The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Release Date: July 20th, 2012

Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway

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The Dark Knight Rises is arguably one of the most anticipated films of 2012. With the huge fan base and comercial success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, its easy to see why. That also meant it had big shoes to fill. While it manages to create a fulfilling end to Nolan's gritty and dark Batman trilogy, it doesn't quite live up to its predecessor. 

Even with the box office boosting addition of scantily clad women. 

The Dark Night Rises takes place 8 years after the events of the Dark Knight. Batman/Bruce Wayne (Bale) has been in exile the entire time after taking the fall for the murder of Harvey Dent/Two Face and a few others. But things in Gotham look like they're turing around; organized crime is on the run, and things appear to be calming down after the caos that The Joker caused. Batman is soon brought out of his self imposed exile by a new threat, Bane (Hardy). As Batman is dragged out of hiding, there are a few more characters introduced. Among them are Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman, who is a very capable thief that attempts to steal from Bruce. While she's never referred to as "Catwoman", its pretty darn obvious once she dons her night vison goggles that flip up to form a pair of ears (see above). Also introduced is Gotham police officer John Blake (Gordon-Levitt). Its later revealed that his first name is actually Robin. While he never becomes Batman's sidekick, but does serve a pretty important role in the film. Which is a good thing, because it keeps the film from becoming full of the cringe worthy silliness that was 1997's Batman and Robin. Also because Christian Bale refused to take the role of Batman if Robin ever appeared. 

In case you needed to be reminded. 

Bane is a ruthless mask wearing terrorist that seeks to destroy Gotham. He certainly is an excellent movie vilan, but doesn't quite match The Joker from The Dark Knight.  He is ruthless and menacing, and turns out to be Batman's first true match. I was mainly concerned about not being able to understand his dialogue, as he wears a mask that obscures most of his face for the entire film. I had no problems with this, his lines were clear and totally understandable. My biggest gripe with the character was that he wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked it to be. That, and [SPOILER ALERT, skip to the next paragraph if you don't want a minor spoiler] his death was totally anticlimactic for such a menacing villain. 

Although it is excellent, it does have a few flaws. For a film that is the last in its trilogy, there are an awful lot of new characters introduced. It may be difficult to follow all of them without a second viewing. It also runs long, coming in at two hours and forty five minutes. There are a few plot holes that show up in the last act that are rather distracting. It would have been easy to explain them away, so it makes me wonder why they were left there. 

Bottom Line: 8/10- The Dark Knight Rises is a fine end to Nolan's Batman trilogy. It doesn't live up to The Dark Knight, but nearly matches it. Even on its own it manages to be a fine action film with dark dramatic overtones. Oh, and it looks amazing in Imax. 

Prometheus (2012)

Release Date (USA): June 8th, 2012

Directed By: Ridley Scott

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green

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Prometheus marks director Ridley Scott's return to the universe of the Alien films; the first of which he directed. Prometheus isn't another Alien film, although it shares some plot points, its a very interesting (and at some times disgusting) exploration in to the origins of the Xenomorph we all know and love. Oh yeah, and that origin of human kind thing too.

Prometheus follows the story of archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Tom Hardy look-alike Logan Marshal Green) as they search for the origins of human kind. After discovering a similar star chart among numerous ancient cultures, the team is recruited by the Weyland corporation to form an expedition to the stars. Meanwhile, Ancient Aliens guy finds his favorite movie ever.

On board the spacecraft, Prometheus, we meet other members of our crew: Michael Fassbender steals the show as creepy android David, Charlize Theron is a hard line corporate executive, and a handful of other cliched characters that serve very little purpose other than to be killed halfway into the film.

My name is grouchy-guy-with-mohawk. Yes, I die. 

Prometheus does start off at a slower pace. This isn't bad, its done just right. Its just enough to tug you into the story line. Scott's attention to detail is obvious, with almost every beautiful set being planned out to the tiniest detail. The second half of the film is considerably faster, as the action and gruesome on screen deaths speed up. The team discovers some interesting life forms, and things quickly go to hell. Bones are snapped, various bodily fluids are splashed about, faces are melted, and bodies are burnt to a crisp. They say that the original Alien film had a pretty obvious rape subtext, with the whole "man being violently impregnated" plot point. If Alien is about rape, Prometheus is a rape inside a rape, with a side of rape garnished with self administered abortion. 

They came to see Madagascar 3. They didn't know they were in the wrong theater until it was too late. 

The 3D effect in Prometheus is very easy on the eyes. It added depth to the film, but not much else. There was no gimmicky things that flew out of the screen at you.The focus was good and didn't cause any headaches. Its what 3D is supposed to be: an addition to the film that isn't obnoxious or over used. 

Bottom Line: 8/10: Prometheus looses some points due to a bland supporting cast. That, and the last 30 seconds where it is painfully obvious they're setting up for a sequel. Everything else is pure gritty, violent sci-fi goodness. If you go into Prometheus expecting a direct prequel to the Alien films, you may leave a bit disappointed. Prometheus is very much its own film, with a few clever tie ins to its parent franchise.