Theater Review: The Dark Knight Rises

I had heard a few times that Christopher Nolan was apprehensive about doing a third Batman film and I couldn't understand why. But, after seeing the film I can sort of see why he was - no matter what he put out it was always going to be compared to The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Rises also had another superhero film to contend with this summer that I am sure it was expecting to contend with when it was first announced - The Avengers. It's sort of odd to compare them as they are on two totally different spectrums - but you sort of have to.

Although I feel The Dark Knight Rises is the superior film, I would have to say I will probably watch The Avengers far more. It is just a more fun film - sort of like how Saving Private Ryan is a hell of a film, but I cannot watch it all of the time.

What The Dark Knight Rises was also up against was the amazing performance given by Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. No matter how great a villain that Nolan could cook up for the third film - no way was it going to live up to Ledger's performance.

Anyway, the final film picks up about eight years after Batman (Christian Bale) took the blame for killing Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent. All of the years as Batman has also taken a bit of a toll on Bruce Wayne - and as he stays hidden in his mansion he limps around from room-to-room.

As the guilt begins to tear at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), he is captured and brought to the new villain that has risen under the streets of Gotham, Bane (Tom Hardy). Gordon is shot, but manages to escape  despite losing a letter he had written with the truth about Dent.

Police officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds Gordon at the end of a tunnel and gets him to the hospital for treatment. Because of his detective work, Gordon promotes Blake and tells him to answer directly to him.

Blake was also once an orphan who looked up to Wayne because of all the donations the Wayne family gave to the orphanage - but he also somehow knows Wayne's true identity and tells him the city needs him to resurface.

Batman finds a local cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), to help lead him to Bane. Kyle uses the opportunity to get a program that can help erase her identity from all databases on the planet - and free her from her thieving ways.

Kyle, however, turns on Batman and turns him over to Bane in order stay alive - and Bane breaks Batman's back and leaves him in a prison in the middle of nowhere - the only way out is to climb out.

As Bane holds the city hostage with a nuclear weapon, he promises to finish what Ra's al Ghul started and destroy Gotham. With Batman out of commission, Gordon and Blake are all that is left to help save the city.

First off, my description above doesn't give the film justice. There was so much going on and all of it was so interesting and fit the story so well - just amazing story telling.

The film returns Bale, Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Oldman and another special guest that have been in all three movies and they continue to shine here. Newcomers Hardy, Hathaway and Gordon-Levitt were the main stars in this film and they were amazing.

Hardy was a great villain, and won't get the acclaims that Ledger did, but he held up this movie just fine as the villain. Sure, he wasn't the Joker, but Bane was ruthless and a great equal to Batman. Hathaway was simply amazing as Catwoman - I was a bit skeptical when I first heard she had signed on, but she played both sides of the fence to perfection - and wow did she look good. Finally, Gordon-Levitt - I can't really say much else about him, he has really become one of the best actors working today and here it was no different. So talented and he really shined in this film - even if he was just a cop.

Go see this movie - I am sure you already have. It is a great finale to Nolan's trilogy. I look forward to seeing it again.

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45/50x2: Bronson

This will be a pretty quick review. I honestly have no idea what I just watched.

Bronson is a film about Charles Bronson, no not the film star but the notorious prisoner. Bronson's real name is Michael Peterson (Tom Hardy), but was renamed to something a little more badass by his fight promoter.

The film was, honestly, all over the place. I could not really understand what was happening for the most part. Hardy as Bronson introduces himself and talks to us through the camera - he also appears to be telling a story to an audience, which we see from time-to-time.

Though it is a biopic, it is a fictionalized biopic so some of what is shown is not exactly true. Bronson pretty much has an anger management problem and wants to make a name for himself - and the only way he knows how to do that is by kicking some serious ass in prison, whether that be other prisoners or guards.

The only reason I kept with this film was because it was on this 50 list and because of Hardy. He has earned some respect with some of the films he has come out with of late. I am sure he played this just the way he was supposed to - and he definitely was crazy, but even that couldn't save this film for me.

The last third of the film is still not great, but is better than the other parts, which is why it gets a little better grade than the worst I can give.

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Theater Review: This Means War

I have to admit I would probably have never gone to the theater to see this movie. It absolutely screamed watch it at home on DVD. I rarely have the time to rush out to the movies, so I am rather picky at what films I actually get to go out and see.

Anyway, my parents actually wanted to see This Means War and took me with them. So, technically I didn't pay money to see it. But, it was a decent enough film anyway.

FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) are CIA agents that are tracking a man named Heinrich (Til Schweiger) and preventing him from purchasing a weapon of mass destruction. On their trip to Hong Kong, they manage to stop Heinrich, but his brother is killed during the shootout and Heinrich manages to escape.

Fearing for their safety, Collins (Angela Bassett), their boss, puts them on desk duty.

During this down time, Tuck, who is divorced and has a son, has become rather lonely. Despite being best friends with FDR, he usually finds himself on the sidelines when FDR is out picking up women. So, he decides to make an online dating profile.

Meanwhile, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is a work-o-holic, who recently finds out her ex-boyfriend is now engaged. Her sister, Trish (Chelsea Handler) creates an online dating profile for her as well. And who do you think she is paired up with?

Being a true friend, FDR decides to wait close by during the date in case Tuck needs to bail, but the two actually hit it off rather well. After the date, Lauren heads to the video store which just so happens to be the same place FDR is hiding out. And, he also convinces her to go on a date with him.

So, the film then is about the two best friends trying to convince a girl to be with them - and using the CIA to track the other, and also stop the other from 'getting it on' with her. That, and she of course has no idea the two even know each other.

Add in the fact that Heinrich is also trying to track the two down, and there is a lot happening. But, the movie actually pulls it off well - you don't feel too overwhelmed and drowning in so any plot lines.

I never heard of Pine until Star Trek, but I am really starting to enjoy his work. Same really goes for Hardy as well, where Inception was my first time seeing him. Witherspoon has been around for awhile, and during the film I just got this thought that she should be so much older than the two guys - but she is actually pretty close to their age. I guess it's just because she has been in the spotlight much longer. Either way, she looked pretty good in this film.

Nothing too ground breaking here, but I came away pleasantly surprised. Of course, it is pretty predictable, but again almost all romantic comedies (this one with a hint of action) are. But, I walked away feeling entertained which is all I can hope for.

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4/50: Inception

There is nothing like a good mind f@#k in the morning. And that is exactly what Inception was able to do for me.

I had heard the praise. I had read the reviews, but I did my best to stay away from any possible spoilers. I still didn't think it would be as good as it was. It may have even surpassed The Dark Knight as Christopher Nolan's best film.

So, let me try and explain a little bit about what story Nolan is portraying. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are both able to move around inside other people's dreams. They are so good, in fact, that they are even - technically - thieves inside these dreams.

Cobb is a fugitive of the United States and really wants to return home to his two children. He is approached by a business man, Saito (Ken Watanabe), that promises him a safe return home if he can pull off something that is thought to be impossible - inception.

Saito wants his business rivals' son, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) to break apart the company once his father has passed away. The only way to do that is to go deep into Fischer's dreams and plant this idea so that he believes he has thought of it himself.

The way this is done is so crazy and imaginative that I won't even type about it - just go see the movie. I will only mention that the rest of Cobb and Arthur's team consists of Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao). Ariadne is the 'architect' who puts together the world inside the dreams - which again you need to see.

DiCaprio was incredible in his role as Cobb and once again I was blown away by Joseph Gordon-Levitt - he just continues to be one of the best young actors in Hollywood. It is sort of funny how in this film you end up truly rooting for the bad guys - it takes a great story and casting for that to work as well as it did.

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