review: "the dark knight rises"

Earlier this week as the credits started rolling at an advance press screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" the audience clapped its support of the film. The guys around me loved the movie, including my husband who went with me. So, I may be in the minority of those that didn't love the film. I appreciate the hard work that director Christopher Nolan obviously put into this film, as well as the cast including Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/ Batman), Anne Hathaway (Catwoman), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Fox), Tom Hardy (Bane), Michael Caine (Alfred) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blake). As far as action movies go, they rose to the occasion pleasing the fans (at least those in my screening.)

In this third film of the trilogy by Nolan, Batman is secluded, having been outcast eight years prior. However a new evildoer (Bane) is reigning havoc over Gotham and only Batman can save his precious city from certain disaster. All the characters that you love are back with the addition of Anne Hathaway who has the best zingers in the film. She purrs especially well when she's being a bad kitty.  Gordon-Levitt is a refreshing addition to the cast as the honest cop turned detective trying to stop Bane's reign of terror on the city. Bane, however, with his caged mouthpiece is almost impossible to understand. In fact if Sean Connery and Darth Vader mated, the spawn would be voiced by Bane. Perhaps it was the deafening reverberations of the IMAX theatre but it was difficult to make out some of his dialogue. Though, he was more of a physical kinda guy so if you missed some of his dialogue, you still got the idea.

While "The Dark Knight Rises" is a BIG splashy summer movie, I wouldn't recommend taking younger kids to see this film. I'm not against violence in films but the violence in this film was overwhelming, especially some of the scenes where Gotham being terrorized. As I watched the smoke rise in the city, it felt too chillingly reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks. Yes, it was Gotham, a fictional city but the fact that it looked so much like Manhattan was enough.

The fact remains that Batman fans will go see this film. For me, it was violent and I didn't leave the theatre happy. However, just about every guy leaving the screening loved the movie. My husband said the film was like playing a video game, lots of violence but you have to remember it's just a movie after all.