Sometimes predictable, but often astonishing

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2012)

Christopher Nolan's stunning conclusion to his Batman trilogy is a welcome return to form after the slightly overrated THE DARK KNIGHT, which was so obsessed with being all dark and brooding that it forgot to tell much of a story. Despite the presence of a much-hyped (and lamented) Heath Ledger in the cast, I found that film to be less entertaining than BATMAN BEGINS although it still remains an engaging and watchable film. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (horrible title, by the way), though, blows it out of the water, offering a piece of sheer spectacle that's as involving and as tightly-plotted as you could wish for.
It's eight years since the last film, and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is nowadays retired and definitely feeling his age. Before long, though, a hulking brute of a bad guy (Tom Hardy, whose sheer physicality in the role will surprise nobody who's seen Bronson) decides to do some very unpleasant things in the city, so it's time to dust off the bat suit and get back into the action. Good news for the viewer.
As usual, Nolan surpasses the conventions of his genre, making this a superhero film that looks nothing like a superhero film, instead more like a modern-day epic of dramatic cinema. Yes, at the end of the day it's still about suited guys beating the hell out of each other, and Nolan once again relies on old conventions/clichés (such as the 'ticking bomb' trope, which he's repeated in his last three films now) to see him through, but everyone runs so well and so smoothly that you end up not minding.
The cast is thorough and involved as ever, Bale as usual going the extra mile to portray the tortured hero and Caine lending emotional support as Alfred. Hardy's villain is a sheer powerhouse who dominates every scene he's in, and Nolan brings back a couple of his favourites from INCEPTION (Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for good measure. There's not quite as much action as you might expect from a film of this type, but the storyline is so involved that you don't care. Throw plenty of stunning special effects into the mix and you have a real crowd-pleaser of a film with real brain as well as brawn.