Pick Havoc if you have one evening and want Tom Hardy at his most direct: 107 minutes, no homework, a jaded cop punching through a corrupt city. It is the shortest and newest of the five films here, and the one that asks the least of you. The wider payoff of this group is watching the same physical presence used four different ways, from a masked Gotham heavy to a near silent wasteland driver.
The newest: Havoc
Havoc holds a 6.4 rating from 1,305 votes, the lowest score in this roundup, and that is the honest caveat before you start it. Hardy plays Walker, a cop fighting his way through a criminal underworld to save a politician's son after a drug heist swerves lethally out of control. Hardy produced it as well, Gareth Evans directed and produced, and Tyler Bates wrote the score. The supporting bench is the second reason to watch: Timothy Olyphant as Vincent, Forest Whitaker as Lawrence Beaumont, Jessie Mei Li as Ellie, Luis Guzman as Raul. Treat it as a genre choice rather than a consensus one.
The best known work
Inception is the highest rated title in this group, an 8.4 from 39,878 votes, and it is the one to choose when you want Hardy inside a large ensemble rather than carrying a film. He plays Eames next to Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Arthur, Elliot Page's Ariadne and Marion Cotillard's Mal Cobb, in a heist built around implanting an idea in a target's subconscious. Christopher Nolan wrote and produced, Wally Pfister shot it, Hans Zimmer scored it. The cost is 148 minutes and a plot that punishes half attention.
The Dark Knight Rises is the heaviest commitment at 165 minutes, and it holds a 7.8 from 24,759 votes. Hardy plays Bane, the terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest, opposite Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon and Anne Hathaway's Selina. One warning for newcomers: the story opens on the aftermath of District Attorney Harvey Dent's death, so it assumes you already know why Batman is being hunted. Christopher Nolan produced with Emma Thomas and Charles Roven, and Hans Zimmer scored this one too.
