In the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises lives up to all its anticipation and finishes off the final installment in a near-perfect way.
After the 2008 movie starring Heath Ledger as the Joker, the expectations were set very high for the follow-up to the mega-blockbuster. While not completely without flaws, Nolan's final movie in his Batman series ends on a very, very high note.
It has been eight years since The Joker terrorized the citizens of Gotham in The Dark Knight, and the city is now in a state of peace. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has since retired and left his alter-ego behind, and James Gordon has since put an end to the once crime-filled city. After a long, dragged-out first 50 minutes of set-up, the film's villain, Bane (Tom Hardy) begins to terrorize the city, leading Wayne to bring back Batman to put an end to the evil that is slowly creeping its way back into Gotham. What follows is 2 hours of apocalyptic-sized storytelling leading to a grand finale too good to spoil. With twists and turns thrown unexpectedly throughout the film, audiences are kept at the edge of their seat as they watch both the people in Gotham, and the city's heroic symbol Batman fighting for their lives.
New additions to the cast include Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy as Bane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate. Hardy is not nearly as delightful of a villain as Ledger was, and while he proves to be a real threat to Batman, the mask covering his mouth made his audio not only annoying to listen to, but also comical at parts. The real standout in the ensemble however, is Anne Hathaway. Hathaway continues to prove that she can do no wrong and I'd be surprised if she doesn't win an Oscar sometime in her career. As the role of Catwoman, Hathaway brings a level of complexity and flare to the character. In one of the earlier scenes in the film, Hathaway impeccably switches from being an innocent maid to the infamous burglar, further showcasing her acting chops.
While some superhero movies simply aim for flashy moments to grab viewers' attention, others manage to capture the audience's heart with its storytelling. In the case of The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan has written a screenplay filled with political undertones that not only gives its fans "superhero" moments of explosions and action sequences, but also a narrative that is endearing. The final act to this Batman trilogy is not to be missed.
9/10
by Kyle
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Twitter: @kylefong
I agree with most everything you said. Such an amazing ending to an already great series and definitely got to me in certain parts of the story. While possibly not living up to the hype (I mean come on, that was going to be a losing battle no matter what after Dark Knight), it still provided a truly amazing movie that is up there as one of my favorites. The entire "apocalyptic-sized storytelling" blew me away and was damn excited to see how it would all conclude.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the twists were rather obvious, especially if you heard any of the rumors.
My only thing I disagree with was Bane. I had no problem with the audio for his mask and never found it comical, Bane commanded my attention. I agree he was not as delightful as the Joker, but that is unfair to compare because Heath Ledger knocked that role out of the park.
Amazing movie. Amazing ending to the trilogy. Bravo.
Chris Nolan is my favorite director by far, and this is why. He knows how to make really good movies consistently. I went to the marathon at the local theater. It was a long night, but definitely worth it. I have to agree with some of the critic reviews that had minor spoilers but said they were minor because the film had some good surprises. Very true. Awesome movie that I can't wait to see again as soon as I can. Wait a second, no, see many more times as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteI left the cinema with a massive smile on my face. I had read a couple of reviews that had deflated my enthusiasm, but looking back at them they seemed to want a whole different Batman movie and not Nolan's movie.
ReplyDeleteThis movie was epic! I thought Bane was a great threat to Batman, but the Joker cannot be equaled and never would be, so I didn't feel any disappointment. It was a great end to the trilogy, and I don't think I would even want to see any sort of spin off or sequel cause I feel it would take away the impact of this end.
I think comparing it with the Dark Knight would be unfair. Trilogy sure, but each installment has been a completely different animal. Batman Begins had more comic book roots, and overall the lightest tone of the three. Dark Knight was dark, riding on the theme of chaos and destruction and mayhem. Dark Knight Rises was essentially, an urban war movie, an epic conclusion to an epic saga. My only complaint about the movie is that it ended, and that the Joker was not mentioned once. I understand being respectful to the actor BUT the Joker being mentioned acknowledges the performance, it doesn't disrespect anyone.
ReplyDeletesimply put, this movie was so good that after it was over, I had to wait 15 minutes for the boner to go away before I could safely stand up from the theatre seat :P
ReplyDeletei gave it the exact rating as you did 9/10 ;)
ReplyDeleteWow. You guys were a lot kinder than I was. The best thing I could think coming out of it was that it wasn't as bad as Prometheus, which isn't really saying much. I mean you could call it storytelling with political undertones or you could call inconsistent poorly thought out social commentary. And that has nothing to do with the actual action or story of the film itself which was one big ball of contradictions and illogical actions. I'm surprised more people aren't annoyed, my theater seemed to have an even split of pissed and cheering. But that was opening weekend.
ReplyDeleteHey guys, if you get some time it would be really cool if you could check out my review for TDKR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJYAnmshVEs&feature=plcp
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