The Dark Knight Rises: A Movie that Rises Over Other Superhero Films

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2019)

When you think of every type of superhero movie there are a couple of things come to mind. First, there is a superhero that everybody loves, who struggles throughout the film, but overcomes his weaknesses at the end of the film. There is a villain that has a very troubled past that wants revenge or payback for the unfair treatment or environment that he or she grew up in. Lastly, the superhero saves the day, gets the girl and everybody is happy. The Dark Knight Rises follows this exact generic superhero plotline, but at the same time it does not. The Dark Knight Rises is a classic superhero movie that everybody loves, but at the same time differs from all others in its class and is a timeless film.
The Dark Knight Rises follows the dark nature of an unlikely hero, Batman. The movie starts off by focusing on the already deceased character of Harvey Dent, the city of Gotham's supposed hero. Batman has gone rogue. However news of a powerful new villain, Bane, starts to come to light. He fights Bane, who has set up a base underneath the city. Bane then proceeds to attack the Gotham stock exchange, leaving Wayne and the Batman bankrupt. He then traps all the policemen in Gotham underground, holds the entire city hostage with a bomb, and releases prisoners caught by Harvey Dent to wreak havoc on a policeless city. Batman is then left to save the city of Gotham before the bomb goes off and all is lost.
The Dark Knight Rises was a phenomenal film and in my personal opinion deserves a rating of 9 out of 10. However, there were a few minor flaws that I would like to point out. First, the costumes were very poorly made. Batman and Catwoman's outfits almost looked like something that you buy at Party City for twenty dollars. Next, the plot was a little confusing at times. While I said that this movie had a plot line that is comparable to literally any superhero movie (Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, you name it the list goes on), the plot was extremely complex and at times, and very had to follow. This is especially true if you had not seen any of the previous movies. However for some, this is not a negative at all. The sense of time in the movie is confusing at times as well. The audience is left wondering how much time has passed between certain scenes of movies and really, how much time has elapsed in total in the movie. Finally, the ending was a little lackluster. The villain was beaten a little too easily and the audience was left with some questions and cliff hangers. With all that being said, there were numerous more positives to the movie than negatives. First off, like I said before, the plot is the generic superhero plot line that everybody loves, except so perfectly manipulated with plot twists and connections to past films and flashbacks that it is unlike any other superhero movie. The build up that really highlighted how difficult and dark of a life that superheroes can have added a sense of realism that almost every viewer can relate to. This also contributed to a major theme that all of the batman movies have: Nobody lives a perfectly happy life, even the most powerful and influential people in today's society. To further push this message to the audience, director Christopher Nolan selected the perfect actor. There could not be a more perfect actor for Batman than Christian Bale. He perfectly displays how a superhero's life can never be normal because they are conflicted with a dark past and burdened with always feeling the need to save the city. Finally, the final battle scene is everything that a fan of action movies could ever want. The build up led to an all out brawl of good versus bad. The intensity and action packed final battle is so satisfying and cool to watch there are practically no words to describe it. There are so many more positives that you have to see it with your own two eyes to really experience the how great it actually is.
All in all, this movie is definitely worth the watch. It is the perfect balance of being a typical superhero movie, while also being so different than others that it almost makes it the perfect movie. In my personal opinion, there should be no varying opinions with this movie. It truly is a movie that "rises" above all others.