Batman fans due to it not being able to top it's predecessor The Dark Knight. While that might seem unfair given the phenomenal success Dark Knight inspired, Rises holds its own as a separate entry in the trilogy and stands out for it's eccentric take on The Dark Knight tale. Beginning the marathon with the story of Zorro rising again and concluding with Dark Knight Rises gives the marathon a book ending that is richly and emotionally satisfying.
The first movie of the evening is the 1998 critically acclaimed blockbuster action adventure titled The Mask Of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta Jones. Beginning with an aged Zorro making his final appearance in regards to warning off his antagonist about not causing anymore trouble in the government, his identity is discovered by his worst enemy shortly afterwards forcing him to become imprisoned for twenty years but not before witnessing the murder of his wife and child being stolen by his mortal enemy Don Rafael. When the old Zorro breaks out of prison, he comes across a young thief who also seeks vengeance for the death of his brother. Realizing that the young boy is one of the young brothers that helped Zorro during his last mission twenty years prior, ex Zorro Don Diego takes Alejandro under his wing and teaches him how to fight while also prepping him to become the new Zorro for the people. The Mask Of Zorro is a terrific parallel to The Dark Knight Rises because it centers around the concept of a hero falling and rising again but also has a young apprentice like Joseph Gordon Levitt's character John Blake in Rises that believes in the hero long after he disappears from the public eye, beginning steps towards assisting the fallen hero and eventually becoming the successor to the hero. The Mask Of Zorro is an underrated classic that deserves far more praise than it's received from people and is a great story about a hero being lost but finds his way again.
The second movie of the marathon is Steven Spielbergs 1991 blockbuster and underrated classic titled Hook starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, and Bob Hoskins. The story centers around a grown up and older Peter Pan who calls himself Daniel now, a father of two, a workaholic whose become obsessed with success and barely has time for his family. He has completely forgotten about his past of being the once great hero of Neverland who fought fearlessly against his antagonist Captain Hook. When Hook kidnaps his children and brings them to Neverland, Daniel is escorted by an old friend named Tinkerbell, and is forced with having to reconnect with his past and remember who he was in order to save his kids and battle Hook once more. Hook parallels Dark Knight Rises with the hero being older, unhappy, and worn down due to his age. A villain returns from the past with the intent of seeking vengeance, and Tinkerbell makes a deal with Hook to get Peter ready for a rematch that is essentially the battle between the pirates and lost boys much like Gotham PD vs Bane's army. Peter Pan much like Bruce Wayne is a businessman who tends to blow off his company at pivotal times, and pushes away those he loves much like Bruce and Alfred parting ways. The biggest comparison with Hook and Rises is that the heroes begin a rigorous training towards getting their strength back to prepare for battle. The film ends with Pan passing the torch to a younger member of the Lost Boys group and heading back to reality to live happily ever after with his family as a retired Pan. Hook was nominated for a total of 5 academy awards upon it's release and feels like a strong follow up to The Mask Of Zorro.
The third movie of the marathon is the 1995 blockbuster Die Hard With A Vengeance starring Bruce Willis, Samuel Jackson, and Jeremy Irons. The story centers around a broken John McClane experiencing grief over the separation from his wife Holly and battling alcoholism, suddenly being summoned by his old chief at NYPD to battle a German terrorist who wishes to seek McClane out and have him play a deadly game of Simon Says with a Harlem shop owner as his sidekick. The parallels between Die Hard With A Vengeance and Dark Knight Rises is that both heroes begin the film on a downer note due to women they loved previously being absent from their lifes. Bruce Wayne grieved over the loss of Rachael Dawes from the events of The Dark Knight and John McClane is heartbroken over the separation from his wife Holly whom he fought for in the previous two entries in the Die Hard series. A villain emerges in both movies with connections towards both heroes pasts with the outcome being acts of vengeance such as Simon being the brother of Hans Gruber, and Bane being connected to the League of Shadows run by Ras Al Ghoul from Batman Begins. Their purpose of returning to Gotham is to fulfill the destiny of Ras Al Ghoul which was to destroy Gotham city due to it's levels of corruption. Both films end with the heroes being stronger individuals compared to when the film began and defeating the ultimate evil. Bruce Wayne and John McClane both had sidekicks assisting them throughout both movies with John Blake and Zeus. There's also a scene in both movies where a Federal Reserve Bank or Stock Market building is infiltrated by the villains doing damage to the city.
The fourth movie of the marathon is the 1999 blockbuster and 19th installment in the popular James Bond series titled The World Is Not Enough starring Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, and Denise Richards. In this entry in the James Bond world, Bond is given orders to protect a beautiful oil heiress from her former kidnapper whose an international terrorist who can't feel pain and is brutal in his actions much like Bane from Rises. While doing so James Bond uncovers a nuclear plot and realizes that the woman he's protecting may not be as innocent as she appears to be. So what does The World Is Not Enough have in common with The Dark Knight Rises? The hero Bond in this film is facing the reality that he is getting older and is reminded of it by his superior M played by Judi Dench. Bond suffers a shoulder issue much like Bruce Wayne has a leg issue in Rises with both doctors informing them about the severity of their conditions.The villains in the film are identiical to Talia Al Ghoul and Bane with the woman turning out to be the one pulling the strings and the male is used as a henchmen. The subplot about a fathers involvement in a previous event is acknowledged and referenced in both movies with the daughter of Ras Al Ghoul and Sophie Marceau taking over their dad's business and finishing what they initially started. There is also a female sidekick that assists the hero in both movies such as Christmas Jones played by Denise Richards and Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway. Both girls eventually help the hero defeat the villains and end up replacing the other girls as permanent love interests due to the others being corrupt. The openings to both World Is Not Enough and Dark Knight Rises both feature a spectacular action sequence that ends with both ending up midair and the villains henchmen performing acts of self sacrifice for the cause. World Is Not Enough is an underrated Bond classic that clearly must be adored by Christopher Nolan as he lifted many elements from this film and put them in Rises. Judi Dench has a huge and heavy role in this film like Michael Caine had in Rises.
The fifth and final movie of the evening is the film that connects all the movies together in regards to having the same theme. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final film in the epic Dark Knight trilogy. Starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Marion Cotillard, the much anticipated finale to The Batman Nolan arc centers around Bruce Wayne being retired in his mansion 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight. At first beginning as a crime free city, Gotham city begins to go under siege with the presence of a new evil named Bane. Not taking the advice of his wise butler Alfred whose convinced Bruces time as being Batman has passed, Bruce jumps back into being Batman only to suffer a major defeat during his first encounter with Bane. Bane stashes Bruce in a pit on the other side of the world as he takes Gotham under siege with a nuclear weapon plot similar to The World Is Not Enough and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Bruce is forced to rebuild himself from the ground up and regain the will to escape the Lazarus pit and return to Gotham to fight Bane as Batman once more. Much like Hook, Batman gains the help of the fallen Gotham police trapped underground during the siege to join arms in the battle against Banes army like the battle between The Lost Boys and Hooks pirates. Batman like James Bond and Zorro have moments of self sacrifice as they risk their lives for hundreds and thousands of others during a potential bomb threat. The Dark Knight Rises doesn't top Dark Knight but is far better than what some of it's harsh critics give it credit for and is one of the best concluding chapters in a trilogy ever. As a Rocky lll type of film where the hero gets beaten but returns for more, it works beautifully and ends the trilogy in a bold way with Bruce passing on the mantle to a young apprentice much like Peter Pan did the young Lost Boy in Hook and Anthony Hopkins with Antonio Banderas. Hell, he even gave the guy his daughter. What more approval do you need?
So what is the message behind this marathon? What are these movies all trying to say as one? Rocky Balboa once said it eloquently that it ain't over til it's over. That's the case with all of these films here. A heroes time may come to retire but the symbol behind that hero lives on forever. When it's time to move forward, you should meet your responsibilities and hand the mantle over to the next person which is what Anthony Hopkins Zorro, Robin Williams Peter Pan and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne did and went onto live happy lives or pass on when their mission is completed. Heroes may fall at times but they will always rise again if their strength and will permits them to. For Die Hard With A Vengeance, John McClane is a great cop on a good day but on a bad one, he is unquestionably the best there is. He only needs to make sure he doesn't hang up the phone on his wife. Mask of Zorro says that revenge is a dish best served cold and the time may come for a new hero to rise when an old one retires.
The fourth movie of the marathon is the 1999 blockbuster and 19th installment in the popular James Bond series titled The World Is Not Enough starring Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, and Denise Richards. In this entry in the James Bond world, Bond is given orders to protect a beautiful oil heiress from her former kidnapper whose an international terrorist who can't feel pain and is brutal in his actions much like Bane from Rises. While doing so James Bond uncovers a nuclear plot and realizes that the woman he's protecting may not be as innocent as she appears to be. So what does The World Is Not Enough have in common with The Dark Knight Rises? The hero Bond in this film is facing the reality that he is getting older and is reminded of it by his superior M played by Judi Dench. Bond suffers a shoulder issue much like Bruce Wayne has a leg issue in Rises with both doctors informing them about the severity of their conditions.The villains in the film are identiical to Talia Al Ghoul and Bane with the woman turning out to be the one pulling the strings and the male is used as a henchmen. The subplot about a fathers involvement in a previous event is acknowledged and referenced in both movies with the daughter of Ras Al Ghoul and Sophie Marceau taking over their dad's business and finishing what they initially started. There is also a female sidekick that assists the hero in both movies such as Christmas Jones played by Denise Richards and Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway. Both girls eventually help the hero defeat the villains and end up replacing the other girls as permanent love interests due to the others being corrupt. The openings to both World Is Not Enough and Dark Knight Rises both feature a spectacular action sequence that ends with both ending up midair and the villains henchmen performing acts of self sacrifice for the cause. World Is Not Enough is an underrated Bond classic that clearly must be adored by Christopher Nolan as he lifted many elements from this film and put them in Rises. Judi Dench has a huge and heavy role in this film like Michael Caine had in Rises.
The fifth and final movie of the evening is the film that connects all the movies together in regards to having the same theme. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final film in the epic Dark Knight trilogy. Starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Marion Cotillard, the much anticipated finale to The Batman Nolan arc centers around Bruce Wayne being retired in his mansion 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight. At first beginning as a crime free city, Gotham city begins to go under siege with the presence of a new evil named Bane. Not taking the advice of his wise butler Alfred whose convinced Bruces time as being Batman has passed, Bruce jumps back into being Batman only to suffer a major defeat during his first encounter with Bane. Bane stashes Bruce in a pit on the other side of the world as he takes Gotham under siege with a nuclear weapon plot similar to The World Is Not Enough and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Bruce is forced to rebuild himself from the ground up and regain the will to escape the Lazarus pit and return to Gotham to fight Bane as Batman once more. Much like Hook, Batman gains the help of the fallen Gotham police trapped underground during the siege to join arms in the battle against Banes army like the battle between The Lost Boys and Hooks pirates. Batman like James Bond and Zorro have moments of self sacrifice as they risk their lives for hundreds and thousands of others during a potential bomb threat. The Dark Knight Rises doesn't top Dark Knight but is far better than what some of it's harsh critics give it credit for and is one of the best concluding chapters in a trilogy ever. As a Rocky lll type of film where the hero gets beaten but returns for more, it works beautifully and ends the trilogy in a bold way with Bruce passing on the mantle to a young apprentice much like Peter Pan did the young Lost Boy in Hook and Anthony Hopkins with Antonio Banderas. Hell, he even gave the guy his daughter. What more approval do you need?
So what is the message behind this marathon? What are these movies all trying to say as one? Rocky Balboa once said it eloquently that it ain't over til it's over. That's the case with all of these films here. A heroes time may come to retire but the symbol behind that hero lives on forever. When it's time to move forward, you should meet your responsibilities and hand the mantle over to the next person which is what Anthony Hopkins Zorro, Robin Williams Peter Pan and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne did and went onto live happy lives or pass on when their mission is completed. Heroes may fall at times but they will always rise again if their strength and will permits them to. For Die Hard With A Vengeance, John McClane is a great cop on a good day but on a bad one, he is unquestionably the best there is. He only needs to make sure he doesn't hang up the phone on his wife. Mask of Zorro says that revenge is a dish best served cold and the time may come for a new hero to rise when an old one retires.
Our mighty heroes for this evening:
Our mighty villains for this evening:
:
The heroes doubters who become believers:
Sidekicks:
The Alfreds and coaches of this marathon:
The heroes successors:
Are those the lost boys?
The Heroes symbol:
And finally, the heroes and villains beautiful companions:
And they lived happily ever after:
No comments:
Post a Comment