A fitting finale.

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises was probably the most hyped film of the summer but my oh my did it deliver. After The Dark Knight it seemed clear that this film tried to make epic in every way and for the most part it succeeds. The film starts as a huge downer with Batman out of the game and an impending attack on Gotham unbeknown to the people of the city, being in peace time supposedly. At a massive 164 minutes the film was always going to be a slow burner but it did very well in its first act. New characters Bane and Selina Kyle are introduced brilliantly and instantly at that. Bane works brilliantly as a villain, becoming intimidating as soon as he appeared on screen. This carried on throughout the film and we saw a genuine villain that is capable of physically challenging Batman in a way that we have not seen in the series before. Much has been said of Bane's voice being difficult to understand but personally I didn't find any trouble. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle gave a memorable performance, they did not succumb to the 'thief with a heart of gold' and turned out to be more ruthless than I expected her to be. If the film has a flaw, its that it lags slightly in the second act where we are in some parts waiting for the climax. This is made up however in the fact that the action scenes are brilliantly shot with many fight scenes being well shot as well. Past films in the series, specifically Batman Begins made the fight scenes in particular difficult to decipher what is going on. This film practically eradicates that and it becomes clear from the scenes with Batman and Bane this was intended. Elsewhere performances were strong from the likes of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and managed to convey the emotion when they needed to. Overall the film was a very fitting finale to a fantastic series which for want of a better phrase redefined the Batman character.