The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I went into the theater trying my best to keep my expectations at bay.  After all, it is hard to imagine a Batman movie being made that is better than The Dark Knight.  Now, to say this up front is important: The Dark Knight Rises is a very good movie, and it is a fitting finale to Nolan's Batman trilogy.  However, it certainly has its flaws.  After some reflection, I believe it will remain my third favorite of the trilogy.

Rises is quality.  I don't think director Christopher Nolan is capable of making a movie that lacks quality.  In terms of production values I have nothing but praise.  This is an extremely well-constructed film, one that is compelling in both visuals and sound.  The pacing and editing of the film is wondrous; for a nearly 3 hour movie there are remarkably few downtimes, and never once did it seem to drag.  It was a long film, but it never felt long and I was never bored.  This was a good movie -thrilling, exciting, and fun.  Nolan leads a good team, and what he produces is seemingly always worthwhile.

That doesn't mean the movie is perfect.  Many of the individual elements had great strengths, but there were a great many more weaknesses in Rises than in the previous two in the series.

Catwoman is a great place to start.  Any fan of the comic looked forward with great anticipation to see what Nolan would do with this iconic and much-beloved character.  Anne Hathaway pulls off the character better than I could have hoped.  Who knew the Princess Diaries chick could be believable in an action movie, let alone as Catwoman?  She has some of the better moments of the movie, deftly and cunningly switching roles, doing whatever is necessary to get what she wants.  Clearly she is quick and smart, instantly turning from "hysterical frightened little girl" to "flustered maid" to "icy thief."  Whatever will get the job done, she can do.  However, all this ability is one of my small complaints: she is so accomplished, but we never really get to know her.  We don't know her backstory, we don't know how it is she learned all she knows.  She is simply dumped into the film fully-developed and we the audience are expected just to accept that somehow this girl is so capable physically and mentally.  It's a small complaint, but one that bugs me.  After all, in a movie series that so valued showing us all the preparation Bruce took to become Batman it seems a little odd that someone who can hold their own in a fight alongside (or against) Batman is never developed in the same way.

Alfred Pennyworth has also been a long staple of the Batman mythology, and Michael Caine has performed the role admirably throughout these three films.  Clearly the character loves Bruce, and truly fears what might happen to him when faced with the new threat of Bane.  Alfred has always been the one who has understood the enemy better than Bruce, but always is there to help Bruce pick up the pieces when things go wrong, not even bothering too much with the "I told you so" comments.  Caine does a great acting job as always, and clearly Nolan knows how to use him (Caine has now appeared in the last five Christopher Nolan movies).  I was surprised then to see how little Alfred does in Rises.  His role is quite small compared to the other films. You never want to take away from Batman to focus on Alfred, that would defeat the point.  But I did wish for more Alfred.

There was a bit more focus on romance in Rises, with two love interests developed for Bruce.  The great thing is that this "love triangle" never becomes a focus, nor did it get in the way.  The romance is developed casually, almost effortlessly.  On the other hand, what works as a strength in terms of not getting in the way of the plot works against the effectiveness of the relationship.  I never really saw much in the way of chemistry or deep connection between Bruce and either girl.  Perhaps more the the point, I didn't quite understand why either girl would be all that interested in Bruce, though the plot later answers that question for at least one of them.  I just know that when all was said and done Bruce ended up with one of the girls, but if I didn't bring a great understanding of the characters into the theater with me I would not have understood why.  I see that as a shortcoming in the storytelling of the movie, though a Batman fan would not be disappointed.


On to more important matters; the bad guy.  Bane is simply a great Batman foe, and in Rises Bane was everything he should be.  Except perhaps his voice -something about Bane's voice sounded off to me.  Maybe it was how it was more tenor than bass, and thus didn't seem to fit the brutal and huge body from which it came.  Perhaps it was how it seemed to come from all sides, rather than from the character himself.  It could be that it was too well-enunciated, too clear for a voice coming from behind such a mask.  Now I admit that Nolan had a real obstacle to overcome, and he received a lot of flak early on for Bane's voice being too hard to understand.  Maybe this result is the best that can be expected, but my initial impression was still "Bane's voice sounds like that?"  Anyway, that's such a small issue with such a large character.  Bane was captured near-perfectly as Batman's most dangerous foe.  Watching Bane in action you have no doubt that he is a brutal, physically dominant man that Batman should not even consider facing in a straight-up fight.  Moreover, Bane is clearly intelligent and cunning.  He is terrifying and deadly, everything the comic made him to be.


And what Bane does is create overwhelming destruction and pain. Each of these Batman films has a theme, a problem to be overcome by Batman that can be summed up in one word.  For Batman Begins the theme is fear.  In The Dark Knight the theme is chaos.  Here in Rises the theme is pain, and believe me it is done well.   In a plot very inspired by the Batman series "Knightfall," Bane takes on Batman and Gotham, emerging on top in both respects.  Bane establishes his dominance (in a plot development sure to be shocking for those who aren't familiar with Knightfall), and both Batman and Gotham need to find some way to rise from the ashes of destruction.  What Bane accomplishes is so monstrously huge that it almost strains credulity (check that, it does seem way too far-fetched).  But the effect is that we the audience wonder what possible way Batman can fix things, and that I believe is the point.  This is a very good plot, and it creates all the perfect opportunities to wrap up all the major and minor themes that have been developing through the trilogy.  Many defining moments from the previous two movies come into play, and they lend support to the conclusions of Rises.


Of course, I do have my small issues with the plot, and they can be summarized as follows: fusion?  Really?  Haven't we seen this somewhere before? (Spider-man 2 anyone?)  Furthermore, the problems of traveling just do not seem to apply to this movie.  A character can pop out of a hole in the middle of nowhere (presumably Asia) without anything except the clothes on his back, yet that character can somehow get to Gotham without difficulty and in record time.  How is such a thing accomplished?  It just isn't explained, and that bugs me.  Also, while the writing was good and a proper Batman story, it lacked many of the same comic relief moments of the first two films (though to be fair, perhaps that was an intentional decision made by the director.  This one had to have more gravitas.).


But perhaps the biggest issue I had with the film is that it lacked the memorable set-pieces of the first two movies.  Not that it didn't have any; there were a few memorable moments.  But aside from the first Batman/Bane fight, there just didn't seem to be any iconic moments involving Batman himself.  Begins had a wonderful introduction to Batman, a great batmobile chase, and a stunning last fight.  The Dark Knight had a spectacular sequence in Hong Kong, the marvelous vehicle sequence with the Joker in the truck, the interrogation scene, and the end where he fights both bad guys and a SWAT team.  My issue is that everything in Rises seemed generic and non-memorable compared to those first films.  That first Bane fight was great, but aside from that the most memorable part was Bruce climbing a wall.  Symbolic yes, but not the same as before, and not really a "Batman" moment."

That brings us to the end.  As I've noted, the end is fitting to the series.  I'll not spoil anything for anyone by going into specifics, but all threads are tied off.  My only issue is that everything ends up a little too neat and tidy.  One character, built up throughout the film is disposed of without much fanfare and forgotten.  Another character that shows up in an extended cameo is not disposed of at all.  And everything ultimately ends on perhaps an overly optimistic note.  It almost gave me the feeling that the end was re-cut with additional scenes after negative feedback in screenings.  Everything just goes from very bad to rather sunny almost instantly.  Could Gotham really ever recover from such an ordeal?

All in all, The Dark Knight Rises is a great way to spend a few hours.  Christopher Nolan has finished what is now the ultimate comic book movie series.  It has a tone that is realistic and dark, with important themes and deeper meaning than other typical action films.  Other comic book movies seem light and trivial in comparison.  But The Dark Knight Rises really only reaches those heights by standing on the shoulders of the other two (and better) films that came before it.

Entertainment: 5/10
Artistic Value: 6/10
Technical Merit: 6/10

Overall: 5/10


P.S. Final "this bugged me" moments: Wayne Manor was rebuilt with old-style radiators?  Really?  And don't you just love how quickly day turns into night?  Motorcycles leave the stock exchange in the bright afternoon -Batman starts chasing them and it is midnight.