The Dark Knight Rises

Rated PG-13

Run time – 2 hours 45 minutes

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

Directed by Christopher Nolan

First, let me say that if you plan on seeing this movie, make sure it’s in a theater with comfortable seats. Because with a run time of 2 hours 45 minutes, you don’t want your ass to fall asleep.

Second, I read that Christopher Nolan shot most of this movie using 70mm IMAX cameras. So, if you want to get the full experience, find the nearest IMAX theater, pay the extra money and enjoy the hell out of yourself.

Third, if you haven’t seen the first two Nolan directed movies in this trilogy, go watch them before seeing this movie. If you don’t, you won’t know what is happening. You may still enjoy it, but you’ll be a little clueless on some aspects of the story.

This is the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, he has said he will not do another one. And I don’t think he should, not because this movie wasn’t good but because I feel he left us in a good place with the franchise. I’ve heard and read that some people didn’t like how the movie ended, but I did. I felt like everything was tied up nicely with just enough left to your imagination, so you could kind of write your own ending.

There were several new characters introduced for this installment and several brought back in small parts or in flashbacks. This movie is one that you definitely need to pay attention to, or you may find yourself asking wtf?

Bale does another good job as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Anne Hathaway makes for a good Selina Kyle/Catwoman, although they could have given her a bigger part in her catsuit. I read somewhere that it took three people to help her into the suit everyday and after seeing her in it, not only do I believe it but I now know the real reason that Christopher Nolan filmed this movie in IMAX. I was kind of ambivalent about Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s role in this movie when it started, but as the movie progressed I found myself liking his character and he indeed has an impact on things. Tom Hardy is practically unrecognizable in his role as Bane. He wears a mask that affects his voice making him sound, at least to me, like an amplified Sean Connery. There is one part of the movie when he talks through a microphone and I could only understand every other word he was saying.

When the movie starts, it has been 8 years since “The Dark Knight” ended and Batman hasn’t been seen since. He is a wanted felon for the murder of Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face) and he is feeling the effects of his previous injuries. There is some building up and when Bane hits Gotham, you-know-what hits the fan. Batman and Bruce Wayne both come out of a self-induced retirement to find things not as easy as before. There is a twist or two in the writing that I liked but won’t mention here. I don’t like spoilers when I read others reviews, so I’m not going to put them in mine.

I have to say this, as I was exiting the theater someone complained that the movie wasn’t very realistic. I wanted to turn around and shout, DUH! Hello, people the movie is about a grown man that dresses in a bat suit and fights crime. Maybe you should suspend reality when you buy a ticket for any superhero movie and enjoy it for what it is, entertainment and an escape from reality.

This movie is darker than recent superhero fare, but it fits the character of the series. Batman was always one of my favorite characters when I was a kid (I still like to use the phrase “deductive reasoning” that I learned from reading a Batman comic when I was young). I feel like Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan did the franchise more justice than any previous incarnation of the Caped Crusader.

Bottom line, go see this movie. But be careful on what size drink you get going in, because as previously mentioned, it’s a long movie and I can’t think of a single time where you could make a bathroom run without missing something important to the story.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Rated: PG-13

Running time 2 hours 16 minutes

Starring: Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone

This is another super hero movie reboot and like Christopher Nolan’s Batman, this movie is good. I am a fan of the other Spidey movies starring Tobey Maguire and was a little skeptical of seeing this new Spider-Man movie. I know there are others out there with similar thoughts and let me put your collective minds at ease, this movie is, well, amazing. This movie follows the origin storyline a little better than the previous movies, although it takes liberties with which villain is Spidey’s first.

Andrew Garfield does a good job of playing Peter Parker. Gwen Stacy is played by Emma Stone and does a good job, but the way she played the character I think almost anyone could have played this part. Peter’s uncle Ben is played by Martin Sheen and his aunt May is played by Sally Field. And rounding out the cast is Denis Leary as Gwen’s father, Captain Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard.

Garfield’s Peter Parker is a little scruffy and full of teen angst as a science geek picked on in high school. He also has some anger issues after being abandoned by his parents when he was a little tyke. To me this version of Parker seems more in line with what I think he would be like. The moment when he discovers his powers is both momentous and comical. And, if something like that could really happen, it was fairly believable.

The special effects are way better than previous versions. Whether it is “green screen”, cgi effects or whatever you want to call it, it is good. The action is easy to follow (which is a welcome thing in an action movie these days) and fun to watch. The story is good and at a shade over two hours, feels to be about the right length. At no point during the movie did I want the pace to pick up.  I think “The Lizard” makeup was incredible and some of the best I’ve seen in recent years.

I watched this movie in I-Max 3D format and it was good but I’m not sure it’s worth the extra money for 3D. There were a few effects that were kind of cool, but overall the movie would have been just as good in non-3D.

Bottom line is this movie is good. Unless you’re really into 3D, save your money and watch it in regular format. So, crawl into to your favorite movie theater and watch your friendly neighborhood web slinger in this newest adventure, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.