Film Review - THE DARK KNIGHT RISES ★★★★☆

Christopher Nolan set a new standard for the comic book movie genre with 2008's The Dark Knight, which had more in common with multi layered gritty crime dramas like Heat and even The Godfather than any of the take your pick of the typical superheroes versus villains tearing up the scenery in colorful costumes movie fare. The middle chapter in Nolan's trilogy boasted a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Heath Ledger's game changing portrayal of the Joker, and also prompted the Oscars to expand the Best Picture category to ten candidates when The Dark Knight was snubbed (robbed) of a nomination. Plus let's not forget that beyond adoration from critics and fans alike, the film happened to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Cut to 2012 and we at long last have The Dark Knight Rises, the highly touted and anticipated conclusion of Nolan's Batman trilogy with Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader. Expectations are beyond the roof and it's no spoiler that both the director and star are firm on hanging up the cape and cowl for good after this film. Nolan has only the high bar he set himself to equal if not exceed with this grand finale. A bar perhaps impossibly high based on the success of The Dark Knight on so many levels.

As much as I would enjoy rambling on and on in explicit detail about the film, this is actually a tough review to put to paper so to speak in trying to maintain a predominantly spoiler free forum regarding as many of the critical plot points as possible. Or at least the ones that have yet to be overtly revealed in the trailers and television spots.

"Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." Words from Thomas Wayne to his young son Bruce in Batman Begins that deeply resonate with him as an adult and into The Dark Knight Rises.

The story picks up eight years following the climactic events of 2008's The Dark Knight, Batman has disappeared, last seen as a wanted vigilante (having taken the fall for the murder of District Attorney Harvey Dent), Bruce Wayne is a cane dependent limping recluse taking refuge in his rebuilt mansion, and Gotham City is enjoying a period of near crime free prosperity thanks to the harsher laws enforced by the Dent Act.

But there would be no movie if new evil blood didn't rear its ugly head to take Gotham by storm, and that blood would be Bane, played with brutal authority by Tom Hardy. Bane on the big screen is a mysterious muscle bound masked terrorist whose intricate grand plan to bring Gotham City to its knees lures the Batman out of his self imposed exile, regardless whether or not the Caped Crusader is actually prepared for what his new adversary has up his sleeve (although truthfully he is mostly seen sleeveless).

Even with half of his face hidden, Hardy provides a powerful menacing presence as the soulless Bane, who out muscles, out thinks, and effortlessly hands the Dark Knight his ass in their brutal first one-on-one encounter. Bane is a juggernaut out to break the bat, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Without revealing too much more on the details of his overall scheme for Gotham, in addition to physical and psychological intimidation, Bane's motives manage to play on both the present day fears of post-9/11 terrorism and good old fashioned nuclear destruction.

For us fans familiar with the comic book lore, the film remains surprisingly faithful to numerous aspects of Bane's origins with heavy nods to the iconic storyline the villain is best known for. But he is adjusted accordingly to fit into the existing cinematic continuity established by Nolan and his screenwriters. There will be purists who will cry fowl over some specific changes made, but what we have here is a comic book villain who is adapted to work in a real world setting, or at least Nolan's big screen real world, so to speak.

Also added into the mix is the cat suit clad jewelry thief played Anne Hathaway, who brings a tech sleuth take to Selina Kyle. She gives it her all as a burglar in black who is all at once sexy, seductive, deadly, and unpredictable while also able to flawlessly pull off her own Keyser Soze moment to escape a bad situation. Hathaway easily puts her own mark on the iconic Catwoman character, even if she is never actually called that in the film.

In his third turn in the role, Bale gives his best performance in the dual role, and even takes to toning down the growling of his dialogue under the cowl as well. He is given a lot to do in this film, as one cannot rise without first falling. Bruce Wayne's journey here is epic and is the centerpiece of the generous near two hour and forty five minute running time. But interestingly enough, Batman himself probably has the least amount of screen time in this film than the previous entries.

Bale adds even more layers to the troubled Bruce Wayne. The billionaire is a shattered shadow of his former self and by prematurely, if not arrogantly jumping back into the game, he suffers a brutal and decisive defeat at the hands of Bane.

Scenes between Bale and Michael Caine as Alfred are both powerful and heartbreaking, and a testament to the deep relationship between these two characters. Alfred has always provided the true heart and voice of reason as the surrogate guardian and father figure to Bruce Wayne, and here he easily anchors the most emotional moments in the film.

The supporting cast step up their familiar roles as well and are given enough time to shine as integral parts of the intricate plot. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, and newcomers Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective John Blake who maintains faith in the tarnished faded legend of Batman, and Marion Coutillard as Miranda Tate, who each offer their own contribution to the overall thrust of the thick story. Where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two rushed too quickly in saying goodbye to well loved characters you had gotten to know over the course of the series, The Dark Knight Rises leaves little left unturned for all players involved, whether they be old, new, or making welcome re-appearances.

What resonated with me was the amount of subtle restraint Nolan exudes in the film, which separates TDKR from typical big summer movies that thrive on how many cuts you can edit into any given sequence, how big the explosions are, or the amount of flashy effects your silicon valley CGI army can cram into any given frame.

In order to isolate Gotham and cut it off from possible outside rescue, Bane blows up all the city's bridges. Nolan doesn't cut to 95 different massive pyro shots as multiple bridges crumble into the water, but rather effectively sticks to wide ariel shots sans any elaborate sound design, and you are left to observe the mass destruction in its entirety from afar.

Many times instead of throwing it all in your face, elements are established and then are moved along on their merry way. Nolan often feels no need for gratuitous showcases of special effects or fight skills. You see Selina Kyle display agility and smarts in many quick instances, but you will find no ten minute Catwoman tour de force action scene just to remind us how hard Anne Hathaway trained for the role. Bane is extremely powerful, but the extent of his true strength is not revealed when you would most expect it, but instead almost in a blink and you'll miss it moment. For this reason it's an unfair comparison to place TDKR side by side with this summer's other big comic book movie, The Avengers, simply because their worlds and the approach to these films could not be more different. While Joss Whedon successfully delivered countless cheer worthy fan boy dream moments on the big screen, Nolan finds little need to over showcase anything for the sake of the over showcase.

That said, let's switch gears and get down to the IMAX...

72 minutes of the The Dark Knight Rises was shot in native IMAX. Movies shot in the standard 35mm are often blown up to IMAX proportions in post production, but narrative films are rarely shot to this extent. The format is not ideal for an entire feature not only due to the camera's cumbersome size and weight, but it operates with a loud noise that makes recording clean dialogue on the set difficult, if not impossible at times.

Nevertheless, Nolan chooses his scenes wisely and is met with impressive, if not spectacular results. I saw the film in full IMAX in NYC and was completely engulfed by the elaborate action scenes and numerous stunning establishing aerial tracking shots as it flipped back and forth from 70mm to 35mm (the IMAX image is 40% larger and far more detailed). It takes some getting used to at first between the alternating aspect ratios and picture resolution, but the overall scope and grandeur of some of the chase sequences featuring the Bat-Pod, The Bat taking to the air, and the thrilling Bane intro sequence that was previewed in theaters with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol last December, are visually jaw dropping as narrative films are rarely given this epic treatment. You will be doing yourself a huge disservice by not seeing it in IMAX.

The Dark Knight Rises will be dissected, over analyzed, under appreciated, over appreciated, lauded, dismissed, as well as relentlessly discussed and debated for years to come. It will also thankfully get our minds off of bitching about Prometheus for the time being. But like most Nolan films, repeated viewing is a must and will add fuel to the fires of conversation. And best of luck to the noble team who gets the thankless task of following this for the inevitable reboot of the franchise.

In pacing and narrative, it falls in between the two previous installments, but unequivocally brings the trilogy full circle in brilliant and unexpected ways, especially when it focuses on bringing closure to the story. If you haven't seen Batman Begins in a while, a revisit might not be a bad idea just to be on the up and up regarding some details.

But as the closing chapter, I found TDKR to be a fitting, satisfying, and yes, spectacular ending for these characters' journey. While there are several plot bumps and logistical aspects well worth questioning, as well as some script decisions nitpickers and purists will likely target, but I can without reservation say that there are moments in the film that could be described as overall triumphs in cinematic storytelling. The Dark Knight Rises is your must not miss film of the year and will easily be one watch come Oscar time.

The Dark Knight Rises opens on July 20th in theaters and IMAX.

REVIEW RATING:  ★★★★☆
IMAX REVIEW RATING: ★★★★½☆
Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 144 minutes

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