Star Rating:****
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine.
Plot/Overview: There's a bad guy called 'Bane' (Tom Hardy), who wear a creepy mask thing over his mouth that's attached to his skin which is kind of gross, and the Batman is needed to defeat him. A lot of the plot is carried on from the previous film (The Dark Knight) and this film is about Bruce Wayne (Bale) coming to terms with everything that has happened previously and "rising"as the Batman again.
What are the good points?
1. The acting is incredible. I definitely didn't have any doubts since the cast is pretty good (*cough* Gary Oldman*Cough*) but I was particularly surprised by...
2. ...Anne Hathaway who played Catwoman. I was definitely expecting
that character that Hathaway always plays. It always seems me that although her roles vary, there is always
something about her characters that is just the same. ANYWAY... She just reinvented herself for this movie or something... and I had always believed that there would never been a good Catwoman, after seeing some terrible portrayals of the character, but I guess she proved me wrong!
She was sexy, mysterious, graceful, and let's not forget,
very very cat-like. Well done Ms Hathaway, well done.
3.The plot. I had heard various things about there being a massive plot twist, and there definitely was, and I was definitely surprised. Other people may have seen it coming, but I definitely didn't, which is always nice :).
4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
5.The special effects are amazing. It's films like this that really make me see how far technology and improvements in CGI have come.
What are the bad points?
1. OK, don't shoot me, but I really hated the villain. There seems to be a massive Tom Hardy craze at the moment (with people I know, anyway) and I completely agree that he is one of the best actors in the business, right now... I just didn't find the villain AT ALL threatening or scary. Without speaking... the villain, Bane, looks really freaky... but the voice that comes out of him is not at all what I expected. It was almost the voice of a machine-generated sarcastic professor... if that makes any sense at all? It might have fit the bill for others but for me it was distracting and ill-fitting. Weird.
2. Despite the film being called The Dark Knight "Rises"... it seems that Bruce Wayne spent the whole film attempting to "rise" out of a giant well. Again, this is just a preference and all other parts of the plot I LOVED.. but this part of it just didn't sit well with me.
3. For those who don't know, Juno Temple (St Trinian's, Atonement) also makes an appearance as Anne Hathaway's sidekick or something. I'm a fan of Juno Temple but her role in this is basically pointless. I don't even know what happens to her "in the end" and by that I mean from the middle of the film onwards. She has very few lines and her screen time is about 3 minutes in total, probably. I just don't know why they didn't just leave her out of it completely.
4. You have to see 'The Dark Knight' (the previous film) before you see 'The Dark Knight Rises'. This should be pretty obvious and shouldn't really be a "bad point" but as someone who hadn't seen the first movie (don't shout at me!) I was confused about a lot of things. (But I have seen The Dark Knight now so a lot of things have been resolved)
Should you see this movie?
Yes. This movie is for anyone who likes Batman and action movies with a good storyline. There are a few things that bugged me, but in general, this is a good film. Seeing it in the cinema will give you the best experience for this movie.
