Yes, this post is the 1st
of I’m sure many, many more to follow about “The Dark Knight Rises”. Though my
brother has been bragging about having tickets to the midnight premiere for a
few months --- I at least am going to get to see “TDKR” as it was meant to be;
as a complete trilogy, Back to Back to Back on opening night. Everything to follow is a list of some of the
best trilogies ever made. Yet, no matter how exciting, innovative, and addictive
some originals and their sequels seem to be most trilogies can’t seem to remain
great throughout all 3 movies. This is
the task facing Christopher “the great” Nolan ---- to make an all time
unquestioned complete fantastic III Part Trilogy. The key of course is to have them be a
continuous thought out intelligent story where each movie plays a role and
continues to build on its predecessor.
The failed ones are described by the Sports Guy, "A
series of three dramas in which the first movie did so well, they couldn't help
themselves, so they brought everyone back to make more money in an uninspired
sequel, only that one did pretty well, too, so they brought everyone back again
for a third movie, just to beat the dead horse completely into the ground."
(Though admittedly that isn’t necessarily applicable to some of the
greats on this list.)
The following movies however great
have some flaw among the trilogy:
The Incomplete Trilogies
1) The Mighty Ducks Trilogy [The Mighty Ducks, D2, D3]--- Ok, I admit
this may be on the list purely for sentimental reasons. But as the inspiration
of loving hockey for an entire generation with a perfect mix of childishness
and competitiveness the mighty ducks had it going. The films take you through
the growth of a team and childhood that mirrored our own experiences. In truth,
this trilogy is different than all others in that it’s not easy to pick the
weakest link. Most end up choosing D3, generally
regarding it as repeat of snob team vs. ragtag team plot. But anything that can
lead to the growth of a professional sports team needs to be recognized despite
what ever flaws it may have. Quack!!!
2) The
X-Men Trilogy [X-men, X2, X3] ---- Marvel's flagship superhero team set the
tone for all future superhero movies. Led by Bryan Singer and a perfectly cast
team , the direction more than provided a moving semi-realistic view of life
with mutants despite the lack of great action. Enter X2, which delivered both
human drama and mutant mayhem showing what superhero movies could be. But then
Singer went AWOL, and the studio fell into the trap deciding to introduce a
couple of dozen new characters and it all went a bit wrong in the third film. This trilogy is what Bill Simonds based his
comments on.
3) The
Back to the Future Trilogy [Part I, II, III] --- Who doesn’t have fond
memories of the Back to the Future
trilogy. The minute it said "To Be Continued" at the end of the first
film I was chomping at the bit to see what happened in the second. From driving
down the freeway at 88 miles per hour, to wishing you had a hover board,
coupled with a twisty, turny paradox-spinning puzzler in Part II. Consistently
fun, funny and about as good an adventure as you could wish for, there's a
reason that this is still wildly popular. However, the 3rd left
something else to be desired. Clearly an add-on without any real purpose
continuing the first two.
4) The
Matrix Trilogy [Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions] --- The
first Matrix film was one of those films, like Star Wars, that seems to change
cinema overnight. As Keanu Reeves set out to save humanity from the machines,
it spawned a million imitators, a thousand parodies and almost no equals. The
sequels continue the story line and add to the depth of storytelling however it
seems as if the writers/ producers themselves couldn’t understand the deep
philosophical themes they were trying to portray. Though the ambition is
admirable and fight scenes made everyone go “Whoa!!!!” sometimes a little less
unintelligible philosophical banter is actually more.
5) The
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy [Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest,
At World’s End] --- Some say trilogies can only be great if based on deep story
plots that continue and flow from one movie to another. Heck Matrix is taught
in philosophy classes across the world because of that. Yet, Pirates owes it all to two men. The
person who thought up the side character of Captain Jack Sparrow and of course
the one and only Johnny Depp. No other character has carried an entire
franchise quite like Captain Jack. It seems as if this trilogy has all the
makings: a 1st rate lead character with deep personality keeping the
audience wanting to learn more about him and his past, side love characters,
enemies that we still like and root for. The failure in this trilogy simply
came down to execution and poor story at the end. The twists and turns causes the
movie to meander far too often on its way to the conclusion, every character simply
betrays every other without any seemingly intelligible purpose.
6) The Austin Powers Trilogy [International Man of Mystery, The Spy
Who Shagged Me, Goldmember] --- Few performances make you glee with
laughter when looked at with fresh eyes as Mike Myer’s genius dual performance
as Austin Danger Powers and Dr. Evil. As the series wore on, however, it became
crystal clear that it was Dr. Evil who was the real star of the show, stealing
most of the films. For many, this was an introduction into raunchiness and
wishing we lived in the swinging ‘60s. The combination of the admittedly ace
and star-studded opening number (with Spielberg, Cruise, Paltrow and Spacey)
and Michael Caine almost saved
the day for Goldmember, but the trashiness of the film finally outmatched the
cleverness keeping it out of the best.
7) The
Terminator Trilogy [Terminator, Judgment Day, Rise of the Machines] --- The
first Terminator film changed cinema bringing us Arnold and James Cameron. Few
trilogies would even dare to do something as bold as switching its star evil
mankind killer into its savior. Yet T2 is inarguably one of the slickest, most
effective action thrillers the world has ever seen. Though the belated 3rd installment may
not quite stand on the same level, it's perfectly respectable staying true to
its origins and still bringing us the inevitable Doom’s Day. It falls short
however by further messing with the timeline, and it really misses Linda
Hamilton's steely Ripleyesque presence.
8) The
Scream Trilogy [I, II, III] --- The slasher film was pretty much dead and
buried in 1996. But Wes Craven managed to single-handedly bring it back to life
with this witty rebirth of the whole genre. Killing the one known star in the
opening scene wasn’t even the most original element about the movie. Here, our
unstoppable killer (who always comes back for one last scare just when you
think he is dead) faces victims who know how to survive a horror movie, who don't always run upstairs and who
frequently fight back. The first sequel riffed on the clichés
of Part I, while the less successful but still original third installment got really weird, depicting a sequel
movie within the movie. This didn’t prove nearly as effective ruining the
entire series slightly, but enough to keep it out of the elites.
9) The Godfather Trilogy [Part I, II, III]
--- Very tough not counting this in the “Greats List” but the best trilogies
are those with no miss-steps. Of course when it comes to quotes, acting,
directing and story the first two films are far superior and the reason this
trilogy is rated this high. The themes about family, immigration
and the American dream are depicted on a profound level, which is something
most people could relate to. Part II expertly layered past and present in a
brilliant expansion and clarification of the world, while Part III, whatever
its faults, completes the arc for Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) as he faces the
consequences of the choices he's made and watches the next generation grow up. All
three films distinguish themselves from the other and continue a story
thoughtfully and purposefully. Heck even the weak link delivered: "Just
when I thought I was out they pull me back in.” However, had all three films
been like Part Three I really don't think we ever would have heard of Don
Corleone and for that it just doesn’t quite make it to the next level.
10)
The Spiderman Trilogy [I, II, III] --- Blade and X-Men had shown where
superhero movies were heading, but it was Spider-Man that actually went there. Its
huge box-office success was thoroughly earned by director Sam Raimi placing
Peter Parker's character front and center. I loved it because it didn’t have a
big muscle man --- but rather nerdy Tobey McGuire. The sequel, pitting Spidey
against Alfred Molina's brilliant Doc Ock, was a further step up. The weak leak,
again number 3, fell into the same pitfalls where a tussle over bad guys
between director and studio led to a film overloaded with evildoers and short
on focus. I will also say, in comparison
to the likes of TDK or Star Wars, this trilogy seems to lack a growth in
Spiderman between the three films and is more just different battles. Having
said that, I am not a believer that this series needs a reboot, but if somehow
they can make Spiderman the new Dark Knight --- delivering a thought out
consistent planned story by delving deep into the psyche of a superhero then I’m
all for it. [Forget it ---- that last
sentence was pure blasphemy as nothing will ever come close to Nolan’s Dark
Knight!!!]
No comments:
Post a Comment