The Grand Finale

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2012)

Creating a sequel to THE DARK KNIGHT is one hell of a task even for Christopher Nolan and yet the man manages to finish his version of the Batman stories in what I consider one of the best trilogy/ franchise finales I've seen on screen.
The story is a new take on the cinematic superhero because the focus isn't even on Batman alone. An interesting thing with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is that it dedicates equal amount of screen time to all the characters, whether main or supporting. This works well in introducing a bunch of new people into the story alongside seeing familiar faces.
The emotional level of the film was also shocking in a good way, which is something I honestly did not expect from a superhero based movie. For once, you do care about what happens to that guy in the background. Even if they are characters derived or based from the comic books, an emotional connection on par with a serious drama movie is made. If THE DARK KNIGHT was a bit depressing, this one amps that all the way to the extreme. Batman here isn't just some superhero out to save the world from some super villain; he's a broken man who feels more than guilty after the events of the past two films and this helps make the overall story a different and welcome take on the superhero concept. This goes for everyone involved in the events that follow 8 years after THE DARK KNIGHT.
As usual, one can rely on Christopher Nolan to deliver heavy drama alongside great action scenes as he did before. The first half of the movie was a bit slow as it focused more on the characters (that's not a bad thing) but quickly builds up from there, climaxing in one hell of a second half that has the fate of the entire city of Gotham at risk. All the way till the end, the balance of emotions and adrenaline is maintained in such a way that you wouldn't even notice the 165 minute time span of the movie.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES managed to blow THE DARK KNIGHT out of the water. I'll admit that I felt that Bane, while very effective and intimidating, wasn't able to live up to the Joker but that does nothing to change my opinion on the film (and in Tom Hardy's defense, he did say he wasn't trying to outshine Heath Ledger as he just wanted to do his own thing). It is sad that THE DARK KNIGHT SAGA has come to a close but then again, all good things have an end. Through THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Christopher Nolan delivers a deserving finale to one of the greatest Batman stories ever told.