A Great Way To End The Trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2012)

'The Dark Knight Rises' is the final instalment in Christopher Nolan's trilogy. 'The Dark Knight' was extremely successful and was praised for its excellence. This means that TDKR had a lot to live up to.
It did not disappoint; this film was a lot better than I had expected. There were a few points which made this film not as good as the previous film but it was still an excellent film.
The acting was quite impressive; Christian Bale returned again to play Batman and Bruce Wayne, his character had to develop a lot more for this film and he has portrayed this very well. The film is set eight years after the events of 'The Dark Knight' and so he has managed to get Wayne's character just right. Tom Hardy is this film's protagonist; he plays Bane who is quite terrifying in some scenes. He plays a completely different sort of villain to Heath Ledger's Joker. He's organised and his violence is a lot more manual with necks being broken and people being crushed. Hardy's performance in this was great and despite most of his face being covered by the mask it is still obvious he has worked hard on preparing for his role and he should be given a lot of credit for that. Anne Hathaway was great; she had a lot to make up for previous Catwoman performances which have not been good at all. She performs really well and has managed to give the character a more serious and believable side which has not been shown in other films. Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a larger role in this film than I had previously expected but he is a great addition to the cast and it is a shame he was only introduced in this film. However, his character is crucial because he shows how people have grown with Batman and what their perceptions of him are. Other performances by Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine and Marion Cotillard were also really well done.
The script can be a bit confusing at the start but you manage to understand what's going on as the film continues. The one thing that did annoy me a little bit was Bane's voice; you can tell they tried hard to dub over it and clear it as much as possible whilst making it still sound as if the voice is behind the mask. Unfortunately there are some points where you just cannot understand what he is saying. Scenes where he is shouting are perfectly audible but moments where he is quietly talking to someone can be a bit difficult to understand. You become used to his voice but even by the end of the film there are still points where you can't hear what he is saying clearly. Aside from this the plot is really good; it's clever, interesting, fast and entertaining. I would not say the plot is an improvement on the second film but it is just as good as it.
Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for this film was a little bit disappointing; James Newton Howard decided not to work alongside him for this film and you can tell this. For the films' most crucial points however, Zimmer does do his job and the music can help create tension in places where it is needed.
Overall, I would really recommend this film. It was a relief seeing it and realising it had managed to live up to all the hype it had received. Thankfully this film was not a disappointment and has ended Christopher Nolan's trilogy on a positive note.