vinyarb

Now that the real most anticipated film of 2012 is out (sorry avengers), and the complete story of the Batman according to Christopher Nolan is told, what else is there to look forward to, in 2012?

The short answer is “nothing”.

The long answer is that perhaps, one day, another whitekknight will rise up in defiance and challenge Nolan’s throne to making the grittiest superhero movies ever. But not today, and I think, not soon. But let’s get down to the review, shall we?

In The Dark Knight Rises, we’re dropped into Gotham exactly 8 years to the day where we left off, which had since been christened Harvey Dent Day. Batman hasn’t been seen since that day, and Bruce Wayne had become a reclusive creep, holed up in his home (still) moping about the loss of Rachel Dawes. (the Maggie Gyllenhaal version, not the Katie Holmes version)

The streets were cleaned up, and all seems fair at Gotham. Until the arrival of Bane and his diabolical plan to take it down.

Once more, Bruce is called upon to don his cowl and cape and save the day. New characters to this sequel include Joseph Gordon-Levitt as rookie cop John Blake, Tom Hardy as Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate.

This last installment is ambitious in many aspects, often taking the action and spectacle to a whole new level, while also trying to tie in all the story threads from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to form one big, epic narrative.

Can anyone get me a haircut like that? Anyone?

There are many wonderfully glorious set-pieces filmed in imax, and a lot of the action such as the opening scene and the football field scenes are truly magnificent. We witness the journey of Bruce Wayne / Batman come full circle, and gape at the physical threat of Bane.

However, the film is not without some weaknesses. My main gripe would be Bane’s voice, which was unintelligible at first, and later on just sounded disjointed. The fact that his face was mostly masked also means he has to do most of his acting using only body language and his eyes, which takes away a lot of the emotions of certain scenes. This is where many people compared it to the performance of Heath Ledger’s Joker, and where it was sorely missed.

But all in, I really enjoyed the film, plot holes notwithstanding. Oh, and Anne Hathaway did an amazing job with her role as Selina Kyle!

Rating: 8/10

Spoiler Alert

The following paragraphs discuss the ending of the film, so for those of you not wanting to be spoiled, this is your chance to stop reading.

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Many people have said that its way too early in the game for a Spiderman reboot. Afterall, it was only 10 years ago that we had Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, and only 2007 that we had Spiderman 3.

Still%rC I’m glad Sony Pictures went with the reboot instead of Spiderman 4 with more of Tobey Maguire’s wide-eyed stares and wimpy voice that’s supposed to come off as nerdy and vulnerable but in reality is just reflective of his entire acting range. And then there’s Kirsten. Maybe its just down to Sam Raimi’s penchant for over-acting. But for me, the chemistry between Tobey and Kirsten was just non-existent

So yes, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Marc Webb brought a much needed breath of fresh air into one of the most beloved superheroes of all time.

Marc Webb, who’s only other notable work was (500) Days of Summer, seem%d a weird choice at first. But he turned out to be a good choice, especially in the more tender moments in the film between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey. Yes. Before Mary Jane, there was Gwen Stacey.

Other than Gwen Stacey and the antagonist being the lizard, most of the other plotpoints are pretty standard spiderman origins fare. Peter’s parents gave him away at a young age under the care of Uncle Ben and Aunt May as they seek to protect him from dangers he couldn’t have understood then.

He lives with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, while harboring deeply hidden abandonment issues. When he finds out that his father used to work with Dr Curt Connors at Oscorp, he sneaks in to find out more.

Spider bites | Powers grow | Uncle Ben dies | Revenge | Power vs Responsibility

Same story, but with a wise-cracking Spidey this time. A more suave Peter Parker. An infinitely hotter love interest.

Sounds like a good upgrade to me!

Oh, and who can withhold a sigh of “awwwww” when you find out that onscreen lovebirds Peter and Gwen made way for the real life romance of Andrew and Emma?

Rating: 7/10

In an interview on the daily show, Andrew Garfield told Jon Stewart that wearing the spidey suit was so uncomfortable, frustrating and vulnerable (cos its literally just him, inside) that one day, he and a photographer just took off and did an impromptu shoot of a “Day in the life of Spiderman”.

aaaaaaaaaaah…

Cute

And Emma. Oh. Emma.

She reminds me of a what-if scenario: What if Lindsay Lohan hadn’t gone bad?