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)
ravenosa
Not sure what they saw in the screenplay to actually go ahead with this film! Not a particularly compelling plot at all, and most sections just drag and drag on with no pay off. Doesn't really end on much of a note.Standard Nolan film, really. Weak characters, cute time puzzles, decent cinematography and unintelligible sound/dialog mix.
douglasbrewer-74526
The Dark knight rises ends what can be considered one of the greatest trilogies in all cinema. On its own this is a great, long film containing some amazing action set pieces- especially vehicles but the fact remains that there are many underlying themes about human nature and mortality at play here. Christian Bale dons the batsuit one last time for Nolan but it is Tom Hardy as Bane who steals the show with his raw energy. On its own this is a must watch but when seen as a piece of a trilogy this is not to be missed. (Concludes one of the greatest series in all of cinema)
Torrin-McFinn77
Due to the cliffhanger of the second Christopher Nolan Batman film, I was hoping that there'd be more. And I was right. We get the final chapter of the Dark Knight trilogy and a new villain, being Bane, who was a brilliant tactician and antagonist for the Dark Knight. Plus some unexpected moments. Anne Hathaway was good too. The real show-stealers are Christian Bale and Michael Caine in this film. It's not the best third chapter of a trilogy (my favorite is Return of the King) but it comes close to being very good. You'll see!
