“The Dark Knight Rises†PG-13 â€" Circuitously plotted and heavy with echoes of 21st-century terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and official lies, this big finish (or is it?) to the “Batman†trilogy by director Christopher Nolan will surely transfix high-schoolers, despite its nearly three-hour length. As with “The Dark Knight†(PG-13, 2008), the PG-13 rating seems wrong. Much about the movie strays into R territory â€" not with graphic violence, but with a dark, apocalyptic tone.
Nolan and his star Christian Bale aren’t comic-booking; they’re saying existential things about the modern world. Having taken the blame as Batman for crimes committed by Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) in the last film, Bruce Wayne (Bale) and his crime-fighting persona have gone underground and into a depressive funk. Gotham City is corrupt, despite the best efforts of police Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman).
Wayne’s butler Alfred (Michael Caine) urges him to get back into the world, not as Batman, but as himself. So Wayne goes to a charity ball and allies with philanthropist Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) to power Gotham with clean fusion energy. A hulking, vengeful masked villain named Bane (Tom Hardy) and his thugs hijack a plane and a Russian nuclear physicist, and head for Gotham.
They steal the fusion reactor. Meanwhile, jewel thief Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) steals not only Wayne’s mother’s pearls, but his own fingerprints, which she sells to his business rivals who are in league with Bane. Soon Wayne, collaborating with the president of his company, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), dons the bat suit and fires up the Batmobile.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The film is too full of realistic death and destruction for most middle-schoolers.
SPOILER ALERT: A terrorist act causes buildings, bridges and streets to explode, trapping Gothamites on their island and threatening nuclear annihilation. Other action sequences include bone-crushing fights and heavy gun battles as well as explosions and chases. The villain Bane wears a creepy black rubber mask over his nose and mouth. Scenes in an underground prison somewhere in the Middle East are gruesome without being graphic. Flashbacks of the villain Two-Face show part of his face badly disfigured. The language is generally non-profane. There is one subtly implied overnight tryst.
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“Safety Not Guaranteed.†R â€" High-schoolers who appreciate offbeat indie films and naturalistic character studies might really like “Safety Not Guaranteed.â€
Two interns at a Seattle magazine, the serious young woman Darius and the shy guy Arnau, go on assignment with their jerk of a boss, Jeff, to a small coastal town. They intend to check out a presumed weirdo named Kenneth who has advertised for someone to join him in time travel.
Darius is given the assignment of cozying up to him, and she’s surprised at how much empathy she feels.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The script uses crude sexual slang and strong profanity, and there are implied but not explicit sexual situations. Characters drink and smoke cigarettes and a joint. The untimely loss of a parent or young love proves to be a central theme.
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