The Dark Knight Rises

So, I saw the film earlier (the 3:30 showing at the Kettering Odeon, fact fans!) and I must say, I'm going to have to sound like all the other people who've seen it, and it truly is a masterpiece of heroic proportions...

(See what I did there? Didcha? Didcha?!)

Nolan and team are once again on tremendous form and I maintain that the Dark Knight Trilogy has vastly improved with each film's release. I remember when I first saw "Batman Begins" and I was blown away, I couldn't believe how dark and gritty and utterly believable it was. "Then The Dark Knight" came along and blew it out of the water and, dare I say it, the same is true of TDKR, it's utterly incredible and stays incredibly true to the original "Bane" saga of the Batman comics while updating, amending and improving them so as to fit more snugly into the Nolan universe.

Tom Hardy and Christian Bale

The cast has been cherry-picked for the most wonderful results, Tom Hardy as Bane is the perfect mix of intellect and intent while also embodying Bane's physical side with sheepskin-clad relish. Initially many fans (including myself) voiced concerns about whether or not Bane's dialogue would be understandable underneath his mask. The first trailer raised these concerns to a very high level, something Nolan and team seemed to take on board. Not once throughout the entire duration of the film was I truly at a loss for what he said and I understood 99% of everything first time around. There was one sentence however, where I had to work it out from context, but hey, that's a tiny, tiny niggle.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is shining as a new addition to the cast and steals the show in every scene he's in. I won't go into too much detail about his character, but I will say his performance is superb. If you're fan of JGL in films like "Brick" and "(500) Days of Summer" you'll see him stretch many other acting muscles in this film, and he does them with skill and precision.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway is great as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, bringing out her murkier intentions behind the cat-burglar  routine. In fact, her performance is such a revelation in the character of Catwoman that I'd say she's one of the few actresses to breathe any discernible life into it. She's only upstaged by her own posterior when wearing her (excuse the pun) cat-suit.

Naturally Christian Bale is on stellar form as our favourite caped crusader and puts up a good fight (literally and figuratively) for the role of ultimate scene stealer, only pipped to the post by the glorious, ever brilliant, Sir Michael Caine.

Sir Michael Caine

Caine's performance is unbelievably well measured yet delivers at exactly the right moments in order to make you cry, either with sadness or joy. Caine is the star of this show, even though he's not in it for anywhere near as much as Hardy or Bale or Hathaway or Levitt. He makes all the difference in Bruce Wayne's life, and in the hearts of the audience and I can't sing his praises enough.

There are several veiled references to the rich back-catalogue of Batman comics, most of which humorous. No one other than me in the cinema got it, so often I was belly-laughing in a room full of silent people. But there we are, they're there if you think you can spot them!

The only other time I found myself chortling was during a fight-scene which caused Batman to get rather drenched causing his usually matte-finish, menacing looking suit become very, very shiny indeed.

(He looked like a big black dildo.)

While I agree whole-heartedly with Nolan's sentiments of this film being the perfect conclusion to his take on The Dark Knight, I can't help but feel that maybe he has some other intentions, should he be called upon to help Christian Bale into his tights once more.

But we'll see what the future holds, for now I'm thrilled with this film and I seriously think anyone who can, should go and see it.

'Till next time, chums!