Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway. The much anticipated Dark Knight Rises follows the story of Batman's resurface, in order to take down a new terrorist leader, Bane.
Ever since the acclaimed 'Batman Begins' back in 2005, Christopher Nolan's hope has been restored in the once corny and ridiculous Batman franchise. Then in 2008 'The Dark Knight' shocked audience's and critics alike, hailed as 'the best superhero movie of all time' featuring an unprecedented performance of Batman's finest villain, The Joker, by the late Heath Ledger. How could the Dark Knight be 'topped', would Hardy live up to Ledger's performance, how would the trilogy end! The epic conclusion to The Dark Knight series is finally here, and it certainly stands up to it's predecessors.
My worries with the dark knight materialized early with the reveal of 'Catwoman', the 'indecipherable' Bane and the sheer pressure that fan's exerted onto Nolan! Thankfully all my worries for the film were distinguished quickly, as the lights dimmed and the first scene was presented. The memories of 'Batman Begins and 'The Dark Knight' came flooding back to me as I suddenly began to realise the sheer spectacle of this film. This is after all the BIGGEST film of 2012, concluding the BEST superhero franchise of all time! The first scene firmly 'fastens your seat-belt' displaying an intelligent, disturbing and above all deeply intimidating introduction to Bane.
Bane is a 'psychopathic Juggernaut', he has no feelings whatsoever and will do anything in order to achieve his goal, as is shown in the opening minutes. As well as firmly planting his print onto the dark knight franchise, Tom Hardy has also presented the most intimidating, most fierce, most enjoyable and most enthralling villain I've seen in the Batman franchise. Topping the performance, of the fantastic Heath Ledger. Every time he was on screen, he stole the scene, his gargantuan figure and power dominating over any character. As for his undecipherable dialogue? Yes, it was difficult to understand throughout certain points in the film, however his voice became easy to understand once, you'd been hearing it for a good 5 minutes and your ears's had tuned to his frequency. His departure however is somewhat of a different story. As we progress through the film, the plot takes some unexpected twists and turns producing an increasing amount of information about each character, making them all the more interesting and compelling. Bane is one of those characters, but just as soon as we become immersed within his story, he's forgotten about and almost becomes left in the dark. Unfortunately this is a running trait throughout the film, actions are committed but never fully explained or remembered. People appear out of thin air, and the audience are expected to accept this fact, plot point materialize all too spontaneously making the film feel a little too contrived.
As previously mentioned the film begins with a thrilling introduction to the film's villain, catching the whole audience off guard as the action happens almost immediately, and never really holds back. From the off-set we are enthralled within the story, which admittedly takes a while to take off. However when it does, the audience is there, with every character, feeling their pain and emotions, we're there in every scene of public destruction sharing their shock and awe. This film is after all a spectacle on a momentous scale, most scenes of destruction are real and most importantly feel real! Nearing the end of the film we are treated to some of the biggest, most daunting and intimidating set-pieces ever seen on film. With the most poignant moment coming from the stadium scene, where I sat there, open-mouthed at the exhilarating occurrences that appeared before my eyes. The use of music within this scene is especially inspiring, the contrast of innocence with pure evil. Every scene following this one shares it's ambition and spectacle, again displaying terrific scenes of action shown on a gargantuan scale. Until the unexpected end. Initially once the film had finished and the credits began to role I was frustrated, I felt the ending tried to make everyone happy, and just confused itself producing a clump of rubbish at the end. However upon further thought, while the ending may frustrate some, I rather liked it, it was a satisfying and pleasant ending to what has been a fantastic series.
Anne Hathaway was a worry from the very beginning, the star of the whimsical 'Princess Diaries' playing one of Batman's most famous, dangerous and seductive enemy/ally 'Catwoman'. The feelings that I have about 'Catwoman' are almost identical to the feelings I had about 'Two Face' in Batman's previous outing 'The Dark Knight'. Aaron Eckhart displayed a brilliant performance depicting the once sane, but now deluded villain, although I believe that he wasn't needed within the film. The fact that he was included simply meant that there was less emphasis on the fantastic 'Joker'. Catwoman is very similar in this sense. Anne Hathaway produces a surprisingly immersive performance, however whenever she was on screen I just wanted to return to the evil, vindictive actions of Bane. Furthermore I never really felt that the character of Catwoman was looked at in much detail, we don't learn much about her past, or her perculier housemate!
The acting throughout the film is what you would expect from some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordan-Levitt to name just a few. Each actor delivering a performance which would be expected of their level of experience, everyone within this film is brilliant. Michael Caine delivers his most heart-felt and relate able performance yet of the loveable 'Alfred' while Gordon-Levitt is the surprise star of the film, conveying the feelings and emotions of a civilian police officer who finds himself entangled within the chaos of Gotham.
This film is the most exciting and simply thrilling film of the past few years, the sheer momentous spectacle of this film shines through within the passion of each and every performance. Everyone behind this production clearly portrays their dedication and devotion to make this film work, from the directing, to the music, to the art department! This film and in fact this series is something to be proud of, it's the epic conclusion to the fantastic series.
90%- The summer movie to end all summer movies.
Calum Russell
R.I.P to all the victims of the Aurora shootings.
Ever since the acclaimed 'Batman Begins' back in 2005, Christopher Nolan's hope has been restored in the once corny and ridiculous Batman franchise. Then in 2008 'The Dark Knight' shocked audience's and critics alike, hailed as 'the best superhero movie of all time' featuring an unprecedented performance of Batman's finest villain, The Joker, by the late Heath Ledger. How could the Dark Knight be 'topped', would Hardy live up to Ledger's performance, how would the trilogy end! The epic conclusion to The Dark Knight series is finally here, and it certainly stands up to it's predecessors.
My worries with the dark knight materialized early with the reveal of 'Catwoman', the 'indecipherable' Bane and the sheer pressure that fan's exerted onto Nolan! Thankfully all my worries for the film were distinguished quickly, as the lights dimmed and the first scene was presented. The memories of 'Batman Begins and 'The Dark Knight' came flooding back to me as I suddenly began to realise the sheer spectacle of this film. This is after all the BIGGEST film of 2012, concluding the BEST superhero franchise of all time! The first scene firmly 'fastens your seat-belt' displaying an intelligent, disturbing and above all deeply intimidating introduction to Bane.
Bane is a 'psychopathic Juggernaut', he has no feelings whatsoever and will do anything in order to achieve his goal, as is shown in the opening minutes. As well as firmly planting his print onto the dark knight franchise, Tom Hardy has also presented the most intimidating, most fierce, most enjoyable and most enthralling villain I've seen in the Batman franchise. Topping the performance, of the fantastic Heath Ledger. Every time he was on screen, he stole the scene, his gargantuan figure and power dominating over any character. As for his undecipherable dialogue? Yes, it was difficult to understand throughout certain points in the film, however his voice became easy to understand once, you'd been hearing it for a good 5 minutes and your ears's had tuned to his frequency. His departure however is somewhat of a different story. As we progress through the film, the plot takes some unexpected twists and turns producing an increasing amount of information about each character, making them all the more interesting and compelling. Bane is one of those characters, but just as soon as we become immersed within his story, he's forgotten about and almost becomes left in the dark. Unfortunately this is a running trait throughout the film, actions are committed but never fully explained or remembered. People appear out of thin air, and the audience are expected to accept this fact, plot point materialize all too spontaneously making the film feel a little too contrived.
As previously mentioned the film begins with a thrilling introduction to the film's villain, catching the whole audience off guard as the action happens almost immediately, and never really holds back. From the off-set we are enthralled within the story, which admittedly takes a while to take off. However when it does, the audience is there, with every character, feeling their pain and emotions, we're there in every scene of public destruction sharing their shock and awe. This film is after all a spectacle on a momentous scale, most scenes of destruction are real and most importantly feel real! Nearing the end of the film we are treated to some of the biggest, most daunting and intimidating set-pieces ever seen on film. With the most poignant moment coming from the stadium scene, where I sat there, open-mouthed at the exhilarating occurrences that appeared before my eyes. The use of music within this scene is especially inspiring, the contrast of innocence with pure evil. Every scene following this one shares it's ambition and spectacle, again displaying terrific scenes of action shown on a gargantuan scale. Until the unexpected end. Initially once the film had finished and the credits began to role I was frustrated, I felt the ending tried to make everyone happy, and just confused itself producing a clump of rubbish at the end. However upon further thought, while the ending may frustrate some, I rather liked it, it was a satisfying and pleasant ending to what has been a fantastic series.
Anne Hathaway was a worry from the very beginning, the star of the whimsical 'Princess Diaries' playing one of Batman's most famous, dangerous and seductive enemy/ally 'Catwoman'. The feelings that I have about 'Catwoman' are almost identical to the feelings I had about 'Two Face' in Batman's previous outing 'The Dark Knight'. Aaron Eckhart displayed a brilliant performance depicting the once sane, but now deluded villain, although I believe that he wasn't needed within the film. The fact that he was included simply meant that there was less emphasis on the fantastic 'Joker'. Catwoman is very similar in this sense. Anne Hathaway produces a surprisingly immersive performance, however whenever she was on screen I just wanted to return to the evil, vindictive actions of Bane. Furthermore I never really felt that the character of Catwoman was looked at in much detail, we don't learn much about her past, or her perculier housemate!
The acting throughout the film is what you would expect from some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordan-Levitt to name just a few. Each actor delivering a performance which would be expected of their level of experience, everyone within this film is brilliant. Michael Caine delivers his most heart-felt and relate able performance yet of the loveable 'Alfred' while Gordon-Levitt is the surprise star of the film, conveying the feelings and emotions of a civilian police officer who finds himself entangled within the chaos of Gotham.
This film is the most exciting and simply thrilling film of the past few years, the sheer momentous spectacle of this film shines through within the passion of each and every performance. Everyone behind this production clearly portrays their dedication and devotion to make this film work, from the directing, to the music, to the art department! This film and in fact this series is something to be proud of, it's the epic conclusion to the fantastic series.
90%- The summer movie to end all summer movies.
Calum Russell
R.I.P to all the victims of the Aurora shootings.
