Review No.145: The Dark Knight Rises (Some Mild Spoilers)

In a recent interview Christopher Nolan revealed that he would like to direct a Bond film at some point and I have to say in his two most recent Batman films there are shades of Bond in the opening sequences. Like with Bond these openers relate to the plot in some way but in the case of the Batman films often star a fairly recognisable actor who only appears in that scene while in The Dark Knight it was William Fitchner as the bank manager desperately trying to fend off The Joker here its Aiden Gillan as a CIA agent who is out to get information on our lead villain 'the masked man' Bane played by Tom Hardy. While Bane slinks around in the sewers our hero has become a recluse since the Batman took the blame for Harvey Dent's death and has been hiding out of sight for the past eight years. He is spurred into action though when Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle nimble thief makes off with his fingerprints which he later discovers is a plot by a Wayne board member to get himself placed in charge however the greater threat is that he is working with Bane as he has helped him construct a mighty world under the sewers. As well as Kyle the other woman who is after Bruce is environmentalist Miranda Tate who wants him to help her with her plans to create a sustainable energy source. While Bruce tangles with his inner-guilt so does Commissioner Gordon who himself is injured in an early kerfuffle and whose main hope in solving the latest crisis comes from Joseph Gordon-Levitt's rookie cop who is smarter than most of the detectives on the force. To say any more about the plot of The Dark Knight Rises would be to give away too much, some of you may think that I've given some spoilers away already, but then if you don't know want to know what happens don't read the review. What I will say is this final film in Nolan's trilogy, he has categorically said he's not going to make any more, is that it links up all the plots nicely even if the ending is a little too cheesy for some people. Though before that ending there is mountains of doom, pits of despair and a brilliant cavalcade of special effects.

When I came out of seeing The Dark Knight I was blown away by it however I didn't feel that The Dark Knight Rises made me feel that special despite having a lot of good in it. The main problem with the film is the first hour in which the Nolan brothers establish what has happened since the last film before introducing the new characters and their relationship to the ones we have met already. I felt this section was particularly flabby despite some decent interaction between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne as well as some brilliantly shadowy shots of Bane's underground layer. For me the film really kicked into gear when Bane and Batman had their initial showdown which is the catalyst for what happens throughout the rest of The Dark Knight Rises. From there Nolan lays on the effects fast, including the scene at the football stadium which has been doing the rounds for months now, but unlike some other high budget films there is more than just spectacle. The Dark Knight Rises explores the themes of right and wrong but mainly in regards to the class system as well as the corrupt nature of a lot of city officials which is obviously a very topical subject at the moment what with all the implications linked to the phone-hacking scandal. One of the issues I had with the film was that there was no humour in place to counter-balance this bleakness because even in The Dark Knight The Joker was able to provide some jet-black comedy. Here the most amusing sequences happen between Wayne and Kyle, especially when they're in full Batman and Catwoman roles, and their interplay does create some warmth on screen. It's just a shame though that their separated for most of the film as this almost screwball comedy aspect would lend itself well to a film that at some points is just too depressing for its own good. The cast do a good job across the board with Bale putting in another exemplary performance especially in the scenes in which Wayne has to display more despair than normal. Of the other regulars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman all get to do their small pieces and do them well. I was surprised how good Hathaway was as Catwoman and she seemed to revel playing this villainous woman and she lit up the screen more than Marion Cotilard did but then she was more a plot device than anything else. I think it's unfair to compare Tom Hardy's Bane to Heath Ledger's Joker as the former is much more of a dark creature but unlike the latter he does have a clear motive for his destruction. However for me the best performance came from Joseph Gordon-Levitt as rookie cop John Blake a former orphan who really believes in the power of the Batman even when others don't. Blake is really the heart of the film and Gordon-Levitt delivers an honest performance which, if the ending is anything to go by, will maybe develop into something more solid if the franchise continues.

While The Dark Knight Rises is far from a perfect film there is still much to like about it as it a clever summer blockbuster filled with some really great set pieces as well as a lot of a thought going into the central themes. Nolan is a proper film-maker who both entertains and challenges his audiences simultaneously making visual spectacles with images that stay with you long after the film has finished. Once again the director has assembled a fine ensemble cast, with standout turns from Gordon-Levitt and Hathaway, though nobody is quite able to match Heath Ledger's turn in the previous Batman film. There are a couple of gaping plot-holes, not enough humour to counter-balance the darkness and I did feel that Nolan did reveal the ending early while in addition I still thought the first 45 minutes or so were a little flabby. I think the amount of enjoyment you'll get from The Dark Knight Rises depends on how high your expectations were prior to watching the film for me I went in with an open mind and on the whole was thoroughly entertained. Overall the good more than outweighs the bad and I suffice to say if Nolan does direct the next Bond film after Skyfall then I'll certainly be watching.

Verdict: A flabby opening third is quickly forgotten as Nolan brings on the despair and gets great performances from his cast though maybe this is a little generous I will still award The Dark Knight Rises 8/10

Review No.75: Journey 2 The Mysterious Island

So it's time to pick up the world tour once again as we journey to Palau of all places or in fact do we journey 2 it? Yes the pacific island seemed to have been randomly picked as the start point for the family film Journey 2 The Mysterious Island which is a loose sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth as both starred Josh Hutcherson as Sean as well as both being based around Jules Verne novels. While the first film saw Sean team up with his uncle Brendan Fraser this time it is The Rock that fills in the alpha male lead as Sean's stepfather Hank as the pair go to find the mysterious island as well as Sean's long-lost grandfather Alexander played by Michael Caine. To get to the island from Palau the pair charter a dodgy looking helicopter driven by Luis Guzman's Latino chancer accompanied by his daughter Kailani who of course Sean's eyes are immediately drawn to especially seeing as she wears a low cut top for the majority of the film. When the quartet get to the island they find a place where large animals are small while small insects are large and once they've found Alexander they realise that the island is sinking with the only way to get off it is to find Captain Nemo's legendary submarine. Along the way life lessons are learnt as Sean learns to trust Hank and see him more as a paternal figure in his life while Kailani also struggles to make her father understand that she wants a life different from his. Obviously the end is crammed with people running quickly, CGI being sprinkled liberally and a third film in the franchise hinted to.

I feel that there are some films on this list that are just not made for me and Journey 2 The Mysterious Island is one of them however I can appreciate that it does hit their target market quite well. In fact to an extent it did remind me of some of the old school family films that I liked when I was younger and it does go out of its way to appeal to the whole family. There are the giant-bugs for the boys, the love story for the girls, The Rock flexing his pecs for the mums and there's even something for the dads in Vanessa Hudgens' ever expanding cleavage. Though Hutcherson impressed much more in The Hunger Games he is still good playing the average teen here while The Rock is a game leading man doing the aforementioned pecs flexing with aplomb while also later singing and playing the ukulele at the same time. However the film is stolen by Guzman and Caine both playing it for laughs and succeeding throughout with the former in particular impressing in a film whose genre he rarely appears in. Personally I found there was far too much CGI in a family film that didn't need it to survive while the love story looks like it has been tagged on by the producers at the last minute in order to appeal to the girls as well as the boys. As I said before this didn't really appeal to me but I think it's certainly interesting enough to appeal to a mainly young crowd and therefore it has done the job it has set out to do.

Verdict: A perfectly likeable family film with too much CGI and a weak romantic subplot gets a score from me of 6/10