The Trilogy's Zenth

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2012)

Christopher Nolan had a lot of living up to with the runaway critical and audience successes of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. In this concluding volume, we are introduced to the masked terrorist Bane, as he covertly subverts a CIA plane and swiftly proceeds to exterminate the crew. His physical prowess is matched only by his talents for cruelty and breaking people in mind and spirit.
Cut to Gotham, where Commissioner Gordon gives a speech on the eighth anniversary of Harvey Dent's death. Not only is it now a public holiday, but it made possible the passage of legislation that empowered the police to round up a thousand members of organised crime. The war on crime appears to be won (with their next task, according to a young officer by the name of Blake, being chasing up overdue library books). Power-hungry politicians predict Gordon's early retirement, courtesy of the mayor. After all, who needs heroes in a time of universal peace? A week is a long time in politics, and eight years is an even longer time for Bruce Wayne, who has become disheveled, disillusioned and jaded. The loss of Rachel Dawes has turned him into a cripple with a goatee.
There is action, romance and black humour aplenty (Johnathan Crane makes a brief appearance in the movie's latter half). While there are a few elements in common with The Dark Knight, these do not detract from the overall entertainment value of the film. Plotwise, everything comes full circle, character development is wrapped up very nicely, and there is little more that one could ask from a summer blockbuster. Although clocking in at 2 hours and forty minutes (before credits), nothing feels padded out.
Unexpected twists abound, but without giving too much away, The Dark Knight Rises boldly goes where no other Batman film has gone before. This is an action film that borders on horror.
This is edge-of-your-seat entertainment with a profound meaning. It is impossible to watch this film without rethinking the foundations that our 21st-century society has been built on.