Nolan's Batman finally rises as a solid addition to the franchise

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2012)

To begin, I wasn't a huge fan of Nolan's Batman films. I watched "The Dark Knight" first in theaters four years ago, and I didn't think it was that impressive (except for Heath Ledger's legendary performance as the Joker). Then I watched "Batman Begins" for the sake of watching the whole trilogy before this film came out and it was just as dull as "The Dark Knight". So as you can tell, I wasn't really hyped for this film. But boy did this film change my opinion on the Nolan trilogy. Despite the film being slightly longer than "The Dark Knight", it kept me on the edge of my seat. The visuals were great, the action sequences were great, and the CHARACTERS WERE INTERESTING. Batman/Bruce Wayne in particular was more interesting than the previous two films because he is at the lowest point of his life. He's secluded and antagonized by the public, his abilities as the charismatic billionaire and Batman has diminished because of the previous events in "The Dark Knight". His internal and external struggle is strongly portrayed by Bale. Bane was another interesting villain who possessed the same level of intimidation and charisma as Ledger's Joker. Anne Hathaway's Catwoman wasn't memorable as Michelle Pfeiffer's in "Batman Returns" but was way more interesting than Harvey Dent or even Maggie Gyllenhhal's Rachel from "The Dark Knight". Other supporting casts such as Gary Oldman and Michael Caine gave solid performances. The story certainly had more of the essence of "Batman Begins" than "The Dark Knight", but definitely tied the trilogy together very nicely. The drama wasn't draggy and overdone like "The Dark Knight". In the end, "The Dark Knight Rises" firmly establishes Nolan's Batman trilogy and as a solid addition to the Batman film franchise since Tim Burton's "Batman".