The Dark Knight Rises Review (2012)

The finale

Now we are at the controversial film, which is also my personal favourite. This film feels like the most well thought out, the most exciting, the darkest and the best. Bane, Batman, the return of the League of Shadows and the introduction of Catwoman are all my favourite parts of the entire series, The Dark Knight whilst containing my favourite villain, the Dark Knight Rises has my favourite plot and overall feels like the best that Christopher Nolan has to offer, and so on with the review.

The story takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, with Bruce Wayne having closed himself away for those 8 years and no longer being Batman. With the introduction of the latest villain Bane, and the theft of his mothers pearls by the illusive Catwoman played well by Anne Hathaway. This time Bane has come to Gotham in order to destroy it and finish the work that Ras Al Ghul started. Bruce Wayne is coaxed back into being Batman with the help of Joseph Gordon Levitt's character John Blake and the pursuit of his mothers stolen pearls. Soon enough Batman is on the hunt for Bane and is soon beaten, broken and removed from Gotham. I personally thought it was fun to see what would happen to Gotham city if the villain actually won. I don't particularly want to spoil this film but later on I will go into depth on the series as a whole anyway.

The ultimate showdown

Bane is just what this film needed, it harkens back to Batman Begins, everything that Batman wanted to be has been lost and Gotham believes him to be a murderer and a fiend. Bane comes to Gotham and rules it in the way that Ras Al Ghul had intended, with fear the central theme of the first movie. Bane is the one thing that finally beat Batman, he in fact broke him and whilst the Joker was able to confront the Bat on a more personal level, Bane is able to get to the one thing that Batman as always fought for and that is Gotham City. I love the connections between the first and third movies, with Talia Al Ghul not only making an appearance but also becoming the central villain, and in fact seducing Bruce Wayne. Nolan has had a two villain theme running throughout the trilogy and although I would have preferred to see more of Talia Al Ghul in order for her to fulfil her role as the villainess I was pleased to see that the rule was not broken in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Gotham's saviour

The action in this film is superb, there is  great fight choreography and every major battle is felt. The bad cinematography of Batman Begins feels like a bad dream in comparison to this and there is no other way to describe it any other way than beautiful. The city of Gotham really feels alive, it feels like its straight from the comic books. Bane is not only a great character but he is one of the best cinematic villains I have ever seen. The stakes are also much higher in this film than they have an out of touch Batman going up against Bane someone that's much stronger and more powerful than him and it makes sense that Batman would lose, he isn't able to keep up with the might that is Bane.
Catwoman is also interesting, its good to see Batman working with someone else, someone that he can't entirely trust and Anne Hathaway puts in a great performance as Selina Kyle. This Catwoman is smarter than one we have seen before and its great to see Batman adapting to work with a partner.
Similarly I do enjoy the character of John Blake and although I wish that it wasn't actually Robin I do enjoy his character and find it intriguing that although Batman was gone for 8 years he still managed to inspire some people to do good.

The main theme of this film is pain, similarly to chaos and fear from the other two films. The whole character of Bane is surrounded by pain, he has to work a mask to keep that pain in check, he was born in a pit known as "hell on earth" he has to continuously put up with the fact that he can never be with the one he loves because Ras Al Ghul found him a disgrace to the League of Shadows. Batman's back is broken for the love of god and if that does not scream pain I don't know what does. Bruce Wayne even has to climb out of this pit in order to return to Gotham and it is something that its a huge part of the film. Catwoman is in search of  something that will erase her past because she wants to start a new life, the old one is too painful for her. The nuclear bomb that will go off in the heart of Gotham will bring pain to untold millions and everything will be destroyed.

Anne Hathaway as the illusive Catwoman

In conclusion I just want to talk about the trilogy as a whole so if you don't want anything spoiled I suggest you stop reading the review here and go check out "The Dark Knight Rises" and as a matter of fact, going and watching the series again just to realise how incredible it is.

Now the trilogy as a whole has to be the best comic book trilogy that there is. All three films are fantastic, and the sense of realism that Nolan brings to the genre is unmatched. The choice of villains for each of the films matches the stories and themes portrayed in each of the three, and the combination of two villains in each film makes not only for gritty stories but also well thought out plots. Batman has never been better realised and I am not sure that we will ever get a better Batman film.
The casting for the most part is also impeccable, I can't see past Christian Bale as Batman, Alfred and Fox are also  great throughout the series. Each of the villains was perfectly cast and I particularly enjoy Two-Face who I did not expect and Tom Hardy as Bane.
I do have to say though that with Batman Begins I do feel as though the recent reboot trend was started. Everyone felt that Batman Begins was so good and because it was a reboot, rebooting franchises would work wonders for them too, but I don't think it is entirely necessary.
I also like how each film ties into one another and I won't go into detail here but each film interlinks and connects up with one another, its interesting to see Nolan weave what becomes effectively a universe.
My only complaints are that Nolan retired this universe and the awful casting of the character Rachael Dawes.

So check this series out, if you love Batman, superheroes, comic books or realism. You will not be disappointed.

The Dark Knight Review (2008)

I bet you're thinking, is there any point in even reviewing The Dark Knight? What can I say that has not already been said? Well, nothing apart from offering up my own opinion so I guess that's exactly what I will do.

The second in the trilogy

The Dark Knight is the quintessential Batman film, this is the film that made the Batman a serious pop culture icon. Throughout the summer of 2008, it was hard to turn a street corner without hearing a quote from Heath Ledgers performance of the Joker or someone not wearing a bat shirt. The whole world had Batman fever and it was helped in no part by the untimely passing of Heath Ledger who even won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the film.

This is the film that pushes Batman to his edge, its been a year since the events of Batman Begins and Batman is a celebrated vigilante in pursuit of closing down the mobs grip on organized crime with Salvatore Maroni who has picked up the mantle after Carmine Falcone was sent to Arkham Asylum. This film really ups the ante for Batman, not only with making the Joker more dangerous and psychotic than in any of his previous incarnations and then throwing in personal stakes for the Batman/Bruce Wayne does something that Batman Begins failed to do.
The plot takes place a year after the first film, with Batman now a well established part of the Gotham lifestyle, the Joker comes along to turn his world upside down, working against his brand of justice, and enticing the mob bosses still left into thinking that he is able to take down the Batman. The Joker reaks havoc across the city, wanting Batman to reveal his identity and destroy everything he stands for. We also have the triumvirate of Harvey Dent, Lieutenant Gordon and Batman working together in order to bring down what is left of the mob and find out what the Joker is actually planning. Meanwhile we also have Bruce Wayne trying to balance his life as Gotham's billionaire playboy and the masked vigilante, trying to solidify his relationship with Rachael Dawes despite her ongoing relationship with the new district attorney Harvey Dent. Chaos ensues and although im guessing most people know how this story turns out, I don't want to ruin it for anyone that doesn't but lets just say that things take a turn for the worst and the entire third act is probably the best finale of any superhero film ever.

The Batpod

Now as much as I just gushed about this film it isn't without its bad points. Christopher Nolan changed the actress for Rachael Dawes from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gylenhall, which is commendable, Nolan obviously accepted the criticism from the first film but Gylenhall in my opinion is not much of an improvment, its hard to believe that she and Bruce Wayne have been friends all their lives and are somewhat in love with one another, she just does not convince me. I'm also not too pleased about the way in which Nolan chose to switch out the more Gothic architecture of Batman Begins to the more Chicagoan feel of Gotham City in "The Dark Knight" true it does modernise the city but it feels out of touch with the first film. Also this is a minor point, and it is indeed true to the comic books featuring Batman, but where did Bruce Wayne gain all of his detective skills from? In the one year between the first film and this one? Lucius Fox did most of the detective work in Batman Begins it just feels like a really sudden change in character for Batman to suddenly be "The Worlds Greatest Detective."

A rabid dog, "introduce a little anarchy"

Now with my complaints aside, I just want  to talk about what makes the film amazing besides the plot. The rest of the cast is awesome, Christian Bale returning as the Batman is still outstanding, as Batman he is intimidating and smart and as Bruce Wayne he is sleek and suave. The balancing act is believable, and its great to see passion taking over Batman in scenes where Rachael Dawes is in jeopardy. Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox are likeable as ever as Bruce's aids and confidants. Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger are perhaps the stand out performances though, with Eckharts being more of a believable character than most in comic book movies, I also find him to be an incredibly underestimated actor and he will forever be memorable to me as this character.
Now Heath Ledger on the other hand is something entirely different, its impossible to ever imagine another actor portraying the Joker as well as he did and especially with the more "serious" spin that he put on the character, rather than being a villain who tells jokes and uses a flower on his lapel to spray acid, the Joker in this film was truly an agent of chaos, wanting to utterly destroy Gotham, Batman and everything he stands for. It's a terrible shame that Heath Ledger passed away as I am sure that in the third instalment of this franchise there would have been room for the Joker to return and finally ruin Batman, that's what I wanted to see anyway.

The ultimate confrontation

The main theme in this film is chaos, similarly to how fear was the main theme in Batman Begins, chaos plays a central role throughout this film. The entirety of the Jokers plans revolve around trying to bring down the Batman through chaotic plans. Murdering the Batman copycats, trying to ruin Bruce Wayne's secret identity and murdering several prominent public figures. Batman of course has his "one rule" which is that he will not murder, knowing that he will sink to the level of the Joker. The entire feud that brews between these two characters is a rivalry I can't think of being beaten between two other characters. They are the reverse of each other and the chaotic plots that the Joker concocts are truly there to test Batman's mentality and to see if he will break that one rule.

RIP Heath Ledger

Finally I just want to say that I would have been happy if the film had ended with the creation of a certain character, the film at times does feel a little long but that doesn't detract from the overall experience when watching this film. The Dark Knight is an impeccable film, not only one of the best comic book movies but one of the best movies of all time. Check it out.

Batman Begins Review (2005)

In many ways, superhero films are amongst some of my favourites throughout cinema. I've wanted to get back to reviewing and in particular reviewing a superhero movie in particular and so I have chosen one of my favourite to begin with (get it?) and not only will I be reviewing Batman Begins, but I intend to review and analyse all three of the films in Christopher Nolan's trilogy. So lets not waste time and get to the beginning (I promise I will stop) of this epic trilogy.

A young Bruce Wayne

Batman Begins isn't just a good movie, its a great one. It is not simply the origin to Batmans tale and his vengeance filled start, but its also a character study into the psyche of not only Batman, but also Bruce Wayne. This wasn't just the best Batman film up until its release, but it is one of the best films of all time. I'm slightly biased because I love Batman, I read the comic books, I play the video games, I have Batman t-shirts everything.

Now everyone by now probably knows the story of Batman but for the sake of making a good review I will go over the plots. Bruce Wayne a young man suffered the fate of watching his parents be murdered in front of him by a man named Joe Chill, and once a young Bruce realises that the city of Gotham, the city that his parents strived to better is rotting, filled with crime, corruption and poverty. Bruce removes himself from Gotham for an unknown duration of time in order to become the symbol of fear he needs to be. Becoming trained by the mysterious Ras Al Ghul, or Ducard (played by Liam Neeson) he learns the way of the League of Shadows, hoping that they will help him in his fight against crime, despite the fact they intend to purge Gotham of all its inhabitants. Upon his return to Gotham, Bruce finds things are worse off than imagined with Carmine Falcone running the organised crime and the illusive Scarecrow turning the city into insane crazed psychopaths. Batman must don the cape and cowl in order to bring order and justice to the city of Gotham.

Nolan on set

I'm not usually a fan of origin stories, they are long, drawn out and often boring. I prefer established characters, but Christopher Nolan turns this story into one more dramatic and emotional than one we have seen for a superhero before this. We feel Bruce's anguish as we see his parents murdered in front of him, we are taken through the earliest parts of Bruce's life from his fear of bats to the murder of his parents at the same time that we are shown his training to become Batman. The film does not feel slow as you think it might, instead it engages you, showing us all the important details of Bruce's life before he puts on that famous Cowl.
Despite the film moving through the origin quickly, some of my favourite scenes are the slower ones building up to Christian Bale putting on the suit. His scenes with Morgan Freeman are extremely fun to watch, I like the idea of the character, Lucius Fox working alongside Bruce's father to build the train that runs through Gotham, it feels like the character has more of a reason to work and help Bruce than the character of the comic books. Other scenes the assembly of the Bat-Cave and the equipment the Batman uses.

The "good" cinematography

Nolan also made other characters, not popular in the public eye much more recognisable, of course there was Michael Caine as the ever reliable Alfred but I'm mainly talking about the law enforcement in the film, Gary Oldman almost steals the show as Lieutenant James Gordon, Batman's GCPD partner. We see a more realistic take on the hero, of course the police force would be weary of a vigilante dressed like a bat, Nolan knows this and he makes it clear that the police are weary of Bruce.
The cinematography throughout the film is both good and bad. I love those Gothic shots of Batman stood on a building overlooking the corruption that has taken grip of the city. Then there are those god awful action scenes were everything feels as though it is zoomed in and you can;t tell what the hell is going on! Similarly the casting of Katie Holmes feels about as bad as the fight scenes, she is unconvincing and boring as the supposed love interest, Rachael Dawes.

Ras Al Ghul and the League of Shadows

Despite these minor flaws however I do still love this film, the combination of a villain like Ras Al Ghul and Scarecrow is an unusual one but it really works, again I wish that Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow had a little bit more to do, and him being one of my favourite Batman villains I did find it slightly disappointing that he isn't given too much to do and takes more of a back seat to Ras Al Ghul but it does feel appropriate to the overall storyline.

The only thing to fear is fear itself

The inclusion of Scarecrow as a villain also adds to the main theme in the film which is fear. The theme is important throughout, from the influence of Bruce's initial fear of bats to the literal fear gas that spreads throughout Gotham City in the climactic third act. Nolan was clever in displaying the literal effect that Fear has on people through the use of the fear gas to the way that Ras Al Ghul teaches Batman to instill fear into his enemies through the use of the iconography that made him fearful as a child, a bat. Carmine Falcone's infamous words "You always fear what you don't understand" rings true throughout the film but I will leave you to find out what it truly means.

My final thoughts are that with the release of "The Dark Knight" I feel as though Batman Begins is somewhat neglected now, people always think of the second film as being far superior and whilst I do agree for the most part, this film is a lot better than you probably remember it being. Also I quite like the Batman's raspy growling voice in these films, It adds to the intimidation factor that the character is often known for. So check out Batman Begins, I promise it won't disappoint.

Her Review (2013)

The best film of 2013

So with the recent announcement of the Academy Awards nominations, I decided it was time for me to watch some of those films that were more critically acclaimed last year as opposed to the all out action and enjoyment films that I spent the majority of last year watching such as Man of Steel and Pacific Rim.

So I sat down to watch "Her" with great expectations, and my god it did not disappoint in the slightest. In fact I think this is one of the best films I have seen in a long time and is definitely the best film to have come out of 2013. I can't sing the praises of this film enough, I can barely get a grasp on what makes it so good, all I know is that I left this film feeling both overjoyed and saddened, and its not often that I see a film that spreads my emotions so thin.

So the plot. This is a strange one, without giving much a way its about a lonely introverted man named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) who is soon to be divorced by his childhood sweetheart. Writing love letters for other lonely and quiet people that have problems expressing their emotions. Upon learning of a new Operating System that can actually interact and communicate with the owner, Theodore purchases one in order to better organise and construct his work. After spending a lot of time with the OS (Scarlett Johannson) who goes by the name of Samantha and they begin to fall in love with one another. I won't go into much more detail than that but this is one story I am not soon to forget this heart warming tale.

The love of the OS

The performances themselves are unbelievably good. I have been a fan of Phoenix since I saw him in "Signs" back in 2002 and by then I thought he was already a good actor. "Walk the Line" saw Phoenix turn in another amazing performance and made Phoenix a permanent favourite actor of mine and after laying low for several years I was thrilled to see him back in this film. Perhaps it can be said that his sole performance is what carries this film but for me its a combination of several things including another great performer by the name of Scarlett Johannson, with the best part being that you don't once see her. All of her performance is provided through the use of her voice, all of her charisma and charm is put through in her voice and it is entirely possible for us to understand how Theodore falls in love with Samantha. There are also notable performances from Amy Adams as Theodores lifelong friend who has her own affair with another OS. Even with the lack of human characters in this film, the ones that are present are rich and full of life, these feel like real people and they are people that I want to get to know and spend my time with.

Phoenix back on top form

I do have to mention the type of genre that this film is, whilst being described as sci-fi, Its not overplayed but it is definitely a part of the film. With the futuristic ways of communication such as vocal emails and an Operating System that learns and adapts to the users wants and needs. There aren't any hover cars and there's no robots or flying spaceships but there is just enough sci-fi to keep me satisfied and that's another reason to enjoy this movie.

So to sum this film up... there are no words. Its just one of those things that you have to see. It left me speechless, I was recommending it to everyone when I was only 25 minutes into the film. Yes it is that good. I can't think of a film that I enjoyed more than this one last year. I actually can't believe that I am saying this, but a love story, a romantic comedy was my favourite film of 2013. I guess the times really are a changing. Well done Spike Jonze.

The Great Gatsby (2013) Review

Baz Lurhman's Great Gatsby is massive, grandiose and overall a spectacular film to sit through despite feeling overly long.
Lurhman's take on the 1920's novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald might miss the whole point of the novel, the time in which it was set meant something and pulling that story and trying to almost modernize isn't something that I think works particularly well, but that doesn't mean that this film is not a faithful adaptation of its source material.
The film follows the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man living next door to Nick Carraway our films primary narrator and the journey he goes through in order to reclaim a love he had once lost. The majority of the film we follow Gatsby and the life that he lead before becoming the wealthy man he is and the ways in which he is trying to get Daisy (the woman he loves) back into his life. There is a lot more to it than that but a lot of the plot would be a spoilers and that's not what I am here to tell you about.
This film has Baz Lurhman's trademark stylistic approach, similar to that in Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet. The scale of the film is massive and you feel that the parties that Gatsby throws do feel larger than life. The use of music is also pretty awesome, using tracks by contemporary artists and placing them in a 1920's setting just works and I especially like it when the trumpet and brass instruments join in to create a cacophony of intense music. Very fitting.
However it is the acting performance in this film that make it so enjoyable and such a stand out. Carey Mulligan is one of my favourite up and coming actress' with her performance in "Drive" being enjoyable before showing off that she really does have some great acting skills in this film. Tobey Maguire is also fairly enjoyable besides it being hard for me to not see him as Spiderman any more I did really enjoy his performance as Nick Carraway, and he makes the character seem and feel really sympathetic besides the fact that he too is becoming wrapped up in this world of crime and filth. The reason to watch this film though, is Leonardo Di Caprio's performance and I will talk about one of the specific scenes just to give you an insight.

The scene begins with Gatsby (Leonardo Di Caprio) bringing a selection of
flowers and tea cakes to the house of Nick Carraway in preparation for the
looming visit of Daisy who is Nicks cousin. The duration of this scene, Di Caprio is
on top form, the cool and suave Gatsby that we have seen thus far is nowhere to
be found. In his place a flustered, heavy breathing and fidgeting Gatsby is what
we find. Di Caprio, uses props such as the clock to allow us insight into the fact
that Gatsby is very worried and anxious about this looming visit, when Carraway
(Tobey Maguire) questions Gatsby about how his grass looks, the grass which
Gatsby had cut he completely forgets what Caraway is asking due to his
anxiousness and the way that the line is delivered makes me almost feel anxious
as though I should be fearful of the looming visit. Di Caprio also uses a selection
of ticks to help portray that his character is dreading the meeting, the way that
he fiddles with his suit pulling it and fixing it, and constantly keeping a hand in
his pocket almost to seem busy, and he does the same thing with his hair,
constantly fixing it and slicking it back, this character can’t even stand still. Di
Caprio also becomes incredibly timid once he meets Daisy, and is even unable to
get his words out in the beginning; after she remarks “I am certainly glad to see
you” he stutters and falters before being able to reply. After Gatsby leaves the
house and stands out in the rain, he is also very one track minded, he wants to
see Daisy and that’s all he cares about speeding towards her as he enters the
house again, Di Caprio ignores what Carraway has to say, once more slicking
back his hair and fixing his suit before confronting her. The look in Di Caprio’s
eyes is almost one of anger when Carraway questions him as to “what he is
doing!” and he simply ignores him, barely an acknowledgement before going
straight for Daisy. The final point I have to make is that even once the initial
meeting is over with, Di Caprio has a smile on his face but he still acts very
nervously around Daisy, fiddling with the clock and making a quick attempt to fix
it and such, again adding that human element to the character, because of
course the awkwardness wouldn’t end there, it takes time to rebuild a
relationship and get over that awkwardness and Di Caprio demonstrates this.
That cool tone that Di Caprio usually gives to Gatsby melts away, his voice isn’t
as formal, and he even sounds like a young boy unable to speak, the expression
in his face changes from a business demeanour to that of horror and worry and
above all else, it is a sadness one that is deep and cannot return to the
happiness it once knew. That straight posture that is usually given to Gatsby has
to be supported by his cane, he is almost leaning on his cane more than he ever
does again in the rest of the film, and perhaps Di Caprio was trying to show that
Gatsby was “weak at the knees” due to the fact that his love is returning to him.
Di Caprio is able to portray this character in a myriad of different ways, with him
being calm and collected throughout most of the film but there are scenes like
this where all the false information and lies about Gatsby melt away and we are
left with this raw emotion of the character that can’t be hid by any façade.

Now not all of the scenes in this film are like this, but I thought his performance was enough to carry the film if needs be, however the rest of the film is pretty good fun too so I say go check it out!