Dark....incredibly dark.

Rating: 7/10 (28 July 2012)

I am not a huge comic book-based movie fan, though I see most all of them. That's because my daughter is nuts for comic book movies and we always seem to see them. Some I have loved ("Scott Pilgrim", "The Dark Knight" and "Captain America" come to mind) and some I didn't ("Daredevil")--but mostly I do enjoy them. While I am sure I am bucking the tide here, I was NOT especially thrilled with "The Dark Knight Rises". This doesn't mean I disliked it--it just left me a bit flat. Now the problem was NOT the movie's length--I like longer films and my butt didn't fall asleep during the film (which is a very good sign)! My problems were more about the incredibly dark tone of the film. Unlike "The Dark Knight", "The Dark Knight Rises" really lacked fun and was 100% devoid of any humor to break up the dark mood. In fact, I kept hoping Tony Stark ("Ironman") would do a crossover from the Marvel films and lighten the mood! Stark (Robert Downey) managed to do a Bruce Wayne-like character but infuse him with energy and likability--Christian Bale just seemed tired and limp and humorless. This was more obvious in this film as opposed to the last because there was no Joker-like villain to provide comic relief (albeit darkly comic). The closest they got was Catwoman (Anne Hathaway)--who was a GREAT character but who wasn't really necessary for the plot. As for Bane and his friends, they were scary and nasty...and nothing more. When the film was over, I realized I had a reasonably good time but nothing more. If some other director and actor pick up the franchise, my advise is work more on the characters--make them more likable and interesting--even the villains.