The Dark Knight Rises review

Jim Gordon: [lying in a hospital bed] We were in this together, and then you were gone. Now this evil... rises. The Batman has to come back. 

Bruce Wayne: What if he doesn't exist any more? 
Jim Gordon: He must... he must... 

Director: Christopher Nolan
(2012)

The weight of expectation is a very dangerous thing. This is a fact we all need to remind ourselves of from time to time, an exercise well worth undertaking if you’re a Star Wars fan. After the surprise that was Batman Begins, and the surprise hit that was The Dark Knight, it’s understandable that the hype for the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The dark Knight Rises, is at fever pitch. And while there's no doubt that TDKR is a superb film, it’s far from perfect.

Following on from a stunning action scene that introduces new antagonist Bane (Tom Hardy, complete with biceps the size of small children), we learn that many things have changed in the 8 years since the dark knights stunning conclusion. Harvey Dent is a hero, Gotham is clean of crime and the man behind the Batman, Bruce Wayne (Christian bale) is a recluse, wasting away his days in Wayne Manor. Afflicted with a crippled knee (a visual sign for his depression?), Bruce spends his days wasting away, much to the heartbreak of his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine). After and encounter with slinky cat burglar Selina Kyle and the arrival of Bane in the city, Bruce decides it’s time for the Batman to rise from the ashes.

What's surprising about TDKR is the quality of the performances from the entire cast. This would be a remarkable feat in any motion picture, but considering the sheer amount of characters on show here, it’s certainly more of a phenomenon. Christian bale is easily the best actor to don the suit, his subtle performance as Bruce accurately portrays his tortured soul. Michael Caine gives some much needed heart to proceedings, endlessly trying to usher Bruce out of his depression. Caine has been consistent throughout his career and continues that trend, although has considerably less screentime than the other films in the trilogy. Gary Oldham and Morgan Freeman return as Commissioner Gordon and Lucius fox respectively, and like Alfred, they do a good job in the few scenes that they're in. Newcomer Marion Cotillard is love interest Miranda Tate, and Ben Mendelsohn takes the role of Roland Daggett, a seedy business man who wants to topple Wayne Enterprises.

The biggest characters come in the form of Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and the fearsome Bane. Blake is a rookie cop new to the force eager about the return of the batman, but its Hathaway’s sexy cat burglar who gives the strongest performance. The announcement that Hathaway was to play Catwoman made fans such as myself rage furiously, but we’ve been proven totally wrong. Nolan handles the character carefully, making sure to weave her into the main story. She's helped by some good writing, a feature that Hathaway takes and transforms into something truly special. Next to the Heath Ledgers Joker, this is the finest performance in the entire trilogy.

While Hathaway’s Catwoman is subtle and sophisticated, Hardy’s Bane is something new entirely. He offers a considerably different form of adversary for Batman; for the first time in the trilogy we have a villain that is a physical match for The Caped Crusader. And boy does Nolan deliver, offering the most brutal fight scenes possible for a 12A film. Bane and batman go at it on multiple occasions, offering visceral fistfights that push both characters to their limits. Yet Bane is far from just muscle though. He’s a highly intelligent foe, with a plan to take Gotham by storm in a story that’s a parable to the occupy Wall Street motion. He does so with such style, armed with an intoxicating almost Irish accent and an unforgettable mask to deliver him the anesthetic that he requires to live. Nolan stated that pain would be a prominent theme of the film, and between Bane and Batman, we are shown enough to last a lifetime. As a character Bane does have his flaws, most notably due to his iconic headpiece. The mask muffles his voice, sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility. It also obscures 60% of his face, leaving tom hardy to carry such a great character only with his eyes and body. This is a feat that is achieved, but still could have been so much more.

After the visual feast that was the dark knight, Nolan needed to raise the stakes once again in the action department. After filming around 30 minutes of IMAX footage for TDK, almost an hour is used for The Dark Knight Rises, and to excellent effect. Every key action scene looks spectacular. This is not just due to filming at a higher resolution, but due to Nolan’s love for being practical. Chases, plane heists and explosions, the amount of CGI used is minimal. The highlight though, a 1200 man fist fight on the streets of Gotham, is a real treat. Where most directors would use computer generated imagery, here we have 1200 extras fighting it out, the good guys vs. the bad guys. This is bold and ambitious filmmaking that’s almost unheard of in today's films, something that only Nolan seems to be doing.

Unfortunately, some of The Dark Knight Rises brilliance is lost through the hard editing style that is employed. While this allows events to unfold at a snappy pace (a must, even though the film is almost 3 hours long), it lessens the emotional impact of the scene. It also damages the story in some occasions, making the transition between scenes seem disjointed. This problem is aggravated by some surprisingly sloppy writing; plot conveniences, sloppy devices (the stock exchange set piece) plot holes (how does bane know the location of the applied science vault?) does surprising damage to the overall film. Time and time again David S. Goyer and the Nolan brothers have proven they can produce solid material, but here, things aren’t quite up to their usual standards.

However, all these minor flaws are rendered redundant by the film’s final 3^rd, a string of epic set pieces and riveting narrative. The final 20 minutes is the reason that I watch films, stunning doesn’t begin to describe it. The climax is a textbook example of how to properly finish not only a film, but a trilogy as well. Saying more would spoil things, but needless to say, those who turned up to see a fantastic ending will get what they came for, and then some. At its worst, it’s sloppy and rough around the edges. At its best, there's little that can touch it. A fine ending to a superb trilogy.

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