The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard
Director: Christopher Nolan

 

 

When Christopher Nolan began his re-invention of the Batman franchise in 2005, the whispers among the DC nerds of the internet universe were deafening. Could this guy resurrect what was left of the caped crusader after Joel Schumacher had left our nocturnal hero in rubber nippled tatters?

 

 

The answer was a resounding and just as deafening...............HELL YES!

 

 

The first movie took us on a fantastic journey through the scaffolding and building blocks of the early adolescent years of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the spoilt rich boy who had lost his parents at an early age and squandered the families money and reputation. But while every hero has a tragedy in their past, not every hero has a faithful butler in the form of Alfred (Michael Caine). Alfred is Bruces voice of reason in an otherwise chaotic world and the man responsible for kicking him in the butt and telling him to pull his finger out and do something good with his life to honor his parents memory.

 

So, with an almost unlimited budget, a seasoned police officer, a tech nerd and a few of his funky toys, our batty boy defeats the first big bad in the form of Ra's Al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson.

The Batman was re-born without a rubber nipple in sight and the cheers among the fan boys went up around the globe. Nolan had done it, and we waited impatiently for the next instalment.

 

Three years later, in 2008, he gave us The Dark Knight.

Once again, Bruce battles with his rich boy ego and the love of his life Rachel, (Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes from the first movie) while trying to save Gotham City from it's less than desirable citizens. The ultimate bad arse for this movie was of course, The Joker. The tragedy of this film, however, was that Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, passed away before the film was released. His performance was chilling to say the least. It brought back way too many memories of when Brandon Lee was killed while filming The Crow. Another actor, gone before his time. Many called this Heaths performance of a lifetime, but he never saw the endless accolades. Heath gives the Joker a presence that not even Jack Nicolson could pull off in the earlier franchises. He is dark, psychotic and more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and this makes his performance so worth the watch.
Another new character is brought forth in the form of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). For those that know the background of Batman, Harvey becomes another villain called 'Two Face', and it is this character that causes utter chaos in Bruce Waynes life at the end of the film.

 

Nolan had done it again, taking us on a dark and exciting ride through the streets of Gotham and into the minds of pyschopaths.

It was announced two years later, that the next instalment, would be the last, so in 2012, he wrapped it up with The Dark Knight Rises.

Gotham City has changed much in the last 8 years, with the death of Harvey Dent and the reclusive behaviour of it's most wealthy citizen, Bruce Wayne. Batman has been blamed for Dents demise, and is a hunted figure. Commissioner Gordon sings the praises of Harvey Dent, knowing the truth behind his death but keeping up the premise of him being a hero.
In the first few minutes of the film, we are introduced to the sleek, gorgeous and crafty Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who is caught stealing a string of pearls that once belonged to Bruce Waynes mother. Bruce catches her but is in no shape to pursue the alluring thief in the night and so she escapes with the pearls around her neck. Bruce is intrigued by the stranger and starts investigating.
Newcomer John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt), is a police officer with a heart who has questioned the disappearance of Batman ever since he left, but his world is turned upside down when a new threat comes to Gotham. Enter Bane.
Bane thinks that the citizens of Gotham should rise up against their oppressors and take back the city that once belonged to them and so he takes over the tunnels beneath the city and begins his plan.

I will not go any further in detail with this movie as I believe it needs to be seen. It really is a fantastic piece of cinema that does the Batman franchise proud.

The entire cast make this movie what it is, brilliant. Fantastic cameos from villains of the past, and wonderful performances from regulars like Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman.

I'm not sure how I feel about how this ended. In some ways I loved it, but in other ways it made me a little sad.

If you weren't one of the millions that saw it when it was out at the movies and haven't watched it yet, I recommend you see it.

Looper

Looper (2012)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels
Director: Rian Johnson

Around Christmas time, I purchased 3 or 4 Blurays that I had not seen before, Dark Knight Rises, Resident Evil: Retribution, Bourne Legacy and this, Looper.
The trailer had always intrigued me, the storyline seemed interesting and original and my hopes were high being a Bruce Willis movie.
Set in the year 2044, Joe (Joseph Gordon Levitt), is an assassin, but he's an assassin with a difference. Joes boss gives him a time to be at a location specific to him and a person with a bag over their head and their hands tied behind their back 'appears' before him and he shoots them within seconds. He then retrieves silver ingots strapped to the victims back, disposes of the body and collects his money for a job well done.
Fast forward to the year 2074 where the mob has trouble killing people and disposing of their bodies because of tracking devices. They end up using time travel as a convenient way to send their victims back 30 years to be killed by assassins like Joe, called Loopers.
Now every now and then a Looper shoots a victim and finds gold strapped to their backs instead of silver. This is basically their retrenchment letter as the victim is their future self. This is called 'closing the loop'.
So what do you do when your future self doesn't want to be killed?

There is a huge story to this that at first did my head in, a little bit like Inception, but simpler.
Joseph Gordon Levitt is pretty good as a younger Bruce Willis, but his face freaked me out. Wearing prosthetics through out the movie changed his face completely and I couldn't help but think how weird he looked.
I can't get too much into the storyline as it will give the ending away and the ending was pretty good. I was a bit disappointed as it wasn't wrapped up as neatly as it should have been and there were a few holes in the storyline that could have been patched up pretty easily.
All in all, a pretty decent movie.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2012)
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare
Director: Tommy Wirkola

 

Please don't go and see this is you take movies too seriously. This is nothing but good, kick arse, twisted fairy tale fun. If you have a tendency to analyse a movie to death, don't bother, it's not going to win any awards and I guarantee you, the director probably doesn't care what you think.

 

Did I like it?

Hell yes!!!

Hansel and Gretel, as the title suggests, is about the German brother and sister invented by the Grimm Brothers in the 1800's.

The film opens with the story we all know about the siblings being left in the woods by their father and finding themselves in the cottage of a rather frightening looking witch.

Against all odds, the plucky Gretel, manages to use her brains and they make the first of many career kills.

 

Much older now, and with a fair few kills under their belts, the pair hire themselves out to whoever needs their unique skills. But this time, they come up against something they do not expect in the form of a Grand Witch, played by the stunning Famke Janssen, who is leading a larger band of witches in stealing children from a nearby village.

 

Along the way they pick up a couple of stragglers in the form of a love interest for Hansel, a love sick teenager who follows Gretel around like a puppy dog and an unusually large companion who comes in handy at the end of the film.

It had a similar feel to Van Helsing and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, but I found it a bit more exciting.

 

The CG is pretty good, rather gorey and very bloody. I loved the weapons that they had and the various ways in which many witches......pardon the pun.......meet their demise.

This was good fun, nothing more.

Please don't think it's suitable for kids because if you take them to see it, then you deserve to have them wake up screaming in the middle of the night. This is one bed time story that is NOT for kids.

 

Major bonus seeing Jeremy Renner without a shirt on. Hansel works out apparently!!


 

 

Coming Soon

Warm Bodies

Released: Approximately April 2013

Another recommendation from a good friend of mine. I read the book in less than a week and absolutely loved it. It was funny, warm, romantic and a bit gorey as well, in short....it's a zombie love story.
I think I've watched the trailer about 5 times now and I just love it every single time.

So what are my expectations of this? I'm really hoping that they stick to the book as there isn't anything in there that needs to be cut out or modified. It's a pretty simple story, but told from the zombies point of view which really shouldn't be too difficult.

Definitely looking forward to this one.

Man of Steel

Released: Approximately June 2013

 

Only just saw the trailer for this on Boxing Day when we saw The Hobbit and I was super impressed. I really hated the Brandon Routh version of the Superman franchise and I hope that this is a success for Zack Snyder. It certainly looks a lot more gritty and less cheesey.

I'm pretty happy with the choice of Henry Cavill as Superman as well. He looks amazing in the suit and completely buff!

I'm hoping there's no cheese factor and that this does for Superman what Christopher Nolan did for Batman.

Fingers crossed.

Other movies to look out for

Oblivion - Tom Cruise
 Looks a bit like a real life version of Wall E.

World War Z - Brad Pitt
Another in a spate of zombie movies perhaps? Looks interesting but not getting good press from those that have read the book.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Jonathan Rhys Myers
Another book to movie adaptation. I hope they don't 'Twilight' this one. It's a great set of books and they seem to have picked a decent cast. Box office results should be interesting.

The Lone Ranger - Johnny Depp
It's Depp, but the initial trailers aren't doing it for me.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Starring: Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage,
Director: Peter Jackson

 

 

 

Finally, the wait is over.

 

For 3 years in a row, it was a tradition for myself, my husband and a best mate to go and see the Lord of the Rings movies on Boxing Day. When "Return of the King" was released, we were devastated. As we walked out of the cinema we asked ourselves, what the heck do we do next Boxing Day?

 

Luckily, we had a couple of Harry Potter movies to fill in the time and some others, but when we heard that Peter Jackson had taken over the direction of "The Hobbit", the excitement began to build again.

 

Originally, another brilliant director, Guilermo Del Toro, (Hellboy and Pans Labyrinth), was meant to direct, but pulled out for some reason. So instead of letting the idea sink all together, Peter Jackson renigged on an earlier promise and took up the reins.

 

Slowly, the cast was built, press releases made and Peter began to release his video blogs on facebook. We all watched and waited with baited breath until the first trailer came out and then we all cheered.

 

After re-reading the book, I wondered how he would do some things and if he would deviate or stay as true to Tolkien as possible. As with any book to movie adaptation, some changes are necessary and with this, I think he's done a fantastic job, well with the first instalment anyway. The rest remains to be seen.

 

As soon as the music started, my friend turned to me and said ''oh shit, I'm crying already".

 

The introduction to the movie, in my opinion, is well done. Although some deemed it unnecessary, I felt it was a nice tie in for those of us who are fans of the movies. Bilbo (Ian Holm) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) introduce us to this new tale about young Bilbos adventures with a company of dwarves.

 

We see Bilbos first meeting with the legendary Gandalf and are soon after introduced to 13 dwarves who almost eat poor Bilbo out of house and hole.

 

Most of the dwarves are unknown, but there are a few who some may recognise. The mighty Thorin Oakenshield, played by the dashing Richard Armitage, and one of my favourite characters throughout the first movie, was amazing. He drew attention as soon as he was on screen and rightly so.

 

Young Kili, is played by Mr Aidan Turner. Those UK Being Human fans out there may recognise him as Mitchell. Him and Fili are the ''One Directioners" int he company, the young, good looking dwarves.

 

The rest of the company are made up of Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori and Ori. I had trouble telling most of them apart, but it didn't make it any less entertaining.

 

Wonderful cameos from Lord Elrond, (Hugo Weaving), Lady Galadriel, (Cate Blanchett), and two that made the geek in me squeal, Brett Mackenzie from Flight of the Conchords and Lee Pace who was recently in Breaking Dawn Part 2. Lee looked magnificent as the elf Thranduil astride a gorgeous elk.

 

Another cameo that will make the nerds out there happy was the wonderful Sylvester McCoy, who plays the wizard, Radagast the Brown. Sylvester is better known to some as the 7th Doctor in the Doctor Who series. He was great, I really enjoyed seeing this character and hope he's in more of the movies.

 

What else can I say about The Hobbit? Visually beautiful once again. Stunning New Zealand locations and fantastic sets, costumes and make up.

 

As I am not a fan of 3D movies, I saw this in 2D and thoroughly enjoyed it. I truly cannot wait until Boxing Day next year.

 

 

 



Les Miserables

Les Miserables (2012)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried.
Director: Tom Hooper

 

 

When I was in high school, I had the great fortune to go and see the stage play of Les Miserables with our English class. I fell in love almost instantly with the pure power of not only the story but the music and the utter passion of this beautiful story. It was a love affair that has continued through my life.

 

Last year, I purchased the 25th Anniversary concert of Les Miserables at the 02 in London. I spent most of the almost 3 hours sobbing and remembering how much I loved the music.

 

When I heard that it was being remade into a movie, and that it would be a musical, I was ecstatic.

 

The first trailers to arrive saw Anne Hathaway singing Ï Dreamed a Dream" and I was pretty impressed with her voice. I was incredibly sceptical upon hearing that Russell Crowe had been cast as Javert and was doubtful that he would pull it off.

 

How wrong I was.

 

From the opening titles, it was clear that this was going to be one powerful 2 hours and 41 minutes.

 

Hugh Jackman plays Jean Valjean, a prisoner in 19th century France who has served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. Hugh is almost unrecognisable as Valjean but gives a stunning performance as prisoner 24601.

 

Russell Crowe is passionate and imposing as Inspector Javert, the police inspector who vows to hunt down Jean Valjean when he skips parole and goes missing.

 

Valjean, upon obtaining his freedom, goes straight back to stealing but meets a priest, played by the original London Production Jean Valjean, who forces him to question his life and turn things around.

 

Year later we see him as the successful Mayor of a town and owner for a factory who employs the poor unfortunate Fontine, played by Anne Hathaway. Fontine is working to send money to the inn keepers who are looking after her infant daughter, Cosette.

 

Fontine falls on hard times and Valjean tries to save her, vowing to look after her daughter if anything should happen to her.

 

Meanwhile, Javert discovers the Mayors secret and tries to bring Valjean in for breaking parole but fails and the hunt begins again.

 

He escapes to the Inn where Cosette is living with the Thenardiers, played by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter..........these guys were brilliant. They drip evil and ooze shiftiness, the perfect pair to play such despicable characters.

 

Upon paying a large sum of money to take Cosette off their hands, they escape to Paris where they manage to evade Javert once more and begin a life as father and daughter for many years.

 

Cosette, now grown, (Amanda Seyfried), knows that her 'father' has something to hide, but doesn't know what, and then her world is turned upside down when she meets Marius, (Eddie Redmayne) and falls head over heels in love.

 

Another beautiful performance from one of the London Production cast by Samantha Barks, who plays the daughter of the Thenardiers, Eponine. This girl is gorgeous and has the most stunning voice to match her angelic face. I was in tears when she sings of her love for Marius, knowing he will never return her affections. It's heart wrenching.

 

Of course, the climax comes when Jean Valjean realises Çosette is in love and tries to help Marius at the blockades against the French soldiers to make sure he survives.

 

The face off between Javert and Valjean is fantastic and the final scene of the movie had most of the theatre sobbing, especially my friend and the lady at the end of the row.

 

This movie deserves to win every award it is put up for. It was incredibly well cast and very powerful. I can't wait to see it again.

 



Men in Black 3

Men in Black 3 (2012)
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Jermaine Clement.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

In the third installment of Sonnenfelds Men in Black movies, we find Agent J (Will Smith) faced off against a new big bad, Boris the Animal, played by Flight of the Conchords Jermaine Clement.

When Boris escapes from a maximum security space prison, he heads for earth, hell bent on taking out Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), who put him in prison almost 50 years ago.

Agent J is sent back in time to save his partner and make sure Boris doesn't succeed in his plans to kill his partner before he can put Boris in prison.
A much better continuation of the franchise. Wasn't overly keen on the second movie. There was something about Lara Flynn Boyle that I really didn't enjoy.

Seeing Josh Brolin as a younger Agent K was great. He really could have been a younger Tommy Lee Jones.

I also loved Jermaine Clement. He's such a fantastic actor with great chameleon like qualities.

Will Smith was his normal self, but you really wouldn't want it any other way with these movies.

The twist at the end was well done and kind of warms your heart a little. Not sure that they could really squeeze much more out of this though, would depend on the story.