6. The Dark Knight Rises (12A)

Dir: Chris Nolan

Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway

This was a film that I had been waiting all year to see and was very privileged and honored to see it not only earlier than most but also on an IMAX screen.  The day before I had watched the two previous Batman films of the Nolan world, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight on the big screen.  They both still stood up on repeat viewings and it was a good thing I did watch them as there were some bits I had forgotten which were important to this final installment of the trilogy.

SPOILERS!!!!

The film begins 8 years after The Dark Knight, owing to the events of the previous film, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become even more of a recluse. There is also a memorial for Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who is still being praised as a hero for his tragic death and the hands of "Batman", no one knows about his alter ego Two-Face.  Although a recluse there is a charity event being held at Wayne mansion.  One of the maids sneaks into Waynes' private quarters breaking into his safe and stealing his mothers pearls.  The maid is Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) AKA The Cat "woman".  Selina manages to escape and Bruce discovers she also took copies of his fingerprints.  During "Dent day" Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) nearly reads a letter revealing the truth about Harvey Dent but decides its not the right time, for once Gotham is at peace.....

Not for long though as a terrorist known as Bane (Tom Hardy) is planning on destroying Gotham completely, just for the pure hell of it.  

A congressman goes missing and John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) informs Commissioner Gordon that he knows something fishy is going on and that he may have discovered who Batman really is, Gordon dismisses this.  As Bane and his henchmen gain more and more power and create utter havoc over Gotham, Wayne realises (with some help from Gordon) that it is time to don his bat suit again to help the citizens of Gotham even though they truly hate him and he could get arrested.

I loved this film and thought the trilogy was wrapped up nicely, I have to admit I did guess the big revel re Gordon-Levitts character, I knew there was some secrecy surrounding him so knew he played a big part in some way and going from his age and other things it wasn't too hard to work out, this didn't stop the enjoyment though when it was finally confirmed, little fan girl/boy squees all round from the audience!  Bane was a great villain which is unsurprising given he was played by the amazing Tom Hardy.  The main ending (you know what I mean!) did seem a bit twee at first which was my only complaint but thinking about it and reading into it, did it really happen like that or was it just a sweet fantasy?  Seeing it in IMAX added to the amazement as some of the scenes just looked epic.  I just have to say actually writing this review now and revisiting the film has actually bumped it up my list a few!