Ten Reasons The Dark Knight Rises Was Mediocre (At Best)

10- The film felt like it could have been a 2 part movie and not a full film. Nothing like the story restarting an hour or so in.

It’s worked for other films, such as Harry Potter so there is no reason why they couldn’t do it here and potentially double the box office revenue.

9- If you can understand Bane’s voice through the mask one hundred percent of the time, you either have amazing hearing or started making up conversations in your head.

“Mr Wayne, would you like to come over for a barbeque? We have s-mores and your favourite imported beer.”

8- Teasing at the end that we finally see Robin and yet know that no more films will be made for years?

Especially Batman related films feels like a kick to the you-know-what.

Meanwhile, Marvel races ahead of DC in the movie war making one wonder if DC really care at all, or if they just want to make some money and are no longer interested in the long standing war against Marvel.

7- Bane starts a new revolution, however instead of carrying it through, he is going to blow up Gotham instead? Making himself just another terrorist and not actually enacting any new social movement AT ALL?

In fact, his actions would have made America MORE paranoid than ever. Good job, Nolan. You tried to say so much and it meant nothing at all.

(Stupid sexy Flanders)

6- Bane, what is that you’re wearing on your head? Why does it look like a pair of stretched rubber underpants with a breather mask attached?

5- Batman/Bruce Wayne was absent from the goings on of Gotham for eight years? Wayne would NEVER do such a thing. There will always be crime, and when there will always be crime, there will always be Batman. Anyone who reads/watches Batman knows that there is no way he would distance himself from the city whom he loves so dearly.

4- The film score was not the score we deserved. Recycle that score, boys. It will make it cheaper! Really, the same music (pretty much) again feels like Nolan just didn’t bother.

3-Tahlia Al Ghul states that Bats killed her father, who she hated, and thus she is in Gotham to enact revenge. Wait up crazy lady, you hated your father a whole lot, but have come to Gotham to AVENGE him?

Yeah, that makes about as much sense as LOST DID.

Come to think of it, I need to check the writers, I feel a “dead end story becomes not a dead end that is a dead end that’s not what you think yet is yet isn’t rollfaceonkeyboardhihowareyouimgoodthanksyouyeahgood” writing of lost through the movie.

2- Catwoman, not just another pretty face. Oh, never mind then. They put her in to be a love interest to Bruce/Bats but really, she just felt like the DC answer to Black Widow (The Avengers) only less cleavage.

Much less.  Depressingly less. Horridly less. Sorry Anne, Scarlet just blows you out of the pool.

1- This was not the hero we needed, nor was it the Hero we deserved. The Dark Knight Rises had so much hype that it felt like it was to be THE film that defined a generation, that no other film could even go NEAR, The Avengers already gets that title.

The Dark Knight Rises: Movie Review

Let me start by saying how deeply saddened I am by the Aurora shooting at the Friday night premiere screening in Colorado, senseless gun violence by a very disturbed man. My thoughts are with all the people and families that this tragedy has impacted upon

THE SHORT VERSION:
Is this a good movie? Yes.
Is this an amazing must see movie? No.
Is it as good as The Avengers? Not a chance.
Will it entertain you? It should. 
Batman and Bane's voices are hard to hear, don't take someone talkative with you to see this movie.
The movie has holes, and the story drags a little in the middle, no worse than Spider-man.  
 
WARNING: SPOILERS.

The film starts by going through how Bane comes to be in Gotham, the start of the film made little sense and it was hard to shake the feeling that something important was cut out and left out that actually needed to be there.

Fast forward to Gotham and Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman (who they never one referred to AS Catwoman, only by her real name), who steals Bruce's mothers pearls while at a dinner party in celebration of "Dent Day", A public holiday centered around the death of Harvey "Two Face" Dent and the lie that Batman killed him. They have a scene where they explain and lay it out that not only has Batman vanished 8 years ago, but Bruce Wayne has become a recluse. Not that anyone has been smart enough to put two and two together "Oh, Batman and Bruce both hid away around the same time, wonder if they could be the same guy?".     

OK, that's not entirely true, Bane knows who he is, as does young hot head police officer, Thomas  Blake  (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). 

Gordon carries a speech that he thinks twice about reading, It seems that over the eight years, Gordon's soul has been burdened by the lie. later this is revealed to be the truth of Harvey's death that Bane gets a hold of, but is not really needed for the story and has little impact for such a huge build other than upsetting the young hot head cop, Thomas Blake. Thomas all through out the film is the 2nd lead, constantly trying to get people to believe in Batman.

Sadly enough it took Catwoman to steal Bruce's pearls, Officer Blake's guilt trip and the excitement of facing Bane to get the Bat back in to action. Only after Alfred leaves due to him not wanting to bury another member of the Wayne family.

Bane's voice was pretty garbled and between him and Batman I can imagine some youtube video parody stuff that would be pretty funny between the two. Bane's mask wasn't the only issue, Bane's voice was strong and dominating, then soft and posh and finally excitedly high pitched.

Anne Hathaway did well with the poor dialogue she was given, but her character was void and empty, it felt as though she was there ONLY to be Batman's love interest. At least we didn't have one of those "I need to tell you a secret" moments.

All in all it felt like two movies, after Bruce's back gets snapped he claws his way back to save his beloved Gotham. After doing so he pretends to give his life, doesn't, and runs away with Catwoman.

Before the film ends, Thomas (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quits the police force and goes off to find the Batcave. and it's revealed his name is "Robin"

Hey DC, why put in the robin scene after announcing no more DC movies after Superman: Man of Steel for three whole years? Joseph could EASILY play a Robin or Nightwing.

All in all, not a bad movie, not as good as the previous two and a bit of a let down as the final in the trilogy.

7/10 Bat Signals.

Max Payne 3 Review.

Max Payne 3 has been nothing short of amazing. The very few shortfalls of the game are far out weighed by the other factors that really kept me playing.

I have tried other first person shooters for their story modes, but none has really captured me like this game has, most of them I either finish eventually only because online multiplayer servers for that game are down, or I don't finish the story mode at all.

I found a lot of FPS games focus on the multiplayer side, but don't do much to captivate you and pull you in to the story mode much if at all.

In saying that, Max Payne was never a multiplayer FPS to start with and was pur story driven, however more games should support a decent story instead of a focus on mindless blasting of other players.

It was a cold rainy day. I had a cup of hot joe and a mouth full of chocolate.

The story itself dragged me in and made me connect and care for Max, something that most other games these days don't seem to be able to do.

In addition to the attachment, is the gritty gum-shoe detective monologue and the emphases on words (some,  for no reason) when Max is talking, you would see a word flash on the screen and flicker a little, it made for a great experience (OOOOO SHINY!!)

STOP! Bullet Time

The mechanic known as bullet time was excellent in the main story mode, it provided a way to pick off many enemies with head shots and dodge bullets, shoot grenades out of the air as well as rockets and Molotov cocktails.

In the online multiplayer, however, it was more of a hindrance and takes a lot of getting used to, usually I would be killed while it was happening as my reaction time seemed to be laggy and could have been better perhaps if our internet speed in Australia was up to scratch with the USA.

Also, the multiplayer has a loot function that seemed to be a function that does not work well, loot an enemy, get shot by the next passer-by. Not the best mechanic in a shooter, it helps collect funds to unlock weapons.

I have a wager, you’re going to lose.

The wager system in multiplayer means that before a match starts, you can bet on a player to get the first kill, most corpses looted etc, I also found this to be a bit random. Sure you can wager on the guy with the highest kill streak from the last game to get the first kill, but anyone out of 16 players could get that first kill and you’re now out of pocket.

I have all the guns, but I have no ammunition.

Like most FPS games, you have a certain amount of ammunition that is replenished by dead opponents or picking up guns, in the story mode I found this a little frustrating, as when you go from one room to another (an action sequence for some rooms would involve opening a door and then being locked out of the previous room) and you would not have enough ammunition either from shooting people or not changing to a new gun. This would lead to entering a new room and having to try and melee a bad guy, the issue here is melee does not kill them initially and you would have to kick them while they are down over and over, meaning that the other guys in the room would just hammer and wail on you while you tried to get a new gun or extra ammunition.

All in all, a great game, the story mode draws you in and makes a great connection, the story is solid and does not have the usual plot holes, the twist at the end is somewhat expected in a way, but leaves you questioning it until it happens.

If you want a multiplayer online FPA, though, I would still suggest Call of Duty, as the multiplayer in Max Payne 3 is just a pain to get used to. RockStar have really stepped up here though and attempted something that may eventually become a great thing.

My rating: 7/10