Not great but solid entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2012)

Having seen this newest installment of Nolans Batman Series I must say it is a hit-and-miss scenario. The hype for the movie was as always too big and it appears that mister Nolan has the most loyal audience who glorify his work. As for the movie itself, I must say the main antagonist is not scary at all even though he represents definite threat for our hero and Gotham City as well, but all Batmans foes are threat for the entire City. His motivations are not clear and his plans for the citizens of the City are fuzzy (Jokers plan from TDK is far scarier, forcing people to become more like him). He has no memorable lines and his diatribes about "giving the city to its people" while setting free worst criminals from the prison is beyond comprehension unless he means it as a cynical joke, but you can never tell. Bane's voice is very strange indeed and left me confused. It was like seeing Darth Vader speaks in a voice of Mickey Mouse. It was definitely not him. And as for his henchmen, it is beyond comprehension why are they so loyal to him. They are ready to die without question like they are dying for some great cause, but that is not so. Bane's cause is nothing but a destruction of a single city. As for Catwoman, I liked Anne Hathaway in that role. She showed she can act and change from shy to nasty in a second, and she is convincing as thug-beating-cat-burglar. Her main motivation for following Bane is fear (i believe) but it is never shown what caused it. She tries to start anew so that at least explains her change of spirit at the end. We see in this movie older and weaker version of Batman but it makes no sense to see him a mentally and physically broken man if he really retired after the episode with Two-face (or Half-face, to be correct). What happened in these eight years is also never shown. But his return as a crime fighter (the scene in the tunnels) is awesome. Police Officer Blake was welcome addition to the movie. At first he looked superficial but the character is really someone who we can imagine as Batmans heir. But not Batman. Bruce Wayne thinks that anyone can be Batman, but that is impossible. He was trained as a ninja and although John (Robin) Blake can kick some criminals a..ess he is no ninja. And no Batman. But still... All in all we have satisfying conclusion of Batmans battle for his City. Some parts of the movie are too long and implausible like Banes occupation of Gotham, but it's a superhero movie after all, it does not have to be always realistic or plausible. Enjoy!