The Dark Knight Rises - A Review

**MAJOR SPOILERS!!!**

"The Dark Knight Rises" has had a HUGE buildup of anticipation. It is arguably one of the most anticipated movies of all-time. Now, the real question is: did it deliver? As much as I hate to write these words, I have to say that it failed to deliver in many aspects.
The acting, as usual for these movies, was great. Christian Bale did his usual great job as Bruce Wayne and Batman, and, of course, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine were their usual spectacular selves. The surprise of the movie was definitely Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. She blew away the low expectations and while she is not a perfect fit for Catwoman look-wise, her acting was incredible and Selina's attitude was spot-on Catwoman. Tom Hardy, on the other hand, does not fare so well. While his size was not a problem and he definitely conveyed Bane's physicality, his Bane voice was absolutely horrendous and was one of the worst things that I've EVER had the misfortune of hearing in a movie. It was far too cartoonish for a live-action movie and absolutely grating on the ears. I could not wait for him to get off of the screen for his voice alone. Yes, it's that bad.
Hans Zimmer's score was great and arguably the best of the trilogy. You could feel the raw emotion in the music and definitely told the story as well as the images on-screen. The score was a huge sweeping epic and I fell in love with it as soon as it started playing. Zimmer never fails to disappoint.
In terms of storytelling, the movie trips and hits the ground pretty hard. Nolan attempted to craft a large, expansive story, with the entire movie playing out over six months. However, depth was definitely sacrificed for scope. The movie has HUGE plot holes that completely defy any form of logic. Majority of them are thrown right in the audiences' faces and simply cannot be ignored. Why does Batman trust Selina Kyle even when she completely betrayed him to Bane and was the catalyst that led to his breaking? He even tells her, "You made a serious mistake." How does Bruce, who is completely broke and halfway around the world, get back into Gotham City, which is in a state of complete lockdown? He even arrives clean-shaven and looking pretty good for a guy who was nursed back to health from a broken back with a bit of bread, some water, and some push-ups and sit-ups. How on Earth did Batman somehow managing to survive a six-mile-wide nuclear explosion when he was clearly in the Bat seconds before it blew up? There is absolutely no indication that he ejected beforehand and put the Bat in autopilot. It's huge plot holes and leaps in logic such as these that really ruined the movie for me. Even the time span in the movie was poorly handled. It definitely did not feel like Bane had control of Gotham for three months. Nobody, not even the police officers trapped underground, looked like they had been down there for three months. It looked like it was only a few days, if even that. Also, why would they wait until the hour before the bomb goes off to make their move? It's poor and contrived writing, which is far from expected from Nolan and company. Other scenes could have been cut out entirely. The small arc with the government's agents being sent into Gotham, only to be killed by Bane two minutes later, was essentially a waste and added nothing to the story. I would liken these movies to Nolan having a ball of Silly Putty. He had a solid ball of Silly Putty in "Batman Begins". He stretched it slightly in "The Dark Knight", but it was still solid. In "The Dark Knight Rises", he stretched it so far that it started ripping and tearing apart.
Even the characters and characterizations suffer in the movie. Bruce Wayne definitely suffers the most. He's spent the past eight years languishing in self-defeat due to the death of Rachel. He's become so withdrawn that not only has he stopped being Batman, he's stopped being Bruce Wayne. In this, I feel that Nolan's portrayal of Bruce was off. Bruce would never stop being Batman. He is completely committed to his cause, even though it causes him pain.
Others, such as Bane and Talia al Ghul, are definitely not given their due. Talia was wasted as a villain and her romance with Bruce felt completely forced. Bruce spent the first half-hour of the movie depressed over Rachel's death. Why the sudden turn-around and romance with Talia? Bane proves to be nothing more than Talia's pawn. While you could argue that him being a pawn doesn't change what he did in the movie, it definitely changes the way that you look at it as you realize that nothing of what happened was his own planning. Others, such as Holly Robinson and John Daggett, have such minimal roles that they could have ignored them entirely. Holly plays such an insignificant role that her name is actually not spoken at all during the duration of the movie and disappears entirely in the epilogue. Daggett is turned into a stereotypical, generic evil businessman, whose plot to take over Wayne Enterprises adds absolutely nothing to the story other than to try to make you feel sorry for Bruce and his current situation.
Overall, the movie was a big disappointment. I had gone in with low expectations, as nothing in the trailers had impressed me. I wanted Nolan to blow me away. He didn't. While the movie has a bit of humor and some great moments, like Bruce climbing out of the Pit and Bane breaking the Bat, it has many problems story-and-character-wise that severely detract from the quality of the movie for me and are completely unforgivable in such a huge character-driven film. This is completely unexpected from Nolan, as there's no arguing that he is an amazing filmmaker. For me, as hard as this is to say, as both a huge Batman fan and cinema lover, this is not the finale that Batman deserves.
2/5

Madagascar 3: Mini-Review

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!**


It's been four years since the last installment of the successful "Madagascar" franchise. In "Madagascar 3", we're reunited with Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippo, and Marty the zebra. Though most franchises eventually seem tired and worn-out, this one continues the excellence set by its predecessors and takes you on a great ride throughout Europe.
The movie starts off where the second one left off. The gang is still stuck in Africa, with the penguins and chimps having left to Monte Carlo and make it big. Marty and the rest journey there as well to pick up the penguins and the chimps and head back to New York and the Central Park Zoo. However, things don't go according to plan and they incur the wrath of the Animal Control Captain Chantel DuBois, who they then lead on a wild ride throughout Europe with their new circus friends, who then take over the story, as they must get the circus back to form.
The movie itself is hilarious and arguably the funniest out of all of them, with King Julian's love affair with Sonya the bear being one of the best and funniest romances I've seen in a long time. The story itself does a great job of carrying the movie along and definitely makes you care for all of the characters, both old and new. The creative team did a spectacular job with the circus performances. They're breathtaking and definitely the best sequences in the movie. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend checking this out before it leaves the theaters.

4/5