ISLAMABAD:
The final installment of the Dark Knight trilogy out-earned its predecessor over the weekend. According to the website Box Office Mojo, which provides statistics on movies’ box office returns, The Dark Knight Rises’ overseas take reached $488.6 million, taking it past The Dark Knight’s overseas total of $469.7 million. Worldwide, the movie has taken in $898.4 million, and is on track to pass the once storied $1 billion mark.
In Pakistan the movie was released on the Eid with people lining in cues waiting in anticipation for Christian Bale to give his last performance as Gotham’s city’s savior. Here in Islamabad, watching the early shows of Batman seemed to be on everyone’s to-do-list on Eid day. “I booked the ticket three weeks in advance, otherwise it would have been impossible to get any for the first three days of Eid,” said Ramaaz, a local resident and Batman fan.
Terror threat
Not everything went without a hitch, however, as Cinepax was forced to shut down on the second day of Eid due to a bomb threat. The cinema had to issue an official apology, explaining that “all the major parks across the country were forcefully shut down due to the very same reason last night”. The cinema ended up offering its customers refund or exchange with the tickets of their choice.
Public opinion
However, slightly more than a week after its release, Islamabadis find themselves comparing DKR to The Dark Knight, in which the late Heath Ledger gave an academy award-nominated performance as the Joker.
“I think the second part was more intense, had more action and drama, plus after the Joker, the bar was set so high for the next villain that I found Bane’s character slightly less impressive than the Joker,” said Nur Eman, an A’ levels student.
However, others who claimed to be hardcore Batman fans since childhood begged to differ. “Bane was an excellent character, he had a commanding presence throughout the movie and it’s safe to say that his acting has done complete justice to his role as the strong, intellectual villain,” said Taimur who says he’s been reading Batman comic books since the age of 13.
Similarly, Vaqas, an older Batman fan, said the movie was very loyal to the comic books, especially to the Knightfall story arc, upon which much of the movie’s plot is based, especially the Bane character’s role. “After the ridiculous version of Bane in Batman and Robin, Tom Hardy’s performance and the authenticity of the character’s back story was a breath of fresh air. Much like Heath Ledger, Hardy outshone the actor who had top billing,” he said, while stressing that the movie is loyal to the fact that Bane is the only villain in the Batman universe that single-handedly beats the Dark Knight.
Some cinemagoers seemed unimpressed with the Cinepax print as compared to Arena’s, where the movie is also running. “I saw it at both the cinemas, and even though Arena is more expensive, the print was way better than at Cinepax,” Alia opined.
According to the majority of the twin cities cinemagoers, The Dark Knight Rises seems to have reached their expectations as many confirmed that they got their money’s worth and that the last movie made an excellent ending to Christopher Nolan’s imagination of Batman.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2012.