The Dark Knight flops

Rating: 1/10 (5 August 2012)

This takes place eight years after the events of the previous film. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse never going out and holing up inside Wayne Manor. Batman also has not been seen being accused of killing a person. Then Bane (Tom Hardy) invades Gotham (for no reason) to take it over (again, for no reason). Also Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) is a master thief on the loose. Can Batman come out of "retirement" and battle them?
Long (almost three hours), loud (VERY loud) and terrible movie. I'm no fan of the other two but they weren't THIS bad! The plot takes forever to get going and Batman himself is hardly in it! He doesn't even show up until 45 minutes in. The plot is more than a little vague. Why exactly is Bane attacking Gotham? The movie never tells us. Also a character escapes from a jail in some Arabian country and pops up in Gotham AFTER it's been cut off from the rest of the world. How? What exactly does Selina Kyle have to do with any of this? Her character comes and goes quickly. There are more plot holes but those are the biggest. Also there's a twist at the end that comes out of nowhere and does nothing but complicate the plot. That aside the movie is sadistic (people are killed off left and right AND their bodies are hung from bridges), slow (I was constantly checking my watch), LOUD (the music is far too loud and pounds you into submission) and grim. There's a constant feeling of depression in the movie that got to me. Oh yes and there's room for a sequel!!!!!
On the good side the acting is all good. Bale was great and Hathaway is terrific (but we see far too little of her). Hardy is obviously having a whale of a time in his role and doesn't even attempt to cover his British accent. Gary Oldman (as Commissioner Gordon), Morgan Freeman (as Lucius Fox), Michael Caine (as Alfred) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are great too. The special effects are incredible but the consistently grim tone take any wonder out of them. This is a vicious cruel and dull movie that just pounds the audience mercilessly and offers no thrills or entertainment. A 1 all the way.