The Dark Knight Rises above

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2013)

There have been a remarkable set of mixed feelings on The Dark Knight Rises. Some people loved it, and strangely enough to myself, some people hated it. I'm going to be honest with you and say that even after the first viewing I wasn't so sure myself about The Dark knight rises. But after repeat viewings and taking in little details from each viewing, I've found the Dark knight rises to actually be a great film that actually grows on you. This unusual quality makes it a film that makes it enjoyable after repeat viewings. No matter what anyone tells you, there's no denying this: Christopher Nolan has made the best Batman trilogy ever.
What makes it so great though? You'll hear a lot of people complaining about plot holes or something, when all that should matter is the overall quality of the story. The story of course consists of some very important elements, themes and story arcs of all the main characters. For the first time, Bruce Wayne is the main character and not Batman. His arc with this film is complete and it's glorious. Beyond the obvious metaphor of the pit he is thrown in there is another rather interesting metaphor with the rope and having to climb without it to escape. Did Bruce Wayne EVER really escape that well he fell down all those years ago? What does it mean to escape that hole without the rope? It's a metaphoric birth to something grand, because for the first time in a long time, Bruce Wayne must escape his pit without his bat suit, without all his toys. He must rely only on his own spirit which has been shattered by Bane. That to me is great, comic book stuff that we never see in superhero movies anymore because writers are too obsessed with the whole show our hero in costume aspect of their movies doing nothing but kicking ass. Reminding us Batman as a hero with feet of clay who isn't completely indestructible truly drives up the tension and serves to make the final act incredibly exciting. The buildup is undeniably effective and emotional to the extreme.
It's also great to see that this film even gave the villainess Catwoman a complete story arc. The movie portrays a woman who goes from criminal to the antithesis of that, but not in some contrived overnight fashion. Selina Kyle realizes that once she has what she wants, that maybe it isn't what she wanted all along and as a result you can see her remorse, and apparently so could Bruce. It's great to see Catwoman portrayed as a character with great cunning without making her look like a psycho. She is a character with believable dimensions and Anne Hathaway's acting was fantastic.
Again, Gary Oldman is amazing as Gordon. He has fallen in a way during this film and is desperately trying to redeem himself for letting Batman take the fall for Harvey Dent's death. Tom Hardy is excellent as Bane. One of the most interesting lines in the film is when somebody in the prison says that Bane wears the mask to keep the pain at bay. Could that be true of Bruce Wayne? Does his mask keep the pain at bay too? Is the same thing true of Catwoman? I tend to think this is very true, regardless of the reason for wearing the mask, it turns the person into somebody else they no longer are. In doing so, the masks they all wear in some respect ward off the pain.
But most interesting to consider is the story arc of Blake, because we must consider what is not on screen, the future of his character. What he does in this film, he couldn't do as Robin or Nightwing, but as a man demonstrating his courage and bravery in the face of certain death. He is a worthy successor for Batman's cape and cowl, don't you think?
The Dark knight Rises in my view sort of got a raw deal for how it wasn't The Dark Knight. But then again, what film is? In order for Batman to rise, he must first fall and fall hard. This film beautifully captured the superhero spectacle in a way that no franchise ever will for the foreseeable future. It's an incredible achievement and a monument to the sub genre of Superhero film epic.