A riveting anxiety attack, but a masterful piece of art.

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

Running at about 2 hours and 45 minutes, this movie is an full hands on, all or nothing, anxiety attack for just about that same amount of time. Christopher Nolan delivers his capstone to the wonderfully created Batman trilogy and boy did he deliver. The phenomenal pairing of Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan on the script continues to deliver from film to film. The reason why Nolan's Batman is so impeccable is the fact that everything that happens in the movie could possibly happen in real life. The threats are real, the villains are real, the effects are real, and the emotions are real. As the movie goes on, Nolan keeps dropping weights on the structure of the movie every second he gets. It builds, and builds until its absolute and utter breaking point. This is the perfect amount of suspense, because as the end draws near, the audience is anticipating that tiny leaf that causes the structure to collapse. In the end, Nolan delivers a masterpiece of storyline and scriptwriting. There was not one moment where I felt that the script lacked, or the plot contained holes. Christian Bale once again amazes audiences with his extreme dedication and incredible acting. He once again proves how he is the best Batman to date. Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Michael Caine (Alfred) continue to show how the are two of the worlds most respected actors. Michael Caine brings the entire audience to tears at least twice, if not three times. He captures Alfred so well, that it defeats the performance of the very hard-to-beat, and lovable Michael Gough from the original series. Also returning to the trilogy is the wonderful Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon), whose acting is stunning and he brings something new to Gordon every movie. Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle) knocks it out of the park. Her portrayal of Catwoman is superb, and is by far the best one yet. Her sleek attitude is perfectly executed, as well as her faked emotions and persona when she's "on the job". Hathaway brings the perfect blend of evil, stubbornness, likability, and good to Selina Kyle. Her contrast and change throughout the film is wonderful to watch. But to Catwoman's temporary evil is the "necessary evil" of Tom Hardy's Bane. Hardy is the perfect villain. His mask is terrifying, but it covers up most of his face. But that right there is the beauty of Hardy's wonderful performance. The fact that he only has two ways of acting below the face and pulls it off is unbelievable. Tom's vocal performance is stunning. But perhaps the thing that tops off Bane is his eyes. Bane holds the entire emotion of his performance in his eyes. And lastly, Marion Cotillard (Miranda Tate) fulfills the hole that was left to us by Rachel, and she does a fantastic job. And it was so nice to see Cillian Murphy (Jonathan Crane) and Liam Neeson (Ra's Al Ghul) again. Some things could have been improved upon, but its nothing too major. All in all, "The Dark Knight Rises" gives fans that sense of relief; yet hope as the trilogy comes to an end. Christopher Nolan proves why he is one, if not the best director of the past 8 years.