Batman's Final Flight

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2012)

As a saying goes all good things must come to an end, most third or even final entries to a franchise most of the time disappoint me, to me a proper finale shouldn't just have the biggest final fight but the character/characters have to be at their best. This film has both those things and to me makes this franchise one of the best trilogies up there with the "Star Wars Trilogy" (episodes 4-6 to be exact) and "Lord of the Rings" I personally can't think of a better way to end it, and this will sound controversial but this film is my favorite in the series.
As usual everything works, production value is on par, music score is great. The action sequences were great, I really loved seeing Batman use the Batwing, though personally my favorite vehicle will always be the Bat Pod. But my favorite one was in the two one on one fights against Bane which were intense but also rather suspenseful.
But most of all the characters and their dynamics. The new villain Bane (played brilliantly by Tom Hardy) doesn't disappoint. This guy is physically and verbally intimidating and scary, from what he does and one look at him I couldn't help but be a little worried for Bruce/Batman's life. I like the voice reminds me of Lord Humungus from "The Road Warrior" but some of the things he says could really put a chill down your spine. But anyway Bane is sort of a modern day Atila the Hun, a ruthless, merciless, borderline insane conquerer hellbent on completing the objective from the League of Shadows which is to annihilate Gotham and destroy Batman's physically and spiritually. His plans and action feel frighteningly plausible if any organization or leader of it is smart and crazy enough. Indeed things do get out of control as we see Bane along with his league and scum of Gotham take over the city, kinda like in the movie "Escape from New York" where the imprisoned criminals have created a world of their own.
But to me the real people that drove the film are Bruce/Batman and Selena/Catwoman. As usual my favorite actor Christian Bale plays Bruce/Batman well. Here we see that the business of being has taken it's toll on him physically and may'be even mentally. The main problem with him is that he hasn't really moved on because he doesn't have anyone to move on with so he feels he has no future.
Anne Halfaway is just awesome as Selena/Catwoman. Not just does she look great in the cat suit and mask (and without them) but has the persona to boot. I love how she's feisty, fiery, has charisma, an unpredictability about her, but she is a bit sympathetic because you can tell she wants something more out of life and she has a conscious. Love her martial arts moves, their sort of gymnastic like. She has a low opinion on men, she isn't sexist she's just had bad experiences with them, don't blame her most have been scum or windbags. As well a prejudice to the higher class because she feels they waste there money on themselves instead of helping others.
The chemistry between both of them I think is great, there really are sparks flying between the two. Both of them truly are the same, split right down to the center. Despite her prejudice toward Bruce's social status she does fancys him, from their interaction time she easily forgets he's rich in fact doesn't even care, likewise for Bruce and on further not he's not really rich anymore he actually becomes broke so you can say both are on equal ground. But both also have dual identities and almost similar abilities, like one moment when she disappear from Batman when he looks away for a moment. To me I feel that part of what love is that it shouldn't matter, whether it be race, religion, social status, or any other feature, it's what two people feel for one another that matters.
If their are themes it's simply about moving on and being yourself and why there has to still be heroes in the world. Bruce we see is learning the hard way that being a superhero isn't just a responsibility but that it's a business and like all businesses it loves no one back it can go on even without him; he's getting older and has physically taken his toll. But he also realizes how his personal life has became empty and he doesn't want to live that way anymore he can't. In a way I feel that's another part of what it means to be a superhero, to learn to be yourself because that really is what the world needs the most just you.
The Dark Knight Rises toward the light of day.
Rating: 4 stars