Best Trilogy Ending Ever

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2012)

Despite a few flaws, the Dark Knight Rising brings a spectacular end to the best trilogy - and catapulting Christopher Nolan as the premiere movie maker of the last ten years. It is eight years after the Dark Knight has ended. Batman has disappeared, and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse. However, bringing the caped crusader out of retirement is the last remnant of the League of Shadows: Bane (Thomas Hardy). He was born in a pit-like prison and clawed his way to freedom. The price is a morphine inducing mask to keep him from feeling pain. While brilliant, he is also brawn - and a formidable opponent for the Dark Knight. Also in the mix is the mysterious Selena Kyle (Ann Hathaway), a jewel thief cat burglar. As usual, she is the amoral hero, only looking out for her self-interest, but not totally void of doing good. Bane puts Batman to the test, actually injuring him in the process. Now Bruce Wayne must heal, recuperate, and claw his way back to fight for the city he loves. Bane not only defeats Batman, but also puts Gotham in a vice-like grip, using a nuclear device to hold them hostage. He attacks the two things America loves the most: money, and sports. All this leads to an intriguing story that unfolds over two hours and 45 minutes. I did have two gripes. First, and the most problematic, was the noise and music that sometimes drowned out character dialog. In fact, Bane's mask upped that even more-rendering many of his words very dissonant. The second was that the plot got a little too labyrinth, offering too many twists and turns. Some plot devices can be seen from far away, but others seem to have Nolan trying to out-do his masterful twists in his 2006 masterpiece, the Prestige. On a lesser note, I found Joker much more interesting as a vicious, plotter bent on playing games to prove that everyone else is like him. Bane is straight forward and uses brute strength, usually drawing people into his trap. Also, the idea of Batman breaking his back and recuperating so quickly strained belief. All that aside, though, the finale brings us closure and full round back to the original Batman Begins - even bringing cameos by Rhas A Ghul (Liam Neeson), and Bruce Wayne's father. This is not done with clichés, but rather good storytelling that unfolds evenly with plot, motive and interesting characters. It is also layered. Yes, the Avengers had its layers - but it was mostly in a clash of egos between heroes, and Captain America losing his faith in military leaders above him. However, the issues in Dark Knight Rising are far deeper. One of those is to remind both Gordon (Gary Oldeman) and Bruce Wayne of their failure of making a lie their greatest victory. And Wayne must repair some relationships with Alfred (Michael Caine) and Luscious Fox (Morgan Freeman). Then there is Miranda Tate and John Blake (Joseph Gordon Leavitt), a Gotham Police Officer who realizes that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same. So go see it. See it twice, maybe even a third time. This is the art of film, not just a movie.