Seven years ago, British director Christopher Nolan brought
to life one of the most adored comic book heroes in exhilarating fashion
in “Batman Begins.” Reintroducing the legendary caped crusader on the big
screen with gritty realism and ferocious attention to detail, Gotham’s Dark
Knight was finally rewarded with a highly dignified movie, presenting a
completely new style of superhero into an emphatically real – world crime epic.
Three years later, Nolan returned in astonishing form to stun audiences again
with “The Dark Knight,” expanding everything that was outstanding in its
predecessor, resulting in Oscar success and firmly establishing these two
superhero movies as possibly the finest comic book adaptations of all time.
In this third and final instalment of the Batman Trilogy,
Nolan again gifts viewers one of the most enthralling and entertaining movie
experiences of the year, but is this concluding motion picture as exceptional
and pleasing as the first two? The answer is… almost, but despite the movie
being bigger and far more ambitious than the first two, “The Dark Knight rises”
lacks the exceptional storytelling and that initial spark that made “Batman
Begins” and “The Dark Knight” so compelling to view. However, “The Dark Knight
Rises” is an extremely worthy inclusion of this exceptional movie trilogy and
proudly defeats its superhero movie rivals of 2012; “The amazingly (average)
Spiderman” and “The Avengers”
Eight long years have elapsed since the Joker
terrorised the streets of Gotham and the metropolis has been clear of any wrong
doing with the Harvey Dent Act fully imposed on the criminal world. Bruce Wayne
has long since hung up his cape after rescuing his beloved city from the grip
of the Joker, but has lost his will to have a life after the death of both his
love, Rachel Dawes and his heroic alter ego Batman after taking full
responsibility for the death of Harvey Dent. But beneath the streets a fire is
rising, stimulated by fanatical warlord Bane (Tom Hardy) and his army of
relentless thugs who plan to burn Gotham city to the ground. This gas masked
revolutionary, with a build similar to an ox, spurs Bruce back into action,
returning to save his city once again from the clutches of evil. Along with
Selina Kyle, (Anne Hathaway) a cat burglar who infiltrates Wayne Manor,
stealing a necklace belonging to his late mother and with a parallel taste for
mischief, Bruce soon realises that his mission to restore order (again) to
Gotham is going to be painstakingly difficult.
Bruce
attempts to don the cape and fight justice, but his time away from crime
fighting has softened, both his body and spirit and his match up with Bane down
in the sewers of Gotham leads to an unpleasant and abrupt end. With villains at
every turn and his city under siege Bruce Wayne must rediscover the strength
and spirit within that transformed him into Batman in the first place and rise
again to become the masked hero, admired by the people. With an army of
criminals and mercenaries released on the streets by Bane, Bruce will also need
the help from Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) Lucious Fox, (Morgan Freeman)
rookie cop John Blake (Joseph Gordon – Levitt) and the unscrupulous Selina
Kylie to force victory.
Christopher Nolan has crafted the most visually
sophisticated Batman movie of them all and from a directorial standpoint; “The
Dark Knight Rises” is a stunning achievement, considering the immense weight of
expectation surrounding this second sequel. Nolan shoots this entire feature
with a minimum of fuss and artifice and the perfect amount of computer
graphics, producing a crisp and perfect blend of action and emotional drama.
With an appetite of exploring different themes and styles in each chapter of
this trilogy; with fear and doubt distinguished in “Batman Begins,” chaos and
morality in “The Dark Knight,” Nolan again diversifies and mixes frailty and
pain in “The Dark Knight Rises,” with most of the film’s emotional impact (and
there is a great deal of it) resting on Bruce Wayne.
At the heart of the film’s success is the sheer
brilliance of the acting and how these conflicting emotional themes are
delivered on screen, with Christian Bale once again on incredible form. The
emotional depth to his character is unimaginable but Bale carries this hardship
with minimal effort. His internal suffering, multiple traumas, his physical
pain, anger and determination are at times awe inspiring to behold. A crucial
scene early on in the film with Alfred (Michael Caine), where Bale’s facial
expressions and eyes provoke thousands of conflicting emotions had so much
outpouring of passion and grief; it would leave Bane in tears! Anne Hathaway offers possibly the biggest
surprise performance however, fully inhabiting the character of Selina Kyle
(better known, but never referred to as “Catwomen”) with a mix of sharp wit,
impressive physicality and sultry allure, she steals virtually every scene she
appears in. 
Tom Hardy’s performance as Bane is also another
quality addition to “The Dark Knight Rises,” with his hulking and impressively
intimidating physique bringing a noteworthy villain to the batman franchise.
Some people will compare and ask whether Bane is as good a villain as the
Joker, but this is a false, unfair and pointless comparison. Both are
completely different villains in two different movies. Yes, Heath Ledger’s
performance in “The Dark Knight” was mind blowing and fully deserved the Oscar
award, however Tom Hardy’s fearsome and daunting performance at times begs the
question, will Batman actually win this time?
However the film is not without its flaws,
preventing it from equalling or triumphing its predecessors. The story telling
in “The Dark Knight Rises” is adequate, but not exceptional with Miranda Tate,
John Blake and Peter Folly’s characters all introduced but not entirely
explored properly or expanded. Their parts in the film at times feel like cogs
in a wheel and that they are not so much part of the story itself, but just
agents enabling the story to flow forward. Add to that a running time of 164
minutes with some scenes slightly forgettable, particularly in the first
section where the film feels a little bloated and curiously hard to get moving
causes a somewhat slow start. However the final hour of the compelling, hectic
and explosive action, not to mention the staggering twist fully makes up for
it.
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