Film Review: The Dark Knight

Warner Bros recently sent me a copy of The Dark Knight Rises, the latest Batman film, to review. Now I am going to start by saying I am probably not their target market and probably not the best person to review the film either as Batman isn't really my thing - the last Batman film I saw had Kim Basinger in it - so it's fair to say I don't really know much about it or the backstory to the film.  However, I thought I'd give it a go as it had good reviews.

I checked out the synopsis first to see if I could find out what was going on first.  

"It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive  Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.

But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous  however, is the emergency of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane."

All pretty much clear as mud for a Batman novice like me!

What did I think? I can't say I enjoyed it much. Okay, I'm not going to deny that it was a good film and the special effects were pretty darned good but I felt at just under two and a half hours it dragged on a bit. Mr M however enjoyed watching it, although he too is not really into the Batman thing.  The best part of the film for me was Anne Hathaway who I thought gave a really good performance as Selina aka Catwoman.

As I have said, the Batman films have passed me by and this film left me wondering when it all became so dark as I'm still firmly remembering the TV series days of "KAPOW" "BAM" "POW" which is probably more where I am at!  It's given a 12 rating but would I let my 12 year old watch it? I'm not sure really as I don't have any experiences of 12 year olds but it just seems too much on the dark side for my liking.

If you like Batman and have enjoyed all the previous films, then there is no doubt that you'll enjoy this film, it goes without saying but as someone not particularly enthralled by the genre, I've not been converted!

The Dark Knight Rises is available now from Amazon.

With thanks to Warner Bros for providing this DVD for review.