Batman Rises!

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2012)

Like Mary Poppins herself, "The Dark Knight Rises" is practically perfect in every way. To say that I was highly anticipating Christopher Nolan's epic finale to perhaps the greatest trilogy in cinematic history is an understatement. Donning Catwoman, sorry, Selina Kyle, ears, I headed out to see the 12:01 showing of what I expected to be the best movie of the summer, and boy, was I not let down. "The Dark Knight Rises" gives the word epic a new name. Nolan has created a Gotham City that was larger than life, and a movie that is larger than any I have seen. Everything about the movie is big, big stars, big emotions, big explosions...even Gotham is bigger than it has ever been. I have read some criticism from fan-boys and girls all over the Internet, and I must say I don't agree with most of the criticism. I find Nolan's Batman to be The Batman in every sense of the word. While some "fans" don't see it this way, the Nolan version of Batman lines up perfectly with my understanding of the Batman character the Batman myth. Batman is not hell-bent on destroying criminals one by one, he is a symbol of justice, a symbol that even in the darkest of times, there is a light that will "rise". Good will prevail.
Bane is perhaps the most evil villain Batman has ever faced. A completely ruthless terrorist, who's only goal is to destroy Gotham City and American ideals. "The Dark Knight Rises" is the ultimate battle of good versus evil, Batman being good, Bane being evil, and Selina Kyle representing the gray area in between the two. In the previous film, "The Dark Knight", district attorney Harvey Dent fought on the same side as Batman, for the same thing, to preserve the values of Gotham City, and to restore the city to greatness through justice. Although Batman and Dent went about their crusades differently, the end goal was the same. Bane is anti everything that Batman and Dent stood for. Bane is an agent of chaos, lawlessness, and destruction. He is Batman's equal in strength, intelligence, an resources, and proves to be a worthy opponent of the caped crusader.
The film starts out slow, with a pretty uninspired action sequence introducing the audience to Bane. I forgave this relatively pointless sequence because after the outstanding opening of "The Dark Knight", anything remotely similar would have seemed like a pale imitation.
The film quickly picks up the pace, catching up with all of our favorite characters and introducing the sexy Selina Kyle, a "cat" burglar looking for a fresh start, but unable to find a way out of her life of crime. In 1992's "Batman Returns", Tim Burton and Michelle Pfeiffer created the ultimate portrayal of Catwoman, but for "The Dark Knight Rises", Anne Hathaway was a suitable replacement, as casting Pfeiffer would have resulted in a Harold and Maude/Batman mash-up.
Bruce Wayne is left crippled, emotionally and physically from the events in "The Dark Knight". He must regain his strength, and his passion for justice in order to save Gotham from Bane's ruthless clutches. With spiffy new gadgets, courtesy of Lucius Fox, Wane dons the cape and cowl once more, taking to the streets of Gotham to finish what he started in "Batman Begins".
Everything about this movie shined brighter than the bat signal. The acting, writing, music, locations, and special effects were beyond outstanding, setting what will hopefully be a new standard for the film industry.
The conclusion of the film left some question amongst the fans, what really happened. To me, it was clear based on what Lucius Fox said. How is this possible? It doesn't matter for two reasons: 1.) it's a movie 2.) he's Batman, he can do whatever he wants. I found the conclusion to be the perfect ending to the trilogy. Batman has returned order to Batman, restored power to Jim Gordon and the Gotham police department, and all of the "good guys" are exactly where they want to be.
"Batman Returns" is, and always will be my favorite Batman film. "The Dark Knight Rises", however, is without a doubt, the best Batman film. Batman is about the quest for justice, the battle of good versus evil, and passion. When a person is passionate, they will succeed. When darkness rules, the light will prevail. The citizens of Gotham believed in Harvey Dent. I believe in the Batman.