THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Spoilers will most definitely not rise!

Well the third and final Batman movie from Christopher Nolan has finally hit the screens, and your humble scribe was swiftly dispatched to the local multiplex to catch the earliest possible screening. Well not quite the earliest as cinemas up and down the UK were starting to the show the flick from 5 AM onward, and while it is true that I am a huge Bat- fan AND a notorious insomniac, staying up all night to attend a before-the-crack-of-dawn performance didn't seem the ideal conditions to fully appreciate Mr Nolan's opus. 

Now then for an idiosyncratic reviewer like myself The Dark Knight Rises presents something of a problem,  namely that every man and his bat are posting up reviews left, right and centre. And so, rather than the usual sandwich of paragraphs and pictures of Anne Hathaway, I thought I just attempt answer a few question you might have about the movie before going in...  

WILL I BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND A RUDDY WORD TOM HARDY'S BANE SAYS?
From the assorted trailers and teasers, the sound filters applied to Mr Hardy's dialogue have emerged as the primary concern for a lot of prospective audience members. Now as I was wary of seeing too much of the movie before the release I largely avoided all this hoopla so I can't really comment on the differences between the style of speech used in promos and the finished article.

However what I most definitely tell you is that bar a couple of brief snatches of dialogue Mr Hardy is perfectly intelligible. Or course whether you like the vocal stylings or not is another matter... Now I thought it actually worked rather well, capturing the hyper-intelligence and malice of the Bane of the comics and sounding rather excellent in my cinema's surround system. And I suspect the quality of the speakers in your auditorium will be a factor here. Indeed despite the difference in costume and the tweaks to his backstory that will annoy comics purists no doubt, Hardy makes an excellent Bane, turning in a powerful performance not hindered in the slightest by the fact most of his face is encased in a gasmask.

However I must confess, it did take me a while to get this description from Mr Lee Medcalf of The Black Dog Podcast out of my head...

WILL I BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND CHRISTIAN BALE'S BATMAN FOR THAT MATTER?
Now on the subject of Bale's Bat-voice, I thought it was fine Batman Begins but it did edge into gargling with gravel territory in The Dark Knight. However you'll be pleased to learn that in this feature, he's dialed it down again and only once, very briefly, did I flash on this...

HOW IS ANNE HATHAWAY AS CATWOMAN?
One word - superb! Nolan's take on the character is rather brilliant - much like his Batman, the Catwoman on here is believable version of the character that inhabits a realistically gritty crime noir. However she's also very close to the modern comics version of this iconic feline villain, indeed closer to the source material that Nolan's Batman in many respects.  

Anne Hathaway herself is wonderful in the role, making the character smart, strong, sexy and funny. There's no campy purr-fect kitty katting about here, instead we have the morally ambiguous master thief of the comics, complete with  sensitively beneath the fine-honed street skills and her own sense of honour. Yes, I've got a new favorite screen Catwoman...

And yes, she looks ruddy fantastic in that catsuit, just don't do a Fred Willard...

IS THIS KNIGHTFALL: THE MOVIE?
Now if you don't know Knightfall is the classic 1990s saga in which Bane first appeared. And while The Dark Knight Rises isn't a retelling of this celebrated set of Batman comics, don't click on the link for there are potential spoilers there!  For although The Dark Knight Rises isn't Knightfall: The Movie, it does draw on this famous comics storyline in the same way that Batman Begins borrowed much from Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight drew on The Man Who Laughs.

IS THIS A THREEQUEL OR IS IT ACTUALLY THE FINAL PART OF A TRILOGY?
Now given the rather dire nature of many recent third entries in blockbuster franchises of late, I must confess to being slightly worried if the curse of the threequel would strike again. After all even the great Sam Raimi stumbled badly with Spiderman 3 (although in fairness, various cinematic coroners have concluded that he was pushed), so would Nolan make a similar fumble suffering from third film fatigue?

Well no, for The Dark Knight Rises is not a second sequel but the closing chapter of a three act story. And while all the movies can stand alone on their own two feet, they do dovetail together to make one brilliant Batman story arc. And hence I strongly recommend you watch the first two movies again before going in!

IS IT AS GOOD AS THE AVENGERS
Well, that might be a logical question - hey they are both superhero movies right - but it's like comparing eggs and bacon. Yes, they both happily live side by side on a breakfast plate but they aren't the same type of things. The Avengers is a movie about folks with super powers and scifi technology knocking seven bells out of aliens and each other, whereas The Dark Knight Rises, like Nolan's preceding brace of Bat-movies, is a crime drama featuring masked vigilantes. Yes, they are both comic-book films but they are different genres, so any comparison is built on shifting sands.

So are eggs better than bacon? No...

Is bacon mightier than the egg? No...

But I'll tell you what - I'm very glad to have them both on my blockbuster plate this year!

BREAKFAST METAPHORS ARE ALL VERY WELL SMART-ARSE BUT IS IT ANY GOOD?
I think it's safe to say that if you enjoyed the gritty and intelligent take on Batman presented in the previous two movies in this series, you'll find The Dark Knight Rises delivers more of the same. And what's more delivering a rousing finale to Nolan's three picture saga.

Or course, by the same token if you have problems with the other two, it's unlikely this closing chapter will change your opinions on the Nolan Batman. However that said, this series has turned out to be a bona fide trilogy and problems some have had with the first two movies are ironed out retrospectively to a degree when you view it as a complete whole - for example, the slow pace and low key nature of Batman Begins makes more sense as world building and set-up. Indeed the real triumph of The Dark Knight Rises is that it is a powerful conclusion to the series and enhances the earlier movies when you see how Nolan's story threads and themes come to fruition, rather than tarnishing and diminishing the earlier films as so many other threequels have.

Of course that does leave us with one final question - which of the trilogy is the best? And that particular question, I'll leave for you to debate at your leisure...

HYPNOBOBS 28 - Holy Rambling Batman!

In something of a rush, Mr Jim Moon hastily cobbles together a podcast and ends up rambling on about Batman and that proposed reboot after Nolan leaves the director's chair...

DIRECT DOWNLOAD - HYPNOBOBS 28 - Holy Rambling Batman!

Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -

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INCEPTION

Perhaps the most important leap any budding film buff makes is the jump from selecting films to watch on the basis of the director rather than the cast they feature. No matter how talented your favourite thespian is, and no matter how carefully they pick their roles, they can still appear in some right old dogs. Hence would-be cinephiles soon learn that the only reliable indicator of a film’s quality is who is sat in the director’s chair. But Hollywood being the circus of insanity it is, even reliable auteurs can stumble and fall flat on their faces, whether through studio execs interfering or plain old creative exhaustion.

Of the current crop of young directors, there are few who can boast of a strike rate as impressive as Christopher Nolan. From an impressive debut with Following in 1998, he has produced a string of modern classics, and while his often strangely twisting movies may not be to everybody’s taste there can be no question of the talent, intelligence and original vision emanating from behind the camera. Nolan has the full package of directorial chops; he gets brilliant performances from his casts, he crafts wonderful visuals, he understands the value of polishing and refining a script until it sparkles, and he’s equally at home filming intricate emotional drama as he is grand action set pieces.

However after the stellar success that was The Dark Knight, could Nolan pull it off again? Although his reputation and critical credit provide him with a decent layering of armour against the dread curse of studio inference, it’s not unusual for a director to fumble the ball after the gruelling process of bringing a blockbuster into the world. But one of the key skills for any director is meticulous planning, and Inception has been in the pipeline for a long time – apparently Nolan penned a first draft about in the late ‘90s – so this is not the usual quickly thrown together little film that post-big feature directors employ as a creative palate cleanser.

And in short, Inception is another triumph for him. The Dark Knight was hailed as a masterpiece but I think Inception tops it. While his second Batman movie is a tremendous piece of cinema, Inception is actually tighter and deeper. One viewing isn’t really enough for me to be able to rate it against his other films but I think it’s safe to say that whatever your favourite Nolan flick is, Inception will be providing a strong challenge from the crown.

However it is also a real bugger to review. The nature of the film’s story and the way the narrative is layered make it very hard to write any sort of spoiler free review – as Lee from The Black Dog has remarked in both the most recent episode of that show and his review on GeekPlanetOnline, the best way to see Inception is to go in knowing as little as possible. Watch the trailers by all means – which give little away other than the basic premise and a hint of the flavour of the film – but no more!

So avoiding all discussion of what actually happens in the film, what can I safely tell you? Well I would’t normally be jumping to the conclusion of the review so soon but - just go and see it! Seriously – go as soon as you can! This is a high recommend!

You want more detail? Ok then - be prepared for a mind bending ride, but also be ready for a complex and emotionally charged story. With The Dark Knight Nolan demonstrated that an action and FX heavy fantastic story didn’t just have to be brainless eye candy, and that the tropes of the superhero genre could be used to tell an intelligent story focused as much on moral complexity and the depths of the human heart as well as Zap! Pow! antics. And Inception takes this melding of thrilling action with narrative and character depth to another level.

As well as some extremely well-thought out science fiction concepts and eye popping action, Inception has an absorbing psychological storyline. It’s a film that operates on many different levels all at the same time, with Nolan effortless orchestrating stunning thrills, amazing cinematics, an intricate plot and strong characters. And while the big sci-fi ideas presented are very beguiling and intelligently thought out, the real strength of the film is in its characters and their interactions.

And it has to said that Nolan has assembled a top notch cast for this outing. Inception is packed with wonderfully performances, but it’s hard to single any one out over another as they work together so well as an ensemble – plus it’s hard to say much about the acting without giving away plot spoilers. Suffice to say then everybody shines in this film – Nolan really knows how to direct actors and Inception has a marvellous ensemble feel to it as a consequence.

Now the film does have a long running time but the hours really do fly by. I was honestly stunned to discover it had clocked in at two and half hours long - yes, I spoiler dodged so much I went in not even knowing the running time - as the story had so thoroughly drawn me into its world. Although we are only just past the half way mark, I am tempted to hail Inception as one of the films of the year.

However, I do think that Inception probably won’t work for every one. As with any film with a twisty turny narrative, there are going to some who will delight in find alleged plot holes and logic lapses, but I think in the case of Inception this is will an exercise in splitting hairs, if not an exercise in finding faults to counter the hyperbole this movie is generating.

And undoubtedly some will be confused, if not annoyed, by its complexities, particularly those drawn in expecting something more in line with your usual summer blockbuster. But that said, I had similar concerns about The Dark Knight being too cerebral for the popcorn munching crowd, but in the end turned out to be quite unfounded considering the wide acclaim and extremely healthy box office returns. But hopefully the average movie goer will surprise us all again with an appetite for the intelligent thrills and sophisticated story telling delivered by Inception.

This is a film that deserves to seen - and I say again go see it as soon as you can. Films that can deliver action and thrills with such intelligence and panache deserve to be supported.