(500) Days of Summer

This was a film recommended to me by my flatmate who seemed to quite enjoy it. I can see why it’s a popular film. It follows this guy Tom who has ‘broken up’ with a girl, Summer, and is pretty cut up about it. It is presented in a non-linear manner, and this is good because it changes your opinions of the characters as the film goes along.

To begin with, the audience is duped into thinking that this is going to be a love story. We see Summer sitting on a bench with Tom with a ring on her finger. I was expected a soppy little love story along the exact same template as every other romantic comedy I have ever seen. Ever. I was quite surprising though. We are presented with almost two different stories. Tom immediately falls in love with Summer and believes she is the one, but she is against ‘labelling’ their relationship. They eventually break up and Tom struggles with this. In contrast, Summer appears to be coping just fine. At the end of the film we see that she is engaged to someone else and, despite not agreeing with marriage, immediately knew that he was the one.

It would be logical to start with the main character, but I think Zooey Deschanel is more interesting as Summer. The character is complex and interesting, but Zooey Deschanel is quite average throughout. Throughout the film I found myself changing my opinions a lot. At the start, possibly reflecting the rose-tinted goggles that Tom is obviously wearing, I found myself liking Summer, and the film seemed to be presenting a very happy relationship. However, as Tom starts to get over her we see a bit more of the reality of the relationship. At this point, Summer becomes incredibly dislikable. I find some of the things that she does to be incredibly low and cheap. She doesn't seem to have any appreciation of what she has and just wants to be ‘friends’. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer very well. I seem to have missed everything that she’s been in except for New Girl. Though they may seem similar, the characters she plays in these two productions are very different. I think she will become quite a rom-com star in the future. For now though I thought she was good at portraying the obvious ‘quirks’ to Summer’s character, but the role didn't seem to show the qualities of her acting talent.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt just reinforces his status as one of my favourite actors around at the moment. From the scene after he spends the night with Summer to his accuracy at portraying the torment a man goes through after a break up, he is spectacular in 500 Days of Summer. The thing about his character is that nearly every guy (whether they’d care to admit it or not) can relate to something that happens to him. At the start of the film I got the feeling that he was taking the break up a little bit too badly, but when we see more about what happened it becomes apparent that he was justifiably upset about the manner and the nature of their relationship. I really liked the scene where ‘expectations’ and ‘reality’ were aligned and the audience could see what he thought would happen. I also really liked that after his experience with Summer he decides to ‘take the bull by the horns’ and pursue his dream. In doing so he discovers something which has the potential to be better than Summer.

500 Days of Summer is a refreshing break from the template of the typical romantic comedy. It took me some time to realise that they weren't going to get back together and everything would be okay again. However, I like the fact that they didn't  and it is refreshing to see this in a modern film. For this reason I think that 500 Days of Summer can appeal to both males and females. It isn't an incredible movie though, and to be honest I don’t think I’d recommend it too highly. It is funny in parts, but overall I think it seemed to pass me by a little bit. It’s definitely one to watch in a relaxed setting, maybe with a partner. I enjoyed it, but I think it’s time to move on from Summer and await the arrival of Autumn. 

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is the climax of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and in the run up to its release people were eagerly waiting to see if it would live up to the ridiculously high standards set by The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight Rises is incredible, and is the perfect conclusion to this particular run of Batman films.

The start of the film sees Gotham largely crime free since Harvey Dent’s death has provided the police with greater powers. Batman has been outlawed and Bruce Wayne hasn't been seen for eight years. However, out of sight, the mercenary Bane has been gathering support and has built up an underground empire with which to complete the work of the League of Shadows. He holds Gotham to ransom with a nuclear bomb and imprisons Batman in a seemingly inescapable pit. When Batman frees himself he returns to save Gotham. He is tasked with defeating Bane, stopping the bomb and winning over the people.

As with The Dark Knight, I watch this film for the moments that Bane is on screen. While Tom Hardy’s performance has nothing on Heath Ledger’s Joker, and he is nowhere near as scary, Bane is a truly sinister villain, and his adaptation from the comic book character is brilliant. Tom Hardy does an excellent job with Bane, and his dedication to the role cannot be faulted. I especially liked the moment in which Bane breaks Batman’s back, which is lifted directly from a famous Batman comic. Bane’s voice is well worked as well, and definitely fits the character, however there are times when it’s very difficult to understand what is said because of the mask. Also, I often had the feeling that the speech was in fact ‘voiced over’ as it didn't seem like the character was speaking. The difficulty here is that Hardy doesn't really use his eyes to speak a lot of the time. However, I suppose these are problems that inevitably arise with such a character.

I would have liked to see more of Batman in this film to be honest. I understand why he did not feature initially, but compared to the previous two films there was a distinct paucity of Batman scenes. I can only think of two major Batman scenes, and this was disappointing. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved the way that the trilogy was closed. The ending is incredible and I suggest that if you haven’t seen the film now is the point to skip to the next paragraph. Have you? Good. I genuinely thought that Batman had died in this film. It wasn't one of those moments where the character ‘disappears’ and you are meant to think he’s dead, but then he climbs back or whatever. There was genuine disbelief in my mind the first time I saw this, and as the end is slowly revealed to the audience piece-by-piece I get the feelings that come with a huge twist. I thought that killing off Batman was the perfect way to end this trilogy, but when the final scenes came up I was delighted with the end. This was a refreshing change from the superhero films which always plan for a sequel, and was good closure for the film set.

The supporting characters in this film were also excellent. Morgan Freeman is always a welcome appearance on my screen, and Lucius Fox did not disappoint me in this film either. Similarly, Michael Caine is again marvelous as Alfred, and I loved the fact that he and Bruce Wayne had an argument. Instead of being the subservient butler, Alfred is given a chance to show that he’s more than a little annoyed with his master. The character of Miranda Tate was quite good in this film as well. I loved the storyline revolving around her and Bane, and did not see the potential for that at all and was astounded when the pieces slotted into place.

I haven’t forgotten Catwomen, who I thought was fantastic. This Catwoman is a drastic improvement on the Batman Returns Catwoman. She was strong, independent, and a villain/hero in her own right. Anne Hathaway was a wonderful casting choice for this role, and manages to be strong, imposing and immensely attractive all at the same time. The Dark Knight Rises has an edge on many other films because it manages to incorporate more than the one villain and the one hero perfectly. It is an example to films like Spider-man 3, or even Batman & Robin which try to have more villains than can be coped with and as a result the film suffers. Finally, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a welcome addition to the already glittering cast. His character is very interesting, because there’s a twist around him too. This twist was another one which I did not see coming, but one which I could appreciate. Basically, the thing to take away from the (brief) character analysis is that there are a lot of twists with a lot of characters.

The Dark Knight Rises is a phenomenal film, but I think it suffers a little bit by inevitable comparisons to The Dark Knight. It can’t compare to it, but it shouldn't be judged by it. On its own, and as part of the trilogy, it is a fantastic film. If you’re a Batman fan and you haven’t seen it then there is something wrong with you. Obviously if you have no interest in comic book films then don’t watch it, but if you’re thinking about it, or wanting to watch it, you must see it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.