Hunger Games: Catching Fire ★★★ ½

Hunger Games: Catching fire feeds the multitude

Opens in Australia: 21st November, 2013
UK: 21^st November 2013 
USA: 22^nd November 2013

Other Countries: Release Information

   Okay everybody you can stop salivating and wishing the time away. Hunger Games: Catching Fire has arrived with a bang.  It topped the box office in Australia, ahead of its release in the USA with a staggering 65% increase from the first film’s result and the second biggest opening day for 2013 behind Iron Man 3.

Fans of Suzanne Collin’s dystopian series will not be disappointed. It follows the book closely, covering the politics and the lives of the love triangle of Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine, Water for Elephants), reviewers and audiences are claiming it is better than the first film. The last book of the trilogy has been split into two films and will also be directed by Lawrence.

After winning the 74^th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) return to District 12 as victors.  Part of their job is to participate in the propaganda surrounding the Hunger Games, embarking on tours of the other Districts (think an Olympics homecoming but with a dour crowd).  Peeta and Katniss, who used the ruse of “being in love” to avoid being killed at the games, must continue to perpetrate the lie. On a visit to District 11, (young Rue’s district who was Katniss’ murdered friend in the first games) Katniss and Peter make the mistake of going off script and speaking from the heart. This incites the crowd to demonstrate their “hope” by whistling the notes Katniss used to contact Rue in the games, along with a three finger salute. As they travel through the districts the unrest continues, with the salute and the whistle its trademark.

With Katniss as its figurehead, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) views this demonstration of solidarity and hope as a threat to the supremacy of Pan Am. He devises a plan with the new gamesmaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to create a special games for the Quarter Quell (75 years of Hunger Games). The tributes will be chosen from the victors this time. Just when it seems Katniss will finally have a chance to be with Gale(Liam Hemsworth), she and other angry victors must return to an even more dangerous arena.

Stanley Tucci is a knockout as commentator Caesar Flickerman.  Elizabeth Banks is again fabulous as Effie Trinkett.  All the team are still there: Wood Harrelson as Haymitch, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith along with new tributes.

It’s a dark drama, and even though an enjoyable watch, the first half of the film covering the politics does drag until the games begin. When they do, they pack a wallop with real edge of your seat thrills (if you call watching young people kill innocent others thrilling). Just like the first, it ends with the promise of the next film. These films are box office gold. The producers will certainly not be going hungry.

Gravity ★★★★★

A perfect space odyssey

Opens in Australia: 3rd October

USA: 4th October  UK: 10th October
Other Countries: Release Information

Gravity is surprising, no matter which way you turn. And there is a lot of turning and spinning, so be prepared if you suffer motion sickness. There is also a great deal of white knuckle, breath holding moments, too.

You could be forgiven for thinking a dramatic space film with Sandra Bullock as the lead wouldn’t work. The staging is so realistic you could, also, be forgiven for thinking it was filmed entirely in space. It was actually filmed entirely at Shepperton Studios in London, England against animated screens. You would also not expect that ninety minutes of slow movement, fifteen minutes of dialogue in the opening followed by mostly silence and monologue, would be so enthralling.

But director Alfonso Cuarón has delivered a film that will grab you by the throat from the beautiful opening scenes, and it will not release you until the end credits. Even then, you will find yourself reliving the moments later because it felt so real.

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), a medical genius is on her first shuttle mission and effecting repairs on a routine spacewalk. Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) is on his last mission and, in the magnificent opening sequence, casually zips around her admiring his final view from space. When disaster strikes and their shuttle is destroyed through a collision with hurtling detritus, Dr. Stone must find a way back to earth while her air runs low and she finds herself in an environment for which she is ill prepared.

By all accounts Gravity was a frustrating film for Cuarón to create and he has said he will never venture into space again. Each sequence needed to be digitally created; a two year process before filming began. Most of the technology invented for the film constantly failed up until the first day of filming. Cuarón even kept a diary and talks of fifteen days where they barely achieved anything. The diary was his record for later analysis after what he believed would be his inevitable dismissal when the project fell apart. After the conclusion of principal filming, it was still another year and a half of post-production.

Even the star, Sandra Bullock, described the time she spent in a nine foot cube, created for her shots, as “lonely” and “isolating.” It was so difficult to get in and out of that she chose to remain inside between takes, alone, many times in full astronaut suit.

Gravity has been universally praised by critics, deservedly. We’ve never seen anything like it on the big screen. And since Cuarón has explained that it took him four and a half years to complete, we probably won’t again. But the effort was worth it. It is a haunting, thrilling masterpiece that should be enjoyed on the big screen. We saw it in IMAX in 3D and it is worth the extra dollars to experience the full effect of this extraordinary film.

Here is a great interview with Alfonso Cuarón on GRAVITY

World War Z ★★★★

Zombies Rule Okay!

Opens in Australia: 20th June
Other Countries: Release Information

          Zombies are the new black. You know they’ve entered popular culture when a respected actor like Brad Pitt stars in and produces a Zombie film via his ‘Plan B’ production company. “Five years ago, I knew nothing about zombies,” says Pitt. “Now, I consider myself an expert.”

Once residing in the B-grade domain, where no mainstream author or filmmaker would dare to go less they lose their take-me-seriously badge, Zombies have become a big draw in entertainment. This year alone, we have Warm Bodies (a zombie love story), The World’s End’ (a comedy coming soon), the third season of the very gory ‘The Walking Dead’ (the highest rated show on cable television), and now the thriller drama ‘World War Z’.

           The film began as a post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks entitled ‘World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War’ using a multi-person, testimonial style. Director, Marc Forster comments, “The novel’s approach did not lend itself to a motion picture screenplay. We did try to follow the narrative of the book but found, having gone through the process, the dramatic tension was significantly diminished, at least in cinematic terms.”

       And there is tension aplenty, along with zombies who don’t shuffle aimlessly; these guys run faster than a cheetah. In fact the quip, “You don’t have to outrun a lion to survive, just the other guy” played through my mind as each victim was pursued.

           From almost the opening scenes in Philadelphia, we are hurled into the action with Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), an ex-UN worker who in his past worked in volatile, dangerous political situations. He’s since given up the peril to be with his family, Karin (Mireille Enos) and their two daughters.

          When a rapidly spreading, zombie virus takes over the world, Gerry is the guy called to escort an expert scientist into zombie territory to track down ‘Patient Zero’. First though the UN must rescue him and his family from the infected city of Philadelphia; no mean feat when there are thousands of zombies everywhere zombifying healthy people in seconds with one bite.

       Gerry must then leave his family behind at the UN Headquarters, now a ship off the coast of the US, and travel around the world following clues in the hope of finding an antidote. 

          There are certainly some edge of the seat, gut-churning moments as Gerry and his military escort experience some back-against-the-wall moments.

        The action is extreme and realistic and, surprisingly, was filmed in Glasgow which doubled for Philadelphia—the cities share similar architecture, some of which was augmented during post-production. Veteran second unit director Simon Crane who orchestrated much of the ‘World War Z’ mayhem, shares, “We crashed over 150 different cars. We crashed the garbage truck and slammed Brad’s Volvo into an ambulance and various other things. It was big scale. At least 80% of the vehicles were written off. We shut down blocks and blocks of Glasgow for controlled car crashes outside the main buildings.”

         The other stars of the film, the zombies, were as real-life as the un-dead get. Creating crowd scenes which included zombies called for its own logistical feat, says producer Ian Bryce, “If you have 500 extras that need to look a certain way, that’s an awful lot of people required to get them ready. We were shooting one day with the full extra count and I remember coming on to the set and you literally couldn’t move because of the size of the crew that was there to get everyone ready. And then a couple hours later we sent the zombies away for a little break as we were going to do something else just with Brad and a few other people and it was like the set became barren. It was hilarious.”

         ‘World War Z’ is not just a film for the zombie or horror fans, its solid script and performances will please most thriller and action fans. Brad Pitt, despite his huge star-persona, rarely appears in blockbuster films, tending to prefer dramatic indie roles worthy of his acting talents. Thanks to his solid portrayal of an ordinary man with, literally, the world on his shoulders ‘World War Z’ is lifted a notch above the average.

       It’s Brad Pitt versus the zombies and the winner this time is the cinema-goer.

Zero Dark Thirty ★★★★★

A PICTURE TELLS A REMARKABLE STORY

 

 

Australia: 31st January 2013; USA 11thJanuary UK 25th January

Other Countries: Release Information

 

 

Zero Dark Thirty is the story behind ‘that’ news photo.  You know the one with Obama, his advisors, Vice President Biden and Hillary Clinton, sitting in a room staring at live feed of the Osama bin Laden capture mission.  Hillary’s hand covers her mouth in what looks like shock. 
           Their looks haunted me—what were they seeing?  Thanks to Oscar®-winning creative duo Director Kathryn Bigelow and producer and screenwriter Mark Boal we now know.  They were watching the culmination of a hell of a pursuit and capture mission spanning almost ten years; a mission that was mostly only successful thanks to a small team of CIA operatives.
 

 

The quest to tell the story of Zero Dark Thirty would eventually lead Bigelow and Boal into their own labyrinthine encounter with secretiveness and intense production challenges during their six years of sourcing and reporting the story for accuracy.

 

“This thing is pretty handmade,” says Boal, “and it’s gone through two iterations. It began six years ago as a movie about the failure to capture bin Laden in Tora Bora. I spent a few years on that, researching and writing, and we were in pre-production of that film by 2011, with scouts in Romania. Then, more or less out of the blue, bin Laden was killed, and that film became ancient history. So I had to start again.”

Along with the audience, the central character of the story, Maya (Jessica Chastain), is parachuted into the hunt for bin Laden with the unsettling experience of an “enhanced interrogation” session of an Al Qaeda detainee. Maya mirrors the audience’s mixed emotions on these interrogations. They are tough to watch. 

 

When it came to shooting these sequences, Bigelow took a leap far outside her comfort zone. “As a human being I wanted to cover my eyes, but as a filmmaker, I felt a responsibility to document and bear witness,” she says. “I felt I had to overcome my discomfort for the sake of telling the story.”

Maya begins to believe that one man, Abu Ahmed, a shadowy figure mentioned by many of the interrogated captives, is the key to bin Ladin’s location.  However, after so many false leads over the years, Maya is the only person who still firmly believes in her theory. 

The story follows a small group of agents through the years and peeks behind the terrorist news headlines as al-Qaeda strikes at the US and even the team attempting to track him. It is a dangerous and dirty game.  The last quarter of the film is a unique visceral experience; taut and horrific in its authenticity, as the SEAL team breaches the bin Laden compound accomplishing the historic conclusion.
 

The film has garnered great controversy and criticism over its torture scenes but Boal responds. “Putting it mildly, this is an extremely controversial subject.  I wanted to try to capture the complexity of the situation, morally and psychologically. It’s not an aesthetic goal of the film to settle scores, or end the debate about torture’s efficacy. But it was part of the story and we needed to include it.  The goal was to portray the events vividly and to make them real for the audience.”

“On the other hand,” he says, “towards the end of the film, we see that, ultimately, bin Laden’s compound was found not through any of these techniques, but through a combination of bribery, traditional spy work and electronic surveillance.

In case you’re wondering, Zero Dark Thirty is military jargon for the dark of night, as well as the moment—12:30 a.m.—when the Navy SEALs first stepped foot on the Osama compound.  It's a moment captured in 'that' photo that will leave history to dictate the true ramifications.  And it sure makes a remarkable movie.

The Impossible ★★★½

A WAVE OF EMOTION

Australia: 24th January 2013; USA 4th January UK 1st January 2013
Other Countries: Release Dates

Hug your loved ones. That’s what you think whilst watching THE IMPOSSIBLE. The intimacy of film allows us to enter a true-life experience we normally can only watch on the news; though it isn’t hard to imagine the terror of those poor souls who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.  It left staggering figures in its wake, 1.69 million displaced and 230,000 estimated dead.

So with great trepidation we came to view THE IMPOSSIBLE. You watch knowing what is to come, as we've seen it replayed countless times on our televisions. We’ve even seen Oprah interview survivors. This news story as implausible as you will think it is, as it unfolds in THE IMPOSSIBLE, is very true. Even the filmmakers don’t think you will believe it, so they repeat, ‘This is a true story’ twice at the beginning.

It is the story of an English family’s experience (the real family was Spanish) in the 2004 Tsunami whilst holidaying in Phuket. The family of five, Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and children, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon Oaklee Pendergast), are staying at a luxury resort and relaxing by the pool when the Tsunami hits.

Lucas and his Mother surface and, within half an hour, find each other amidst the turbulent flow of the surge but they have been separated from Henry and the other children. They believe them dead. Maria has been badly injured and the story follows her and Lucas as they make their way through the disaster's aftermath and end up at a local hospital. The film switches to Henry’s relentless search for his wife and son. Along the way, we experience close up the devastation of the tragedy (although much has been made of the fact that the film is peculiarly absent of Thai victims).
 

 

Whilst the movie has a few plotting issues and occasionally becomes a little too preoccupied with assuring us how deserving this family was of salvation, it is still a film that does a good job of reminding us of the randomness of tragedy and good fortune; and, of course, how often you must hug your loved ones.

 

Django Unchained ★★★★½

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Australia: 24th January 2013; USA 25th December UK 18th January 2013
Other Countries: Release Dates 

 

 

 Quentin Tarantino is a director who does not come lightly to any project.  He has a history of unabashedly focusing his pin-point wit and dark, bloody humor on a subject to the point where you are reeling, albeit enjoyably.   In his last outing, eight times Academy Award®-nominated INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, he cast his view upon World War II and the bloody inhumanity required to survive.  Might I mention, you will find in any Tarantino film review the word ‘bloody’ figuring often.

Now he’s turned to the era of slavery in the US Southern states during the 1800s.  But Tarantino being Tarantino, has decided to approach this historic time of moral complexity by setting the story as a Spaghetti Western. He says, “I’ve always wanted to do a Western.  I like all kinds of Westerns, but since Spaghetti Westerns have always been my favorite, I thought that the day I do one, it would be in that Sergio Corbucci universe.” 

And whilst DJANGO UNCHAINED has all the hallmarks of Tarantino, it  feels refreshingly new.  “Quentin’s intense study of the genre led to the inspired idea of mashing up the slave narrative with the Spaghetti Western which creates a movie we have never seen before,” adds Producer Reginald Hudlin.

The name “Django” is familiar to fans of Spaghetti Westerns: Franco Nero (who makes a cameo appearance in this) first portrayed the character in 1966 in DJANGO.  Indeed, the original DJANGO was so popular that other films borrowed the name as a marketing tool.  The more imaginative titles include DJANGO, KILL; DJANGO THE AVENGER; VIVA! DJANGO, and BALLAD OF DJANGO. 
 

In the opening scene of DJANGO UNCHAINED we meet Django (Jamie Foxx) marching in a chain-gang of slaves on their way to new owners.  Along comes the very cool and unflappable German-born Dr. King Schultz (Christopher Waltz) requesting to purchase Django who has worked previously for the Brittle Brothers.  All does not go well (imagine a lot of blood) for the chain-gang leaders when they decline his offer and we realize the very well-mannered Schultz is a proficient killer.

Schultz, as it turns out, is a bounty hunter who reiterates often that the criminals he tracks are worth money ‘Dead or Alive’; and in each case, dead seems better.  He enlists Django to help him track the Brittle Brothers and they team up as an unlikely pair of bounty hunters.  The startled looks of townsfolk, as Django rides in on a horse with Schultz, signals the taboo of a white and black man working together.  It’s the deep prejudices of the time that make for some of the funniest lines in the film.  There is a Ku Klux Klan scene that is as good as they come. 

Django reveals that he and his beloved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) were separated years ago due to the slave trade.  As a friendship blossoms between Schultz and Django during their bounty hunting the two track her whereabouts to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation.  It’s a wild ride along the way and one that leaves a trail of Tarantino inspired bloody corpses riddled with bullet holes.
 

 

One of the key strengths of the film is the portrayals by the leads.  Jamie Foxx’s Django evolution from anxious, submissive slave to an arrogant, confident Mandingo trainer is convincing.  Nominated for a Golden Globe for the role, Leonardo DiCaprio took on his first truly villainous character in playing Calvin Candie.  Originally Tarantino was thinking of an older actor for the part but after DiCaprio read the script and they talked Tarantino reworked the story to create a Caligula type ''boy Emperor' character that suited the actor.  And Christopher Schwarz’s juxtapositional role as the kind-hearted mentor to Django whilst calmly executing his bounty prey for money is a pure joy.
 

This is a 165 minute blood fest. Tarantino even manages to throw himself in a scene (with an interesting Australian accent) for a just-for-fun appearance. And that is the thing with him; he has fun in his own unashamedly bloody way and has been doing so since his 1992 RESERVOIR DOGS. If you are Tarantino fan then you will happily follow him wherever he travels. You know the territory.  If you are not, maybe take a peek anyway.  This may be the one that changes your mind. And did I mention there is a lot of blood?

 

Official Movie Website http://www.djangounchained.com.au/

 

 

     Are you a Quentin Tarantino fan?

 

 

Killing Them Softly ★ ★ ★ ★

It's a Hard Business

 

Australia: 11th October, 2012; USA 30th November UK 21st September

Other Countries: Release Dates

There is nothing soft about the way people die in KILLING THEM SOFTLY.  In the same vein as the recent SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS, and cult classic PULP FICTION, if you are squeamish with on-screen blood and brutal killings then you may want to drag out THE GODFATHER instead—which seems so terribly mild these days.

In fact, it seems the violence in films has increased dramatically in the past few years and you can’t help wondering if it is art reflecting life or vice versa.  How can a violent assault on a racketeer, or killing after killing of not so innocent victims be entertaining even enlightening? 
Yet, KILLING THEM SOFTLY, written for the screen and directed by Andrew Dominik, certainly gives you an insight into the notion that even the bad guys are taking a hit (excuse the  pun) as a result of the economic downturn.

Based on the George V. Higgins novel, ‘Cogan’s Trade’, we enter the world of underworld enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt).  He’s the go-to guy when you want somebody taught a “life” lesson or removed from the playing field.

Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta) has the misfortune of having his mob poker game robbed by two of the dumbest thieves you will ever meet Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn).  Imagine that, for gloves for the heist, Russell brings over-sized bright yellow washing up numbers.  Yep, say no more.  And most of the time they are either stoned, drunk or bringing themselves into harm’s way from sheer stupidity. 

The Mob is clearly a professional corporation, with Richard Jenkins (the driver) as the messenger, who brings in Jackie to investigate the robbery and dispense justice.  He in turn brings in Mickey (James Gandolfini) an esteemed hit-man.  It’s a cat and mouse game with the very cool Jackie becoming increasingly frustrated with the idiocy of hit-men, the mob and the ignorant heist guys.

It’s funny and gritty, and although a little unwieldy in parts, the corporate suffering financial constraints concept—albeit the mob—and the cool manner in which Cogan runs his enforcer business—as if he is delivering newspapers instead of death—makes a riveting story.

 

 

 

Savages ★ ★ ★ ½

 

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE DOPE BUSINESS

 

Release Dates

 

Australia:  18th October, 2012; USA DVD release 23rd October

Other Countries: Release Dates

Don Winslow's audacious 2010 novel, "Savages" must be a page turner, if the film is anything to go by.  Whilst Three-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker OLIVER STONE (Platoon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July, W.), famous for his idiosyncratic characters and ability to ‘savage’ performances from his actors, doesn’t always get it right in his latest offering, he does get it there enough to make an entertaining film.

Be warned, “Savages” is a reasonably apt description for where these characters fall on the scale of likable, including the unsympathetic leads.  Although Benicia Del Toro’s Lado, who is the nastiest and least redeemable character, is a highlight.  John Travolta also is magic onscreen reminding us he has the acting chops to carry a heavy weight bad-ass persona.

Narrated by ‘O’ (short for Ophelia) (Blake Lively) who is one lucky girl, she has two gorgeous men in love with her Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch).  They lead an idyllic life living in luxury on Laguna Beach funded by Ben and Chon’s hugely successful dope business.

When the Mexican Baja Cartel, run by Elena, (Salma Hayek) decide they want in on this successful independent business they force the reluctant boys to join them by kidnapping their love, O.  These are brutal people, who inflict their will by such charming disciplinarian measures as decapitation by chainsaw, whipping and burning, or sending the gardening crew around, headed by Elena’s enforcer Lado, to have a little talk. These talks usually end in torture and death.

Ben and Chon must find a way to recover O without alerting Elena that they are not in compliance with her idea of their new partnership.  Chon who is ex-Afghanistan Navy Seal, commands a mini-army of ex-veterans, who somehow have managed to get hold of mines, and all manner of weaponry to wage a cat and mouse war with Elena.   They make good use quite brutally of the dirty DEA agent (John Travolta), who provides some real comic relief.

All of the characters, including the supposedly good guys, Ben, Chon and O begin as morally bankrupt but as the story progresses Stone asks us to find an understanding of the degrees of morality.  You will enjoy this out-of-control ride if you are prepared to accept those degrees. 

 

 

 

Bernie ★ ★ ★ ½

Did You Hear the One about the Aunt in a Freezer?


Release Dates

Australia: 16th August, 2012 USA DVD Release 21st August, 2012
Other Countries: Release Dates

The title of the April 2012 article in the New York Times says it all, “How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze . . .”   The article written by Joe Rhodes, the nephew of Marjorie Nugent, (the frozen Aunt), recounts the true-life story of much loved Bernie Tiede, assistant funeral director, and affluent and mean spirited Marjorie in the tiny town of Carthage Texas. 

If you weren’t told it was true, you wouldn’t believe it.  And even as the end credits of the mockumentary film “Bernie” roll, you sit there still mesmerised by the attitudes of the townsfolk, who just can’t believe that in 1996 their beloved Bernie turned murderer.  Even if he was a killer, the consensus of the townsfolk is he should be given a medal not life.

Directed by Richard Linklater, the film chronicles, in documentary style, Carthage’s Bernie (Jack Black) befriending Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), whom Linklater labours to assure us is one of the nastiest human beings you would ever meet.  A friendship develops between the 39-year-old Bernie and the 81-year-old millionaire Marjorie and they spend the next few years travelling the world and living the high life on her dime.  Eventually, she even writes him into her will and signs over her power of attorney.

Marjorie, who had blossomed during the friendship, increasingly turns more possessive and demanding with Bernie, until one day he snaps, shooting her and disposing of her body in a freezer under the frozen vegetables and pot pies.   For the next nine months he then continues as normal with his life, creating ever-changing excuses as to her unavailability, whilst ploughing through two million dollars of her money.

So popular is Bernie, that Danny Buck Davidson, (Matthew McConaughey), the district attorney, faces an uphill battle to convict if the trial is held in Carthage, uttering one of the classic film lines during the trial, “Oh, he’s an angel, all right. An angel of death!”

The film whilst not all out hilarious certainly will leave you guiltily chuckling at the off-beat attitudes of the town’s residents. Wait through the credits for some of the best lines as townsfolk have their final say on Bernie’s crime and Marjorie receiving her just deserts.

Says nephew Joe Rhodes, ‘I think my visit to the “Bernie” set may have been more unsettling to some of the cast and crew than it was to me. As Skip Hollandsworth, who co-wrote the screenplay, introduced me around, a few people clearly weren’t sure how to react. Should they apologize for making a comedy about my aunt’s murder? Should they say they were sorry for my loss? I told them not to worry about it. “Bernie’s not the first one who thought about killing her,” I told them. “He’s just the first one who went through with it.”

Like all black comedies, the comedy in Bernie is that this is something about which you should not be laughing.  But when you have real-life characters sprouting lines such as "There are people in town, honey, that woulda shot her for five dollars," you know you have permission to laugh at this tabloid story. And if you don’t read tabloid, go anyway just to watch the three leads bring their ‘A’ game to this display of humanity at its most bizarre.

The Dark Knight Rises ★ ★ ★ ★

Big and weighty but it does rise


Release Dates
Australia: 19th July, 2012 USA 20th July, 2012 UK 20th July, 2012
Other Countries: Release Dates

           During the two hours and forty-four minutes of the ‘The Dark Night Rises’, in my head I wrote three different reviews.  The first review started with "Batman is beyond cool and Director Christopher Nolan’s dark vision is a lesson in creating fascinating well-drawn characters. And wow, Anne Hathaway is a fabulous Cat Woman."

Second review approximately an hour in: “Move it along Mr Nolan, enough already of the miserable Bruce Wayne wallowing in self-pity. Get him a psychologist and stop having your characters repeat themselves.  What an overblown monster film that sinks in the middle.  Now I know why it’s almost three hours long.”

Third review over the last hour: “Finally the Dark Knight does indeed rise and hits meteoric heights with a dramatic premise, a seemingly unstoppable villain and exhilarating chase scenes.”

This final film of Nolan’s trilogy is set eight years later and Nolan wants to explore every question raised in the first two films.  D.A. Harvey Dent’s elevation to idol after his death at Batman’s hands haunts Commissioner Gordon.   Only he knows that Dent died, not as a hero but as the vengeful Two-Face—and that Batman disappeared in the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good of Gotham City. 

Bruce Wayne now a reclusive, hobbling shadow of himself has no interest in the outside world until he encounters master thief Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway)—better known as Catwoman.  Despite her robbery of his own safe, he is intrigued by her and it is this curiosity that prompts his first steps back to life outside Wayne Manor.

Screenwriter Jonathan Nolan says, “Something about her morally ambiguous philosophy finally gives Batman someone he can relate to. The dynamic between them is so fresh—the playful way she kind of pokes fun at him—it sparks a connection between them and takes some of the somberness away from his character.”

Meanwhile it appears there is a new villain in the city, Bane (an unrecognizable mouth-manacled, Tom Hardy).  Malevolent and physically brutal he personifies evil and embarks on a master plan that is not clear.  One thing is clear is that only Batman can save Gotham from him. 

Batman is not alone in his fight, Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a wealthy philanthropist on the board of Wayne Enterprises, and police officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) join him as enthusiastic allies in thwarting the latest threat.  Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) returns as the ultimate gadget man and Michael Caine gives his usual perfect performance as an Alfred who no longer wishes to stand by as his master risks his life and happiness. 

In all three Dark Knight films the characters are the central focus, even more than the action.  Producer Emma Thomas affirms, “Right from the start, Chris set out to make each of these films something that could not be categorized into any one genre.

With this film, Nolan completes the story arc he commenced with 2005’s “Batman Begins.” He recalls, “We felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to fulfill expectations based on the first two movies while giving the audience something they hadn’t seen before. It was a tricky balance.”

 “In deciding on who the next villain would be, it was imperative that it was someone completely different from the Joker—that he be a brute force.” 

In one compelling scene Batman and Bane endure a lengthy fist fight in which it seems Batman may not triumph.  “This scene required very intense preparation,” says Nolan.  “When it came time to shoot, Christian and Tom worked extremely well together. It was frighteningly real, and quite intimidating to see these iconic, larger-than-life characters really go at it. There are plenty of other large-scale action scenes in the film, but that face-to-face confrontation between these two adversaries was something I really felt was the centerpiece of the film.”

Arguably, Batman’s greatest assets are his vehicles and he finally goes “wheels up,” thanks to Lucius Fox’s latest contribution to his arsenal: The Bat. Nolan and production designer Nathan Crowley, collaborated on the design of the state-of-the-art airborne machine.  “There are a lot of moving parts: the cockpit opens; the aerial flaps all operate; and it has working rotors and lights. It’s nearly 30 feet long and 17 feet wide and weighs about 3,000 pounds; it’s a big piece of machinery.”

As the rise and fall, and rise again, of this last Dark Knight instalment draws to a close in the final scenes, there will be no disgruntled patrons in any cinema.  It may be a little long, it may be a little too dark, and it may be we’ve learnt a little more about Batman than we care to know.  However, there is enough greatness here to overcome the lag.  In an age where blockbusters are manufactured to please rather than provoke, most will forgive Nolan’s indulgences in this grandly imagined and passionately executed conclusion, which appears to leave more than a few doors open for another series.