The Story
8 years after the events of The Dark Knight and the disappearance of Batman, Gotham is living in a time of peace. Thanks to the passing of the Dent Act, a law put in place after the death of DA Harvey Dent, James Gordon has all but eradicated violent and organised crime. It is during this peace time that a new threat rises in the form of the brilliant and deadly Bane who, like Bruce Wayne, is also a disciple of Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows.
As Bane makes his way to Gotham to act out the leagues final plan, Bruce Wayne realises that Batman is needed to battle the rising evil and suits up once again. It will take all of Batman’s cunning, strength and wit to outsmart Bane, save Gotham and to finally put to rest the ghost of Ra’s Al Ghul.
Whilst this conflict is going on, cat burglar Selina Kyle finds herself working with the league of shadows in an effort to have her criminal record wiped clean and gain a fresh start in life. Little does she know that she will be drawn into a battle for her life and the lives of all of Gotham.
The Good
Once again, Christopher Nolan brings to the screen a living, breathing Gotham that seeps atmosphere from every pore. It’s a testament to his abilities as a director and film maker that even after three films his Gotham is still full of twists and turns that leaps off of the screen. It seems that the experience he learned from making Inception has only gone on to strengthen his abilities and talents, especially in filming action and fast paced scenes like the return of the Bat Pod and Banes battles against Batman. The cast is still top notch, with Bale and Caine making every scene they have together heartfelt and full of love and respect. Bale as usual is brilliant to watch and he will defiantly go down as being one of the best on screen Batmans ever put to film. Joseph Gordon Levitts Detective Blake is a fantastic addition to the mythos of this Batman and is the one to give Bruce Wayne the push he needs to return to the streets and save the city. Tom Hardy is as always, excellent and brings a ferocity and humanity to his interpretation of the intelligent and deadly Bane. Whereas the Joker used chaos as a reason to fuel his twisted plans, Bane’s meticulous planning plus his size and strength easily make him more than a match for Batman and push Bruce Wayne to the very edge. Sometimes it can be hard to hear what he is saying, but I personally owe that more to his deep accent than his mask. Rounding out the cast is without a doubt the best thing about the film, Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle. She is both cunning and agile whilst being fiercely independent; her motives at first are all about furthering her goals of a normal life but slowly she comes round to protecting the weak and down trodden. Catwoman (even though she is never called such in the film) has always worked best as a female Robin Hood, robbing from the rich to give to the poor and her character arc in the film is a perfect representation of that. Hathaway is able to switch from bumbling maid to snarky thief in the blink of an eye and like Heath Ledger in the previous film she is an absolute joy to watch. I would love to see more of her as Selina in another film as her version of Catwoman is simply awesome to behold.
The film as expected looks stunning and features an amazing soundtrack by the multi-talented Hans Zimmer (my favourite track being imagine the Fire). On top of this the character and overall designs are brilliant, from the fantastic powerful Bane to the graceful and elegent look of Selina Kyle. The new vechile in Batmans arsenal, the Bat, looks friggin amazing and rightly so steals every scene it’s featured in.
The Bad
The story, whilst strong and sometimes complex, feels a bit weak in comparison to the previous films. I understand why as this film serves to resolve all of the hanging plot threads from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. While it does this in every sense of the word, some of the conclusions are maybe not what some people expect. The main meat of the story, the take over of Gotham, does feel like it goes on a bit and some of the plot points like the Police force and such is a wee bit silly. Although the major gripe with the story is how Bruce Wayne feels the World doesn’t need Batman anymore. In the comics this would never work as Bruce knows there is always the need for a Batman but in Nolans films it works as this is a Bruce who is tormented by his losses and failures. He only gives up after the death of Harvey Dent helps push through a law to prevent any kind of organised and violent crime in the city. In essence he is removing himself from the equation and letting the police do their jobs and protect Gotham. It’s defiantly a controversial choice but does bring a true end to Bruce Waynes story.
The main thing I disliked about the film was how little there was of Batman. I would say he is in this film as much as the Joker was in the last and that is a crying shame. The only benefit this had was how excited I was when Batman was on screen; his return to Gotham though is fantastic and again it’s a shame we have to wait so long to see it. The final fate of Bane is also a bit of piss take, after the film building him up to be this powerful game changer, he is dispatched a bit to easily. Also people might feel that the running time is way too long and a lot of people may get agitated or bored. I think this is aimed more at the kids and people without a long attention span than most of the general public.
Final Verdict
After a four year long wait The Dark Knight Rises surpasses nearly every expectation. Even with its minor flaws it is still a fantastic film in its own right and a stunning conclusion to one of the best trilogies ever put to film. Watch it, love it and treasure it!
4.5 out of 5
