Suicide Squad



Hello dear reader and welcome to round three of the DCEU.  Now before I get started on a little bit of background information and then the review of the film itself, which tends to me my standard operating procedure, I should warn you that within the literary walls of this blog you could come across words and phrases that may not be a million miles away from sounding similar to cucking frap, shull bit or even botal tollocks. Long story short, there will be some venting here on my part. So those of you who are of a nervous disposition, may I kindly suggest that you calmly and carefully step away from this particular blog and patiently wait for the next one. Which to be honest, given the rate I’m churning these things out at the moment, will probably be at some point within the next ten minutes.  Your cooperation is appreciated…

So Suicide Squad then. Well, when Warner Brothers announced in September of 2014 that they had green lit this film and that David Ayer was on board to write and direct, a lot of people looked up and took notice. Primarily because at this point the world had just to discover how much of a mess Batman v Superman was and also because whatever way you try and spin it or misdirect with smoke and mirrors and ‘big up’ Marvel. They may well have the best superheroes but by jingo, DC have the best villains. David Ayer isn’t a name that a lot of people will have heard of prior to Suicide Squad. His CV has a tendency to always be heading in the right direction but before this year he had never been handed the reins or budget to make a summer tent pole movie. He wrote the screenplay for Training Day, which helped Denzel Washington win an Oscar for best actor and sat in the director’s chair for End of Watch and the Brad Pitt’s tank joyride Fury. He has also, over a fairly short period of time, developed a reputation for being a bit of a maverick when it comes to his ‘process’. Some actors, Jared Leto included, are famous for using the method approach when it comes to performance. Mr. Ayer’s approach seems to combine three parts psychology and one part physical menace. For example, he hired a therapist on Suicide Squad, who was then charged with interviewing the main leads. He gave instruction’s that each interview should last at least three hours and once complete the therapist was to then write a complete physiological break down of their respective mental weaknesses and things that could be used against them on set, so the Ayer could poke and prod his actors at will to get the performance he wanted. And ladies and gentlemen is a level of commitment to the cause you normally only tend to find in serial killers.

So the film had a director, a budget and the means to be something special. All it needed now was a cast. Actors were attached and then dropped out, the most notable of which was Tom Hardy, who couldn’t come and play as it was taking forever to try and kill Leonardo Dicaprio, in North America, whilst trying to avoid CGI bears. However, after a couple of months Ayer had his cast assembled and at first glance it looked like his squad was going to be quite the ensemble. There were a few glaring ‘oh really’ moments, the biggest being Will Smith as Deadshot. Which for those of you who don’t know much about that particular character, he makes Charles Manson look like a Care Bear. However, apart from that one noticeable glitch the rest of the cast seemed, at least on paper like a solid B+. Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez as Diablo , Cara Delevingne as The Enchantress and Joel ‘please don’t mention Robocop’ Kinnamn as Rick Flag. Now, whichever way you look at it, that’s a pretty good foundation to build and sculpt a movie around. It has lots of diversity and, you’d think, more than enough experience to drag even the poorest of screenplays, kicking and screaming over the finish line. This is further reinforced when you also throw into the mix, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as The Joker. These two actors are head and shoulders above anything else in Suicide Squad. They are the quintessential focal point of the movie, although they shouldn’t be and could best be described as a twenty first century psychotic Bonnie and Clyde, only more so. Jared Leto’s interpretation of The Joker sees him as man with anger management issues. A conflicted and some would say schizophrenic force of nature with a singular vision and purpose. Margot Robbie plays Quinn as a broken and rebuilt ferocious weapon of mass destruction and between the two of them the steal every scene they are in. It’s a credit to Leto for even taking on the roll in the first place as he had some awfully big shoes to fill. Heath Ledger gave what most would regard, myself included, as the finest performance ever seen in superhero movie. He won an Oscar for it and depending on who and what you’re willing to believe, it may have also killed him. So Leto taking on the mantle of the most notorious green haired bad guy since Orville, can’t have been an easy decision to make.

So, after the disaster and car crash that was Batman v Superman, the question that’s now on everyone’s lips is ‘was Suicide Squad any good?’ Well, as I alluded to at the beginning, it is my sad duty to report that it isn’t. Suicide Squad isn’t so much of a car crash, It’s more a full blown motorway pileup with emergency diversions in place, a couple of local ‘eye in the sky’ helicopters buzzing around it and four thousand traffic cones thrown in for good measure. I genuinely don’t know how Warner Brothers keep putting together such mediocre offerings. It must take a concerted amount of effort to keep being this bad and releasing film that not only fails to deliver on fan expectation but also seem to be a long way short of Marvel seem to be excelling at. If Warner’s lower the bar of expectation any further, then I fear next year’s Wonder Woman film could be D.O.A. and as for the Justice League film that is heading towards us and due for release in November 2017, I will simply say this. “We should take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure”.

Suicide Squad is a mess from start to finish. It also has to be one of the most poorly edited films I can remember seeing in a very long time. The story is so jumbled and incoherent that at times I genuinely had no idea of what was happening and, more importantly, why it was happening. Part of the film is a rescue mission that seems to have been tacked on to the plot and makes about as much sense as cheese socks. The ‘big bad’ of the film is someone you’ll have seen in the trailers but won’t have realised that they are the villain. Jared Leto absolutely shines when he’s on screen but has about as much to do as Andy Murray’s personality coach. One of the Suicide Squad members bites the bullet within fifteen minutes of their introduction on screen. Which I’m assuming is done to show that no one is safe and anything can happen. The only problem with this is that by the time it happens you already have a reasonably good idea that not only anything could happen but short of the Pope having a cameo as an Iranian taxi driver with a comb over wig and playing the trumpet, nothing would surprise you.

For those of you who are interested in the plot. The main premise of Suicide Squad is that a very old witch and her brother have decided to destroy the world, as you do and the government have put together a team of ‘bad guys’ to save the day. The idea being that if they fail it won’t matter and if they are successful the government can claim all the credit. Despite the whole ‘world in danger’ angle, no one else from the DC universe turns up. Batman is obviously doing Batman things in Gotham and Superman is currently ‘unavailable’ but Wonder Woman is also a no show and I can’t say I blame her.

I really wanted to like this film. I’ve spent a long time trying to defend DC and Warner’s but they aren’t making it easy. They seem incapable of offering up anything other than drab, mediocre, second rate, nonsensical, bubble gum cinema that looks good but has absolutely no substance or character driven narrative.  I want more from a company that has access to some of the most iconic comic characters of all time. There are parts of Suicide Squad that are funny and parts that look original and inventive but sadly there are no parts that want to make me sit through it again. Even with the inclusion of cameos from Batman and The Flash. 

Suicide Squad is a mess, and by mess I mean confusing, and by confusing I mean bad, and by bad I mean shambolic, and by shambolic I mean I’ve seen better organised tossed salads, and by seen better organised tossed salads I mean I know people who have been dead over ten years who could have made a better film than this. Long story short; its sully’s the good name of appalling and has some fairly full on dalliances with dire and dreadful for just over it's two hour running time. Now, I’m not saying I could do better but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do any worse. The tagline line for this film was ‘worst heroes ever’ and you know what, they may have been absolutely right but for completely the wrong reasons.

Twitter Review:

Oh, I’m not gonna kill you. I’m just gonna hurt you. Really really bad…
#Prophetic  

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLLQK9la6Go
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/suicide-squad/review/

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Hello dear reader. Is it a bird, is it a plane, no!, it’s a Hollywood studio and DC Comics trying to launch a film franchise eight years after the other team (who shall not be named, boo hiss) started their little foray into the world of silver screen spandex and all things Superhero. 

I am of course referring to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Now to say this is the start for Warner Brothers and DC is a little unfair. They did of course bring us Man of Steel back in 2013. Directed by Zack Snyder, it was a complete reboot of the Superman cannon, at least when it came to film and had British born Henry Cavill donning the big red cape. It did a reasonable amount of business, which is good, because if it hadn’t then we wouldn’t find ourselves, looking out over a Warner Brother’s film schedule that is now set in stone until the beginning of 2020. Indeed, assuming nothing changes and we don’t reach the Superhero event horizon anytime soon, Warner’s and DC have close to a dozen films just waiting to be given the green light. To say nothing of the boo hiss brigade, over there in smelly town. (DC fan boy and damn proud of it!) 

Man of Steel hit the screens in June of 2013 and at that years San Diego Comic Con, which ran from July the 18th through to the 21st, Warner’s hired out the infamous Hall ‘H’ for an one of those ‘dress casual, we hope you can make, we’d love to see’ kind of afternoon sessions. No one really knew what they were going to trumpet or promote for that matter. And it’s safe to say that there wouldn’t have been many cosplayers, fans or even press, that were prepared for what was about to be announced. Zack Snyder took to the stage and with less than four weeks under its belt, confidently proclaimed that there would be a sequel to the Man of Steel. And although the script had not even been started, he was sure of the direction he wanted to take it and the story he wanted to tell. Then the big S Superman logo filled the screen behind, which was promptly followed by a lot of cheering and whooping, and then it happened. A Batman logo appeared behind the S and it’s safe to say that for a good thirty seconds or so, Hall H went a little bonkers conkers. Then of course, once the initial impact had started to ebb away, everyone started to speculate about who Warner’s And DC were going to get to don the cowl and play the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Christian Bale had left some pretty big shoes to fill, in no small part down to Christopher and Jonathan Nolan. And whoever they decided on, they needed to get it right. Names were banded around and shortlists were drawn up and on August the 22nd, 2013, there was an official press release. A press release that at the time seemed to be a ‘little bit’ controversial. In the same way that the moon is a ‘little bit’ of a long walk. Many had hoped that Mr Bale could be coaxed back to the part, and if ye olde internet is to be believed, there was an awful lot of money thrown in his direction, to try and make that happen. But no, Sir Ben of the Affleck had landed the role of the caped crusader and it was safe to say he was not a popular choice. 

There have been other casting decisions, in the past, that have been met with universal disapproval. Daniel Craig had to deal with a huge backlash against him and even an online petition that garnered over fifty thousand signatures, purely down to the colour of his hair. But when all is said and done, it turns out that Bond can be blonde and after four films he has managed to silence even his sternest critics. When Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice threatened to sue Warner’s if they went ahead and made it with him in it. She did however rescind that threat and after watching the final cut of the film, and before its general release, Anne took out a full page advert in Variety, apologising to Tom for her previous behaviour and also to praise his performance. Even the late and great Heath Ledger had to suffer scorn and ignominy when the aforementioned Mr Nolan cast him in The Dark Knight. And by the way, if you don’t think that Heath as the Joker is the greatest portrayal of a comic book character ever to grace the big screen, then you and I are destined to fall out.

However, none of the actors mentioned above have had to come close to the level of flack that Matt Damon’s best bud had had to endure when the powers that be announced Affleck as Batman. The geek and nerd world cried out in one universal voice, NO! And to be honest they could have had a point. Mr Affleck had previously dipped his toes into the comic book world, back in 2003, when he played the title role of Matt Murdock in Daredevil. Now to say this film is bad doesn’t really do the word bad justice. It’s a film I have and will only ever watch once. It is an hour and forty three minutes of the most overblown twaddle you can imagine and don’t even get me started on Colin Farrell as Bullseye.

So in retrospect there may well have been genuine concern for Affleck taking on, what is arguably one of the most iconic comic characters ever created. Mr Affleck however, was determined to prove these naysayers wrong and put in a performance that would not only stand the test of time but prove once and for all that you can utter the words Ben and Batman in the same sentence without wanting to throw up a little. 

He started training in the gym, twice a day, six days a week, knowing that if you’re going to play a Superhero, you need to look like a Superhero. If you ever get the chance to watch Gone Girl, have a look at how big he is at the start of the film, compared to how he looks towards the end. He’s practically bursting out of his shirt in some scenes. 

So that moves us into early 2014 and the film, which had now evolved from being called Man of Steel 2, to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It was now about to start filming and the studio exec’s and bean counters would have been forgiven for feeling just ever so slightly nervous with what, at best, could have been described as a ‘luke warm’ reception, when it came to its casting choices. It did however have a few aces still left to play. The announcement of Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, or more commonly known to us mere mortals as Wonder Woman and Oscar winner Jeremy Irons as Alfred, did help slow the tide of apathy and indifference towards this tent poll movie, but only just. Principle photography lasted nearly eight months, which is about double what you’d expect for a film of this nature. Then the original release date got moved from the summer of 2015 to March 2016. This did set a few alarm bells off because as a general rule, if a studio moves a film from its announced date, especially if that date is slap bang in the middle of blockbuster season, it’s never normally for good reasons. Of course it is only a rule of thumb and it certainly didn’t hinder the box office of The Force Awakens, after that had been put back by some six months. But having B v S pulled from its slot last year did nothing to help with its reputation or general buzz. 

Then came the trailers. There have been four official trailers so far and several TV Spots and even with the best spin in the world, they haven’t really enthralled or convinced me that this could be the Superhero movie the world has been waiting for or indeed the kick in the spandex the entire franchise, as a whole, requires to launch DC’s Justice League (The equivalent of the Avengers, made of course by the people who shall not be named, boo hiss…)  

Now for those of you who are not in the know, I love Batman as a character. Its dark, he has a great back story and a collection of some of the greatest villains you’re ever likely to see this side of a political convention. But even I have to admit the last two and a half years have not been an easy ride. I was also not overly keen on Affleck getting the nod for Batman but I told myself that even though DD was a bit wrongo pongo, he had still won two Oscars. One for screenwriting (Good Will Hunting) and the other for best director (Argo) and they don’t give them out just anybody and I should know, I have asked!  I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and reserve judgement until I had seen the film. Then there were interviews with Snyder himself and quotes where he stated that he was looking to make a film that was tonally similar to Watchmen, which if you haven’t seen is okay but only in patches. All in all I wasn’t sure I was going to like Dawn of Justice much at all. It seemed the universe had spent a lot of time and effort to make sure I was underwhelmed going into its screening but then came the world premiere in New York…

Although there was a press embargo and no one could officially comment, there were some people who attended, who were not members of the associated press and they took to twitter and offered up a tantalising glimpse into what was to come. It was good, and not only that, it was very good. Talk of ‘Gadot being the standout performance’, ‘nothing like the trailers portray it’ and ‘the best comic book film of the last five years’.  

Now it’s very hard not to get carried away when you read things like that. Having your expectation level raised from ‘mediocre’ to just ever so slightly above ‘quietly confident’ can be a dangerous thing. I always try to be objective when I write these reviews, even if I’ve been looking forward to what I’m going to see, I always try and tell it how I see it. So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, geeks and nerds of all ages, gather round, make yourself comfortable and sit back and relax as I get to the meat and bones of why you’re all here.

In the red corner I give you, weighing in at a shade over 250 lbs. An orphan, with an external underwear issue. ‘The’ illegal immigrant. The king of sting. The master of disaster. The count of monty fisto. The one, the only, son of Krypton, I give you ‘Super-no-one-can-tell-its-me-when-I-wear-glasses-Man!’ 

And In the blue corner, also weighing in at over 250 lbs. and change. Another orphan. A man who’s moodier than a moody thing on national moody day in moody land. A man with a belt for any and all occasions. The car maybe big, the cowl may have ears but don’t mention the boy wonder or it’ll all end in tears! The one, the only, the Gotham grappler ‘Bat-I-have-a-cape-as-well-Man!’

So to start with, I’ll give you my honest opinion of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It’s a mess, the end. 

Now, as you were probably expecting something a little more ‘highbrow’ than that I shall expand my review a tad, but it is my sad duty to report that the greatest gladiator match of modern times and yes I am including Freddy vs. Jason, Coke vs. Pepsi, Blur vs. Oasis and Red Sauce vs. Brown, in that statement, has missed the mark by some considerable distance. Mr Snyder seems to have taken the premise of the film, decided that plot and story aren’t important and then tried to convince most of the paying audience that filling the screen with more C.G.I. than you’d find at the headquarters of Pixar, is definitely the way to go. Now I should, in the balance of fairness, say that it isn’t all bad. It’s an improvement, in a lot of respects, over Man of Steel but it does seem to suffer from the age old problem of trying to do too much on screen. Which is odd because with a running time of over two and a half hours you’d of thought that there would have been ample time to deal with the subject matter at hand. Alas no, in the same way that the third outing for Toby Maguire’s Spiderman and Avengers: Age of Ultron didn’t really work, Dawn of Justice is just a real jumble when it comes to its backbone, the narrative. It’s completely M.I.A. I am not trying to get too personal here but in the same way George Lucas was taken to the wood shed for Episodes I, II & III, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Zack Snyder doesn’t know how to translate a screenplay onto the silver screen. It’s unfortunately it’s starting to very much look like 300 may have been a one hit wonder. 

Watchman, a swing and a miss.

Suckerpunch, a fairly sexiest foul ball.

Man of Steel, another swing and a miss.

Batman v Superman, strike three, your outa here!

As for the actors themselves there also a few under par performances. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther is just a very odd, almost borderline irritating. This is partly my fault as I’ve grown up with Luther always being played by an older actor. Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey were as good as it gets and having someone half their age cast in the role just feels very wrong. Eisenberg’s approach to the part is different and he should certainly get some credit for originality but there are times throughout the film where I felt like I wanted to reach through the screen and slap him. Henry Cavill and his square jaw go through the motions and to be honest he does little more than he did before. Flying to the rescue, as and when required and rescuing Lois Lane at least twice. Things do a touch better with Ben Affleck. He certainly looks the part and is basically as close as anyone has ever come to looking like The Dark Knight in Frank Millers graphic novels. He’s broody and plays the whole angst angle very well. He won’t be everyone’s favourite brand of vodka and is also a long way from anything Mr Bale brought to the Screen. Jeremy Irons, as Alfred, has a lot of fun with what he’s asked to do but, as with any actor of that standing, is never on screen long enough. However the star of the show is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. She is every part the equal of the two headline acts. She outsmarts Bruce Wayne, isn’t afraid to tell it like it is and has her own guitar riff intro when she first appears in costume. Although again, as with Alfred, she doesn’t get anywhere near the screen time that she deserves. 

At the end of the day I was really disappointed with Dawn of Justice. There are some issues with it that I can’t go into without giving away some spoiler’s but who ever okayed one of the main protagonists dying twice within the last twenty minutes of the film, should be forced to attend Donald Trump Conventions, wearing an ‘I love Muslims and Taco’s’ T-shirt. 

What I really don’t understand is that when the bosses at Warner’s and DC were shown the fine final cut, with all the effects shot in place, they apparently gave it a standing ovation and then gave the go ahead to make an extra two more stand-alone Batman films (originally there was only going to be one) and also signed on the dotted line to let Snyder direct the first Justice League film. Which on reflection, makes about as much sense as cheese socks or waterproof tea bags. 

I do worry for the future at the moment. The powers that be seem to be blissfully out of touch with not only reality but the intelligence of its audience as well. Its target audience, based on what I have just seen, is the five to ten year old brigade, who are buzzing their little socks off from a popcorn and coke sugar rush and couldn’t give two hoots about character development as long as everything looks cool and shiny! What they need is the equivalent of a Kevin Fiege. Someone with a clear voice and a clear vision. Someone who can oversee the upcoming years and who isn’t afraid to say no when it’s needed. It isn’t quite panic stations yet. Suicide Squad is out in early August and from what I’ve seen and read about that, it looks like it could be something quite special. I guess in the meantime I’m going to have to get my Superhero jollies from that lot who shall not be named, boo hiss. Does anyone know which buses go to smelly town?...

Twitter Review:

#Batman v Superman is a gladiator battle that any compassionate referee, would stop. Problematic, muddled and messy.

#ThrowInTheTowel

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975590/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfUnkBfdZ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yViIi3gie2c

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/batman-v-superman-dawn-justice/review/

The Dark Knight Rises

Are you siting comfortably?  Good, then I shall begin.
There was a time, an eight year period, from 1997 to 2005 when anyone working for Warner Brothers would have been hung, drawn & quartered for even daring to whisper one word. A word that was deemed so abhorrent and vulgar that it could have not only dispatched the unlucky someone who uttered it to the unemployment line. It would have also certainly cost them a pound of flesh, their soul and their Blockbuster video membership card. What word could provoke such a harsh reaction I hear you ask? What utterance could have been responsible for having someone publicly shunned, pointed at and HR asking for their desk to be cleared? No not “Belgium”, not even a word spoken by the loose lipped, devil may care hard core types. The sort of people that wouldn’t even think twice about using the word “flange” in conversation would baulk at using this word within earshot of the general populous. This two syllable word was beyond the pale, never to be spoken without first checking over your shoulder and making sure the coast was clear.
The word in question is Batman….

So how did this come to pass? How did we end up with a franchise that had George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman to name but a few had in its last film and it have been regarded as a failure? There are two simple reasons for this a far as I can tell. Firstly it was the only Batman film that failed to recoup its budget at the box office. Secondly and I hope I don’t lose anyone here with terminology or by being too geeky or in depth, it was shit.
Tim Burton’s first Batman outing back in 1999 been seen by most as an “Event” film and Jack Nicolson as the Joker had been inspired casting. The problem was that the bar had been raised and set to a very high standard and the three films that came after just seemed to be progressively inferior from the film it followed. The casting of George Clooney as Bruce Wayne in Batman’s forth film outing had “sure thing” written all over it. He was riding high on the crest of a popularity wave, due in no small part to his success on ER. How could he not pull the job off as the Caped Crusader? Good looks, chiselled jaw and his CV was faultless. How can anyone who’s been asked to commit to celluloid the following line of dialogue “That’s the bravest thing I’ve ever seen a tomato do” (IMDB 1988, look it up) not be right for the part!
However flop it did and with some style. There’s a line from Batman & Robin spoken by Mr Schwarzenegger where he says “A freeze is coming”. It was quite prophetic as it would be nearly a decade before anyone was allowed to take Gotham’s finest out of the fridge.

Credit must go in some small part to the heroic employee of Warner’s who thought that the time could have been right to bring Batman back. It was never going to be an easy sell but thankfully someone bought into the idea. In late 2003 enquiries were made to find a prospective director to reboot the Batman franchise and thankfully a man was found who had an original idea on how to do it. An up and coming British director who had had critical and more importantly I suspect for Warner’s, Box Office success with Memento and Insomnia came up with a premise that had never been dealt with before. Why not make Batman real? Instead of transporting us to his universe why not base him in ours. Ground him in reality and use real cities not sound stages as the backdrop for the story. This stroke of genius was the premise for which the now completed trilogy was based and it worked to perfection.

For those not in the know and to bring everyone up to speed and singing from the same hymn sheet I will give I quick rundown of the first two films and how we got to the start of “The Dark Knight Rises”. The First film, “Batman Begins” Has an English Director, Christopher Nolan. A Welsh Batman, Christian Bale and two Villains played by Irishmen, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy. It is what the “Kids on the street” would describe as “Top Banana” and also introduced the world to the coolest Batmobile the silver screen had ever witnessed. The second film again has the same English Director and if you will a “Taffy” Batman but this time they threw in a rather good Australian thespian to play the quintessential bad guy “The Joker”, Heath Ledger. A role that he was so good in that it earned him an posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor. A first for a film based on a comic book and I would speculate an accomplishment that will be a long time in equalling.

The Dark Knight Rises starts eight years after the climactic finale of last film, The Dark Knight and See’s Bruce Wayne as a broken man and a self-exiled recluse. His Alter ego Batman has taken the fall for Harvey “Two Face” Dents crimes, an act that he commits for the greater good and to keep the streets of Gotham safe, Bruce spends his days wandering around the recently rebuilt Wayne Manor with his only contact with the outside world being is his ever faithful butler Alfred, played by Michael “Charlie Croker” Caine. The only other resident of Gotham who is aware of the sacrifices Batman has made is Police Commissioner Gorden, portrayed by Gary Oldman. Gorden is racked with guilt and has had trouble with his conscious keeping this secret covered up. However on the eighth anniversary of Dents death Commissioner Gorden attends a party at Wayne manor where he intends to read a speech he has written revealing the true facts about that fateful night.
This party is where we are given our first glimpse of Selina Kyle, Anne Hathaway. Who’s there with her own personal agenda, theft and from what we are shown she’s very good at it. From the very first to the very last the Cat Burglar steals most of the scene’s she’s in. Although Interestingly Ms Kyle is never referred to as Catwoman by any other character throughout the entire film. 

Where do you even start with The Caped Crusader adversary Bane? He has never been the main villain of a Batman film before and only those of you who have read the DC comics would probably even be aware of Banes existence prior to this film. There was always going to be a lot of speculation about how Christopher Nolan was going to top the performance that Heath Ledger gave in the last film. What character was he going to use and who would play them? Most people, myself included had the Riddler down as the next Gotham ASBO friendly citizen. As I mentioned earlier there has always been a sense of realism about these stories and I think The Penguin may just have been the bridge to far. So when Bane was announced as the outlaw that would finish the trilogy off back in early 2011 the next big question was who would play him? The easy thing to do would have been to get someone from The MMA world (Mixed Martial Arts for those not in the know). Someone who already knew how to be physical and has the body to go with it but to Nolans credit he hired an Actor to play the part, Tom Hardy. This was inspired casting. Tom’s Bane is brutal and every equal to Batman mentally and superior to him in strength, agility and hand to hand combat. The First time Batman and Bane encounter each other is in Gotham’s sewers and Bane’s treatment of Batman is both ruthless and ferocious, ending in Batman’s “total” defeat.
Then there’s the voice. Much had been made of the unintelligible voice Bane had when The Dark Knight Rises prologue was released last year, attached to the start of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Work has obviously been done in some form or another as when Bane speaks it’s now clear and with purpose. Not only that but he gets given some imposing dialogue too. “Let the games begin” is spoken as though it’s being delivered at a packed coliseum with its occupants baying for blood.
I won’t give too much of the rest of the story away as there’s no real way to do it without heading over to a little town I know called “spoilerville” but I will say this. The Dark Knight Rises clocks in at an impressive two hours and forty five minutes long but it won’t feel like you’ve been parking your posterior in a cinema seat that long at all. This film is stunning in its action and in its narrative. The set pieces alone are worth the price of admission. Just a quick note to say that if the purse strings allow it this film should be seen on an IMAX screen. Nolan shot over an hour’s worth of footage using IMAX cameras and it shows. It’s the equivalent of HD for the cinema and even though the technology for it has been around nearly forty years, nothing else even comes close to it.

As with most films I do have a few niggles with some of the plot but without going into detail I can’t really justify my arguments here. I will say this though, once you’ve seen the film ask yourself these questions. Why do ALL of Gotham’s Police Force (Including every single officer who’s off duty) conveniently go underground? How does Bane eat and am I the only person who thinks that the ending has similarities to The Avengers???
So where does Batman go from here? Director Christopher Nolan has been quite clear along with several other actors in the series in saying that this is the last film in the Bruce Wayne chronicles and I believe he won’t be back behind the camera in Gotham again. However the previous two films made just south of 1.4 Billion at the box office and The Dark Knight Rises has just had the biggest ever opening for an non 3D film in history at 165 Million. So Warner Brother will not be scared to utter the B-word with their hallowed corridors anytime soon. What form Batman’s return takes, whether it’s in the mooted Justice League film, a reboot or even someone brave enough to try and continue the current story on from where it’s been left, one thing is certain. It won’t be eight years before Bruce Wayne and Batman grace the big screen again….

Twitter review:
Dramatic & Spectacular ending to the Nolan Gotham stories. The most consistent Superhero trilogy committed to film. 
#TheDarkKnightRose

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2IteR2QxQ