The Dark Knight Rises (Well, almost...)

There's no beating around the bush here. I'm upset. No, not because it's not in 3D, that was one of my favourite parts. You see, I built up my expectations only to have them chipped away at until about 15 minutes before the end but by then, it was too late, the foundations had already been too badly damaged. The length of the movie is another sore point. For some reason this film felt long (even though it's only approx. 15 minutes longer than The Dark Knight). The introduction of Selina - Catwoman-ish (Anne Hathaway) was unnecessary and I felt that she added nothing to the story line except for the odd grin I managed to squeeze out of myself. Bane (Tom Hardy) was played ruthlessly and with malice but unfortunately I couldn't hear most of what he said throughout the film. Now whether this was the sound in the theatre or I hadn't cleaned my ears out, I don't know and whether or not it interfered with the story line, I don't know, but I still felt cheated. I did however like the introduction of Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as the never say die police officer fighting for justice like his caped protector and soon to be friend. I really do believe that it's not going to be long before Gordon-Levitt accepts his Oscar. There's no need to mention the acting talents of any of the other stalwarts i.e. Bale, Freeman, Caine or Oldman because they haven't changed an ounce since the start of the 'Trilogy'. Besides the inclusion of a flying machine called 'The Bat', don't expect any other gadgets to amaze us, however, with a budget of around $250m, I was hoping for a device that would help Batman escape the beating he received from Bane within an inch of his life, but what would the movie be without a fallen hero, rising? Anyway, I'm glad I saw this film but disappointed that I couldn't have written a nicer review. However, with the way the film ended, there might just be a nicer review to look forward to...