The Dark Knight Rises

Reviewed by Danny the Demented
Updated July 23 2012

No movie is perfect, but this one is pretty darn close. The Dark Knight Rises  is the best movie of the year thus far and I do not expect its status to be challenged anytime soon. 

This third and final installment of director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy picks up 8 years since where the second movie left off: after the death of Harvey "Two Face" Dent and Rachel Dawes, Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Christian Bale) went into retirement as Gotham City is now a peaceful and organized crime-free sanctuary... or so it would seem. A new threat named Bane (Tom Hardy), a former member of the League of Shadows so extreme in his thinking that even the league's former master Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson) felt necessary to cast him out. Armed with an army of undyingly royal followers and an unshakable belief inherited from the fallen league leader, Bane arrives at Gotham aiming to take everything down and will stop at nothing to achieve this goal. Despite the heartfelt urging from Alfred (Michael Caine) to stay away, Bruce decides to put on his mask and become the crusader once again to save his beloved city. Along the way he encounters a cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), meets up with his trusted friend Fox (Morgan Freeman), helps an old ally Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), sees the future for Gotham in John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and embraces a new love interest in Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard). Making a last stand against an enemy of unprecedented strength and cunning, the batman pushes all his chips forward in this final showdown. If that didn't give you goosebumps, then you are the tin man without a heart.
 
Quite simply the best film of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises redefines the word "epic". The story is told at a speed so perfectly timed that it can only be described as impeccable. The music is deeply moving without being contrived.  The characters are all crucial to the film's development with rich back-stories to keep us engaged. Not a single minute is wasted and every second serves a purpose. The car chases are thrilling, the fight sequences are exhilarating, and the big stadium explosion scene almost brought tears to my eyes it was so flawlessly stringed together (see? Michael Bay, you can't even do explosion justice the way Nolan can). It's nearly 3 hours long but you'll crave for 3 hours more. Some may argue that the second installment (The Dark Knight) is the superior film, but I disagree (and remember, Danny is always right, it's science). While the previous film was a fantastic movie, "The Dark Knight Rises" is by far a more completely told tale. The biggest difference perhaps is in character development. The villains in The Dark Knight (Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart and the Joker played by the late Heath Ledger) were brilliant, to be sure, but we knew very little about them. They were given to us as they were and just took off from there, which was fine and the end product is now a legend. However, in The Dark Knight Rises, every new character has a story about them that is fascinating and vital to the development of the plot. They were given to us as seeds, grown throughout the course of the film, then blossomed finally as the film comes to an end. A more difficult approach and needless to say much more time-consuming, but well worth the investment as the payoff is evident. Christopher Nolan left no questions unanswered and every loose end is tied up in satisfying fashions. A more than worthy finale to the series.

Nolan directed the trilogy as crime/action/drama thrillers, not as a superhero franchise, which is most likely the reason for its success. You would call the Avenger series (Iron man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk) immensely entertaining and fun and you'd be right, but you wouldn't call them masterpieces. The structures and designs of superhero films and traditional crime-dramas are vastly different in nature. While the former's main goal is to entertain, the latter's most important focus is to make the audiences believe. Believe in the struggle, believe in the crime, believe in the evil and believe in the redemption. By taking this approach,  Nolan has made the Batman real: we understand his dilemmas, we understand his pain, we understand his thinking and we understand who he ultimately is. Nolan has blew everything from Tim Burton's respectable Batman and Batman Returns to Joel Schumacher's hideous Batman Forever and Batman & Robin right out of the water with his Dark Knight films.

The acting is superb all around. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman (aka Mr. Bring Me Everyone) were as good as they've been in the previous two films. Michael Caine's Alfred was especially brilliant in this one: to watch him try desperately to keep Bruce Wayne safe with his speech was as close to heartbreaking as I will ever feel at a theatre. The new comers were just as brilliant. Anne Hathaway is a fantastic Cat Woman, she portrays the very "adaptable" Selina Kyle with an elegant smirk and unstoppable allure. It is impossible not to fall in love with Hathaway's Selina. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a genuinely moving performance as John Blake, the cop with a heart of gold. I've always liked him (ever since his 3rd Rock from the Sun days) and with roles like this and his Arthur in "Inception", he is on his way to a very solid career. Marion Cotillard is full of grace and class as Miranda Tate, even the most subtle twinkle in her eyes seem to tell a story worth a thousand words. And finally Tom Hardy as Bane, one of the most dangerous villain Batman has ever faced (both in comic and film, known as "The man who broke the bat" in the comic book series), is as good a choice anyone has ever made in the history of cinema. Hardy delivered his monologues with a fierce force in a calm and terrifying manner that I feel a chill every time he spoke. Everything he did as Bane, from the way he moved to the way he stood, was sincerely haunting. Mr Nolan sure knows how to pick his bad guys. 

There will never again be another Batman series like Nolan's and it ought to be a crime if anyone dares to make another one. Christopher is one of only 3 filmmakers active today that guarantees quality. With Inception in 2010 and now The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, Nolan seems to be on a roll which I hope it never stops. The cinematic world is a better place with you in it and that is as high a praise as I can give to any filmmaker Mr Nolan. Now had I mattered more, someone would actually care about the praises I give, but alas. My name is Danny and I endorse this message.