What a Knight!!!

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2012)

Our "knight" and shining armor has arrived to save us from the doldrums we sometimes get from summer cinema. He is none other than the Dark Knight himself, Batman! Christopher Nolan has brilliantly directed the final chapter of his highly-acclaimed Batman trilogy with superb precision in "The Dark Knight Rises". This masterpiece is set eight years after the events of the "The Dark Knight". The city of Gotham is recovered from a crime epidemic but still feeling the loss of former District Attorney Harry Dent, little do they know that guy was a two-face. Bruce Wayne has disappeared from the Gotham spotlight mostly due to the fact that his alter-ego took the rap for Dent's crimes. Bruce is living or not-living (take your pick) a life of hibernation; he can hardly walk and looks very enervated. But things change when a Bane in the ass comes in the picture. That would be the monstrous villain Bane, who viciously takes wrath in Gotham and plans to destroy the city with his buddy Atom "I am the" Bomb. Bane wears a mask, or more like a headpiece, that covers the central features of his face and head; that actually looks like a humungous respirator. He has a distinct voice and is no Joker with his serious tone. But as the Joker, they rated high in their maniacal evaluation exams. At the same time, we have a fresh pussy that enters the picture, she goes by the name of Selina Kyle, but we know that is no cat in the hat that we are talking about; I have absolutely no idea what that meant. Of course, I am referring to Catwoman. Kyle wastes no time to smoothly enter Bruce's crib and steal away his jewels, but what she actually is looking for is his prints. Anyways, with so much havoc going on, Bruce decides to go up to bat again and save Gotham from Bane and his crew by bringing back out the caped crusader Mr. Batman. "The Dark Knight Rises" is a grand spectacle and is a cerebral challenge to keep up with narrative, but we must incept our minds that this is a Nolan picture; so pay attention. Nolan and his brother from the same mother Jonathan developed a very polished script that as its predecessor "The Dark Knight" parallels numerous different themes of present day society. I am going to get technical now and mention that the film's art direction, cinematography, sound effects, visual effects, score, and production design should all rise with Academy Award nomination honors. They were spectacular! Christian Bale has definitely cemented that no one can play Batman as he does. Tom Hardy was quite the warrior with his grandiose performance as Bane. Anne Hathaway was no pussycat (or maybe she was) with her strong performance as Selina Kyle/Catwoman; and also delivered the best lines of the movie. She looked marvelous! That cat could get my tongue anytime! OK, that is enough. Michael Caine once again proved that the Butler did it quite well with his work as Alfred. Other solid thespian work in "The Dark Knight Rises" included Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon and Marion Cotillard as Bruce's new flame Miranda. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt just levied up his career once again with another sound performance; he portrays the savvy Officer Blake. I am going to conclude my "The Dark Knight Rises" review by mentioning that the conclusion of this movie is one of the best of all-time in motion picture history. OK, I am going to call it a Knight, and cap off my review of "The Dark Knight Rises" by stating that this by far is the best movie of 2012. Knighty-knight. ***** Excellent