Review: The Dark Knight Rises

What follows is my review of Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises'. First off, let me say that this is a beautifully-shot film. Props to Wally Pfister for the excellent cinematography, and bringing the IMAX film format to a narrative film in a bigger way than has ever been done before.

The film starts off with a bang, with the introduction of Bane as our (main) baddie for this film. This introduces us to his intelligence and his ferocity, and his willingness to do anything to get what he wants. Everything he does is a means to an end, and he is willing to sacrifice anything to get it done. I thought that actor Tom Hardy, who portrays Bane, did a fantastic job of bringing out that ferocity, even from behind a mask. Yes, his dialogue was a bit muffled and hard to understand at times, but I think that is meant to "deepen" his character and give him a past. My quip with it is that they didn't really go in to why he had to have the mask (other than it holds the ever-present pain at bay). Bane shows his intelligence through his speech, and then shows his menace through his brute strength and physicality, not caring who lives and who dies, with two exceptions: Bruce Wayne, and Miranda Tate. He wanted to keep Wayne alive in order for him to see his city, and everything he has stood for, get destroyed, and he kept Miranda Tate close because of their emotional connection, which you don't find out until the last 15 minutes of the film. I thought that Bane was a good match for Batman, both physically as well as mentally in this film.

I think that for a Batman film, there needed to be more screen-time for Batman. Yes, this is Bruce Wayne's story, but I still think there wasn't enough of the Dark Knight in this film, of him actually being Batman and kicking the baddies' butts. I feel that, especially after he came back from "The Pit," we saw the Batman that we are all used to seeing: one who won't take any gruff from anybody who threatens his city.

I think that the real star of this movie was Michael Caine, who as we all know plays Bruce Wayne's Butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred has always been there to be Bruce's mentor, the one who will is full of wisdom. And this film was no different. Alfred had a few of those moving speeches in this film, which really grounded the film emotionally for me. Michael Caine is the perfect Alfred Pennyworth. Kudos to Christopher Nolan for recognizing that he'd be amazing. Speaking of amazing, Alfred's speech to Bruce's parents' graves at the end of the film. Wow. If I didn't know any better, I would think that he was Bruce's own father. I digress.

This film introduced us to a new character, that of Selina Kyle. Though she is called a "cat-burgler" in the film, there is actually never a mention of her being called Catwoman. To be honest though, when I heard that Anne Hathaway had been cast as Selina Kyle, I didn't think she could deliver and stand next to Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, (spoiler!) Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, etc... But she did. And she was really good in her role! Once again, kudos to Christopher Nolan for knowing exactly who he needed to fill this role.

And Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Most of us know him from back in the day when he was Roger in Angels in the Outfield. Now though, he's been caught by Christopher Nolan and has been through Inception and now TDKR. Levitt plays rookie-cop John Blake, whose circumstances are very similar to Bruce Wayne's. Except that Blake isn't a billionaire. And he's not Batman. Yet. John Blake had a ton of guts to do what he did. He was basically the only cop on Gotham's streets, and he's the one who kept the rest of Gotham's Finest alive and passed them news while they were all trapped underground. Great performance, and a lot of symbolism for his character as the film wound down.

One of the things I loved about the film was it's soundtrack. From the sound effects to the musical score, it was intense the whole way through.

One of things that I have loved about The Dark Knight universe that Christopher Nolan has created is that it's believable. Yes there are some things we scratch our heads about, but overall, it's realism is astounding. It's gritty and visceral, and it feels real. I felt as if Gotham pulled me in and wouldn't let go for a heart-pounding three hours.

I give The Dark Knight Rises a 9.5/10. Hats off to Nolan and his team who have realized the Caped Crusader in the Dark Knight Trilogy. I just hope WB doesn't reboot it in a few years just to milk the cash-cow.