If you enjoy good film, see this movie!

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2012)

I went to a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. Wow. It was amazing. I absolutely adore Dark Knight, but if you take away Heath Ledger it doesn't even hold a candle to DKR. This was definitely the greatest superhero movie I've ever seen, probably the greatest action movie I've ever seen, and most likely in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. As a hardcore Batman fan, I saw countless nods and references to classic stories like The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Son of a Demon, No Man's Land, and most prominently, Knightfall (Bane's first appearance with Batman, after his few-issue origin story, written shortly before). Tom Hardy as Bane was absolutely breathtaking, from his hand motions to his voice to the choreography in his fighting style. Anne Hathaway was just fantastic as Catwoman. Her mannerisms and voice perfectly captured the character. Gary Oldman was perfect as always as Commissioner Gordon, even as an old, tired version of the character. Marion Cotillard was great as her character. Morgan Freeman was of course mindblowingly cool as Lucius Fox. Liam Neeson did the character of Ra's Al Ghul justice a second time (in flashbacks, etc). Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great as Detective John Blake. Michael Caine was again really great as Alfred and perfectly cast for the role.
And Christian Bale was really great as Batman. He played a different Batman than there was in Dark Knight, more similar to Bruce's character in Batman Begins. He was broken, depressed and a shell of his old self, eight years since the events of Dark Knight. He surprised me, as I knew he'd be good, but he was exactly what the movie needed as a lead.
All in all, this movie was totally amazing. 4 out of 4 stars. It was perhaps the best possible way to finish off an amazing trilogy.