The Dark Knight Rises (****)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Cane, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman

Seen: July 28^th 2012

**** Out of ****

Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises) are what all recent superhero movies aspire to be, with the possible exception of The Avengers. The Amazing Spiderman, Ironman 3 (which I saw before writing this belated review), and a few more try and in large part fail to hit the perfect balance between darkness and entertainment (sacrificing a light/fun tone) that Nolan managed to get in not one, not two, but three movies. In the sense that The Avengers did the Hulk correctly, this trilogy did Batman more than perfectly.

Eight years after the events of the magnificent The Dark Knight, Batman (Bale) has disappeared and Bruce Wayne is living as a recluse while Harvey Dent’s memory in triumph over Batman’s self-sacrifice has Gotham experiencing an unprecedented period of peace and stability. At Wayne manor, impostor Selena Kyle (Hathaway) warns Wayne that a change is coming, that those who live large will not do so for much longer. The big shake up comes from Bane (Hardy), an extremely intelligent and violently strong mystery figure – and the villainous opposite of almost everything that the Joker was in the previous movie. Calculating and precise, Bane does not rely on chaos and a scattershot approach, but rather on a breath-taking blend of strategic manoeuvring and brute force to take Gotham hostage and release the city’s prisoners to bring about his revolution. Wayne, having been out of the limelight as both himself and Batman, must return, even though that causes a rift between him and his lifelong father figure and caretaker, Alfred Pennyworth (Caine). Lucius Fox (Freeman) assists Batman in his comeback, but coming back does not mean he is ready to face Bane, which learns the hard way, and Wayne/Batman faces an uphill struggle to make a second comeback to save Alfred, his biggest investor and almost love interest Miranda Tate (Cotillard), and the city of Gotham, from complete ruin.

The movie takes its time to get Batman on screen, and when he initially appears it is once again only for a short while before his catastrophic first meeting with Bane. Bane is a chilling presence from his first appearance in a daring kidnap from an airplane in flight (yes, you read that right). The action and tension is brilliantly created and the viewer is drawn into the bleak world and even bleaker foresight for Gotham’s future to great effect. Like The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises offers nearly no way out, no path to redemption, and it is only by a hair’s width that Batman is able to save the day – but Batman does not do it on his own, he has a lot of help: Police Commissioner Gordon (Oldman) and Officer/Detective Blake (Gordon-Levitt) are vital cogs in the resistance while Batman is in exile; Selena Kyle swings between fleeing and fighting; Alfred leads the charge in helping Wayne retain humanity; and Lucius Fox is there with the technology.

The movie delivers on every level, with engaging delivery of just about every line and beautiful cinematography and choreography of everything in between. Tom Hardy’s physical presence surpasses his acting skills as the mask he wears eliminates pretty much his entire facial range, but he still dominates the screen. Christian Bale is magnificent as the broken and embattled Wayne, and every actor in a smaller part than these two makes each role memorable. Two moments in the entire movie disappointed me; one being an unintended moment of laughter – a character death near the end is somewhat ridiculously done, but doesn’t hurt the movie; and the credits start rolling a few seconds too early, Christopher Nolan feeling the need to spell things out rather than leave the audience to decide about such a small thing as a smile.

The Dark Knight Rises is a fantastic follow up to, and stands in stark contrast of, The Dark Knight. Chaos makes way for strategy and an anarchist makes way for a firebrand, but the principled and ever fighting dark face of justice remains in Batman, and expands in the support he receives from those standing up around him.