The Dark Knight Rises Review!

It’s been 7 years since Christopher Nolan introduced us to his vision of Batman in the movie Batman Begins. I just can’t believe it’s been that long. I haven’t watched that movie in almost 3 years, and yet the experience, story and memorable characters are still very fresh in my memory. Then 3 years later, Nolan presents The Dark Knight. Wow! That was, and still is an amazing, epic, and astonishing movie that easily outshined the first movie. I almost forgot about Batman Begins for Nolan tied the two movies so well that I felt I was watching one complete story. Long live the Heath Ledgers version of the Joker! 

Christian Bale as Batman

After 4 years of waiting, the final chapter to Nolan’s Batman trilogy has finally arrived. The Dark Knight Rises is entertaining. I went to the midnight showing, and after realizing the movie was 3 hours long, I was a bit worried that I would dose off. Not once did I fall asleep. Even without air conditioning and feeling uncomfortable, I was still engaged and interested. Maybe It was a lot to do with the fact I was excited to see this movie.

I am not going to dig into the story too much to spoil it, but Nolan delivers an excellent story. He presents a Batman that has aged, and lost his since of purpose, but rises again to bring a final epic conclusion. There are moments in the movie that felt drawn out, but it wasn't to bad to hurt the overall flow of the story. He ties the three movies well, that you will definitely feel this is the final chapter for Batman.

Marion Cotillard as Miranda

With so many cast members from all three movies making appearances, there was a lot of things going on. Some characters like Miranda played by Marion Cotillard becomes a love interest for Bruce Wayne, and plays a big role in the Wayne Company, yet she felt out of place given how little screen time she recieves, especially for the role she plays in the main story. Some may argue the movie had too many characters that Bane and Catwoman did not have enough screen time. With the roles they played, I believe they both had a good balance of screen time to present their stories. I also felt Batman had less screen time in this movie compared to his previous movie. I don’t think that hurt the movie for it was crucial each supporting character had screen time to tie things together and provide a memorable conclusion for Batman.

Tom Hardy as Bane

If you are not familiar with the Batman universe, Bane is Batman’s greatest adversary who was the only villian to break Batman’s back. In this movie Bane is physically and intellectually a dominating figure played by Tom Hardy (Warrior), who is the main antagonist or is he?  I was curious how one would present a character like Bane in a realistic setting. I got say they did a good presentation of Bane. Hardy’s version of Bane is a brutal, no holds barred character with I am the man complex personality with brains. Some may complain Hardy played him too much likes a Sean Connery impression, but I think Hardy captured his personality close enough. Bane is also a bit small compared to the comics. He was over 7 feet tall, but in the movie he was equal to the size of Batman, however, the cinematography presented a physically dominating figure. If Bane was any bigger his character would feel unrealistic, so I was happy with his physical appearance. I also like the breather mask he wore. It provided a more realistic feel and menacing appearance compared to the cheesy wrestling mask presented in the comics.

While, Bane’s background is not true to the comics, similarities to his origins are still in place, like his time in prison and connections. Also don’t expect a monstrous Bane to appear. The drug like venom that he is known to use to increase his physical appearance even more is not presented in the movie. He also does not have his famous tubes proliferating from his back to indicate he was even using venom. As dominating as Bane may be in the comics, that version would not translate so easily into a real life setting, but the one in the movie did. Hardy delivered a superb performance that was essential to delivering an epic conclusion with his version of Bane.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

With so many characters already in the mix, Nolan manages to present two key characters that leave you wondering what part they play in the movie. One character in mind is Selina Kyle aka. Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway. Catwoman has been presented in so many ways, that I was hoping for something refreshing. Hathaway delivered just that and boy was she hot! She didn’t purr, clean herself by licking her leather or meow like previous actresses. Although, I will always remember Michelle Pfeiffer's version of Catwomen. That style of acting would not fit in this movie given its presenting a more releastic character. Hathaway presented us a unique character that was ferocious, cunning with a feline attitude without being to cat like. Her outfit was simple and wore night goggles that left the impression she was wearing cat ears, which was pretty cool. She brought a unique twist to the story and a complex relationship with Batman that left you wondering if she was good or evil. Hathaway’s performance was outstanding, and is among one of the better presentations of Catwoman.

Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake

The other character is John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He is a rookie cop that exhibits a lot of courage and bravado. He can handle himself well and grew up in an orphanage that was supported by the Wayne family. He also figured out who Batman really is and learns the true nature of the world from Commissioner Gordon and Batman. Many believe he is Robin, but the original name of Robin was Dick Grayson. He also did not accompany Batman as a sidekick in this movie, so who is he exactly? Pay close attention to this character and you will find out more. Levitt does a superb job of delivering a mysterious and unique character leaving you with a lot of questions.

Overall, Christopher Nolan provides a great conclusion to an amazing trilogy that sets a new standard for future superhero trilogies. Nolan truly is one of the best, and probably is the best superhero director and story teller of our time. I give Dark Knight Rises an impression score of 3 out 4 smiles.  Althougth the story is not as solid as the Dark Knight, it still provides a great performances across the board ending with a unique closure to a great trilogy.