The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway
Brief Description: Supposedly the final tale in the Dark Knight/Batman series. A villain comes to "relieve" the people of Gotham of their freedom with a nuclear bomb. Batman must overcome his insecurities and injuries to save his city.
My Rating: 4/5

I can't find any fault with Christopher Nolan. He is a cinematic genius. And what a way to end the series! Superb character depth and development. Awesome gadgets and jaw-dropping action. And yet, despite all of the praise-worthy attributes and my pure, uninhibited love of all things super hero, I'm still kind of meh about it.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie and worth a viewing. Maybe even a few viewings. But I just can't seem to get excited about it.

I've been sitting on this review for a while now. I didn't go see it in theaters, mostly because of all the shootings associated with it, so I've just watched it recently. But even so, I just haven't been able to easily define how I feel about it. I certainly enjoyed it when I was watching it. I wasn't bored by it and I felt and reacted in just the ways the director was (probably) going for. So, why am I so ambivalent about it after the fact?

Perhaps it was too predictable. Bane never felt like a character that would act on his own, as insane as he might have been, so I was kind of expecting a Sudden-Yet-Inevtiable-Betrayal from some character. And who better than the newly introduced, seemingly unimportant character? You also know that, no matter how bad things seem to get, they can't get Truly Bad, because that goes against Hollywood's rules. I suppose what I'm saying is that it isn't really that memorable. The only truly memorable part of the movie was the final scene, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which made me squeal like a little girl that just found out unicorns DO exist. And just to further the squeal-fest:

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease make this a movie!! PleaseyweasyPLEASE with a great big cherry on top!?

Les Miserables

Les Miserables

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crow, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried

Brief description: Set in France during the 1800's, this musical follows one man's journey through life as he tries to right his wrongs.

My Rating: 4/5

This is the movie version of one of the greatest musicals of all time. Unlike other musical-turned-movies (I'm looking at you Phantom) it lives up to its origins. 

I was seriously impressed by the talent. I knew Hugh Jackman had been on Broadway so he wasn't a big surprise. I was surprised at just how good he was. Dude is a multi-dimensional talent. Russell Crowe was decent although his vocal style is definitely better suited to contemporary. He didn't have the breadth or range needed for the role of Javert. Amanda Seyfried lived in the range of dog's hearing. Extremely high pitched, although sweet and clear. Anne Hathaway stole the show. She was absolutely riveting. Her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" was breathtakingly heartbreaking. Her performance overall was staggering. If she isn't nominated for awards across the board, I'll be seriously disappointed. 

The costumes were good, the action was good. If you're not a cold hearted so-and-so you'll get choked up, maybe possibly even cry.

Definitely worth a watch, even if you've never heard/seen the musical.

P.S.

 The singing wasn't dubbed. Which is even more impressive.