The Non Spoiler Alert: A Very Vague Review

"Do not let anyone tell you anything about it until you see it."

Before I saw The Usual Suspects,

my sister passed along the above words of wisdom.

This weekend, not only did I see The Dark Knight Rises, but I also read Gone Girl. Imagine my need to discuss these two stories, to find someone who has also seen the movie or read the book, but to speak in a hushed voice so as not to ruin the story for a potential reader/viewer around the corner - because those people who desparately want to know nothing until they've read the book/seen the movie - those people are everywhere. I'm one of them - especially when it comes to Nolan.

And it's not just about the major plot points, the endings, and the twists - it's about all of the little surprises along the way, the parts that had me clapping to myself in the theatre ("geeking out," I believe, is the term these days).

At the age of 13, I indavertantly ruined the ending of The Sixth Sense for my little brother - and today I still feel the guilt. I wish I could use the MIB "flashy thing" on him so he could watch the movie with the first-time-viewer's satisfaction. If ony...

Now, I have vowed to ruin no story for no person.

With that in mind, I have carefully created a list of non-spoilers to describe my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises. Please feel free to add your own, but just remember the key rule - no spoilers.

Before we begin, I must note that my perspective is that of a Nolan fan (more so than as a Batman fan). Back in 2010, I was that girl in line to see Inception at midnight at the Hollywood Arclight. At the time, the only thing I knew about the movie was that there was a spinning top, some really awesome visual effects, a woman screaming wake me up, a man saying I need to see it out of control, and that your mind is the scene of the crime. I was sitting in a movie theatre, at midnight, without even knowing the premise of the film - and it was one of the most thrilling experiecnes of my life.

Now...onward....To the Batlist (ehh sorry - sometimes cheesiness must be inserted)!

(1) Nolan took the precision, timing, and amazing cast from Inception and applied it to The Dark Knight.

(2) Tom Hardy revealed several back muscles that I didn't even know existed.

(3) How many established TV actors can you spot?

(4) The combination of a foreign word and the sounds of lamaze exercises makes one beautiful, thrilling score.

(5) _____________'s _______________ was incredibly __________ in the press!

(6) No spinning tops or flipping coins.

(3) There's a surprise___________ by ________ (I'm wondering if it was originally supposed to be ____________).

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Now get out there and see it, so we can discuss further! I'm still debating the amount of months (years?) until I can just slap on a Spoiler Alert and get down to busines. Until then...