Saying this is the best comic book movie doesn't do it justice

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2012)

Since the Dark knight four years i have been looking forward to a third batman movie and wondered where they were going to take the story seeing as there was no way Christopher Nolan was going to have the Joker in the third movie. We find out that the villain will be Bane and it will be played by Tom Hardy also that Catwoman will be played by Anne Hathaway and that this will be the last batman movie under Christopher Nolan. This immediately rose the stakes of what to expect especially after Inception which was my favourite movie of that year and i wanted to know how the characters would be different from the previous batman movies especially Bane who in a live action movie was seen in probably the worst batman movie, Batman and Robin.Having seen all the trailers and TV spots it showed it was going for a more realistic but epic approach to finishing off Nolan's Batman trilogy and it was my most anticipated movie of the year.Now having hyped myself for this movie before the release date i then see a few bad reviews for the movie which threw me having seen all the clips i could of the movie and liking them a lot.But what i got from some of the reviews was that expectation would play a big part in liking this movie because if it doesn't match to what you personally wanted from the movie or it goes below what you thought it should be it might not be a good experience for you.So for me putting aside expectations for this movie was the sole reason i can say this: This is the best batman movie, it is the best comic book movie and this is the best movie of the year so far.Saying this is the best comic book movie doesn't do it justice.
I think daring to amp up the darkness where it is less about the fun of something like The Avengers and more about the brutality of what is coming to Gotham and really feeling the pain of Bruce Wayne after eight years how that has mentally and physically changed him, how Alfred has dealt with Bruce Wayne's depression, how he is trying his best to protect him, The guilt of Commissioner Gordon in being involved with the lie about Harvey Dent being a hero, all these things dark emotions put into a comic book movie like Batman that isn't just about look but it really tries to give you the best story in making us realise how important Batman is for Gotham and that it is done in the best way for this movie.
Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway nailed the roles that i would always here the worry on whether they would fit the characters.But worry not Bane for me was scary, intimidating and clever not just a guy with muscles but in how he talks where it is Shakespearean in delivery meaning that it is very dense in what he is talking about and in some cases layered but also times where it was to the point and effective because of it. An example of Shakespearean delivery is his speech before and during the prison takeover as his plan for Gotham is set and all the prisoners escape. Also like in the trailer we have the line "When Gotham is ashes you have my permission to die" is a great sum up for his character as a domineering figure. Anne Hathaway has the funniest lines despite the dark emotions that the film has, bringing a lot of fun when she is on screen but she also brings moments of total seriousness and you buy that she can beat the people that she does making her more complicated then just putting on a suit and looking sexy.
We see Christian Bale give i think the best Bruce Wayne/Batman performance out of all the Batman movies, Michael Caine gives his best performance as Alfred especially in one scene where Alfred confesses that Rachel wanted Harvey Dent and not him as it was written by her in a letter that he burnt it has a brilliant reaction by Christian Bale. Also towards the end as we see Alfred breakdown over feeling like he failed Bruce's parents as he stands in front of their and Bruce's grave but i'll get to the end.
Technically this movie is superb, the score is incredible by Hans Zimmer, the twist of Joseph Gordon Levitt who is great in it as really having the name Robin is the highlight for me i didn't think they would actually go there, the perfect ending as we see Alfred's dream come true seeing Bruce Wayne the way he wanted. I understand why people said there were too many characters because it seemed to introduce people that would all of the sudden die or just disappear without enough depth to them like Dr Pavel although he dies in good fashion by Bane a lot of characters that have little meaning to the story would be my negative but that doesn't ruin the entire experience for me not to say that i love this movie and hopefully it will be nominated for Oscars but even if it isn't i'm so glad as a movie it didn't disappoint letting me appreciate how far Batman has come. 10/10.