The Dark Knight Falls, Stumbles, and Shines.

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2012)

Is the Dark knight Rises as Fun as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight? Quick Answer... No. This is not a fun film to watch... Then again neither are Once upon a time in America or City of God. Both of those films are deep Character dramas set in the canvas of two great cities. Both of these films are masterpieces... And whilst TDKR is not a standard summer popcorn flick... It certainly can be argued that this is very nearly a Masterpiece.
Is it as GOOD as Batman begins and TDK? On first viewing it is difficult to judge and some may leave the cinema feeling slight disappointment. But this is not a film that feeds you everything desired. Nolan did not want to give you a film that patronised you or spoon fed the audience exactly what they want. This is a film that demands reflection, and demands repeat viewings. The Ideas presented are grand and executed almost perfect. "Almost" being the plot holes which nearly every negative review is mentioning. What i believe these critcs are doing is looking at a "dot to dot drawing" and expecting to see a portrait rather than subtle suggestions to the audience and a request of some suspense of disbelief.
Whereas the mood in batman begins was Hope and excitement, and It's sequel Chaos and tension... One word could adequatley describe Rises. Sombre.
In the center of the Mood is our hero. Bruce Wayne. There is no Anti hero in this move who we cannot wait to see on screen such as ledgers Joker. Bruce is our hero. He is the main character and Nolan ensures we feel every ounce of his pain. And yes, The dark knight does rise but before the inevitable, He falls far deeper than depths of where the joker left him.
An interesting and important plot point in this film was the lie that was told at the end of TDK. Not the lie regards the Dent cover-up. But the Lie between Alfred and his surrogate son. In the 8 years between the events of this film and its prior. Batman has won... Gotham is at peace due to the Dent ACT. But unlike the comics Bruce never wanted to protect Gotham forever. He wanted a life, A life with Rachel Dawes. Because of her death and of Alfred withholding the truth (That she was going to marry Harvey) Bruce has never moved on. He has let the batman go... But has never had a reason to move forward so he has been in a state of Stasis and decay for 8 years, presumably due to injuries obtained in The dark Knight (Again this information is not spoon-fed) Upon the appearance of Bane... Bruce sees a way forward. For Batman to return, and in a heart breaking scene brought by his want to protect Bruce, Alfred tells Bruce the truth about Rachel. Which is met with at first disbelieve that Alfred would keep information from him and then Disgust.
Out of the returning cast it really is Bale and Caine that shine the brightest... Followed closely by Gordon Levitt and Hathaway. Hardy is a Strong villain for the piece, and while i refuse to compare him with the Joker I will say that bane is the first Villain of Any Batman series that you can truly Hate. (Besides Mr Freeze but for completely different reasons) The film is placed into 3 Acts and an Epilogue. To which could be described in 4 words. Playful / Despair / Retalliation / Contentment. The Epilogue in its self is possibly the highlight of the entire series and that is no easy feat.
In conclusion... Rises will divide fans and audiences and does have some frustrating plot holes but not as many as some would suggest, and Yes... there are some Audio issues with Bane. But these are a few small issues in what otherwise could be described as a masterpiece, and dare i say it...
The Greatest trilogy of All time.
8/10 BWats.