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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
First off, I'm quite amazed I even enjoyed a 'superhero movie'. And yeah, I know, nowadays they're different, more serious, more exciting, yada yada. Batman's come a long way since that old, cringey TV series with Adam West. And I've tried; I tried to watch Batman Begins one time, but it got to that awful bit with Liam Neeson being a ninja/samurai, and I gave up on it. Too much 'mentor' and 'become fear' shit. But The Dark Knight Rises? Well fuck, that was on a whole other level.

I'm not going to pretend I like superhero movies now - because it's just not my scene - but I did enjoy this film. Christopher Nolan once again waved his magic filmmaking wand and I was more than happy to sit through a long-ass film with big-ass explosions and not shout "fuck off Michael Bay!" at it. The film was just, consistently, brilliantly, well-made. The effects were spotless (I'm guessing it was ILM, but you can call me out on that one), the script bearable for a blockbuster like this, and the cinematography beautiful.

Nolan also called in a few favours for this 'final' Batman film's cast. Notably, Tom Hardy as Bane, whose personality both helped and hindered his performance - he's tough and edgy, and that worked with the brute-lie bulk of Bane; but his shouty British voice and not-so-tough eyes took the edge off some of the grittier scenes. Nonetheless he was the best in it. Christian Bale annoyed me with that growly Batman voice he puts on, Michael Caine was Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway played the stereotypical catwoman character, Joseph Gordon-Levitt did his norm and Marion Cotillard seems like she's fast becoming typecast (spoilerz!). It was Nolan's handpicked faves at their finest.

Honestly, the only real thing that let the film down for me was simply that it was a Batman film. There was no escaping that stupid outfit, the bat logo and the preposterous heroics. But, if you're into that sort of thing, you can't do much better than this.

★★★☆☆

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Dir. Marc Webb)
(500) Days is one of those quintessentially hipster, offbeat films that the last few years have spawned, with cute, romantic love scenes, oddball idiosyncrasies, record players and, more often than not, Zooey Deschanel. Here, the ultimate indie gal Deschanel is paired with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yeah, Inception), which is a killer combination.

Concept-wise, (500) Days is brilliant. The story, the idea - of a romance being told from its end, with the viewer forever aware that it's not going to last, and how close to the end we are - is great. Original, hell, I don't know, but it's fun to watch - especially with the 500-day counter guiding us through the couple's relationship. The concept is brilliant, but the execution? Well, it's lacking something. And the something is restraint. Like many other cute-love films, this one can get so caught up in itself that it's hard to see a way out to the real world. Deschanel, though spot-on casting, is frustrating to watch. Perhaps it's her character, but perhaps it's her. From seeing her in other films, I suspect the latter. The film almost feels like Gordon-Levitt being pulled further and further into the deadly spirals of Deschanel's complexities and insecurities, somehow being labelled a 'romance'. But, as the film's concept informs from the start, he gets out. Don't fret.

Sure, a film like (500) Days is going to be pretentious. It's got brackets in its title, for god's sake. But I can't resist it. Maybe it's the soundtrack, maybe the soft-and-sweet direction, maybe the hipster appeal, or maybe just Zooey Deschanel - the film delivers for me. I just only wish Deschanel didn't play her part with such unbearably offbeat charm, and Gordon-Levitt didn't play his so well. Ignore some corny scripts and most/all of Zooey Deschanel's lines, and (500) Days of Summer is the perfect glorified hipster wank.

 ★★☆☆☆