It has been predicted to be the biggest blockbuster of the year and movie-goers Friday morning in Columbus helped confirm that belief. “The Dark Knight Rises,” the third and final chapter in director Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman saga, opened at midnight at theaters around the country, an opening obscured by the tragic shootings in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and 50 injured.
Oblivious to that unfolding tragedy, movie-goers rushed the ticket windows long before showtime.
The Malco-owned Columbus Cinema held two midnight screenings Friday morning to packed theaters. Tickets for the Columbus showings went on sale July 11.
“We sold out one screen and the other theater is almost sold-out,” Columbus Cinema General Manager Amy Christian said Thursday night. “We have sold more tickets than we expected.”
Batman is one of the most popular comic book characters in the DC Comics universe. Nolan’s vision of the “Dark Knight” is the most recent in a line that includes a popular 1960s TV show and four previous films directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumaker, respectively.
“What sets Batman apart from most other super-heroes is that he has no supernatural or magical powers,” said Mississippi State University Associate Professor Kevin Williams, who teaches a Mass Media in Society class. “Even though he is a multi-millionaire, the common everyday person can relate to him. Here’s a physically normal person who has demons in his past and he wants justice. Don’t we all want to right the wrongs that were done to us so long ago? I don’t think people even fully recognize him as a vigilante. They just see him as a symbol of immediate justice.”
Nolan’s prior Batman films, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” have become one of the most successful franchises in history, creating high expectations for “The Dark Knight Rises.” Williams said the secret to Nolan’s Batman success is his ability to make the hero and the films’ villains somewhat realistic.
“As fantastic as the villains and technology are in Nolan’s vision of Batman, there is a real gritty and humble aesthetic to his vision,” Williams said. “From his use of sets, colors, dialogue, and action, everything works together to strike the same tone. It’s a dark tone. There’s no flash and sizzle like the more recent Marvel movies. Perhaps most importantly, Nolan’s Batman taps into a psyche we are all experiencing in the political/economic reality of today. Our world has driven off a cliff and there may be no coming back. In addition to our spiritual faith, we need a physically tangible symbol or metaphor that there is still hope.”
“The Dark Knight Rises” is the third super-hero movie to open this summer, falling in line behind Marvel Comics’ “The Avengers” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Both Marvel movies raked in hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. Williams said society will always need super-heroes.
“If you have watched the movies leading up to ‘The Avengers’ as well as ‘The Avengers’ itself, it’s obvious that Marvel wanted to make these movies witty, optimistic, and fun,” said Williams. “Super-heroes definitely should be about fun and doing amazing things. I haven’t seen the recent Spider-Man but I’m told by a colleague that it is more dark. There’s not much fun about Batman. Marvel films seem to be about super-heroes who are trying to find themselves. Batman doesn’t necessarily want to find himself. He’s not sure that would be such a good person. We need super-heroes. This is nothing new. Look at your classic heroes such as Odysseus, Achilles, Hercules. Look at biblical heroes such as Samson or Moses. We need to personify our strengths and weaknesses and place them in a morally relevant narrative. It’s a guidebook and parable. Parables can be the most efficient means of instruction.”
Although the franchise is widely popular, the hype surrounding “The Dark Knight” has left some questioning its credibility. A bad review of the film on Rotten Tomatoes (rottentomatoes.com) brought about death threats from some of the tenacious Batman fans.
“Some movie fans don’t want anyone to judge the newest Batman movie, even if you’ve seen it,” Columbus freelance writer Jed Pressgrove said Thursday. “Rotten Tomatoes recently suspended comments on reviews of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ because some fans issued death threats to critics who wrote negative reviews of the film. This incident is a good example of where our film culture is. It seems many people don’t even care about the quality of the films themselves. Some people are so attached to a particular character or franchise that they must like it, and so must everyone else. Even more troubling is Christopher Nolan’s response, which exposes him as a moron. He actually defended these losers who got riled up over different opinions about a Batman movie. It’s bad when a supposed artist wants people to be idiots. It makes me want to boycott ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ on principle.”
While opinions on the film are strong among both its fans and its detractors, some attended Friday’s opening just for the fun of it.
“We’ve never been to a midnight movie before,” Rebecca Dillon, 19, of Columbus, said. “We wanted to do something different. We thought it would be fun.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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