Don’t build this up too much and you will probably enjoy it. I was hoping for the best film of the decade but unlike Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises failed to live up to the hype.
It’s not a bad movie or anything (in fact, it’s a rare cinematic achievement), but as the closing chapter to this incredible trilogy, it wasn’t the epic conclusion I had hoped for. In fact, it wasn’t really a conclusion at all.
The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after The Dark Knight. Gotham is still oblivious to the true fate of their beloved Harvey Dent and Batman is still a wanted vigilante. As a result, Bruce Wayne is also in hiding; finding himself without meaning or motivation.
That is until the arrival Selina Kyle (who is never named as Catwoman, but it’s pretty obvious) and the sinister Bane. This encourages Bruce to don the cape and mask once again, and protect his beloved Gotham city from complete destruction.
Most of the original cast returns, with Christian Bale once again forcing the husky Batman voice, Michael Caine playing the worried father figure/butler, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon.
New additions to the cast include Anne Hathaway, who is nowhere near as irritating as I thought she’d be, Tom Hardy, who has the massive job of filling Heath Ledger’s shoes as the main villain, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who continues upward to his status as Hollywood’s everyman.
Christopher Nolan’s third film is actually more about Gotham than Batman, and the first hour or so is used to paint the city in a new light, showing the aftermath of The Joker’s reign and how they are dealing with/covering up the death of Harvey Dent.
The introduction of Bane is just as impressive as The Joker’s unveiling in The Dark Knight, as his henchmen pull him out of a flying aircraft. However as a villain in general, Bane is not up to the standard set by Ledger before him and let’s face it, Hardy’s redubbed voice is absolutely ridiculous. I also thought it was weird that the explanation of Bane’s mask is that it’s for pain relief, while in the comics it’s used to feed him a drug called Venom, which is what gives him his super-strength.
The score by Hans Zimmer is absolutely incredible and I will be very surprised if he doesn’t win another Oscar. For this reason, I recommend going to see this at IMAX – with the visual landscapes crafted by Nolan, along with the intense score; it really is a feast for the senses.
Unfortunately though, it’s the ending that ruins this movie the most. I won’t give anything away, but it’s not the epic conclusion you’re hoping for. That’s all I’ll say.
Hopefully by reading this I have lowered your expectations, and hopefully as a result it means you like it more. It’s definitely not bad, it’s just not great.
Rating: B+
