Review: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is out in cinemas now

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan

Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

If you asked me, I'd tell you that The Dark Knight (2008) is one of the greatest movies ever made, so naturally the follow-up had a lot to live up to. The hugely anticipated sequel, four years in the making, is finally here and I'm sure all Bat-fans are eagerly waiting to see if Chris Nolan can deliver the goods once more. Before seeing The Dark Knight Rises I was optimistic because looking at Nolan's previous record he's never really made a bad film, so I didn't expect him to start now.

The movie starts eight years after the events of the Dark Knight; Batman hasn't been spotted since and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse. Enter Bane, a masked madman played to perfection by Tom Hardy, a man hell-bent on destroying the city of Gotham, to set the wheels in motion. With Bruce Wayne getting older we see him increasingly relying on a whole network of allies including Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Detective Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway).Unfortunately, his age gets the better of him, a good angle for the final film in the series, as Bruce Wayne's struggle is physical as well as mental, evidenced by the cane he uses; he must now think about the future of Gotham and Batman's place within it.

Much like Inception (2010), Nolan has a lot of characters to handle and yet again he does this with skill. Every single important character has their moment and final pay-off is rewarding for the audience, as I'm sure the box office returns will be for Warner Bros. With a running time of 165 minutes, it's larger in scale than anything he's done before but it seems like this is no object; from film to film Nolan has shown he has an eye for spectacular and there are sequences in The Dark Knight Rises that leave you in awe.

The fact that The Dark Knight Rises falls just short of the quality of The Dark Knight means nothing, considering it is not easy to duplicate perfection; it's a more than accomplished conclusion to the legend that still manages to be a cut above the rest. Forget The Avengers: this is a comic-book film with a perfect balance of the emotional and the extravagant. When I think of cinema's great trilogies, I think of the original Star Wars trilogy, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, The Godfather; now I'm pleased to add Christopher Nolan's Batman to that group. The word 'flop' is not Nolan's vocabulary.

Verdict - Chris Nolan, in his might, has delivered an outstanding ending to the Dark Knight story. See it. - 9.5/10

Review: Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom (2010)
Written and Directed by David Michod
Starring James Frecheville, Jacki Weaver, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce

It was John Hillcoat's The Proposition (2006) and Andrew Dominik's Chopper (2000) that convinced me to have a look at this acclaimed thriller from Down Under. David Michod's Animal Kingdom tells the story of J (played by James Frecheville), a boy of few words, who is thrust into a world of fear, following the death of his mother from a drug overdose. The world in which he now resides is inhabited by uncles Darren, Craig, and Pope (Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton and Ben Mendelsohn respectively), as well as Baz (Joel Edgerton), who perform armed robbery for money, and his overly affectionate grandmother (Jacki Weaver). What comes after is an unpredictable series of events that bring J ever closer to grave danger.

It soon becomes clear that Uncle Pope is one to fear, Ben Mendelsohn skilfully communicating many levels of his character's sinister nature with little more than a stare; you see the fear in J's eyes and can't help but feel it too. Every character here feels real, the dialogue naturalistic and it's obvious that this is a well thought out effort from Michod.

Animal Kingdom, though it seems mundane, has the ability to surprise. Once the characters are established, Michod shows us how even though an event can end in a flash, its consequences are far reaching, and he does well to balance drama with heart-stopping suspense that eventually erupts into brief periods of violence.

Helped along by a score from Antony Partos, which exemplifies dark and ominous, Michod delivers a depressing but remarkable piece of film, made even more commendable by the fact that it is his début feature; here is a film that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Verdict: If you want a real crime film, this one's for you - 9/10

Source Code Review

Source Code is out now

Written by Ben Ripley

Directed by Duncan Jones

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

For his second feature Duncan Jones has remained with sci-fi and though it's set on Earth, unlike his first film Moon, its concept is far from firmly on the ground. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a soldier who has served in Afghanistan, and is being employed by Dr Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) to take part in the Source Code program. He is able to relive the last eight minutes of Sean Fentress, a victim of a terrorist bombing on a train, in order to find the bomber and prevent a second attack.

Once this is established these eight minutes are relayed to us numerous times, with a different result every time; these are very exciting and often humorous but the periods of recovery between each attempt lead to lulls in which there is a lot of explaining of concepts and answering of questions. With the inevitable comparisons to Christopher Nolan's Inception, because of its questioning of reality and convoluted plot, it could be said that the screenplay could take a leaf out of Nolan's book; perhaps there were too many times when the film slowed to a halt. Despite this, the chemistry between Stevens and Christina (Monaghan) is sweet and Farmiga plays her role with a good measure of detachedness and sympathy. The whole cast works together well and succeed in making the script work.

In a concept-driven film, Duncan Jones is able to balance character with plot, carefully mixing the smaller moments with the major plot twists, giving it a similar feel to the more self-contained Moon. Source Code is an enjoyable watch and thoroughly entertaining, but the final five minutes may require a suspension of disbelief.

Monsters Review

Monsters is out on November 13
Written and Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able
 

The opening is impressive: a platoon of US soldiers patrolling at night and all a sudden, there’s an alien attack.  This sets up the standard scenario of alien invasion/infestation but comes from the aftermath angle, much like District 9. The only differences are that the aliens have settled in North and Central America, they are less civilized and more hostile. The story then follows Samantha and Andrew (played by real-life couple Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able) as they attempt to make it through the infested zone over half of America.

The title is VERY misleading, as this film is not about the creatures, who serve as more of a backdrop rather the main feature. What’s more important, and perhaps what makes the film so accessible, is the chemistry between the two leads and how their interaction with other scared human beings and each other hold the film together. Monsters does not keep up the standard of its opening throughout, though what seems to be its biggest flaw is actually its saving grace. It focuses on substance over style (being a low-budget flick it seems to be necessary) and its naturalistic dialogue brings the viewer closer to the experience. It seems that with films like this (i.e. Cloverfield, District 9) it is essential to make it as real and possible: Monsters succeeds.

This is visual effects man Gareth Edwards’ first feature, and if he starts as he means to go on, the future is bright; not only did he write and direct Monsters, he did the special effects himself. What I love about Edwards most is that he is a great British talent.

When watching Monsters, have the mindset that it’s about the characters not the alien spectacle and you won’t be disappointed. And for those of you who are more sensitive, the ending will be particularly touching.

Inception Review

Inception is Out Now
Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Dileep Rao

Taking my seat at the screening, I had high hopes for Inception; this film promised to be action-packed, mind-bending and unlike anything we've ever seen before; the premise for this film is the idea that ideas can be stolen from the subconscious through dreams andnsome people have mastered the art of theft (extraction) by dream-sharing. Director Chistopher Nolan of Dark Knight and Memento has taken this one step further by saying "if we can steal ideas, why can't we plant ideas?" Cue an Ocean's Eleven-esque heist that takes place within the mind.

The story focuses on Dominic Cobb (played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio), a troubled man with a troubled past, and his team of extractors, Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), Ariadne (Page) and Eames (Hardy), who are hired by Ken Watanabe to plant an idea into the mind of the heir to a rival company to dissolve that company. The whole process becomes very complicated, in one of these rare spectacles which requires your complete attention. By showing us the dreams of the characters, we're seeing into the mind of Nolan, the man who created this original story.

If I can say anything about Inception, it's that it's unforgettable; it stays with you as you leave the cinema and its one of those film that, when you're watching it you look forward to watching it again. It lives up to the all the hype and it certainly cements Christopher Nolan's position as Hollywood's most exciting director.

Les Grossman biopic under develpoment.

After a great reception in Tropic Thunder and a guest appearance on the MTV Movie Awards a couple of days ago that went down a storm, Tom Cruise's Les Grossman is getting his own movie.

The upcoming film, which has Ben Stiller as one of the producers, is beng portrayed as if the company involved (Paramount), has acquired Les Grossman's life rights and are doing a biopic of a real-life person. According to Ben Stiller, "Les Grossman's life story is an inspiring tale of the classic human struggle to achieve greatness against all odds."



Scott Pilgrim's Michael Bacall is said to be the writer and Cruise is in talks, but no director is attached at the moment. I don't know about you but after seeing Grossman's dance off with Jennifer Lopez at the MTV Movie Awards, I can't wait.

Inception is coming...

July 16 brings the UK the most anticipated movie of the year, Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan of The Dark Knight and starring Martin Scorcese's go-to guy Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception deals with Dom Cobbs, a thief able to steal valuable secrets from the subconscious during the dream state.

Considering Nolan's previous films, this is one to get excited about: in 2000, psychological thriller Memento was released upon the world and since then the British- American director has been cranking out superior entertainment such as Insomnia, The Prestige and Batman Begins.

Check out the theatrical trailer below to whet your appetite!

Inception - Official Trailer 2 [HD]