Grown-ups: don't be fooled by the hype - this movie is terrible.

Rating: 3/10 (11 January 2013)

"The Dark Knight Rises" popped up on some "Best of 2012" lists, and my sister-in-law wanted us to watch it over the holidays, so we did. But I really can't understand how anyone over the age of maybe 18 could think this was even watchable. The script is childish, clumsy and riddled with unbelievable plot problems. The direction is immature. Christian Bale is so wooden and un-charismatic it's literally painful to watch him. The main bad guy seems to have this inexplicable surround-sound amplifier embedded in his mask that, and the sound level in general goes from "I can't hear this" to "aaahhh, turn it down" throughout the picture. Granted, the production values are pretty good for the tens-of-millions spent on it, and there is some inventive military equipment. But seriously....by no stretch of imagination could this be considered one of the best movies of the year.