“The Dark Knight” was the highest-grossing film of 2008 and won two Academy Awards (one for the late Heath Ledger’s incredible performance as the Joker). The Caped Crusader is forced back into action to face a new villain in Christopher Nolan’s satisfying final installment in his Batman trilogy – “The Dark Knight Rises”, a movie that was somewhat overshadowed by the deadly shooting that took place at an opening night screening in Colorado this past summer.
The time is eight years after the conclusion of “The Dark Knight” and Gotham City is still mourning the loss of District Attorney Harvey Dent. But Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) is still keeping the secret about how Dent actually died and the fact that he wasn’t the hero everyone still thinks he was. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) hasn’t put on the Batman suit since being blamed for Dent’s death, and his body is pretty beat-up from all his Batman battles. And Gotham City has been free of criminals for the past 8 years. But that’s soon to end.
The evil Bane (played by “Warrior”‘s Tom Hardy) has a plan to take-down Bruce Wayne and destroy the city. Bane and Bruce have a history together, which involves other past characters and storylines as well. He’s out for revenge. So Bruce has to get back into the crime-fighting game in order to stop Gotham city from being wiped-out by a nuclear bomb in Bane’s control.
The good news for Batman is that he’s not alone. Old friends Alfred the Butler (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are still on the team, along with Commissioner Gordon. Newcomers include Miranda (Marion Cotillard) who takes over Wayne Enterprises, and an young police officer/detective (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). And there’s also Selina – a.k.a. Catwoman (played by Anne Hathaway), who may or may not be on his side.
“The Dark Knight Rises” has a very simple, straight-forward story, yet it’s 2 hours and 45 minutes long. How does Nolan make those two facts work together? With nice pacing, good characterization, effective dialogue and a series of intense, exciting action scenes. Nolan (who also directed 2010’s complicated, but visually stunning “Inception”) definitely knows how to stage amazing sequences. But what he does so well in “The Dark Knight Rises” is that he doesn’t make the visuals seem so overwhelming. There’s no gimmicky “wow” moments in the film, just a bunch of great action shots, fight scenes, chases, explosions which all work within the script. And there are a couple of great twists – including the one towards the end that you won’t see coming.
On the downside, it does take a while for the film to get going. Nolan takes a little too long setting things-up and getting the story in motion. And there’s a little too much time spent on the section in the middle of the film when Bruce is taken prisoner by Bane. It’s similar to how I felt when Tony Stark is stuck in the cave for too long in the original “Iron Man”.
The performances by this top-notch ensemble cast are solid throughout. But the stand-out for me is Caine, who provides a depth to Alfred not seen in the first two films. I’m hoping he gets some Best Supporting Actor nomination consideration.
As villain’s go Bane is pretty nasty, but he’s certainly no Joker. My major problem with him is his voice, which is a cross between Darth Vader and Yoda. At first it’s distracting, but you do adjust to it as the film progresses. However, there are times when it’s very tough to understand what he’s saying – and maybe that’s the point. But be prepared to listen closely when he’s talking.
“The Dark Knight Rises” is rated PG-13 for some intense action/violence sequences, disturbing images and language. It’s appropriate for teens and up. If you’re a fan of the series (or of the Batman characters in any form), you will not be disappointed. It’s a nice conclusion to the franchise, at least Nolan’s version of the franchise. Hard to imagine, especially the way this one ends, that we won’t be seeing more Batman films in the near future.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Dark Knight Rises” gets a solid B. It’s not a “masterpiece” and doesn’t deserve a Best Picture nomination, but it’s definitely worth seeing and owning, especially if you already have “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”. Or, you can pick-up the “Dark Knight Trilogy” Limited Edition Giftset, which includes all three films and an exerpt from the book an “The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy.”