Overreaching but Enthralling

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2012)

Christopher Nolan had a true vision in his head on how to take the most realistic comic book superhero (who doesn't have super powers) and make the comic book seem like everyday life. He surely accomplished this in the first two films, and didn't disappoint in this installment. Leaving off from The Dark Knight, in which Harvey Two-Face falls to his death but Batman takes the blame to cover up Harvey's crimes in which would undo the crime- free streets Harvey preserved as District Attorney. Now, eight years after the terrible night, Bruce Wayne is a recluse, in hiding, and crippled. But soon, a new terror rises, a masked mercenary known as Bane, who comes to give Gotham it's reckoning and threaten it with nuclear consequences. Bruce dons the cape again, in hope to be the hero Gotham needs. After the completely intriguing performance given by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Tom Hardy has to pull out all stops to even try to match the mere effect of Ledger's Joker. Bane isn't as flashy of a villain as Joker, which makes it more difficult, but Hardy does for facial expressions as much as he needs to for an effective performance. Hardy truly embodies the enormous quality of Bane, giving the muscle but also the depth. Although an odd choice to choose out of all the other more flashy villains Batman has, he is needed, as the plot needs him. Newcomers Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt prove worthy of praise, especially Gordon-Levitt as he takes on a more demanding role that he has never faced before. As the plot doesn't introduce Batman till about an hour into the movie, the main focus is a big risk. Batman usually relies on the villain to take hold of the attention, leaving Batman as a secondary character that just shows up and fights them off, but thanks to Nolan, we have his vision of Bruce Wayne, in which we can entrust our own emotions into him, embrace his character and relate to him. The big risk was to make a film about the emotional journey of Bruce Wayne. The film portrays it brilliantly, displaying the inner trials of the character as he contemplates his existence as Batman and why he needs to don the cape to save the city and what to do when the city is at it's greatest peril. Christian Bale gives his most effective work on this film, the star of the show, not even stolen away from Bane. He embodies Bruce Wayne. But he is given tough competition by Michael Caine, whom also gives his most effective performance. A lot of the films emotional leaks contain Caine as he amazingly jerks our tears as he convincingly shows his love for Wayne. All trilogies must come to an end. To go one would be foolish, but it also corms with its flaws, including over length. But, seeing how effective The Dark Knight was, Nolan had A LOT to match up to, and in the midst of that, over reaches this film in spectacle to try and outmatch its predecessor. The Dark Knight is more mature with plot line, relying less in action and more on the plot and characters while this one relies on Bale and the action filled sequences contained in a pre-apocalyptic Gotham. It causes the over length, but the filmmaking is stellar. Oh, and who can forget Hathaway as Selina Kyle? Many worried about her, but the worries were wasteful as Hathaway perfectly balances the mischievous cat burglar from the insightful woman. And also looks fine in the suit. In a nutshell, The Dark Knight Rises tried to hard to outlive what has been done, but what is given is fantastic, and truly marks the end to a phenomenal super hero trilogy, the first one in which all three films are comparable to each other. Therefore, I give The Dark Knight Rises ***1/2 stars.