Greatest Trilogy of All Time Easily - Very Light, if any, Spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises Yesterday, and by yesterday I mean starting at 6pm Thursday Night and ending 3am Friday morning, I experienced one of the best 12 hours ever spent in my life, and I didn't even have to leave my seat (although I did for bathroom and eating breaks). The Batman Trilogy by Christopher Nolan has to be the greatest trilogy ever made since "The Matrix" (some might not be as huge of a fan as me but damn they were good). I was a small part of the huge crowd that was willing to sit through all three movies in one night, for the sake of beautiful film making. I can't call myself a huge movie buff in the sense that I can compare movies from today to those from 40+ years ago, but I have been watching and loving films, and every aspect of them since a young child and I can honestly say that "The Dark Knight Rises" is on my top 5 list already, without having to watch it again.
Christian Bale returns as the self proclaimed symbolic savior of Gotham City, but not before an amazing introduction to three new characters who made this movie reach more emotional levels and great comic reliefs throughout this fantastic thrill ride. Tom Hardy as Bane starts off the show with a crazy mid-air escape sequence that only Christopher Nolan's team can think of. From here you get to see the first deliciously devilish acts by Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, or Catwoman, at a gathering outside Wayne Manor. I don't want to give to much away, although I feel like I did already for those who are like me, but from here on out I will only talk more in general about the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake does a fantastic job in becoming the go to guy when Batman is not around, and is unafraid of taking on even the scariest bad guys. He's also pretty funny, as is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the thief we all are going to remember for a long time to come, Selena Kyle. Ms Hathaway does a great job at seamlessly going from innocent young lady to ass kicking Catwoman. Bane's Sean Connery like accent doesn't take away from how amazing this villain truly is. From his life story, told throughout the film, to his fighting scenes, you will agree that he is worthy of being named one of the top villains in any film to date. I think it goes without say that Gary Oldman comes back to give another amazing performance as Commissioner James Gordon.
The story, or should I say the stories, are sewn together so perfectly that you won't miss a beat, especially with the sound score by Hanz Zimmer. There are scenes, like the Joker cop car scene in "The Dark Knight" (which succinctly defines the joker in just one shot, chaotic yet beautiful to watch) that the music is not present, and only one or two layers of sound is used, like the main scene shown here, which is not a spoiler since it's a trailer clip. Imagine it without that much talking and no sound effects, that was an amazing experience. The sound editing by this team was nothing short from perfection. Wally Pfister, the Director of Photography, gave us so many beautiful shots in this film that it's really tough to pick one that stands out the most. Perhaps after the 16th time I will be able to make a decision. When I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost the end of the film, I did not feel at all that it was over two and a half hours long.
Another thing was the massive scale that everything was happening in. The explosions, the battles, the chases, all of it felt huge and makes me want to come back for more. I love that this one was shot in NYC and as a New Yorker I love to watch different parts of my city in a huge film like this. The story and the action was also very believable. I think it takes a lot of genius work to make a comic book hero seem feasible in real life, and this does an incredible job of doing just that. Even with his new form of transportation, the flying machine they call..well, I'll let you watch the film for that one.
There are some really great thought provoking social themes and some political, but not as important as the real questions put out by this storyline. There are some great surprise twists, especially for people like myself who waited to read the graphic novels until after the last movie was made. My heart was beating fast, I almost was in tears but then remembered that I had testicles, I laughed, I clapped, I wooed, I was shocked, I was terrified, and most of all, I was completely entertained with perfect closure.
"The Dark Knight Rises" is a must see for every movie fan, not only "geeks," trust me.

Emmanuel "Dj Boy" Abreu