Dark Knight Rises Review

Ok so first off I want you guys to know this is going to be a spoiler free discussion on the movie. I believe that all of the things that could be spoiled must be seen on the screen as they are presented in a manner that is very, very good. 

I do want to start off with a little background information. For those of you who don't know, this is the third and final film in the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman trilogy. Batman Begins kicked off the reboot taking Batman in a much needed more serious direction. It showed how Batman got started and introduced us to two great Batman villains, Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul. It was met with both critical and financial success. It was followed up 3 years later by Dark Knight. Dark Knight introduced us to Joker (portrayed by Heath Leadger in what is arguably his best role ever). Dark Knight was also significant because it was the highest grossing comic book movie of all time... until The Avengers broke that record this summer. And now 4 years later Dark Knight Rises is out showing us Bane and Catwoman. 

 

Now this is a fairly long movie so you guys should be prepared to sit for a while clocking in at 2 hours 45 minutes. I also want to let you know there may be a trailer of next summer's Man of Steel which I am personally looking forward to. I say the trailer may be there because depending on the theater it may or may not be there. The movie doesn't feel like a 3 hour movie though. The editing and writing push the action along at a very fast pace. I did see the movie in IMAX and it looked incredible. I would recommend to see it that way if you can afford it. I am a huge Batman nerd and this movie really rewards it like few other movies I have seen before it

I would like to make some recommendations of how to prepare yourself for this movie as well. First I would recommend you go and watch Batman Begins before you see this movie. A lot of the key plot elements tie back to that movie much more so then to Dark Knight. One of the things I like most about these movies is that they don't retell a specific Batman story but take a lot of elements from various Batman stories over the years. There are some Batman books that I would recommend you read because this movie takes a lot of elements from them. The first is Batman: Long Halloween. The second is Batman Knightfall. I do recommend reading both volumes of Knightfall. Knightfall is also pretty significant as it is basically the most definitive Bane story.

No go out and watch it. Watch it now!

That is all. Carry On!

-Spieg89

RTX 2012!

I know I said I would post this on Monday but I didn't get a chance. But its better late then never right?

Don't remember what RTX is? Go back and check out my last post: http://wiredgamers.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-is-rtx.html 

I worked as a volunteer helping to run a special booth on the show floor called the Immersion Museum. This booth consisted of items from a video series Rooster Teeth did called Immersion where in the two test subjects were thrown into situations similar to what someone would experience in serious different video game situations.

So there is a little sampling of Immersion. In fact those glasses were one of the displays at the booth. And I was responsible for them. We had the camera set up and would take two people and have them try and play catch a plush Grifball. It was very amusing to say the least.

This is a picture of what the booth looked like. 

The line for registration.

Yeah that is the Halo 4 booth. Unfortunately I didn't get to play it but I saw some demos and it looks great! 

And that is the reason I didn't get to play Halo 4. The crowds you see in the back and to the left is the Halo 4 line.

 From my booth I could see the e-sports arena. This is a game of Halo 4 that was being played.

Do a Barrel roll! (In a warthog haha)

And yes. Those are the "official" Rooster Teeth Red vs Blue guys playing DDR just behind my booth.

Ultimately I didn't get to do and see as much as I wanted, but I had a lot of fun. I love the Rooster Teeth community and I look forward to maybe going next year. I really had a good time working with the Rooster Teeth staff and they sure know how to put on a great event!

Also on Saturday night there was a concert and mixer. I did take some video of the show but it turned out really bad so I don't really want to put it out there.

The only bad part about it was that I had to leave on Sunday night instead of Monday like I wanted. But other then that it was great. If you guys get a chance to go next year I recommended going! 

That is all. Carry On!

-Spieg89

Me in the Immersion Booth wearing some of the props.

What is RTX?

Happy 4th of July to all of our readers in the US! So if you want to take a break from blowing up fireworks and eating BBQ I am going to tell you guys about the little convention I am going to down in Austin, TX called the Rooster Teeth Expo or RTX.

You guys may or may not have heard of a production company down in Austin called Rooster Teeth. They are best known for their popular we series Red vs Blue which recently started its 10th Season. For those of you who have never seen the show here is a taste:

 

RTX 2012 is Rooster Teeth's second fan expo they have hosted in their hometown.  Last year it was a very small and limited event but this year Rooster Teeth is expanding exponentially. They sold out last week to 4,000 registered participants. I will be on staff in a sense as I will be working as a volunteer at the event. 

Alright so here is the fan input section. What do you guys want me to see? This will be the first open to the public demo of Halo 4 and I will try to see it but I can't make any promises? Tell me in the comments what you want to see! Here is a list of the exhibitors at RTX: RTX Exhibitors.

Look for an article when I get back!

Carry On!

-Spieg89