The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I imagine that wrapping up a trilogy is one of the hardest things to do in filmmaking. It seemed impossible for TDKR to surpass the incredible expectations left by The Dark Knight, but it absolutely delivers. The Dark Knight Rises is phenomenal. The spectacle has been increased exponentially since TDK, often times bordering on a little too much but ultimately pulling it off. Many have said it’s ambitiousness is it’s downfall, but think it absolutely worked. There are a few minor plot holes and perhaps some spectacle overshadowed potential character development, but the trade off for a bigger scale and breathtaking action payed off in bucket loads. All movies have a certain degree of plot holes and shortcomings, but the idea is to mask them so they’re not made to matter. The Dark Knight Rises is full of astounding imagery, powerful scenes and solid direction. It’s almost hard to believe what you’re seeing at times, in a positive way. Bane is everything he’d been built up to be. The scene where the two first encounter each other 1 on 1 is as gripping and powerful as it gets. But the less I say, the better. It’s something to be experienced yourself.

9.7/10. No movie is perfect, but this is close. Due to it’s sheer scale, it’s incredibly hard to surmise, the only thing I can tell you is to go see it. A new addition to my all time favourites. I absolutely recommend seeing it at IMAX if you can, it’s an experience of a lifetime.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

In this dire time of sequels, prequels and reboots, another spider-man ‘re-imagining’ only a few years after the last ones isn’t something I gave a warm welcome to. To my shock, it was better than I’d expected. It was engaging, and visually well made. But then again, so were the last ones. That said, it has a severe lack of style, being very traditionally shot and edited. Unfortunately, TASM lacked a deeper care for the Spider-Man series. It feels like a cash grab, even as you’re watching the film. It’s a pretty well-made cash grab, but it still suffers from plenty of script issues that might have been avoided had whoever wrote it really been a dedicated fan rather than posing as one. Riddled with nonsensical stuff, almost every character and action in the film serves only to conveniently further the plot. All the characters fit in a little too well, and the villain instantaneously transforms from humanitarian to reptilian Hitler at the drop of a hat. The new ‘gritty’ and more realistic tone of the film clashes with the second half of the movie when the villain is introduced. Chasing down a giant lizard just doesn’t fit with the first half’s vibe.
7/10. It’s not a bad movie, it’s a fun ride that I enjoyed a lot. It’s just totally unnecessary and is seriously held back by script issues, lack of style, character development and sense.

Get the Gringo (2012)

I didn’t really expect much from Get the Gringo, but it definitely surprised me, that’s for sure. Get the Gringo is a well made, and satisfying action drama that keeps you interested the whole experience. I have to say I liked Mel despite his unbecoming reputation as of late, he pushes past this to create his typically hardened-but-humorous, likable character. What really prevents the movie from being better is a more a depthy plot, in that regard it was a bit like Drive in a Mexican Prison (though not as well executed, where Drive didn’t need the extra depth, GTG suffered from not having it.)

7/10 - All in all, I would definitely recommend Get the Gringo. It’s a small scale movie, and it definitely has its flaws, but a likable lead, good performances and an interesting (but simple) enough premise drive this well crafted film to the finish line. It won’t be winning any awards, but it’s still a good watch.