The Dark Knight Rises

*Spoilers on the off chance you haven't seen it!*




The final chapter in the Christopher Nolan directed Batman trilogy is here. The Dark Knight Rises had an impossible task: follow up THE greatest superhero movie of all time. The Dark Knight made gobs of money, was loved critically, and even won Academy Awards. It's snub for a Best Picture nomination changed the way the Oscars are done, expanding the nominees from five to ten the next year to include more fan friendly films. With all that being said, The Dark Knight Rises meets all expectations and more.

Eight years after Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes at the end of the last film, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is now a hobbled recluse. The streets of Gotham are relatively clean and all is well. But a string of events started by Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and the rumor of a more sinister evil, Bane (Tom Hardy), brings Batman back into the fold. Bane has come to Gotham to finish the work started by Batman's mentor, Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson, seen only in flashbacks) by bringing the city to its knees.

Tom Hardy had an impossible task. He is charged with playing the next villain in the Batman series after Heath Ledger turned in a performance for the ages in The Dark Knight. Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Ledger was incredible. He was sinister, darkly funny, and completely insane as the Joker. Many had a hard time recognizing the actor under his makeup and voice. The Joker is one of the best movie villains ever put on screen, and Ledger's performance will likely never be matched, at least in a superhero film. Even with the ridiculous bar Ledger set, Tom Hardy does as well as anyone could with a follow up. Bane is an incredible presence on screen. With his most of his face covered by a mask, Hardy had to sell the character with his voice and body language. He most certainly delivers. Bane's voice is scary, even if it is garbled and hard to understand at times. His stare and hulking frame intimidate all who cross his path. In short, Bane is a scene stealer that is a worthy successor in the Batman trilogy to the Joker.

At two hours and forty-five minutes, TDKR is the longest movie of the three, but the pace is so brisk I hardly recognized the run time. Length is all about pace. There are ninety minute movies that seem to go on forever, and there are three hour movies that fly by. The sign of a great film is one that can engross you at all times. You don't feel the need to look down at your watch or pull out your phone because you are sucked in. TDKR most certainly does this.

I thought that Bruce Wayne's arc was the best of the three films. We see Bruce at the first of the film jaded and alone. After leaving Batman behind, with his love Rachel dead with him, Bruce seemingly has nothing to live for. As Alfred (Michael Caine) says to him, he is merely existing. Kyle is the one who seems to pique his interest. Kyle is bad, but you can understand her desperation. She's looking for a fresh start, and in today's world, that is hard to come by. Today, there is an iPhone app to publish pictures of those in county lockup, advertising their shame to the world. Kyle has led a life of crime and the walls are closing in. Wayne takes a liking to her. I especially liked the scene where she and Bruce share a dance at a charity event. Definitely some major chemistry there between Hathaway and Bale. When Bruce puts the cape back on, it is all about himself. He realizes he misses Batman, and that it will take his tortured mind away from his loss of Rachel. After losing a battle with Bane, Bruce is locked away in a torturous prison filled with despair. It is here that Bruce realizes the real reason he is Batman: to give himself to the city that his parents built.

The last forty five minutes of the movie are where it really shines. Bane has taken over Gotham and has threatened it with the explosion of a nuclear bomb (doing so at a football game, with some cameos from many of the Pittsburgh Steelers). All the while Bruce is stuck in the desolate Middle Eastern Prison that Bane sent him to, in order to witness the destruction of the city he loves. I got chills when Batman lit up the flaming bat signal on the bridge, and made his triumphant return. I wanted to get up and fight with the charging police officers in the battle scene between them and Bane's "people". The ending is action packed and full of intensity, and I was having to remind myself to blink.

Speaking of the "people", there was a very interesting subtext to TDKR. In many recent months the political climate in the U.S. has been surrounding the so called "99 percent vs. the 1 percent", and the supposed uneven dispersion of wealth in this country. Bane comes to Gotham preaching that he is going to take the city away from the fat cats and give it back to the people. When the "people" are put in charge, all hell breaks loose. I interpreted this to be a representation of how those with wealth make the economy run. The wealthy are the ones who employ people. People who work hard (or in rarer cases than people think, are born into it) are the ones with money, and that should be an applauded position and not a villainous one. Bane is like the leader of this movement. He truly isn't willing to be "just like everyone else" and give up the trigger to the nuclear weapon, just like our Congressman tell us that a government healthcare plan is good enough for us, but they won't use it. In such a liberal dominated Hollywood, it's very interesting to see Nolan take the opposite side. And the mere fact that I am writing about political subtext in a superhero film is ridiculous. It just goes to show that these movies are so much more than mere superhero romps. They are powerful dramas that will be remembered for a long time.

In my opinion, there are three trilogies that are the gold standard: Indiana Jones, Star Wars (originals, duh), and The Lord of the Rings. The Batman trilogy is up there with all of these. That is how good they are. TDKR is more like Return of the King than Return of the Jedi. Both were charged with following up incredible films; RotK exceeded or at least met its predecessors, while Jedi was clearly not the best of the three. Personally, I like TDKR better than TDK, but it is splitting hairs. I could watch all three Batman movies in succession and love every second of it.

I could write way more about all that is going on in this film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cop John Blake that is groomed to be Batman's successor. Gary Oldman's underrated performance as Commissioner Gordon. Bruce Wayne's love interest turned enemy in Miranda Tate, or as she is revealed to be, Talia al Ghul. Bruce Wayne and Alfred's reconciliation in the last scene. And so much more. The bottom line is that this movie is clearly the movie of the summer, and it completes a trilogy that will be remembered with the all time greats. Go see it in IMAX, as I was able to. It is stunning!

5/5