Johnny H.
The Dark Knight Rises (or T.D.K.R.) became the centerpiece of many Batman fans debating as to whether or not it was the sequel we deserved or needed; I say it was exactly that and more. T.D.K.R. managed to deliver the same super-thrills of The Dark Knight and then some of its own dare I say more ambitious thrills in making this like a blockbuster take on 'A Tale of Two Cities' while expanding on the areas Batman Begins may, or may not have, squandered in its story and exploration of the League of Shadows. This film makes The Avengers look like a cucumber sandwich compared to the French 'croque monsieur' of blockbuster proportions that is Chris Nolan's T.D.K.R..I love this film; it's a great exploration of what happened after The Dark Knight, and Batman's not the same person he was after he encountered The Joker. Now he's about to confront Bane, come out of retirement since Harvey Dent's demise, save Gotham from the League of Shadows, and maybe Bruce Wayne will meet his untimely end in this chapter. Also Catwoman's in this movie and she's one of the strong points for me. Somebody could argue that this movie is almost too much movie for a superhero film to contain; you have social commentary, terrorism, nuclear weaponry, thieves, the impact of one's influence on children, and of course this is all revolving around Batman and Gotham City. It's suitably epic, over-the-top and bombastic; it's exactly what a superhero movie strives to be. It never pulls its punches in its set-pieces and it shows Chris Nolan makes movies like nobody else these days can come close to.The Dark Knight Rises is a 5/5 star superhero flick that can be argued as one of the most over-the-top yet baldest movies of the 2010s. Chris Nolan knows how to make his movies a gargantuan event.
bankofmarquis
Going into the filming of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Director Christopher Nolan had a problem on his hands. The previous film in this trilogy - 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT - had turned into a cultural phenomenon based, in part, on the late Heath Ledger's bravura performance as The Joker. So how does he top it?The quick answer is - you don't, so don't even try.THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is a satisfactory conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy that started with 2005's BATMAN BEGINS and, again stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the "Dark Knight".What Director Nolan wisely does is continue his dark tone with this film, but does not even mention The Joker (or Ledger) in this film. Let the memories of the past films be just that - memories - and let this film stand on it's own.And it does, for the most part.Taking place 8 years after the events of THE DARK KNIGHT, this film has Batman coming out of self-imposed "retirement" to, yet again, save Gotham City from the clutches of a bad guy - this time, the masked Bane. In the course of this film Batman is torn down, to be risen and reborn again as the shining light of good over evil, shedding the "Dark Knight" moniker once and for all.Nolan - and his brother, and frequent collaborator, Jonathan - wrote the screenplay and it is...serviceable. Nothing really remarkable about the story and plot. It gives each one of our returning characters - Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman), Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and - especially - Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) room to shine along with other, new characters like Selina Kyle/Catwoman (a really good Anne Hathaway), Officer Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and, of course, Bane (Tom Hardy).As you might be able to see, ALL of these actors are members of Nolan's "troupe" of actors - they either have been in other Nolan films (or, in the case of Hathaway, WILL be in another Nolan film) and each of them appear on the screen with gusto and a quiet confidence in their characters and a trust in a filmmaker that comes from frequent collaborations.In the lead, Bale, of course, gives his usual, strong performance, though I did detect a hint of weariness in the performance. Now...some will say that is because the character is becoming weary, but I think it is more to the case that Bale was growing weary of playing this character.But that is a quibble for all of the characters/actors do a terrific/professional job pushing the plot forward, which (let's admit) is just an excuse to go from one gigantic battle/chase scene to another and...Nolan certainly knows how to do these.From the opening to close, every one of these gigantic "set pieces" held my attention and I found myself - even though I have seen this film before - sitting on the edge of my seat as the good guys - led by Batman - raced time to thwart the machinations of the bad guys in the end.I'm glad these action sequences held my attention, for there are, inexplicably, looooong sections of this film where there is no action, but "character development" and "growth from strong internal retrospection." This sort of thing might have looked good on the page, but it is rather dull and boring when put on the screen. This film is almost 3 hours long, and - if Mr. Nolan would like to contact me - I can suggest a few spots where we can trim about 20-30 minutes out of this film, starting with the long stretch where Bruce Wayne is imprisoned.But...these stretches are tolerable when you know it will lead you to some really fine action sequences featuring character/actors that you care about and are actually rooting for them to succeed. As I stated before, this is an "agreeable" conclusion to the trilogy. One who's journey I was glad to be one, but - to be honest - one that I was glad was over as well.Letter Grade: B+8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
Osmosis Iron
Batman Begins was a nearly perfect origin story, The Dark Knight is among the best sequels ever, and probably the finest comic book film ever made.. the third entry however is almost like everybody was "well let's just be done with this trilogy, people will love it anyway!" and most people actually did.. But the truth is this is full of plotholes or just lazy writing, dumb moments and worst of all wasted potential! This could have been so good, the premise is great, the talent behind it(both behind and in front of the camera) is phenomenal and yet for every good, cool or awesome thing in this, there are twice as many irritating, stupid and downright counter-productive moments that tear down important points the first two movies established. The villains plan from the first movie for Gotham doesn't make any sense anymore.. the whole point of the end of the second movie loses it's meaning.. the ending is absolutely atrocious and goes against the character of Batman and also is cringeworthy as hell.. This whole movie is a mess!
