“The Dark Knight Rises” may just well be the biggest movie of the year. Not only is it predicted to top the record-setting midnight-premiere revenue set by Marvel’s “The Avengers,” but the recent events of the past few days will surely make this movie unforgettable, even in the most unfortunate ways.
One event I’m referring to is the shocking massacre of 12 moviegoers in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, a town just 20 miles from another place linked to a historical massacre, Colombine High School. It has become the main headline in every major news network and a trending topic on twitter. The killer, James Holmes, 24, was a neuroscience Phd student at the University of Colorado, until just one month ago when he dropped out. Dressed in a gas mask and a bulletproof vest, Holmes was carrying four guns and released a smoke bomb and tear gas before randomly shooting into the full theater. He’s currently in custody with a trial date set for this Monday.
The news came as a shock to those of us waking up this morning. Movie theaters are a haven for letting our imaginations run free, to escape reality. Yet to think that some of the violence and terror we see on a screen can find its way into the lives of the average moviegoer can present a breach in the safety we often feel at our local theater. Since the news of the shooting, theaters all across the nation have increased security, hoping to quell any copycats from committing another horror.
The film’s title was also linked to further negative headlines a few days ago when for the first time in company history, Rotten Tomatoes, the popular website devoted to movie reviews, had to disable its “Dark Knight Rises” comments section. Some of the reporters who gave a negative review of Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of the Batman trilogy received a slew of spiteful responses. Marshall Fine of “Hollywood and Fine” commented, “At times, the action is so massive and thunderously clunky that I might as well have been watching one of the Transformers movies.” Even though this all occurred before the movie’s release last night, many of the Batman diehards saw this review to be a tragic blow to the film’s integrity. Thus, overwhelming amounts of bitter comments ensued. Editor-in-Chief, Matt Atchity stated “Honestly, there were a couple of death threats there. The vitriol has been there before, but the amount became unmanageable.”
But despite these unfortunate events, the hype surrounding the film continues to be strong, and there’s no doubt thousands more fans will be in queue to see how this trilogy finally ends.
