An emotional and satisfying conclusion

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2012)

"The dark knight rises" isn't the perfect film but it is definitely the most emotional of all three. Yeah i said it (but neither were the previous two). But i would be lying if i was telling you that i did not have goosebumps in numerous scenes or wet eyes during some of the most honestly acting (and touching) moments in the history of cinema. This time around, Bruce Wayne is being tested mentally and physically against Bane and his hordes for the salvation (or destruction) of Gotham city. However, what really works here and makes all the way through our heart and emotions are the sharply drawn and fleshed out characters. There will be people claiming that there is an large number of individuals that take lots of screen time, yet they actually feel and act as normal "humans" rather than archetypical Hollywood algorithms. Christian Bale should get a nomination for his work as Bruce Wayne. This is his finest Batman. You really root for him simply because like all of us, he has limits (spiritual and physical), limits that will be broken.
On the antagonist part, Tom Hardy as Bane is physically impressive. Make no mistake. This is not a well built body with perfect abs and biceps in order to lure teenage girls to the cinema. Instead Nolan's Bane is a colossal muscle mountain that could snap your spine in a split second without making the slightest of effort. Just like the edgy and twitchy Joker, his unique body language and swaggering mannerisms will certainly leave an impact to the viewer's mind and rightly to do so.
However, do i hear show stealer? Anne Hathaway - she is a fully lethal, sexy ass kicking babe. I cannot believe i am writing this but she was incredible! Of course she cannot fill Michelle Pfeiffer's (iconic) shoes simply because in the Tim Burtonland, Catwoman was a demented, emotionally scarred woman with certain supernatural status at the background and played more like a tragic villain. Here, Hathaway plays Selena Kyle as a sexy, independent, thief that is balancing between good and bad all the way through the film. A fitting antihero and blurred line between Batman's justice and Bane's menace. What i really enjoyed is how similar she looks, sounds, talks and moves like her counterpart in the animated series, comics and videogames. She is even waving that ass with a cat like pose. I absolutely loved this character!
The rest of the (multiple) cast are doing what they are doing best servicing the reliable (and sometimes surprising) story written by Nolan and Goyer. Both have done their homework with Nolan's direction becoming even more confident than before. His camera sweeps and embraces the vast cityscape of Gotham, day and (much more impressively) in the night. His exquisite taste for night time shots is something that deserves the IMAX ticket alone and brings back memories when Michael Mann used to be a cool director. But what about the script? How can a film surpass the heavy expectations of the Oscar worthy "Dark knight"? Wel, it doesn't, but instead it goes around them. How do you follow that? You can't. Thus Nolan and co-s have done the wise decision of not repeating themselves terminating unwanted comparisons with the previous installments. The first entry was focused to the personal spiritual odyssey of a man and the second evolved into a crime thriller about masked vigilantes and themes of anarchy fused with (in)justice. On the other hand, the third chapter goes back to conclude the journey and the degenerated anarchy, brings back everything (and everyone) together and ties them nicely in the vast present of terrorism and economic prevalence (in a lesser degree). The Joker was full of surprises and meaningless through his performance reflecting the psychotic personality. Bane has a plan - to destroy Gotham city, to live in order to see its ashes. He doesn't want chaos, he wants order through chaos which is an interesting concept. The layout of anger, injustice, blurred morality (chase the Batman the vigilante or the robbers?) and motives is displayed through a complex array of events and almost possible situations (military law anyone?) that can be thought provoking and mind feeding.
Certain twists and turns do exist to maintain our thrilling interest to the sky but if you are a devoted Batman comic book guy, then you know kinda the story. "The dark knight rises" reaches superior film level status when it comes to powerful emotional scenes and outstanding sequences that will have your heart filled with grief and your sentiments exploding (for spoiler reasons i cannot mention any of these). The exceptional score by Hans Zimmer underlines and sometimes more than enough enhances the power of the unfolding events on screen into our mind. The A-class acting manages to inject real pathos and drama into the proceedings and this is what lacks from the movies nowdays. A good story, a fantastic cast and a large group of crew members that could make films like these possible. The movie is exceptionally shot, the action is plenty and more epic than before and the fight sequences between Batman and Bane are astonishing, especially their first encounter.
"The dark knight rises" is an experience and should be seen in IMAX. There is ground here for even more psychological exploration and doubts about moral responsibilities that could reflect into our reality. This is a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the legend of the dark knight. Probably the world's best trilogy?