The Legend Ends....On Nolan's Terms.

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2012)

This is a film that, no matter how good it was, would never live up to the hype surrounding it. It was going to be unfairly compared against TDK when it should be judged on its own merits. First of all, seeing this in IMAX was a marvellous decision and I hope others decide to too. The skyline shots are sweeping, the action sequences are mesmerizing and the detail, pristine. Next to Inception, this film is Nolan's most ambitious project. It's massive in scope and epic in its delivery. It's that epic feeling of the film that makes it stumble a bit while trying to achieve greatness. The Dark Knight Rises falls a step short in my mind.
The story simply isn't as engaging this time around. I really like how they tie it to the first film, but I couldn't help but feel the story took second fiddle to all the action on the screen. This might be due to the larger than life plot here. Batman is dealing with nuclear devices now? The entire bomb inclusion felt like something that belonged in The Avengers. Which oddly enough, is what I felt like I was watching at times. Specifically with The Bat sequences and the way they deal with the bomb. I think I found the movie to be too big for its own good. The entire bomb plot device is really contrived and is something you would find in a dozen other blockbuster films. I'm really surprised to see it here, only because Nolan is such a calculating filmmaker. One would think he would want to sidestep such a generic and lazy plot device, but we are subjected to it nonetheless. With that aside, the entire sequence is still thrilling to see unravel and that speaks volumes to Nolan and his craft.
I think one of my biggest issues is that there are dozens of small things that add nothing to the story and are really distracting. First and foremost is the limp we see Wayne have at the start of the film. I figured this would have played an integral part to the story and his fighting scenes, but he is given a leg brace that gives him super kicking abilities and it is never touched upon again. I expected his age, leg problems and later on, back problems, to play an integral part to the story, it never does. This becomes a distraction. Second would be Nolan attempting to have some deep themes and discussions in the film, but never going the step to continue them. For example Batman making his symbol on the bridge out of flames. We all know Wayne wants to be a symbol, indestructible, a legend to inspire people. This is illustrated in Batman Begins (and this film connects to that one a lot) so when he has his symbol go up in flames on the bridge to me that signified Batman trying to inspire the citizens of Gotham to rise up against their oppressors and reclaim their city. This ties in with the whole Occupy Wall Street movement Nolan has going on here. Yet this never happens, it's the police that rise up. Batman never wanted to inspire police, thus the whole symbol on the bridge becomes pointless since he is racing against time, literally, to save the city, or else.....boom. Add on to the list the useless character of Juno Temple and Batman himself having very little screen time, this film feels very lazy.
Which tells me Nolan did the film as an obligation to the fans and not for himself. His heart simply wasn't in it this time around. Blake knowing that Wayne is Batman because he could tell from his face/history, was lazy, ridiculous and one of the most eye rolling scenes in this film. It felt more like a cartoon this time around than something grounded in reality like the previous films Nolan created. The twist in the film was meant to be this big moment, but anyone familiar with the Batman universe and its characters, know the relationship between them. So instead of being surprised, I was just waiting for him to reveal the twist that I knew was coming. The film leaves a lot of unanswered questions, has too many clichés (Catwoman coming back at the last second, how many times have we seen that done in a movie) and creative choices I wish he wouldn't have done (just show us Alfred smiling, no need to spoon feed the audience with the shot of them) The Dark Knight Rises would seem to have more problems than solutions....
...but, even though this review seems like a negative one, the film is really good. I just felt obligated to get those negative aspects off my chest because Nolan is such a precise and talented filmmaker that I would feel like I was lying to myself if I let those aspects of the film slide. What it does good with, it does it in spades. The action is immersive, especially in imax, the acting is top notch and (aside from Ledger) the best in the series. The soundtrack, that some people hate, I liked. The look and feel of the film is epic and had me giddy. Nolan hasn't made a bad film yet. This is simply a great film, when it should have and could have been a "masterpiece". It is after all, the epic conclusion to his legacy.
The Dark Knight Rises is the weakest written Batman film, but it does the series justice and it is a good send off. I'm a little conflicted on the ending because as Joker said in The Dark Knight, he and Batman are destined to do this forever. The history these two characters justify this quote, the way Nolan ends this film makes it not true, but he ended it on his own terms and I have to respect him for that.