The Dark Knight Rises

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2013)

Of the three Dark Knight movies directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight rises is the only one I have seen in the theater, an experience I quite enjoyed. Now, to be honest, if I were to just look at this film all on its own and disregard the previous two films, I would only have found it to be decent, or just good at best. It does have some flaws, and it's my least favorite of the three installments. But when I take into account the previous two films, this film becomes immensely entertaining for me.
At the end of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, guised as Batman, took the rap for Harvey Dent's crimes. This film picks up eight years later, where Bruce has since hung up the cape and now stays mainly shut up in his mansion. Meanwhile, Gotham has improved (at least on the surface). However, a new villain, Bane, comes to town, forcing Bruce back into action despite his tarnished Batman reputation.
I felt that the weakest part of the film was the first forty-five minutes; I found this part of the film to be a bit slow and uneven. But after this, the film got significantly better, and continued to get better and better as the story progressed (with a few twists) until the ending, which I loved. Admittedly the storyline is a bit of a retread of Batman Begins, and there are some frankly big gaps in logic. This film is more dreamlike and less cerebral than the previous two films, and it's a bit too long. Not to mention we don't see much Batman. However, I did feel that this film was a slight step up emotionally from the previous two. And the running length didn't bother me all that much; in fact, I would say that a director's cut would be completely justified.
The actors all put on good performances. There is Christian Bale, of course, who has brought charisma to Bruce Wayne/Batman since the beginning of Nolan's series. The other actors do a good job too. Michael Caine returns as Alfred, who has less screen time in this film than he had before, but is no less powerful. Gary Oldman returns as Commissioner Gordon, and even Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox, who provides Bruce with a new, aerial form of transportation (and yes, it does come in black).
We also have some new characters, all (or at least most) of who make worthy additions to the franchise. There is the badass and utterly terrifying villain, Bane. Tom Hardy pulls off a worthy performance of this masked menace, masterful and merciless. Anne Hathaway and Marion Cottilard play Selina Kyle and Miranda Tate, respectively, the latter of whom with whom Bruce even sleeps; but this doesn't develop into anything more than just a brief, shallow affair; Bruce's romantic interests pretty much ended with Rachel's death in the previous film. I even want to give a thumbs-up to Joseph Gordon Levitt; and we learn something special about his character at the end of the film.
Again, I think the film is just decent, or good at best, on its own, but I love it as a chapter in the overall series (although, again, it is my least favorite film of the trilogy). While I can enjoy Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises as stand-alones as well as parts of a series, I feel that my appreciation for this one is extremely dependent on the basis established by the previous two installments. That brings me to my next point: the highlight of the film for me is the continuation of the overall story of the series. If you ask me, this film brings Bruce Wayne's story to an excellent conclusion. As for the lack of Batman, I would have liked to see more of him, but his absence did not bother me much as this is really more of a Bruce Wayne movie rather than a Batman movie.
This film has some connections and references to the first film. For me, the most powerful of these is the reference to the theme of learning to pick ourselves back up after we fall. This theme is introduced in the first film as Bruce falls into the well and his father helps him out. The reference to this theme in TDKR (which also reflects the film's title) is a highly symbolic one that involves an underground prison that Bruce has to climb out of, while the prisoners watching him chant a very catchy and memorable chant. His father helped him out of that well as a kid, and now he has to climb out of this prison himself. He now has to learn to pick himself back up, both literally and symbolically. This scene also excellently symbolizes Bruce's overall, underlying journey to rise back up and re-discover the will to live.
Overall, this is one of my favorite film trilogies. In addition to having great action sequences and effects, it also has a great, relatable underlying story. It has great moral messages, such consequences for one's actions, and much more. This trilogy contains a lot of life's lessons. And it doesn't exactly hurt that it works as pure blockbuster entertainment as well.
Before I close, I want to mention the music score. Hans Zimmer returns to work his musical magic on this film just like he did on BB and TDK. Especially noteworthy is that recurring two-note motif that has appeared repeatedly throughout the entire series. Whenever this motif is heard, it never completely resolves, always posing some questions. Just like the motif, even at the points where the story resolves, it never quite resolves completely, always posing some questions and uncertainties as to what is to come in the future, among other things. In fact, it is this two-note motif with which the film, and the series, ends.