A very sloppy, plot hole-filled, underwhelming followup to what has now grown on me enough to call a masterpiece.

Rating: 6/10 (26 June 2013)

I have a love/like relationship with The Dark Knight. I remember the hype well, it was one of the most exciting experiences. I saw the film three times in the cinema, including IMAX and I'm not even a big fan. This film was huge. Although Heath Ledger's Joker was always the most compelling part, I found myself from viewing to viewing finding genius and then flaws and gaps of logic and confusion. Always a thrill though.
Only now do I see how truly valuable that film was.
I was excited for The Dark Knight Rises. Not the same hysteria as The Dark Knight, but I expected it to live up to its predecessors at least. Instead it's a completely different film from a completely different series. Though maybe The Dark Knight was the exception and not Rises as its roots are deep within Batman Begins, bringing everything cleverly full circle. It's certainly not the 'epic' film Nolan promised. The Dark Knight Rises is an ordinary blockbuster and not a Nolan blockbuster.
After the 2 and a half hours of relentless tension that The Dark Knight was, this film takes more time to breathe, savouring in moments of complete silence. It makes it a more intimate and visceral film but that comes at the dire expense of entertainment. The best moments are in the heartfelt monologues, particularly from Michael Caine and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the first act. Those scenes are terrific and very fitting for the characters and the series. The film generally worked moment to moment but in the big picture, I have to question Nolan's attention to detail because it wasn't at work here. I'll get back to that in a moment.
It's a very gritty film, beating all the characters right down to the very bottom, particularly Gordon and literally for Bruce Wayne. So much so that it's disheartening for the audience, rather than thought-provoking. Bale's performance is probably the best it's been in the series here.
Pleasantly and surprisingly, Levitt's character had a big chunk of screen time and I really enjoyed his character. He's full of hope and always acts bravely, even making dire mistakes which are heart-breaking to see. Even if his character was more assumed than developed, I really liked him, though the twist at the end for his character was eye-rolling. Anne Hathaway was very good as the Catwoman, the highlights definitely being the shots with her expressions showing the act fading away and her sincerity melting in. Really touching, really subtle. Tom Hardy was mostly good, but it was hard to tell due to the mask. He was far away from any character I've seen him play that's for sure. His Sean Connery voice made me laugh at first but it grew on me and I looked forward to his later appearances.
However, one of my problems with the film is how the focus begins with Harvey Dent's influence on Gotham. It completely ignores the Joker's influence, even if negative, to society. Another disappointment is how this film really lacked the essential iconography that The Dark Knight had. That film had it in every single scene even at the expense of its coherency. All the iconography that this film had were used in the promotional material so I'd already seen it. I'm not sure why, but it seemed Wally Pfister's heart wasn't in this one. At least there was very little ambition with the action. There were a few shots that were great such as the big spectacle ones like the stadium collapse. It had a few jaw-dropping moments but no chills. There's a complete lack of consistent or rich atmosphere, especially in the very compact set decoration which now seem to overshadow the genuinely huge moments and make the film less epic. Although it lacked enough iconic moments, it was chockfull of iconic lines which were very effective.
There are two big fights between Batman and Bane. Both are exactly the same, just different sets, different winners. The lack of development in them is frustrating. Batman is known for his resourcefulness. Sure, it's revealed that his greatest weapon of darkness doesn't work on Bane and that is one of my favourite moments from that scene, but he could've used any of his gadgets on his utility belt to at least try to defeat him. Or even the power-kick he demonstrated in an earlier scene rather than just punching Bane repeatedly in the face. The first fight was brutal. The second one was extremely uninteresting. There are far too many missed opportunities in this film, mostly violent bits which are cut down due to censorship. But I really wanted to see Batman die in his suit which we didn't get. That would've been a brave move and this was not a brave film. Instead, we got two eye-rolling twists of who two characters really are.
I've only covered a few gripes I have with the film but none of them make me particularly angry, just disappointed. I know Nolan can do better. This film isn't even glossy enough to cover them up. The only scene that does anger me is how the climatic scene is something we've seen so many times before. We even saw it recently in both Captain America and The Avengers. Sure, that must mean it's a comic book staple, but it's not interesting in the slightest. The last 10 seconds saved the film. Not making it perfect, and it wasn't particularly brave. It just saved it from being completely depressing. Rises raises way more questions than it answers. Maybe Nolan is just a victim of his own shadow. There's an excellent film in here somewhere, those ideas are just buried deep within. This isn't a bad film, nor an average film. Just not a satisfying one.
I do feel like watching The Dark Knight again though.
6/10
Full review: http://tinyurl.com/blwbatv