Monumental film capping off the best film trilogy ever made

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises is a monumental film capping off the best film trilogy ever made. More Batman Begins than The Dark Knight, the film isn't at a constant climax. Nolan invokes some short flashbacks from the first film, but aside from mentions of Harvey Dent there's very little from TDK. There is a deliberate pacing that takes us from a peaceful, boring Gotham with a retired Batman to the greatest city in the world on the brink of annihilation.
Unlike the first film in the trilogy, TDKR isn't quite as centered around Bruce Wayne or Batman. The screen is shared by a flurry of characters. Bane, Catwoman, Miranda Tate, Luscious Fox, Detective Blake, and the always welcome Alfred all get a considerable portion of screen time. Lesser important characters who should have been scrapped also push the running length to 164 minutes, though it never feels like it. The film centers around the masked terrorist Bane's plans to bring Gotham to its knees much like Ra's Al Ghul's plans in the first film. Bane's antics force both Bruce Wayne and Batman out of retirement to try to save his beloved city.
Let's just get this out of the way: there's no Joker or equivalent thereof here. There's no performance like Heath Ledger's, but TDKR is a much better film than TDK. It doesn't connect the complex plot points as masterfully as its predecessor. What it does masterfully is inject some much needed emotion into the fight for Gotham. We gladly trade our jaws dropping in a "cool! how'd they do that?" moment for our eyes watering wondering "does Batman love his city so much he'll actually die for it?".
Don't get me wrong, the action scenes are phenomenal. Between the Bat, essentially the new flying Batmobile, and a Bat Pod that shows off even more features, there's no shortage of cool technology. Bruce Wayne even has a little remote to make sure the paparazzi don't get in his way.
Even with the new gadgets, the fist fights are greatly improved from the first two films. Bane is physically superior to Batman and on par mentally. Tom Hardy has bulked up for this role. There's no six pack on Bane, he's got some flab, but it just adds to his mass. This guy is huge and terrifying. Throw in Hardy's incredibly expressive eyes and you've got a true force of evil. Hardy also seems to have a unique ability to act during his fight sequences. We can see the speed of his punches and feel his punches when he pummels Batman.
While he's the least interesting of the three major villains, TDKR spices things up with some much needed estrogen with Catwoman and Miranda Tate. Anne Hathaway is exceptional, gracefully pouncing around Gotham and dealing some punishment in some very tall heels. Catwoman has always been a good guy/bad guy who lives by her own moral code, and Nolan's version stays true to the heart of the character in the comics. Miranda is a beautiful, strong millionaire who is drawn to Bruce through his philanthropy. She comes to his aid and rescues Wayne Enterprises after one of Bane's terrorist acts at the stock exchange.
I've heard some complaints about how Bane's antics are too reminiscent of the times, playing much to the Occupy crowd. I think that's ludicrous and anyone that has seen the other two films will certainly agree. Bane's antics at the stock exchange hearken back to Batman Begins where The League of Shadows admitted to using economics to send Gotham spiraling out of control. Beyond that event the death toll in Gotham is catastrophic. Bane blows the city half to hell and releases prison inmates immediately after breaking the morale of Harvey Dent's supporters. It's anarchy as the rich are ripped from their homes, the police are trapped, and no one is safe anywhere.
The second half of the film comes to an unforgettable climax that is the most enthralling cinema in a long time. The significant amount of IMAX footage makes the action scenes as epic as can be and Nolan's refusal to use 3D means we get to see it in a proper high resolution format whether you're in an IMAX setting or not. TDKR isn't without it's faults. The music blares inappropriately quite often. There's some pretty poor exposition in the script at times (a little puzzling why backstory wasn't worked in better in this long a movie with such exceptional writers). And, the plot twists are quite predictable for those loyal to the comics. Even despite all that, TDKR is the movie everyone wanted and then some. It doesn't have the innocence and humor that made Batman Begins the best of the trilogy, but it does up the ante in terms of scale and emotion. It is easily the best movie this year so far and perhaps the best conclusion a trilogy has ever had.
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