End of a Legend...End of an Era...

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2012)

We always knew it would be great. And what we knew has now been codified beyond a shadow of a doubt.
'The Dark Knight Rises', the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking Batman trilogy, endows the world's most celebrated fictional crusader with precisely just that: a conclusion...something extremely rare in a world where superhero stories are endlessly regurgitated and recycled. The status quo says that Bruce Wayne spends his days as a billionaire playboy and socialite, and his nights as Batman fighting villain after villain and locking them away in Arkham...until the next time. But Nolan and his team have transcended the status quo and in doing so have created a fully realized legend with a clear beginning, middle and end.
'Rises' begins eight years after the conclusion of 'The Dark Knight' as we are re-introduced to an older, physically and psychologically scarred Bruce Wayne (played as masterfully as always by Christian Bale). Having long hung up the cape and cowl of Batman, Bruce nevertheless is unable to move on from the tragedies of his past, much to the despair of his butler and surrogate father Alfred Pennyworth (the inimitable Michael Caine). But when the terrorist leader known only as 'Bane' (Tom Hardy) unleashes his reign of terror upon Gotham City, the Dark Knight must rise again, to finally become the symbol of hope the city needs AND deserves in a time of war; aided by trusted allies Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the enigmatic, morally ambiguous 'Robin Hood', Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway).
Borrowing thematic elements from such epic Batman stories as 'The Dark Knight Returns' and 'No Man's Land'; 'Rises' is essentially a war film at its core...and not merely a war against organized crime, or a crazed 'super-villain', but a war against terror, anarchy and the very face of evil. The stakes have never been higher in ANY Batman story (none on film at any rate) and not even the Joker has posed as overwhelming a threat to the Dark Knight as the brutally and efficiently lethal Bane. And for the first time, one actually fears for the lives of our heroes. Because Nolan is no believer in the indefinite status quo...and anything goes...
So does Batman truly end or not? The answer to THAT question would only be known to those who have had the pleasure and privilege of viewing this cinematic masterpiece. Suffice to say that regardless of the final fate of Bruce Wayne, what this film truly marks is the end of an era. A glorious era in storytelling that began all the way back in 2005 when a franchise rose from the ashes and began life anew. We believed in Christopher Nolan for all these years...and it will be a LONG time before someone entertains us the way he did...