New Batman film made for a ‘Super Summer’

Summer always seems to be a time for epic movies. And wow, was this summer epic.

Superhero movies hit the screen hard this summer. “The Avengers” managed to beat “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” as the highest grossing film in its opening weekend by making $200.3 million, while “The Dark Knight Rises” brought in around $160 million in its opening weekend. I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed “The Dark Knight Rises” in its opening weekend, nor am I ashamed to say that my younger sister was willing to go to “The Avengers” for a fourth time so that I could see it for the first.

I must admit, I missed “The Amazing Spiderman,” but the reviews are saying that the character development of Peter Parker and the more modern twist on Spiderman make this film worth seeing.

I personally was quite fond of “The Dark Knight Rises,” which is interesting considering how much I disliked “The Dark Knight.” I was not a fan of the second Batman movie, primarily because I was never the biggest fan of Batman in the first place. The only good thing about the movie was The Joker. Although his character was slightly tainted by Heath Ledger’s tragic death, you cannot deny that Ledger did an amazing job. The Joker was a fascinating character.

The rest of the movie was far too long, with too many plot lines and not enough of Gary Oldman being fantastic.

Meanwhile, “The Dark Knight Rises” had an amazing plot line, which not only made me cry like a baby (while my eight-year-old cousin comforted me saying, “It’s all right Sara, Batman can’t die”) but also was vastly relevant to our current economic situation in America.

It reminded me of when I read a fantastic review of Anne Hathaway’s “Catwoman,” talking about how she is the “‘Catwoman’ for the 99%.” One of Hathaway’s lines, in fact, is, “You’re gonna wonder how you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us.” The movie surprisingly has a lot of political commentary, which is, unfortunately, a bit right-wing. I don’t let that stop me from enjoying the movie, of course. The characters, plot, and “The Bat” (Batman’s flying vehicle) make the movie far too amazing for me to slam it too much.

Unfortunately, “The Dark Knight Rises” became steeped in tragedy its opening night. The shooting in Aurora, Colo., claimed 12 lives, and injured 38 other people. Which brought me to wonder: Despite the fantastic ratings, reviews, and ticket sales of these movies, is the violence in these movies affecting the audiences? Or, on a more hopeful note, are audiences being affected by the good in these movies? For example, Christian Bale visited several of the injured in the hospital. One of the lines in “The Dark Knight Rises” is “Anyone can be a hero, even a man putting his coat around a little boy who just lost his parents.” Bale was a hero to those in the hospital. Good will shine through the darkness of a tragedy. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed this summer’s superhero movies so much. Batman, and even “The Avengers” show that even through difficult times, there is hope. Through the worst times, Batman manages to help his city. He triumphs in “The Dark Knight rises,” and audiences who have been stunned by tragedy got to see the bad guy, the crazy dude with a mask, being taken down.

And it was that ending that brought this summer’s superhero movies to a touching close.