The Dark Knight Rises (Spoiler Free Review)

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises (Spoiler Free Review)
Tonight i was amongst a lucky audience in West LA to see a Warner Bros. screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' (Thanks 97.1 AMP & KROQ-FM radio!). It's difficult to sum up this movie with few select choice words. but i will use one: Epic.
Thinking back a year+ ago when casting was announced, the villain, etc i had my suspicions and i was skeptical about the casting (outside of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.) I wasn't sure what Chris Nolan and brother were up to. Well, once the Warner Bros. logo came on screen and the movie started, all my skeptical thinking went away.
The movie starts off with an epic action sequence, introducing you to the villain and the pure evilness that he is. And for the remainder of the 164-minute runtime, you're left guessing as to the plot and what the direction the movie is going in. And this is a wonderful thing.
I'm glad that nothing plot related is given away in the various trailers released. This movie is very intelligent and well casted. Every character has a purpose and they delivered wonderfully. I had my doubts with casting Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle at first. But i knew that if anyone can force a great performance out of an actor, it's Director Christopher Nolan.
Never was i bored or felt like there was too much time wasted on any particular scene. The pace of the movie was perfect and there was so much to look at in every scene. The cinematography is spectacular! Many directors these days will cut corners and decide to make things CG and add explosions or people or wacky camera angles to spice up the movie. Most of what i watched tonight was REAL. Those were thousands of REAL extras. Those stunts were real (specially the opening scene). Some of those wide angled shots (probably for IMAX purpose) are awesome. There is no wasted space. There's so much to look at while watching this movie, and it's not even a sci-fi film! That is the true genius of Chris Nolan. He believes in old school filmmaking with actual stunts, extras and on location sets.
Every performance is awesome. For me, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were the two standout roles as Bane and Officer John Blake. Both men were directed perfectly for their roles and brought great acting skills to their respective roles. There are some great moments in the movie that will make you want to cheer and clap, as our audience did multiple times, specially the ending.
And what a way to tie up the Dark Knight Trilogy. I couldn't think of a more fitting and more perfect ending. Sure many are speculating about certain characters and how the movie ends and whether there will be sequels or spin-offs, etc but take my advice.
Avoid the temptation to read any spoilers or watch any more clips than you may already have. Treat yourself to this great movie - spoiler free. If you have enjoyed Nolan's first two, 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight', you're going to love how it all comes together in this film.
My hats off to you Mr. Nolan! Go see it. See it in IMAX. See it Thrice!