Movie Review: "The Dark Knight Rises"

The Dark Knight Rises
Directed by: Chris Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, 
Morgan Freeman,Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, 
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard

Rated: PG-13 forintense sequences of violence and action, 
some sensuality, and language

Seven years after his first reboot of the Batman franchise, Chris Nolan brings the popular series to close with his third installment, The Dark Knight Rises.  While most (including myself) thought it would be difficult to top the scale and power of the second film, The Dark Knight, the brilliant director avoids trying to make just a bigger and better version of The Dark Knight altogether, and makes Rises possibly the most unique super hero film to date, so much so that you almost forget it’s even about a comic-book hero.  It’s set in realism, it’s complex, it’s a epic in scale, and it’s a lot of fun.  Not that everything is perfect; there are way too many characters, a lot less depth, and it’s missing the sharp script-work of the first two installments.  It’s also a little more far-fetched than Dark Knight, though still more grounded than Batman Begins.  The acting is also perhaps a little stale at times, considering Tom Hardy’s Bane is limited to almost Darth Vader-like performances, Marion Cotillard lacked a real connection with her character, and Anne Hathaway’s Selena Kyle lacked a lot of mystery, though that was more fault of the script than her performance.

But the great certainly outweighs the bad; Michael Caine and Joseph Gordon-Levitt shine as the emotional centerpieces of the film, connecting the audience emotionally to the events on screen.  Editor Lee Smith and composer Hans Zimmer are perfect in pacing the film’s plot and emotional ride.  Like most of Nolan’s films, Rises doesn’t rely on many CG elements, making the police versus mercenary battle at the end all the more mesmerizing.  The Batman and Bane fights are also terrific, and the ending sequence is perhaps the best closing I’ve seen to any trilogy, wrapping the storylines, characters, themes, and movies all together perfectly.  You can’t help get chills when Selena tells Batman that he has given everything to Gotham, and doesn’t owe them any more.  “Not everything,” the beaten Dark Knight replies, “not yet.”  The self-sacrifice of Bruce Wayne has an impact more powerful than the work he did inside the batsuit; he leaves a legacy that inspires people to do good beyond any logic or reward it may bring.  For that reason, I’m sad to see Nolan’s Dark Knight go.