The hero Gotham deserves...

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2012)

Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" is a mainstream accomplishment, a skillfully crafted, ambitious superhero movie that adds more dimension to the superhero genre. Here is the epic (2 and 3/4 hours!) conclusion to a most beloved trilogy that forever changed the genre that it was type-casted in.
I really have to admire Christian Bale's dedication to the role. At times he is weak, lacking confidence, and shrouded in gloom. At other times (in later scenes involving a prison) his eyes show the painful return to his self-determination and perseverance. Yes his Batman no doubt is still the best interpretation of the character, but here he is more human, less growly and more prone to weakness than ever before. Here, we first see Bruce Wayne as a single, rich hermit with a limp in one leg, aided only by his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine in his most emotional performance of the trilogy). Caine may get a supporting actor nomination for this movie.
It's been eight years since he took the rep for Harvey Dent's crimes - but Wayne/Batman soon faces a new threat - the towering, ominous terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy in a remarkably gripping performance and an empowering presence) who threatens to destroy Gotham city. Hardy is ruthlessly terrific as Bane, true to the spirit of the comics, as he manages to instill fear in all of Gotham. It would be unfair to compare him to Heath Ledger's pitch perfect portrayal of the Joker, but these are two completely different characters. Whereas the Joker aims for a battle of psychological wits between Batman, Bane aspires just to destroy Bruce Wayne and Gotham.
There is a pervasive sense of haunting dread and gloom throughout the movie, especially throughout the first 2 hours and scenes with Bane, this is achieved not just by Nolan's writing/directing but also to cinematographer Wally Pfister who shoots the film in a gloomy hue throughout, and composer Hans Zimmer's great, dark orchestral score. Zimmer probably has outdone himself in the trilogy so far, especially with Bane's ominous one-chord theme.
But the last 30 minutes contains nothing but great, sometimes spectacular action sequences and stunts which segues in with the story (a rarity) and which all leads to an emotionally satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The stunts are so well done, they clearly show they were all done using practical effects instead of CGI (with the probable exception of the stadium scene and scenes involving "the Bat" and the "Bat-cycle"... which still look great). Lee Smith's crisp editing and Pfister's cinematography cuts the action at a perfect clip while making the somber moments absorbing.
Two love interests are introduced - Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway, looking mesmerizingly beautiful while giving a devilishly cunning performance), a specialized thief/con-woman who is not what she seems, and Miranda Tate (Marion Cottilard) who provides a more gentler shade for the lonely, love-lorn Bruce to rely on, or does he? Young cop John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) serves as a somewhat younger shadow of Bruce, and he also shows the same selfless courage at the climax of the movie where he tries to save some kids from an orphanage. Scenes involving Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are not particularly notable, but at the very least every one of these characters are still very active in the film's climax.
Its the screen writing which suffers slightly. While clearly ambitious and detailed, the screenplay lacks some depth from which the previous film succeeded, and seems to return to the roots of "Batman Begins", focusing more on comic book origins - combining with the sombre, ultra- realistic tone of "The Dark Knight". For the most part, it gels nicely. There's also some nice character development for Bruce and Alfred, where they're relationship gets strained to the fullest. Some twists at the end that would arouse comic-book fans too. However, Bane's full character should have been expanded upon - yes, even though the film is nearly 3 hours long, it's not really long enough. Bane's and Selina's characters lack in development and they come across as near-two dimensional. It's clear Nolan bit off a bit more than he can chew here, since he was trying his best to outdo his previous effort. No faulting the actors though.
For all of its screen writing flaws though, "The Dark Knight Rises" is a mainstream triumph, putting new levels of fear and dread in a superhero movie not seen before its own predecessor. Nolan's vision for the character shines through completely and makes this trilogy rightfully stand out as "The Godfather" of superhero films. This entry may not be as brilliant as its predecessor, but it is still nevertheless great, sort of excellent really, and hats off to Nolan, Bale, Hardy and the rest of the cast and crew, past and present, for delivering the truest interpretation of the Batman character that has never been, and very likely in the future, never will be seen again. Kudos to you, Christopher Nolan.
Overall rating: 86%
P.S.: My review for "The Dark Knight" (2008) four years ago is basically a teenage me kissing the behind of the film, with me calling it a masterpiece and editing the review on IMDb so much until they won't allow me to edit/review it anymore. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have been so enthusiastic and made myself look like a rabid fanboy; it isn't a masterpiece, but nonetheless still an excellent film and the pinnacle of the superhero film genre.
EDIT: My sincere condolences to the victims and their family and friends of the Aurora shooting tragedy. This was a real random, cruel and senseless act of violence.