THE DARK KNIGHT RISES REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

If you're looking for a great way to conclude one of the biggest and best superhero franchises ever made, this is it.
Christian Bale returns as the iconic superhero, Batman, and he is at his weakest. Due to the events at the end of The Dark Knight, Wayne is injured and hasn't been able to be the vigilante he once was. For eight years, he's been living in his manor with his butler, Alfred (Michael Caine) caring for him.
Likewise with The Dark Knight, we are introduced to the villain, Bane (Tom Hardy), at the beginning of the film. And we first see him after a bag is taken over his head which is similar to The Dark Knight because we don't see the Joker's face until after he takes his mask off near the end of the opening sequence. I think this is a great way to introduce a villain. With the Joker, he has just robbed a bank. I didn't think that could be topped in this film but director Christopher Nolan manages to make another tense sequence by having Bane crashing a plan whilst kidnapping a doctor.
Whilst Hardy is brilliant as Bane, it would be unfair to compare it to Ledger's Joker so I'm not going to do that. Bane wears a mask over the majority of his face and is twice the size of Batman due to his huge body which makes him intimidating. His plan is to destroy Gotham City by creating a bomb.
When Bruce discovers Bane's plane, he soon recovers from his injury and re-learns his fighting skills from the first film, Batman Begins. However, his fighting skills are rubbish compared to Bane, whose fighting skills are brutal. In one fight sequence between the two, he manages to break Batman's back. This is really disturbing as, out of the whole trilogy, we've never seen Batman beaten, mentally and physically, like this. This makes us wonder: is the villain going to get away with his plan?
Of course, to fight off a villain like Bane, Batman needs a support system. Returning to help Bruce are: his loyal butler, Alfred; Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (who has recently been promoted to Commissioner.
We are also introduced to some new characters in this film, one of them being Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who is a cat burgular and femme fatale. She's flirtatious and mysterious and we never really know, for sure, who's side she's on until the conclusion of the film. Hathaway is one of my favourite actresses, and has been for a long time, so I loved watching her as Kyle. She was perfect for the role.
In The Dark Knight, Bruce didn't have a love interest but he does in this film and it's Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) who is a member of the Wayne Enterprises executive board and encourages Bruce to rejoin society and continue his father's philanthropic works.
As always, there are plenty of action sequences, especially in the finale. The way Nolan created this scene was incredible and it's what I loved most about this film.
I'm sad to see one of the greatest superhero franchises come to an end but I'm happy that Nolan managed to create a film that was just as good as it's previous predecessors.
8/10
Read my review of Batman Begins here
Read my review of The Dark Knight here

BATMAN BEGINS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Batman Begins is the first of three films about the iconic comic-book superhero, Batman. This film is about how Batman first came to be the famous vigilante he is now. We don't even see Batman until exactly one hour into the film but that's okay. The first scenes of Bruce Wayne training with Ra's Al Ghul, in the organization known as the League of Shadows, are brilliant and full of suspense. Wayne soon leaves and returns to his home town of Gotham where he plans to stop crime and become a vigilante. However, he is the son of Thomas Wayne, a famous philanthropist who owns Wayne Enterprises and is known by the whole of Gotham. Unfortunately, Thomas and his wife, Martha, were shot when Bruce was just a child so he was brought up by their loyal and caring butler, Alfred (Michael Caine). Now, an adult, it's up to Wayne himself to take care of the business his father built but, whilst he's out training in the League of Shadows, he is presumed dead and the enterprise is taken over by Willam Earle. Fortunately, Wayne arrives and takes back his enterprise. This isn't his main concerrn, however. Since leaving the League of Shadows, Wayne has wanted to become a anonymous vigilante so no one will know it's him. This is where Batman comes in. We learn that, as a child, Wayne had a fear of bats. Now an adult, he conquers his fears and bases his superhero identity on the winged creatures. 

Like I mentioned earlier, we don't meet Batman until one hour into the film but, when we do, it's an iconic scene where he lifts a drug lord out of a car and snarls "I'm Batman!" Definitely one of the best scenes in the entire trilogy. 

Director Christopher Nolan has finally made a Batman film we can all watch without cringing and one that he should be proud of. It's mature and dark much like the caped crusader himself. 

Christian Bale is the perfect choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman. He really brings the emotion to the character and makes Batman his own. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job than him.

And with every superhero film, there's a villain. In this, it's psychiatrist, Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) who mentally scars his patients by using a toxin gas and wearing a mask that resembles a scarecrow, hence his name The Scarecrow. I think he is definitely one of the scariest villains out of the whole trilogy because of the mental images he shows. 

Helping Batman to fight the injustice in Gotham is Alfred, who is like a father to Bruce and has cared for him since he was a child. He's always there to protect Bruce and to assisst him in any way possible. 

Morgan Freeman appears as a 'Q-like' character, Lucius Fox, who works at Wayne Enterprises and is there to equip Wayne with any gadgets he might need (such as the iconic Batmobile).

Gary Oldman is best known for portraying over-the-top characters but now he has started playing more mature roles. In this, he protrays Sergeant Jim Gordon who cared for Bruce briefly when his parents were shot. Now, many years later, he is still a detective and is unsure of who Batman is or what he plans to do but, by the end, he becomes one of Batman's loyal allies.
And, with most films, the superhero has a love interest. In this, it's Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), who has been friends with Bruce since they were children. However, by the end of the film, Bruce develops feelings for her but she doesn't want to start a relationship with him because of Batman, much to Bruce's dismay.

Overall, a great start to the Batman trilogy. 

8/10

Read my review of The Dark Knight here
Read my review of The Dark Knight Rises here

THE DARK KNIGHT REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

If you're looking for an mature, action-packed superhero movie look no further than The Dark Knight. This is, by far, one of the best superhero films ever made. 

Some of the superhero films, that I've seen, are pretty average. They have a predictable plot: there's a superhero and a villain. The villain has an evil plan and the superhero has to stop the villain. The superhero stops the villain and saves the day. There was no suspense and hardly any gripping action.

This isn't the case with The Dark Knight. 

Throughout the 1990s, there were two film adaptations of the iconic superhero but they were all camp and cheesy. Back then, the only good adaptation of Batman was the 1989 film starring Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight and he was really good. 

However, when it was announced that Christopher Nolan was going to be directing a new Batman film back in 2005, no one expected it to be the mature, action-packed thriller that it was. Christian Bale surprised audiences with his performance of Batman and showed everyone that he was perfect for the role. No one had seen a Batman film made like this before so when the sequel, The Dark Knight, was released in 2008, people had high expectations. Did it meet those expectations? Yes. In fact, it was better than what people expected it to be.

Now, comes the much-anticipated sequel with Christian Bale returning as the title character, the Dark Knight.

The opening to this film is brilliant and is probably the best opening sequence I've ever seen. We are introduced to the film's main villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger). We first see him start a bank heist with several clown-masked people and killing them off one by one so that the Joker would be left with all of the money. I think the reason why this was the best opening sequence was because of the way we were introduced to the Joker. We've seen him rob a bank but, before he leaves, we see a close up of him taking off the mask and we finally see his terrifying make-up. He also says one of my favourite lines of the movie: "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger". Within five minutes, we finally learn what a pyschopath the Joker really is. In the first Batman film in 1989, he was played by Jack Nicholson and he made a good Joker but he wasn't terrifying like Ledger's portrayal in this. Ledger truly deserved his posthumous Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor'. The Joker is one of the best villains because he's so unpredictable. You never know what's he going to do next.

Returning to help Batman defeat the Joker is: Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine); Sergeant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), who has recently been promoted to Lieutenant; Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who provides Batman with all the gadgets and new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

In the first film, Bruce's love interest was Rachel Dawes, who didn't start a relationship with him because of Batman. Now, she's in a relationship with Harvey Dent. Also, in the first film, she was portrayed by Katie Holmes but, due to scheduling conflicts, she's replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal who, I think, is a better choice. She brings more emotion to the role and we care for her more.

Despite having a good support team around him, Batman is finding it difficult to stop the Joker because he wants Batman to reveal his true identity or he will begin killing people. This is Batman's biggest dilemma, he doesn't want to reveal his true identity because it will ruin Wayne's reputation as a wealthy businessman but he doesn't want anyone to die. Does he turn himself in or will he find a way to stop the Joker?

The film also contains one of my favourite quotes in the film, said by Dent whilst he's at a dinner with Bruce and Rachel: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain". The reason why this is one of my favourite quotes is because it foreshadows Dent's future. He is seen as Gotham's White Knight (compared to Batman's Dark Knight) so he could've died a hero but, unfortunately, the latter of the quote becomes true, thanks to the Joker's manipulation.

What I also love about this film, is that it's not heavy on CGI unlike The Avengers. All the action sequences was done with clever planning and great cinematography which makes them look realistic.

When The Dark Knight was first released in 2008, it broke box office records, making over $533m. That was the highest a superhero film had ever made at the time and I'm not surprised.

This isn't only the best superhero films I've ever seen, it's also one of the best action films I've ever seen, if not the best.

9/10

Read my review of Batman Begins here

Read my review of The Dark Knight Rises here