The Dark Knight Rises: Immediate Reaction [Spoiler Free]

After 7 years of waiting I have now seen the concluding chapter in the saga that started with Batman Begins way back in 2005 and it's literally all I've been able to talk or think about since I left the cinema yesterday. I don't want to give a full review right now for two reasons- one being that I still want to review the other Batman films first so I can review this one in context to those, and two because quite frankly it was just so damn epic. Now that's a word which I really do dislike these days as it's just thrown around so bloody casually it's practically lost all meaning (the infinite cosmos is epic, the latest Saw film is by no means epic) however there's really no better superlative to sum the film up than just that.

This is absolutely all you could ask for as the finale to the trilogy. The stakes are higher, the villains are more dangerous, and at long last Nolan seems to have managed to work some emotion into his films. On three occasions I had a lump in my throat and other people in the cinema were actually physically crying. It's an extremely dark film, and at times everything seems hopeless, but the ending just balances out the film so perfectly that the film seems incredibly rewarding especially if you do watch it as the 7.5 hour singular film I honestly think it should be looked at as being.

I really feel like I don't want to give a lot more away at this point, but I just need to spread the word that despite the few bad reviews the film has garnered, just forget about them, go see the film and decide for yourself. In my mind it is by far the best film I've seen this year and I absolutely cannot wait to go see it in IMAX in the next couple of weeks. Every single person involved in the film both in front of and behind the camera delivers in every possible aspect and it's just an absolute joy that the film has turned out the way it has.

The Dark Knight Rises Pre-Screening Ramblings

At long last The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman Magnum Opus is in cinemas. Although I was hoping to write reviews for all the previous Batman films prior to the release of TDKR, thanks to a combination of busy work hours and devoting most of my spare time to catching the rest of the Summer Blockbusters' released already in cinemas my time for writing about other films has been severely cut into. As I am now less than an hour away from hopping on the train down to Cambridge to catch a 1pm showing at the Picture House I just wanted to throw together a very quick piece setting my expectations down on the table.

Wednesday I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight for the first time since probably about 2009 and, for the first time on Blu-Ray. Having watched Batman Forever and Batman & Robin just a few days prior it really put into perspective just how amazing it was that we managed to go from such a dire extreme to what will undoubtedly be not only the greatest superhero film trilogy of all time, but in-fact probably one of the greatest film trilogy's ever. That may sounds like hyperbole I know, but if you actually take the time to think about series' of 3 films which consistently deliver and leave you with a satisfying beginning, middle and end they are very few and far between. Of the top of my head I can think of- Toy Story (definitely), Lord of the Rings (certainly), Star Wars (just the Original Trilogy), Indiana Jones (Dips a little in the middle) and Back to the Future (maybe). In the huge canon of cinema that's a pretty small list.

Christopher Nolan more or less single-handedly turned the world of superhero filmmaking on it's head back in 2008 with The Dark Knight, but it's obvious watching both films back to back that Batman Begins laid those foundations even further back in 2005. Not only is it equally as good as TDK, but I think perhaps after repeated viewings of both films that it actually holds up better. I don't want to give too much away on what I think about the films here as I do still plan on writing full reviews for the remainder of the Batman films in the coming weeks. Needless to say however I am a big fan, and am as a stalwart Batman fan eternally grateful for what Nolan has done with the franchise. I'm practically trembling in anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises right now. Thinking back the last time I was this excited for a film would be The Dark Knight. Nolan delivered the goods then and I think that unless he somehow manages to miss the mark completely here I'm just a few short hours away from one of the best cinema experiences I will have this year.

Review: Magic Mike (2012, Dir. Steven Soderbergh)

I mentioned Magic Mike in my article last week concerning which upcoming films I was looking forward to for the rest of 2012, saying that I hoped it would be a film which evoked similar feelings in me as Boogie Nights does (my second favourite film of all time). For whatever reason I like films that deal with the sex industry in an affectionate way, showing the human nature of the people within the industry, whether they're capitalising on it for monetary purposes or simply the primal pleasure of it all. Naturally after reading the premise of the story and watching the first trailer I was -  much to the dismay of my male friends and co-workers - eagerly waiting to see if Steven Soderbergh could deliver a film that would give me my fix in a genre which rarely gets any mainstream attention.

The plot here is nothing particularly new - The eponymous Mike (Channing Tatum, who not coincidently was a stripper previous to becoming a film star) is a self-titled "entrepreneur" working a thousand jobs so that he can eventually afford to start-up his own custom furniture company. Along his way he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer) a rebellious 19 year old flitting aimlessly from job to job. Mike introduces Adam into a male revue led by Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) and together they form a strong bond of friendship. As is the usual case in these types of films however it isn't long before the life of excess becomes too much and things soon spiral out of control.

Despite it's clichéd predictable storyline the film manages to succeed thanks to a taught, fast moving progression, plenty of funny moments and some really excellent performances primarily from Tatum and McConaughey. Both have been on a warpath lately to shed the constraints of the one dimensional pretty boy images they've established up to this point in their career and this is another big step in the right direction to proving they're credible actors worthy of meaty roles in more difficult material. I was surprised just how much humanity Tatum injected into his role even during his characters more egocentric scenes, maintaining a glimpse at a weaker person behind the focused visage. McConaughey on the other hand steals the show as the ultra self-assured ringleader Dallas, who provides many of the films funnier moments. So dedicated and passionate is he regarding his craft that he seems almost maniacal at times. The weak spot in the casting would be Pettyfer who seems wooden as the sulky and really rather unlikable Adam. Watching his rise and fall I couldn't help but be oddly reminded of the similarly stiff Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. One last interesting note on the casting is wrestler Kevin Nash as the oldest and clumsiest looking of the dancers Tarzan. His rugged, oafish (though not dumb) character added a little bit of humorous variety to the otherwise typically young and handsome remainders of the troupe.

Magic Mike is an absolutely fantastically enjoyable film with some of the most memorable moments I've had at the cinema this year. The movie is never embarrassed by its subject matter, packing in it as many well choreographed and performed strip numbers as the audience could want, but the real beauty is that it isn't a lazy film which rests all of its attentions on these scenes. It may not be the perfect piece of cinema that that Boogie Nights is, but you're unlikely to see a more funny, heartfelt and just plain enjoyable film that will appeal to both female and male audiences this summer. It had me smiling throughout and thus I've made it my mission to recommend the film to every single one of those male colleagues of mine who sneered at me when I said I was going to see it.

Opinion: Michael Fassbender and what it means for the Assassin's Creed movie

I don't think im speaking out of turn here when I say that there are very few video game adaptations, if in fact any are worth even watching, let alone could be considered as good films. Studios for one reason or another just haven't embraced video game adaptations in the way they have comic book movies in recent years and with the limp efforts they've been putting out, it's not entirely surprising that neither have audiences.

What the genre needs is a studio willing to commit to making a huge tentpole movie that will open the flood gates and prove that this is an endless well that is ready to be exploited. I thought for a while that Disney's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was going to be the film that finally did it, but despite it having all the right ingredients- a famous director, a great cast and the Pirates of the Caribbean formula sprayed all over it, it just turned out to be too generic and frankly it was crap. Now, after seeing one of its biggest franchises failed attempt at being adapted unenthusiastically for cinemas it's no wonder that Ubisoft is taking a stance and launching its own creative development enterprise as to have more control over their intellectual properties.

 Now this week Variety has reported that Michael Fassbender, fresh off his stand out role in Prometheus is signed on to star in the upcoming feature film adaptation of Assassins Creed- Ubisoft's current most successful franchise. With this in mind you can be certain that they won't be wanting to half-ass the job and by picking a talent like Fassbender it's a definite step in the right direction.


At this stage it's unlikely that development won't be fast tracked as Fassbender's star power only continues to rise. Fassbender is a hard working actor starring in several films a year since his eye opening turn as Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's critically lauded Hunger in 2008, however his schedule is likely to fill up quickly and with 2 other franchises on his plate in X-Men First Class and Prometheus, Ubisoft are going to want to be laying down a shoot date sooner rather than later.

As Prince of Persia showed though having a big name actor on board isn't enough to sell a movie these days. It needs a good story to captivate the already established fan base of the IP and bring in and effectively allow new comers to participate, and whilst there's no doubt that the premise of the Assassin's Creed franchise is ripe material for adaptation to the big screen, perhaps a straight conversion isn't exactly what would be best.

The central unique element of the Assassin's Creed universe is the Animus, a machine which allows the user to connect with his or her ancestors and relive their memories. That alone is enough of a connection to the games and a great plot device that seems perfect in a post-Matrix world where cinemagoers are craving the next Inception. Combine that with the ongoing hidden war between the Assassin's and the antagonistic Templar's and there isn't really any reason to have to retread the same story told in the games, that of Desmond Miles. There's so many potential stories to be told in this mythology I think it would simply be a lazy decision to translate the games straight to film. Instead stick to the roots of the franchise, the sci-fi/period amalgam, the conspiracy theory backstories and of course the climbing and jumping, and give the fans something fresh to get excited about which takes place alongside the games, and gives newcomers an easy way in.

Of course any story speculation would be hard to do at this point as Assassin's Creed III is just around the corner and promises to be a major entry into the canon, but I think possibly the smartest way to do the aforementioned would be to take the idea of the Animus and tweak it so that it more appropriately suits the context of the medium its in. In the games the concept works well as the games user interface correlates with that of the Animus, in that for whoever is using the Animus its almost as if they're playing a game. Perhaps in the film the memories of the Animus user could be viewed and edited as though it were a piece of film. To me this sounds as though it could be an earlier version of the Animus, a perfect opportunity to do a prequel to the games offering a fresh but none too inconsistent evolution of the source material.

The only think lacking then would be to find a suitably creative and well honed filmmaker to direct. For years now Darren Aronofsky- director of Black Swan and The Wrestler - has been on the verge of jumping on a franchise, first with Batman, then Wolverine and then Robocop. It's obvious that he wants to be broken loose on big material like this, but I don't think studios are brave enough to let him run wild with his vision of these characters. What videogame film adaptations need is to take a risk in the way Warner Brothers did with letting Tim Burton direct Batman back in 1989, an action which forever changed the way people regard the genre. It's time for someone to take the jump, and if Ubisoft were brave enough between Fassbender and Aronofsky I don't think there would be anybody who wouldn't get excited over Assassin's Creed.

Review: Killer Joe (2012, Dir.William Friedkin)

Despite The Exorcist being my absolute favourite film of all time I was surprised to note that prior to seeing Killer Joe I had never seen another of William Friedkin's films. Not even The French Connection. Nor Sonny & Cher in "Good Times". So seeing Killer Joe was an almost daunting experience. Standing in the shadow of the Goliath that is The Exorcist I had high hopes that Friedkin didn't just hit a fluke in my consideration of The Exorcist being the greatest film ever made.

At the start of the film I wondered if the intimate scope of the film and the reasonably simple premise of a family seeking to knock of their mother/wife/husband's ex (delete where applicable) so that they could inherit her substantial life insurance, would be able to deliver something that would stand out in the middle of Summer Blockbuster season. By the time the film had finished however those thoughts were far from my mind and I felt a pang of self-contempt for doubting Friedkin.

If you've read any previous reviews for the film, or in fact heard just about anybody talking about the film you will likely have heard of a certain shocking scene involving a piece of fried chicken. I'm not going to spoil you the fate of the piece of chicken but rest assured you won't see anything else like it in a cinema this year or possibly ever. I was completely unprepared with the level of violence this film would descend to as were numerous members of the audience who upon exiting the cinema at the end of the film complained of feeling ill and wanting to walk out but simply couldn't due to being so captivated.

I've no doubt that part of that is down to the genius casting of Matthew McConaughey as the titular contract killer Joe Cooper. No doubt misleading many members of the audience after a career of recognition in mostly insipid chick flicks (despite numerous roles in grittier pieces). He absolutely steals the show here though displaying a likeable charisma despite the perverse maniacal tendencies of the character he's portraying.

I had heard a lot of people complaining that Juno Temple seemed miscast but I certainly couldn't see it myself. This is certainly a challenging role for a young actor and she seemed to handled the material as well as could be hoped. The other surprise for me being Thomas Haden Church who for once has picked a decent film to put his considerable acting chops to good use. His character is every bit as jaw dropping as McConaughey's in the final scenes. Oh, and whilst I think about it I have to take my hat off to Gina Gershon for THAT scene.

Whilst not an exceptional film it's not without its numerable merits which make for a curious character piece and a great change of pace at this time of the year on the film calendar.

Review: Cosmopolis (2012, Dir. David Cronenberg)

At this point it's pretty obvious that Robert Pattinson is desperately keen to escape his Edward Cullen tween idol image and move onto mature material. I've always championed him as a decent actor with a great screen presence and I was really hoping that by attaching himself with director David Cronenberg for Cosmopolis he could finally metamorphosis to the highly regarded performer he deserves to be considered as.

I thought the trailers and clips from the film I saw prior to release looked a little ropey, but I had faith that upon watching the completed film it would be an off-kilter but challenging piece that one has come to expect from the usually reliable Cronenberg. Sadly however that isn't the case. In fact I find it very hard to say anything good about the film at all. The acting and cinematography are all well and good but as far as the actual content of the film itself goes it's nothing short of an absolute mess. I can't think of any other film that has tried to touch on so many different topics, be it socioeconomics, religion, technological reliance or in fact just about any other prominent issue the world is facing right now, and fail so pitifully to represent or shed light on any of them in any impacting or thought provoking manner WHATSOEVER. Sitting there watching it, I couldn't help but feel that everybody involved in this soulless production had thoroughly lost themselves in their own asses, and judging by the reactions of the rest of the theatre upon exiting the screen I can assure you that I wasn't alone.

I really like the thought of the Pattinson/Cronenberg team-up and I think with better material to work from it could mutually benefit both their careers. Maybe the time is right for Cronenberg to return to his body horror roots.

Coming Attractions- The Rest of 2012

So the first half of 2012 has come and gone and we've so far had a fairly "meh" year, with a few surprises along the way. The latter half of the year though is where everything looks to really kick off, starting of course in just under 2 weeks time with The Dark Knight Rises.

Advance Preview screening opinions have started rolling in and despite the NDA they're all overwhelmingly positive, which has more or less caused me to go into an utter frenzy of anticipation making everyone around me a little annoyed. I will have my reviews for the rest of the Batman films complete and on the blog within the next week or so as well as reactions prior to and straight after watching the film, before finally uploading the full review sometime later in the weekend after release.

Before The Dark Knight Rises however I'm really excited for this weeks UK release of Magic Mike. It seems like a very fun film that appeals to the same part of me that enjoys films like Boogie Nights and The People Vs Larry Flint. Also it's great to see Matthew McConaughey back to picking decent material. After seeing him in Killer Joe last week (review coming in the next few days) he's certainly one of my favourite actors right now.

Another cheesy film which I'm looking forward to is Dredd. I think Karl Urban is a bit of a hidden talent and I really enjoyed the trailer to this, despite everybody telling me I shouldn't. It's harmless fun. It's not going to be a masterpiece, but I'm hoping it'll be an enjoyable comic book movie akin to the Hellboy films in pure watch-ability.

I have to admit I didn't particularly enjoy Brick, but I could see a great director in Rian Johnson and with the fantastic premise of Looper being backed up by such a formidable cast I think this could stand up there with the likes of Moon and District 9 as one of the smaller out-of-nowhere sci-fi greats of the last few years.

There's not really much to go on here as little footage or synopsis for the film has been released, however you can guarantee that Paul Thomas Anderson will deliver a powerful epic with The Master which I've no doubt will cause controversy, shock audiences and spark debate for a long time come November.

Casino Royale has turned out to be one of those films I can watch time and time again, and have since it was released. I'm even one of the few people that prefer it to the Bourne films. Quantum of Solace wasn't quite as solid as Casino Royale, but it was still a reasonably entertaining romp. With Sam Mendes behind the camera of the long awaited conclusion to the trilogy however it would be surprising if this wasn't one of Bond's best outings to date. Its great to see franchise fare like this taken on by such a high calibre of talent.

I may be eagerly anticipating my return to Middle-Earth, but the real reason behind my excitement for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is my curiosity over its 48fps format. It may not sound as drastic to the average filmgoer as the likes of 3D, but I think it will turn a lot of heads when it's released. Will it be the future of cinema or a huge mistake?