The Dark Knight Rises

***The Dark Knight Rises*** is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final installment in Nolan's *The Dark Knight Trilogy*, and the sequel to *The Dark Knight* (2008). The film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman. It premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012.

## Plot

Bane, an imposing terrorist, attacks Gotham City and disrupts its eight-year-long period of peace. This forces Bruce Wayne to come out of hiding and don the cape and cowl of Batman once again.

## Why It's Great

1. It's a good conclusion to *The Dark Knight Trilogy* of the Batman franchise.
2. Christian Bale still did an amazing job portraying as Batman.
3. Does bring back certain connections found from *Batman Begins.*
4. The darker tone and the gritty tone is amazing.
5. Tom Hardy's portrayal as Bane is one of the best villain characters to date, despite looking nothing like the character in the comics. Hardy did make an amazing job portraying Bane, who is arguably the best villain in all of the DC films.
	* Also, he is a friend and protector of Talia al Ghul and the field commander of the League of Shadows. He was potent in both strategy and physical combat.
6. The scenery is still amazing.
7. Ra's Al Ghul returns as a cameo in the movie.
8. The soundtrack that was performed by Hans Zimmer is so epic and exciting as well.
9. It still has a bunch of awesome fight scenes.
10. The scene near the end of the movie where Batman uses his aerial craft, the Bat, to carry the bomb far over the bay and explodes is well handled.
11. Well done acting, including Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.
12. Superb cinematography. Even the plane crash scene is a highlight.
13. **"Tell me where the trigger is! Then, you have my permission to die."**

## Bad Qualities

1. It never explained how Bruce came back to Gotham City after escaping from the pit prison.
2. Bane and Talia Al Ghul's deaths were underwhelming, especially Bane's.
3. The ending doesn't really feel like a conclusion to the series. Instead, it feels rather a sequel baiting.
	* Also, the audience is led to believe that Batman's alive and well, living life as an anonymous civilian. In reality though, Wayne is an internationally recognised business magnate, who's been featured on the front of TIME magazine — there’s no way he would have been able to enjoy a quiet life without strangers pushing cell phones in his face every time he left the house and the news of his survival getting out.
	* The movie ends with John Blake discovering the Bat Cave, hinting that he'll replace Batman as Robin.
4. Despite that many characters from the first two films are officially returned for the grand finale, the biggest main criticism is that the Joker (Heath Ledger's character) is neither mentioned nor referenced at all and doesn't even seem to exist anymore despite being the main antagonist of the previous film, which is quite ironic considering that Two-Face barely had an important role in the previous film and is constantly mentioned and shown in flashbacks. Understandably, the Joker's absence is given due to Heath Ledger's death and Christopher Nolan's refusal to recast the role, which means that a full appearance was impossible, but seriously, how much did it cost them to include a mention to the Joker or a quick cameo in flashbacks with footage of *The Dark Knight*?
	* Indeed, by omitting the Joker, if not because of Two-Face's death and Batman's exile because of it, one could feel that this film feels more like a direct sequel towards *Batman Begins* rather than to *The Dark Knight*, as it brings back the League of Shadows and the Ra's al Ghul plot after their absence in the previous film.
5. During one point in the film, Commander Gordon decided to send the entire Gotham police force underground at once, where they are trapped by Bane. But when the force are rescued, and they show up impeccably dressed, in great health and in perfect condition making the entire scene look pointless.

## Reception

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave The Dark Knight Rises an approval rating of 87% based on 368 reviews, and a rating average of 8.00/10.

## Box Office

*The Dark Knight Rises* grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the second film in the Batman film series to earn $1 billion. In addition to being Nolan's highest-grossing film, it became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2012 behind *Skyfall* and *The Avengers*.

## External links

* ***The Dark Knight Rises*** on IMDB
* ***The Dark Knight Rises*** on Rotten Tomatoes