Will ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Rise Up to Its Hype?

July 20th. Millions of fans have that date circled on their calendars. That is, of course, that day that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is released upon the hungry public. Like so many other people I have been waiting for this movie with bated breath. I am a fan of the first two and am looking forward to Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film. That being said I do have some concerns. I feel that the film is starting to fall victim to the problems that plagued the last Batman franchise. The main issue being that bigger is better. This is not always true, especially with superhero movies. In this third film many new characters are introduced, maybe even too many to do them all justice. We already have Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale), Alfred (Michael Caine), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman). Now we add into the mix Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Bane (Tom Hardy). That gives us 8 characters to follow, and more importantly that makes 8 characters that have to develop within the 2 hours and 34 minutes that the movie will run. That’s a lot to cram into a movie, especially if they still want action scenes. I hope they pull it off! I am not expecting it to be as good as ‘The Dark Knight’, but I’m hoping it lands between that and ‘Batman Begins’.

Now for the buzz (spoilers). I have heard that there are some good set scenes, like the opener which is a daring aerial maneuver in which Bane kidnaps a scientist by hijacking his plane from the skies above. Also, there is the collapse of Heinz Field during a packed football game. I have also heard that Bruce Wayne gets a new love interest in Miranda Tate.

Top 5 Movies to Watch This Summer

It’s the first day of summer everyone! We all know we are going to be hitting up those movie theaters to check out the latest summer blockbusters. Here is a list of the summer 2012 must see movies:

5. Madagascar 3 – Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are all back in this hilarious family flick.If you’ve seen the first two, you should know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re looking for some family fun and for some laughs, check out this movie. It’s already in theaters!

4. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection – Madea is back and she is entering the witness protection program. See what kind of shenanigans Madea gets into this time on June 29th!

3. Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap – Rapper Ice T directs this Hip-Hop documentary showing you the real art of Rap. Some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop appear expressing their own take about this genre that forever changed their lives. It recently hit the theaters, so all you hip-hop heads go check it out!

2. The Amazing Spider-Man – I can feel my spidey senses tingling! Can’t wait for this one. Andrew Garfield is the new Spider-Man and it is a fresh new take on the series. Check it out on July 3rd.

1. Dark Knight Rises – The last time we saw Bruce Wayne was back in 2008. This time Batman is back as Gotham City needs him more than ever as he battles the evil Bane. See the Dark Knight rise on July 20th.