The Dark Knight Rises

Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Matthew Modine, Liam Neeson (cameo), Nestor Carbonell, Ben Mendelsohn, Daniel Sunjata, Juno Temple, Desmond Harrington
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A terrorist, Bane (Tom Hardy) threatens Gotham with destruction. His emergence leads Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) to don the Batman mask once more.

Review:

Tim: Christopher Nolan surprised me by crafting one of the best superhero movies in The Dark Knight. While it wouldn't be in the upper, upper echelon of superhero movies, it is an incredible achievement, towering over most superhero films. I was pretty excited to see what he would do with the follow-up and the end of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Once again, Nolan has created a great movie. While this film doesn't reach the heights of the previous film, it's better than Batman Begins, and is an exceptionally well made movie.

The villains in superhero movies are important. That's one of the biggest reasons The Dark Knight was so good- because Heath Ledger gave an extraordinary, showstopping performance as the Joker. Compared to that, this movie would always be somewhat of a letdown. However, I'm not as critical of Bane as many people are. I actually loved him as the villain. Tom Hardy was ridiculously huge as Bane, which is exactly what you expect from this character. I know his voice received a lot of criticism, but I actually really liked it. It was offputting, different, and unexpected, but it oftentimes gave me chills. I really enjoyed the character of Bane- he was just this massive physical force that pushes Batman to his limits (and breaks his back!), which is exactly what you want from Bane. Plus, I really enjoyed how different of a villian he was, compared to Heath Ledger's Joker.

The rest of the cast is outstanding. Christian Bale is once again good as Bruce Wayne, although I don't feel like he has grown or developed in this role. He plays it the same in every film. I suppose that's okay, but Bale has never really been the true star of this trilogy. It was great to see Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman back. These three are such terrific actors, and I love that they're in these films. It was also cool too see the film touch on the previous movies with very small roles for Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy. I thought Anne Hathaway made a good Catwoman, although she's never called that in the film. Catwoman is a tough character to introduce into this realistic world, but the way they did so was terrific. She's a cat burglar, and when her goggles are up, they kind of look like cat ears. That was a very cool subtle nod to the character. I thought she worked well with Bale. While her performance never wowed me, it was pretty good. Marion Cotillard was a nice addition the cast. I also loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt here. He has a smaller supporting role, but he makes a surprisingly strong impact with it. He just looked like a cop, and I found myself just as interested in his scenes as any in the entire film. He's an amazing young actor, and his presence here greatly added to the movie.

This film features some great sequences. The opening plane scene is memorable and cool. We see a football stadium explode, have several cool car/motorcycle chases, see the Bat in action, and have some great hand-to-hand combat scenes. The action sequences were quite strong. I also loved the scene in the pit prison, with the prisoners chanting "rise!" and Wayne trying to escape. Those sequences slowed the film down a bit, but were critical to the overall film. This movie just has a number of exceptionally cool scenes in it.

When I think about The Dark Knight Rises, I'm just so impressed by what a well-made film it was. Sure, there are some flaws and goofs throughout the film (I still wonder where the motorcycles came from after the stock exchange scene), but this is an exceptionally well crafted film. Christopher Nolan is one of the most brilliant, exciting directors in Hollywood today, and he wraps up his Batman trilogy in excellent fashion. It's true that this film doesn't compare to The Dark Knight, but how could it? This is still a great movie, and a truly fitting end to an impressive trilogy. I am not a huge Batman fan, but I have to admit the impressiveness of this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Batman Begins, Batman, The Dark Knight, Batman Returns, Iron Man, Superman Returns, Terminator Salvation, The Prestige