'Perfect Batman' on London red carpet

Christian Bale has been hailed as the 'perfect Batman' as he appeared on the red carpet for the European premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in London.
Bale - reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman for the third and final time - was joined by co-stars Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and director Christopher Nolan.
Nolan praised Bale's performance, saying: 'He has incredible dedication and focus, just like Bruce Wayne has.
'You see that in Christian's eyes and it lets him present a really credible portrait of a self-created superhero, just the self-discipline and incredible focus.'
On working on the big-budget blockbuster, he added: 'It's an incredible thrill to make something on this scale, to watch the technical finish come together over the many months we've worked on it.
'It has been incredible, I mean an incredible journey, I've met the most amazing people, got to work with some incredible talent.
'It's going to be mixed feelings with which we say goodbye, it's the conclusion to our story and we've worked with these characters for so long.'
The film was treated to two premieres in London - one in Leicester Square and also at the BFI Imax in Waterloo.
Prince Harry was at the second premiere, almost stealing the spotlight from Anne Hathaway, who lived up to her reputation as Hollywood's golden girl in a gold floor-length Gucci gown.
The 29-year-old star, who plays Selina Kyle and alter-ego Catwoman, brought a touch of glamour to the red carpet alongside co-star Marion Cotillard.
The French actress was wearing Dior Couture at the two premieres at London's Leicester Square and the BFI Imax.
Hathaway, a newcomer to the Batman films who had never worked with Nolan before, revealed she had to endure gruelling preparation for the role.
'It took so much training. If you're familiar with my other works, you'll see that I'm not a natural bad-ass, so it took a lot of work to get there,' she admitted.
But she added: 'It was wonderful, it was such an honour. I love the first two Batman films.'
On working with Bale, she said: 'I really have great fondness for Christian, I loved working with him, I found him incredibly inspiring and I think he's really rare and he's a gem of a human being.'
Hardy, who portrays the Caped Crusader's new arch-nemesis, Bane, said: 'It was great. I got to fight Christian! I think you can mess with Christian Bale if you want to, I think everyone should mess with Christian Bale at some point.
Nolan insists he wanted to step out on a high.
'We got to the end of the story you know, we figured every great story deserves a great ending and I think Bruce Wayne's story does.'

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