The year's most anticipated film is a victim of chronology

Rating: 7/10 (9 August 2012)

Eight years on since his arch nemesis, the Joker held Gotham to ransom, billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne has become a disabled recluse, embittered by the death of his childhood sweetheart. When Commissioner Gordon is shot, and a new terrorist – masked mercenary, Bane – looms, the dark knight is compelled to don his cape and cowl a final time.
Unlike the first two films, this one falls short of expectation. There is a simple explanation: 'The Dark Knight' left no room for improvement. I've now seen 'TDKR' three times and can't help but wonder if the trilogy might have benefited if number three came before two and ended on Heath Ledger's maniacal performance. The biggest failing is therefore one of chronology.
'Batman Begins' dealt with fear; 'The Dark Knight' – chaos; and Christopher Nolan's quarter-billion dollar, 164-minute conclusion has pain as its theme. Indeed, it is by far the most emotional of the three. Alfred's commitment to his master has waned, as he now longs for him to settle down with a family. Years of physical torment have taken their toll on Bruce Wayne, who reluctantly 'gets back in the game' because of the failure of Gotham's finest to deal with Bane and the underground army he has harnessed.
The pairing of Tom Hardy and Christian Bale is a delicious prospect. Hardy gives us a menacing, monstrous Bane more in tune with the comic books instead of the apish one we saw in 'Batman and Robin'. And Bale finds the right note in expressing the immense sorrow Bruce Wayne has been living with.
Anne Hathaway has a key role as femme fatale, Selina Kyle (Catwoman). She strays furtively between Batman and Bane, intrigued by the first, fearful of the latter. In a way, 'Gotham's reckoning' is entirely her fault. In exchange for Bruce Wayne's fingerprints, she wants a fabled tool which could erase her electronic existence; useful for a jewel thief like her. Bane actually needs the prints to fashion an atom bomb from an abandoned Wayne Enterprises sustainable energy project.
As Lucius Fox, Morgan Freeman again proves to be the unsung hero of the saga, though it's never explained why he continues to supply Batman with gadgets after resigning in 'TDK'. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Blake, a plucky police officer who intuits Wayne's other identity. You might say he was a superhero in waiting. Another key character is Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate, who convinces Bruce she will rescue his finances after Bane's hit on the stock exchange. I'll keep schtum about her significance, but what do scars usually signal
Aside from a distinctive atmosphere, what this film lacks most is the same calibre of action of the first two. Action this time is tame and unmemorable. The opening sequence – a plane skyjack – fails to excite, even in IMAX. The two Bane/Batman showdowns are deeply disappointing because they are rushed and poorly choreographed. The clunky plane Batman uses – 'The Bat' – as an alternative to the Batmobile – 'Tumbler' – is also unimpressive.
Something Nolan must be commended for, however, is his mastery of plot layering and audience deception. Despite another serpentine plot and an endless supply of new characters, he sustains our attention for nearly three hours, whilst deftly tying up loose ends and ensuring the trilogy's continuity. The film does, however, manage to become too wordy and stuffed with heroic monologues.
As in the first two Batman films, Nolan again uses clever crime setups of such originality that he should be assigned a place in the government's counter-terrorism unit. Truthfully, though, only a fan-boy's anticipation kept me glued until the ambiguous end. The trilogy will doubtless be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. But like most great threesomes, the third is not altogether necessary and never as good as the two that came first.
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