Batman's darkest night!

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2012)

After being brought to life by dark visionist Tim Burton and then cheesed up by Joel Schumacher, the Caped Crusader was given a more serious and realistic makeover by none other than Christopher Nolan and was turned into a cinematic icon once more. "Batman Begins" established the groundwork, going into detail of the hero's origin story, giving him lethal villains (Ras al Ghul and Scarecrow), had a theme on fear, and demonstrating how his technology can actually work in the real world. Next came the ever awesome sequel "The Dark Knight", which continued the story, raised the stakes, had a theme on chaos, and, of course, gave us the best Joker ever. Now, the time has come for the Batman to return in "The Dark Knight Rises."
Plot: It has been eight years since the Joker terrorized Gotham City and fallen district attorney Harvey Dent (Two-Face) died. Taking the fall for Dent's crimes, Bruce Wayne has now retired and lives in relative seclusion while Gotham moves on practically free of crime. But this will be a fleeting peace as a new foe has come to eclipse the city under his shadow: Bane. When Bane threatens to destroy Gotham, Batman must rise again to protect the people that no longer tolerates him. Will the Dark Knight succeed? Will Bane triumph? And how does the newly arrived Catwoman play into all this? Tune in to find out, same bat time, same bat channel!
While I wasn't as hyped for this one as I was for "The Avengers" and "The Amazing Spider-Man", I was indeed looking forward to this epic film and how it all supposedly ends. It's great to see most of the original cast like Michael Caine as the wise Alfred, Morgan Freeman as the humorous Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as the ever reliable Gordan. Likewise, I felt that the new characters were quite interesting, each playing a key role and having fascinating personal qualities.
Before the film's release, I was wondering which villain will Nolan use for this entry in this current trilogy. Believe it or not, I was actually expecting Riddler, though I was equally surprised that they considered Killer Croc. Finally, when I learned that they were using Bane, I thought that was a great idea. Previously starring (and being inaccurately portrayed) in Schumacher's "Batman and Robin", Bane takes up the role of the main baddie and Tom Hardy does a good job playing as him. The guy is just brutal and has a menacing quality to him, despite looking like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. I had mixed feelings about his voice, sometimes it sounds good and other ties not so much. Cool as he is, Bane is not as interesting as Joker as the clown was more devious, dangerous, unpredictable, and charming.
Anne Hathaway was a real surprise to me. Before seeing the film, she seemed to me as just a simple beauty, but I took that back after seeing her in action. Not only does she look really sexy in that outfit, but her portrayal of the feline thief is nailed right off the bat (pun intended). She has proved to be very clever and tough in a fight and her relationship with Batman is quite unique. Catwoman, like in the comics, is also very complex as she is conflicted with what she believes is right. This all very subtle and I love it.
The other new characters are somewhat hit-or-miss, though I did like the cop John Blake and the surprises he brings. The action scenes are awesome as the stakes are raised and Batman brings in some cool new toys. Batman's battles with Bane and Catwoman's own fight scenes are a real treat and are sure to please you as well. The story is also done well as certain details reveal the whole story, especially details established in the previous films. While I still prefer "The Dark Knight", this is a worthy successor to the franchise, despite the fact that it didn't wow me as expected and there being a few things to nitpick. Overall, an excellent superhero movie, so check it out.