The Dark Knight Rises (Movie Review)

The Dark Knight Rises

Ka-Pow! Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated closure to his Batman saga is a great one but personally it wasn’t as mind-blowing for me because I couldn’t help but reference Heath Ledger’s performance in the last movie. The cast does a stellar job here but not one of them could stand up to the The Joker; who is hands down one of the greatest villains to grace the silver screen.

The Dark Knight Rises is still a great watch nevertheless because the events of the movie are pretty epic and it raises a lot of questions about morality & sacrifice. Unlike The Amazing Spider-Man, the latest Batman flick is a thinking man’s superhero movie and a whole lot more realistic in its setting which I didn’t enjoy as much cos’ it kinda depressed me a little.

The entire cast holds their own here. Christian Bale does a decent third outing as Bruce Wayne but I felt that his supporting cast really outshone him throughout most of the movie. Tom Hardy makes for a super-menacing Bane whilst Anne Hathaway really stole the show in exquisite manner as Catwoman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt deserves a special mention too as rookie cop John Blake.

Christopher Nolan has given us a satisfying ending to his trilogy of Batman movies and I’m pretty sure most fans will not be disappointed by this one.

I give The Dark Knight Rises a back-breaking 4.5 out of 5.

August & September 2011 Movie Round-Up

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America

A decent watch. Captain America builds up the character properly but unfortunately flounders towards the second half of the movie especially during the hunt for Hydra.

Perhaps it’s my familiarity with how Cap ends up in the ice that made the ending not work out so well. Cap’s sacrifice isn’t as great as what he did in the comics.

I give Captain America: The First Avenger a shield-tossing 3 out of 5.

The Smurfs

The Smurfs

I really really didn’t expect much from this one but it somehow made me laugh and it kept me entertained. Hank Azaria did a great job as Gargamel and Azrael in CG form is such a hoot.

As much as I hate to admit it; the movie made me wanna check out old episodes of the cartoon. Heh.

I give The Smurfs a smurfy 3 out of 5,

Colombiana

Colombiana

I think Zoe Saldana is hot! Having said that, I expected this one to be a full-on action fest but the drama aspects of the movie really caught me by surprise. It was an OK watch and I’ll be keeping a closer eye on Saldana as I can’t quite place what sort of actress she is.

If you’re looking for a movie about an assassin with some drama to boot, then Colombiana might be what you’re looking for.

I give Colombiana a killer 3 out of 5.

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids

A friend got me tix to catch one of those media giveaway premieres and I found the movie to be quite crass and the characters attitudes towards sex & marriage in particular to be nasty. So much for the first institution of marriage.

There were some funny moments and as a comedy it’s waaaay better than Horrible Bosses. The romance between the lead character and the police officer was sweet and I guess it felt real compared to most on-screen romances.

I give Bridesmaids a wed-locked 2 out of 5

Contagion

Contagion

Slow-moving best describes Steven Sodenbergh’s latest but I suppose the true horror is the paranoia that it could induce about disease spreading. The movie features a star-studded cast which works for it in a sense. Movies like this make me realise that ensemble cast movies are hard to make and there’s a genius to it I guess.

I caught the late night show so I didn’t really enjoy the movie as much because of its slow pace and also of the ending which lacked punch.

I give Contagion a paranoia-inducing 2 out of 5.