great new movie reviews

2012-09-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

THE DICTATOR

For years, the North African Republic of Wadiya has been ruled by Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), a childish, lecherous, misogynous, anti-western and antisemitic despot who surrounds himself with female bodyguards, refuses to allow Wadiyan oil to be sold internationally and is working on developing nuclear weapons. After the United Nations Security Council resolves to intervene militarily, Aladeen travels to the UN Headquarters in New York City to address the council. Shortly after arriving, he is kidnapped by Clayton (John C. Reilly), a hitman hired by his treacherous uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley). Tamir then replaces Aladeen with a mentally-challenged political decoy named Efawadh, whom he intends to manipulate into signing a document democratizing Wadiya and opening the country's oil fields for business. Aladeen escapes after Clayton accidentally burns himself to death, but his huge beard has been shaved off by Clayton, making him practically unrecognizable. He encounters activist Zoey (Anna Faris), who offers him a job at her alternative lifestyle co-op. Aladeen refuses the offer and travels to New York's "Little Wadiya", located near the Marcy Avenue station, which is populated by refugees from his country. There, he encounters "Nuclear" Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas), the former chief of Wadiya's nuclear weapons program and head procurer of women, whom Aladeen thought he had previously executed. Nadal explains that Wadiyan rebels infiltrated his intelligence unit, sending into exile all the people he had ordered to be executed.

Wanting his old job back, Nadal promises to help Aladeen thwart Tamir's plot and regain his position as 'rightful' dictator, on condition that Aladeen makes him head of Wadiya's WMD program again. Aladeen agrees and accepts Zoey's job offer, as she is catering at the hotel where the signing is to occur. Aladeen grows closer to Zoey after she refuses his sexual advances and teaches him how to masturbate, and then falls in love with her while watching her boldly and passionately tell a police officer off. Turning around Zoey's struggling business, Aladeen begins imposing strict schedules on everyone, forming a personality cult around Zoey and intimidating an inspector into giving the store a good review. However, Aladeen's relationship with Zoey becomes strained after he reveals his true self. After acquiring a new beard taken from a corpse, Aladeen infiltrates the hotel and tells Efawadh to leave. At the signing ceremony, he tears up Tamir's document in front of the UN delegation, and holds an impassioned speech praising the virtues of dictatorship, drawing unintended parallels to current issues within the United States. However, upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and, knowing Zoey's strongly-held views, vows to democratize his country and open up Wadiya's oil fields for business, but in a way where the general populace will benefit. Angry with Aladeen staying in power, Tamir attempts to assassinate him but Efawadh jumps in front of the bullet and survives as it is his job "to be shot in the head".

A year later, Wadiya holds its first democratic elections, although they are rigged in favor of Aladeen (having now added the titles President Prime Minister to his previous Admiral General). Afterwards, he marries Zoey, but is shocked when she crushes a glass and reveals herself to be Jewish. Scenes during the credits show Aladeen's convoy, now consisting of eco-friendly cars, visiting a reinstated Nadal, and later Zoey revealing in a television interview that she is pregnant with the couple's first child. Aladeen responds to the news by asking if Zoey is having "a boy or an abortion"

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2012-08-27T08:59:00.004-07:00

ICE AGE : Continental Drift

Manny becomes over-protective about his teenage daughter Peaches going to the falls to see a teenage mammoth called Ethan. Manny's wife Elliecalms him down by telling him that: Peaches is not going to be his little girl forever. Peaches with her best friend, a molehog named Louis are on there way to the falls but Manny stops them and takes Peaches home so he can keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Sid reunites with his family (who had abandoned him in the first film), who abandon him again, with his annoying and clueless Granny who wanders away. When Manny catches Peaches with Louis heading to the falls after he told her not to, he finds her with Ethan and embarrasses her in front of her friends. Manny and Peaches argue and have a fall out. Soon after, the separation of the continents (see Scrat's plot) separates Manny from his family. Manny gets stuck on a floating ice "ship" with Sid and Diego. A large moving landmass drives Ellie, Peaches, and a herd of other animals towards a land bridge, where Manny had told them to go.

After Manny and his friends survive a rough sea storm, they also find Granny, who was inside a tree trunk on the same floating ice shift the entire time. Manny and his friends are captured by a group of pirates, led by a Gigantopithecus named Captain Gutt along with his first mate, a female saber-toothed cat named Shira. Gutt and the pirate gang captures Manny and his friends on the ship, then tells them to join the pirates, but they refuse. Gutt then herds and attempts to make them walk the plank, but they manage to escape, destroying the pirate ship in the process. Gutt and the pirates are separated from Shira, and the pirate crew worries about her, but Gutt leaves her for dead. Meanwhile, Shira gets rescued by the herd against her will.

The herd reaches an island and encounters a group of hyraxes, as well as the pirates, who force captive hyraxes to build a new ice ship elsewhere on the same island. After imprisoning Shira in a tree due to her attempt to escape, the herd plans to steal the ship and use it to get home. The next morning, the herd and the hyraxes plot to steal the ship and free the captive hyraxes. Shira later escapes and rejoins the pirates, but finds herself being berated by Gutt for not trying to kill the herd and as punishment, he relieves her of her position while giving it to Squint. The herd puts the plan into action and successfully takes the ship and frees the hyraxes. Shira captures Diego. He tells her she should join Manny and the herd, and leave the pirates. She lets him go and buys them time to escape. As they depart, she is threatened to be killed, after Gutt realizes that she did not attack the herd, but instead prevented Gutt from catching them. Gutt, in his anger, quickly creates a new ship, by breaking off a chunk of ice from a nearby ice wall and uses narwhals to propel it. He sets out after the herd, determined to get revenge on Manny.

Later, Manny, Sid, Granny and Diego, are on there way home, Diego worried about Shira, and Manny and Sid figure out that Diego is in love. Soon enough, they encounter sirens, depicted as sharp-toothed creatures who take the shape of loved ones (Diego sees Shira, Sid sees an attractive female sloth, Granny sees a hunky surfer sloth, and Manny sees Ellie and Peaches. Fortunately, Manny realizes this and manages to steer the ship away from the sirens. Meanwhile back at the continent, Peaches visits an underground hideout with Ethan and his group. To be accepted, she says she is not friends with Louis. Louis overhears her, and he leaves heartbroken.

Ellie, Peaches, Louis, and the herd of other animals reach the land bridge, but find it to be destroyed. Manny, and the gang finally reach home, and find the land brige destroyed, but Manny happily finds Peaches. Much to their horror, Gutt and his pirates have beaten them to the bridge, and captured Ellie & Peaches. Manny attempts to turn himself in to Gutt in exchange for the release of his family, but Gutt prepares to kill Ellie and Peaches, as he still wants revenge on Manny. Louis comes to their rescue, starting a battle. Sid and Granny are saved by Granny's presumed "imaginary" pet Precious, a gigantic whale, and they defeat the pirate crew. Peaches defeats Gutt by using her half-opossum skills and saves Ellie, Manny discovers that he had been wrong about Peaches. Gutt recovers and engages Manny in a fight atop an ice raft. Manny manages to defeat him by moving to the edge of the ice raft, causing Gutt soar upward, and finally, smacks Gutt far away with a branch. Manny falls off the ice raft, about to land into the ocean but gets rescued by Precious, Sid and Granny. Meanwhile, Gutt recovers from being smacked but finds a siren disguise as a female Gigantopithecus, Gutt goes up to it and is killed. Diego and Shira become a couple and the herd and the other animals then find another continent (where the hyraxes have also gone) which they accept as their new home with new beginnings.

2012-08-25T23:01:00.001-07:00

The Watch

In the small town of Glenview, Ohio, Evan Trautwig (Ben Stiller) is an active participant in the community and the senior manager of the local Costco store. His life is disrupted when the store's night security guard is murdered. The local police have no leads and show no interest in investigating further. Determined to find the killer and bring him to justice, Evan decides to form a Neighborhood Watch. However, he only manages to recruit Bob (Vince Vaughn), a construction worker and loving father, Franklin (Jonah Hill), a high school dropout who dreams of being a police officer but failed the written, physical, and mental health tests, and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade), a recent divorcee.

The Watch members use the group as an excuse to drink and have fun, much to Evan's annoyance. While driving on patrol they accidentally hit something. On investigation they discover a strange metallic orb that acts as a highly destructive weapon. The group deduces that it is of alien origin. Meanwhile, several more townspeople are mysteriously killed. The Watch responds to the murders and encounters an alien, which attacks them. Evan seemingly kills it with a lawn gnome before the group return with the creature to Bob's house. The creature regains consciousness and escapes, stealing the metallic orb and warning them that the aliens have already infiltrated the town. The Watch theorizes that the aliens are stealing their victims' skin and disguising themselves as humans, meaning that anybody in Glenview could be an alien. Bob confides to Evan that he is constantly worried about his daughter Chelsea (Erin Moriarty), and does not trust her boyfriend Jason (Nicholas Braun). Evan admits that he has been avoiding his wife Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) because he is sterile, and afraid that revealing that to her will cause her to leave.

Evan suspects that one of his neighbors is an alien, due to his strange and stiff manner of speaking, and because he always seem to be watching Evan. As the Watch scouts the neighbor's house, Bob learns that Chelsea is attending an unsupervised party with Jason. Bob disobeys Evan's orders and rushes to the party with Franklin. Bob arrives and prevents Jason from raping Chelsea, but is beaten by Jason until Franklin intervenes. Evan and Jamarcus investigate the neighbor alone, but find that he only hosts sex orgies in his basement. When Bob returns, he and Evan get into an argument over him putting his daughter above the Watch. Bob quits the Watch, telling Evan that he has no friends because he attempts to control everything. Evan rushes home and admits his sterility to Abby. Abby accepts this revelation and tells him that they can work it out together. Evan then receives an urgent call from Jamarcus.

Jamarcus confesses that he is one of the alien infiltrators, but has decided to side with humanity after experiencing human culture (and oral sex). He warns the group that the aliens are building a transmitter beneath the Costco that will summon their main armada to destroy the Earth. Jamarcus is expelled from the Watch for his deception. Bob, Franklin and Evan arm themselves and infiltrate the Costco to destroy the transmitter. Bob encounters Jason, who is one of the aliens in disguise, and they fight. Evan and Franklin attempt to disable the transmitter but are surrounded by aliens. Jamarcus arrives and saves the pair, revealing that the aliens' brains are located in their crotch. Using this information, Bob is able to kill Jason by ripping off his penis. Evan discovers that the transmitter is powered by the metallic orb and removes it, disabling the machine. More aliens arrive, forcing the group to flee. The Watch uses the metallic orb to destroy the Costco building, killing all of the aliens inside.

In the epilogue, Evan and Abby manage to rekindle the passion in their relationship and adopt a daughter. Bob has grown much closer to Chelsea and accepts her new boyfriend, who is intimidated by the stories of how Bob killed Jason by "ripping his dick off". Franklin is finally accepted into the Glenview Police Department. Jamarcus continues participating in the secret neighborhood orgies. The group maintain the Watch and continue to protect Glenview from both criminals and aliens.

2012-08-25T22:54:00.001-07:00

Resistance Evil Retribution

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. Meanwhile, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her fromTokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a "mind-blowing" revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion

CAST

Milla Jovovich as Alice

An ex-employee of Umbrella Corporation, and primary protagonist of the film series. After being tested on by Umbrella, she sets out to destroy all of those who started the outbreak. When asked about her character, Jovovich says that "Alice started off as the audience, as this innocent bystander watching what’s going on and then finally understanding what role she had to play in all of it and who she was. And then throughout the series, she kinda started separating from people. You know, first she realized Umbrella was controlling her, so she couldn’t be close to people. Now that she’s human again, and not only human again, but now she’s almost… I mean, this is her life. This is what she loves in a weird, sick way. It’s what she does best. And I think in this one, she has a little bit more of a sense of humor about it and is a little more relaxed with it. It’s not as shocking as it normally is. In a sense, now she’s got her friends, her team, she’s part of a team. She’s a human being again, so she’s connected with the people around her. And she has fun with them. In some strange, twisted way, she gets a kick out of it.

Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine

A former police officer of Raccoon City and ally of Alice who was captured and subsequently mind-controlled by Umbrella to find Alice, hence becoming the main antagonist of the film. Sometime after the events of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Jill was captured by the Umbrella Corporation and is under their control through the Scarab Appliance on her chest. Guillory was originally set to appear in Resident Evil: Extinction, but she dropped out due to her commitment to Eragon. She made a cameo appearance in Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo

A pair of clones of Rain Ocampo, who was an Umbrella commando operative from the original film where she died. The Umbrella Corporation has cloned Rain, creating a "Good Rain" and a "Bad Rain". "Bad Rain" will be hunting down Alice, under Jill's orders. For many years, Anderson has been trying to get Rodriguez back in the Resident Evil films. He says that he wanted "to kind of give her an opportunity to play something different." Rodriguez explains "Bad Rain" as "mechanical, very straight-forward and very matter-of-fact" and "Good Rain" as "awkward and different - someone who is quirky and doesn’t know how to handle a gun and someone who is curious."

Johann Urb as Leon S. Kennedy

A survivor and leader of a resistance group who teams up with Alice to hunt down Umbrella. Anderson says that the decision to include Leon, Ada, and Barry in the film was "fan-driven". When describing his character's story, Urb says "As far as I can tell, I’ve just been fending for myself, taking care of business, and banding with some people. Then, apparently what’s happened is Alice is in a bit of trouble. Wesker needs somebody who, what’s the word… is smart enough and strong enough to go in and save Alice. Leon is the first thought that comes to mind, obviously.

Kevin Durand as Barry Burton

A survivor and member of Leon Kennedy's resistance group who teams up with Alice to hunt down Umbrella. Slated as Leon's "partner in crime" and close friend.

Li Bingbing as Ada Wong

A survivor who is taken captive by Jill as she hunts down Alice. Despite their romance in the video game, Li says that Ada and Leon Kennedy's relationship will be "subtle" in the film. Li got the role only a few days after her first audition, and prepared for the role by watching Resident Evil: Degeneration. During filming, she wore a $7,500 wig.

Oded Fehr as Carlos Olivera

A pair of clones of Carlos Olivera, a former Umbrella commando and love interest of Alice, who was killed in a sacrificial explosion in Resident Evil: Extinction. Carlos, who appeared inResident Evil: Apocalypse and also Resident Evil: Extinction, was cloned after his death by Umbrella Corporation, creating a "Good Carlos" and a "Bad Carlos". There is also set to be a flashback, showing Carlos living in a suburban area with Alice as his wife and a daughter named Becky. Fehr says in an interview that "the interesting thing is, I come back as two different guys on this one. There’s a dynamic to the relationship with Milla’s character, and then there’s the other side. He’s working for the Umbrella again.

Aryana Engineer as Becky

A little girl whom Alice develops a mother-daughter relationship with. Jovovich says that the relationship between Alice and Becky is similar to Ripley and Newt in Aliens. She went on to say the relationship is a way for Alice to hold onto her humanity.

Boris Kodjoe as Luther West

A former basketball player and survivor who joins Leon Kennedy's resistance and reunites with Alice in the process. He previously appeared in Resident Evil: Afterlife as the leader of a survivor group stationed in Los Angeles and is one of the few characters that did not originate from the video games. Kodjoe found out that he would return for the fifth film after he read the script forAfterlife and found out that his character survives.

Colin Salmon as James "One" Shade

A pair of clones of James Shade, the leader of the Umbrella commando team who died in the original film. After his death, his DNA was cloned by Umbrella, creating a "Good James" and a "Bad James".

Shawn Roberts as Albert Wesker

Head of the Umbrella Corporation. Wesker serves as the primary antagonist of the film series, and is revealed to have survived the events of Afterlife.

Mika Nakashima as J-Pop Girl

The patient zero of the T-virus in Japan. After seeing her performance in Afterlife, both Jovovich and director Paul W.S. Anderson praised Nakashima saying, “I want to work with Mika again.” Describing her fight sequence with Jovovich, Nakashima expressed, “It was a very valuable experience. A lot of things were new to me, so I had fun.

2012-08-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

PARANORMAN

In the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, a boy named Norman Babcock is able to speak with the dead including his late grandmother and various ghosts in town. Unfortunately, almost no one among the living believes his ability is genuine and he is ostracized by his family while being ridiculed and bullied by most of his peers for his seemingly strange abilities.

However, Norman makes a friend with Neil Downe, an eccentric fat boy who is bullied himself and finds Norman's earnest admission as a medium an intriguing part of a kindred spirit. During rehearsal of a school play commemorating the town's witch execution of 300 years ago, Norman has a harrowing vision of the town's past and being pursued as a witch by the town's citizenry. Afterward, the boys are confronted by Norman's estranged and seemingly deranged Uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, who tells his nephew that vision is a sign that he soon must take up his regular ritual to protect the town.

Norman refuses to take him seriously, but soon has another vision during the school play, creating a public spectacle of himself which leads to his embarrassed parents grounding him. Now completely despondent and isolated, Norman is confronted by the ghost of the recently deceased Prenderghast in the washroom who tells him that the ritual must be performed with a special book before sundown that day, before departing for the afterlife. After some consideration, Norman sets off to Prenderghast's residence to retrieve the book. Believing that Neil would not truly understand his situation, he drives him away. He arrives at the graves of the town's ancestors, including Judge Hopkins who were supposedly cursed by the witch they condemned, but finds the book is merely a collection of fairy tales.

Before Norman can ponder the situation, Alvin, a bully who overheard Norman's encounter in the washroom, intrudes and interferes with the reading until after sundown. With that, a ghostly storm resembling the witch appears in the air while the cursed dead arise and pursue the boys until they meet Norman's sister, Courtney, Neil and his own brother, Mitch, who have come to retrieve Norman. Together, the kids are relentlessly pursued by the zombies into town, but Norman manages to contact a classmate who tells them to access the Town Hall's archives for the location of the witch's unmarked grave.

As the kids make their way to the Town Hall, the zombies eventually lose them and find themselves confused by modern society and then are beset by the citizenry who attack them on masse. During the riot, the kids break into the archives but cannot find any information they need. As the mob moves to attack Town Hall, Norman in frustration temporarily drives away his companions only for them to be trapped by the mob. However, the Witch storm appears and Norman desperately climbs the Hall's tower to desperately attempt to read the book to stop her, but the witch blasts it with lightning and causes him to fall back down into the archives.

Unconscious, Norman has a dream where he learns that the witch was actually Agatha Prenderghast, an innocent little girl of his age who was also a medium, unjustly condemned by the town's superstitious and frightened elite who were then cursed by Agatha as she was taken for execution. After awakening, Norman encounters the zombies and realizes that all they wanted was to speak with him to ensure he would take up the ritual to minimize the harm of the terrible mistake they made with Agatha. However, Norman decides that this gesture is not enough and resolves to find Agatha's ghost to arrive at a permanent solution.

Norman attempts to help the zombies slip away to have them guide him to Agatha's grave, but are cornered by the mob. However, Courtney, who has come to realize her brother's true abilities, heroism and task, confronts the crowd and convinces them to back off. As the witch storm rages ever more destructively, Judge Hopkins guides Norman's family to the grave in a forest. Unfortunately, Agatha's magic separates Norman from the others and he must reach the grave on his own.

Norman finds the grave, and soon confronted by the vengeful spirit of Agatha, interacting with her in the spirit dimension. She tries to drive him away, but Norman resolutely holds his ground, telling her that he understands how she feels as a outcast. As she struggles to drive him away, Norman endures her assault and eventually convinces her that despite her legitimate grievance, her thirst for vengeance is accomplishing nothing but inflicting more pain and persuades her to stop. Norman tries to convince her that even in the darkest times, there must have been someone who was kind to her. Focusing only on the tragedies in her life and forgetting the good things in her life is what reduced her to a malevolent force devoid of her true identity.

Eventually, the girl, nicknamed Aggie, calms down at Norman's eloquence, recalling her true personality and happy memories with her mother. She was able to find a measure of peace, knowing that she is not alone and one person in the town understands her, allowing her to let go and move on to the afterlife. At that resolution, the storm dissipates, and she and the zombies all peacefully fade away. As day breaks, the town cleans up and regards Norman as a hero even when the outside media tries to explain the disturbance as merely a powerful storm. Norman, realizing that he too, should stop focusing on his memories of being ostracized and pushing others away, accepts Neil's companionship. At the end, Norman watches a horror film with the ghost of his Grandmother again, and his family eagerly joins him.

the cast are

Kodi Smit-McPhee as Norman Babcock, the main protagonist, an outcast kid who speaks to the dead

Tucker Albrizzi as Neil Downe, Norman's eccentric and chubby friend

Anna Kendrick as Courtney Babcock, Norman's older sister and cheerleader

Casey Affleck as Mitch Downe, Neil's older brother and a jock; Courtney's love interest, though it is revealed he is gay at the end of the film.

Leslie Mann as Sandra Babcock, Norman's mother

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Alvin, a school bully

Jeff Garlin as Perry Babcock, Norman's father

Ariel Winter as Blithe Hollow kid

and more

2012-08-25T22:25:00.002-07:00

The Dark Knight Rises

Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Gotham City is in a state of peace. Under powers granted by the Dent Act—legislation inspired by the late Harvey Dent—the Gotham City Police Department has nearly eradicated organized crime. Batman has disappeared and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse. Police Commissioner James Gordon feels guilty about the cover-up of Dent's crimes, and writes a resignation speech confessing the truth; however, he decides that the city is not ready to hear it. While searching for a missing congressman, Gordon is captured and his speech taken by Bane. Gordon is shot during his escape and found by patrol officer John Blake. While recuperating, Gordon promotes Blake to detective, with Blake reporting directly to him.

Wayne Enterprises is nearly bankrupt after Bruce invested in board member Miranda Tate's clean energy project, designed to harness fusion power, only to shut it down after discovering the core could be used as a nuclear weapon. Blake—who has deduced Batman's identity—and Gordon encourage Batman to return, but Alfred Pennyworth resigns after a failed attempt to dissuade him. Bane attacks a stock exchange and bankrupts Bruce, using fingerprints cat burglar Selina Kyle stole from Bruce’s safe. Fearing that his business rival, John Daggett—who employed Bane to aid in a hostile takeover—would gain access to the reactor, Bruce asks Tate to take control of Wayne Enterprises. Bane subsequently kills Daggett as he is no longer of use.

Batman asks Selina Kyle to lead him to Bane in exchange for a program that will erase her identity from every database on the planet, allowing her to retire. However, Selina actually leads him to a trap; Bane agreed to let her live if she brought him Batman. During the confrontation between Bane and Batman, Bane reveals he knows Batman's identity, that he leads the League of Shadows following Ra's al Ghul's death, and that he will steal Wayne Enterprises’ weapons. He physically cripples Batman and sends him to a foreign prison where escape is virtually impossible. The inmates relate the story of Ra's al Ghul's child who was born in the prison and the only person to escape; Bruce believes that the child was Bane. Meanwhile, Bane traps most of Gotham's police underground using bombs throughout the city, and cuts Gotham off from the rest of the world. Bane tells the citizens that any attempt to leave the city will result in the detonation of the fusion core, now converted into a bomb. Bane reveals the cover-up of Dent's crimes and releases the prisoners in Blackgate Penitentiary. Bane starts a social revolution among the poor and criminals of Gotham. The wealthy are given show trials presided over by Jonathan Crane, where the "convicted" are killed no matter the sentence.

Bruce spends five months recovering and retraining himself. He escapes from the prison and returns to Gotham, enlisting Selina, Blake, Tate, Gordon and Lucius Fox to aid in liberating Gotham and stopping the bomb. During a confrontation between the police and Bane's forces, Batman subdues Bane. Tate intervenes, coming to Bane's aid and revealing herself to be Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia. She escaped the prison as a child, returning with her father and the League of Shadows to rescue Bane, the one person who helped her escape. She plans to kill Batman and complete her father's work by destroying Gotham. Gordon disables the bomb's remote detonator, while Selina shoots Bane using the Batpod's cannon before he can execute Batman. Batman tries to force Talia to take the bomb to the fusion chamber where it can be stabilized, but she is injured in the attempt. Before dying, Talia floods the chamber. Gordon deduces Batman's identity as Batman uses an aircraft developed by Fox to haul the bomb beyond the city limits. The bomb detonates over the ocean and presumably kills Batman.

Batman is praised as a hero, while Bruce is assumed killed in the riots. After Bruce's funeral, Blake wants to reveal Batman's identity to the world, but Gordon disagrees. Bruce's estate is divided to cover any debts and the rest is left to Alfred; the manor is left to the city to become an orphanage. Fox discovers that Bruce had repaired the autopilot on the aircraft six months prior, and Gordon finds the Bat-Signal refurbished. Alfred witnesses Bruce and Selina together in Florence, while Blake inherits the Batcave.

2012-08-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Expendables 2

THE EXPENDABLES 2
The film was released across Europe on August 16, 2012, followed by a North American release on August 17.The Expendables—leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), knives specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang (Jet Li), heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture), the unstable Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), and sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), the team's newest recruit and Ross' protegée—are deployed to Nepal to rescue a Chinese businessman. There, they also rescue the captured mercenary Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Ross' rival. Yang parts with the group to escort the businessman back to China.

After returning to New York City, Billy tells Ross that he intends to retire by the end of the month to live in France with his girlfriend Sophia, and Ross accepts his decision. Later, Ross is forced to accept a mission from CIA operative Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to retrieve an item from a safe in an airplane that was shot down in Albania. Church sends technical expert Maggie (Yu Nan) with the team to crack the safe. In Albania, the mercenaries successfully retrieve the item, but are then ambushed by international criminal and arms dealer Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and his mercenary group, the Sangs, commanded by Vilain's bodyguard Hector (Scott Adkins), who have captured Billy. Vilain demands the Expendables' weapons and the item in exchange for Billy's life. The team surrenders the item, but Vilain roundhouse kicks a knife through Billy's heart and flees with the Sangs by helicopter. Ross recovers a note for Sophia from Billy's body, and the team buries their fallen comrade, swearing revenge on Vilain.

Maggie tells the team that the item is a computer containing a blueprint to the location of five tons of refined plutonium abandoned in a mine by the Soviet Union following the Cold War. Vilain intends to retrieve the plutonium and sell it. The Expendables are able to partially track the blueprint computer's signal to follow Vilain, leading them to Bulgaria. They rest at an abandoned Russian military base overnight. The following morning, the team are ambushed by the Sangs and a tank. After the Expendables run out of ammunition, they are saved by Booker (Chuck Norris), Ross's old friend, who quickly eliminates both the Sangs and the tank. Before he departs, Booker informs the group of a nearby village whose residents oppose Vilain. Meanwhile, Hector and Vilain discover the plutonium and begin its collection.

Arriving at the village, the Expendables find several armed female villagers guarding their children from Vilain's forces: the local villages' inhabitants are taken by Vilain's forces and put to work in the mine as slaves, never returning. The women plead for the Expendables' help. The Sangs arrive to collect more villagers, but they are ambushed by the Expendables and killed. After locating Vilain and the mine, the team assaults the area with their plane before purposefully crashing into the mine itself. The team manages to save the enslaved miners from execution, but Vilain and Hector escape with the plutonium. Vilain remotely detonates explosive charges in the mine, causing it to collapse and trap the Expendables and miners.

Trench and Church arrive and free the Expendables and miners. The pair then joins with the Expendables to pursue Vilain. The group intercepts Vilain and his men at an airport as he prepares to leave by plane. Joined again by Booker, the Expendables, Trench, and Church engage the Sangs in battle. Christmas manages to decapitate Hector, while elsewhere Ross and Vilain fight their own personal duel. Ross defeats Vilain, stabbing him and avenging Billy.

In the aftermath, Ross is provided with an old biplane by Church. Church, Maggie, Booker, and Trench then leave the team. In France, Sophia (Nikolette Noel) discovers a box on her doorstep, containing a large sum of money and Billy's letter. As the Expendables depart in the plane, they give a final toast in honor of Bil