The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and supposedly last entry into the Batman franchise. Seen back to back to back with its predecessors, it’s a more emotionally cold, distant but much larger event.
Yes, The Dark Knight Rises follows in the tradition of trying to top the plot and mayhem in scale of its predecessor. In this respect it succeeds with Bane going so far as to involve all of Gotham in his strange and questionable bid to liberate it. But in doing so, it feels less connected with the suffering and conflict of the people of Gotham as seen in spades in “The Dark Knight”. To make matters worse, a slew of new characters are introduced. Those new faces are likely much to the comic book fans’ pleasure, but the price is less depth of character. In particular, who suffers here is Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon, who’s struggle post Two Face and reflective relationship with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake are both under exposed. To be fair, the pace of the movie is fast, and the plot thick.
Anne Hathaway gives an excellent performance as cat woman. Bale is good as usual and Alfred delivers a heartbreaking bit of acting. Hardy’s Bane was okay. Poor Bane, who had to follow up after Heath Ledger’s unforgettable Joker. The restraints on his expression with his mask didn’t help. There are bits where Hardy seems about to burst through and draw out depth in Bane’s character, but things are just about always eclipsed thereafter by Bane’s military like personality. That being said, he’s satisfyingly imposing, there's no issues with not being able to understand him and he delivers on the fight scenes in a big way.
Yes, The Dark Knight Rises follows in the tradition of trying to top the plot and mayhem in scale of its predecessor. In this respect it succeeds with Bane going so far as to involve all of Gotham in his strange and questionable bid to liberate it. But in doing so, it feels less connected with the suffering and conflict of the people of Gotham as seen in spades in “The Dark Knight”. To make matters worse, a slew of new characters are introduced. Those new faces are likely much to the comic book fans’ pleasure, but the price is less depth of character. In particular, who suffers here is Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon, who’s struggle post Two Face and reflective relationship with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake are both under exposed. To be fair, the pace of the movie is fast, and the plot thick.
Anne Hathaway gives an excellent performance as cat woman. Bale is good as usual and Alfred delivers a heartbreaking bit of acting. Hardy’s Bane was okay. Poor Bane, who had to follow up after Heath Ledger’s unforgettable Joker. The restraints on his expression with his mask didn’t help. There are bits where Hardy seems about to burst through and draw out depth in Bane’s character, but things are just about always eclipsed thereafter by Bane’s military like personality. That being said, he’s satisfyingly imposing, there's no issues with not being able to understand him and he delivers on the fight scenes in a big way.
There are some twists. Some that comic book fans will see coming before followers of the movie series only will. The ending is an interesting take but doesn’t necessarily offer anything that feels like we haven’t seen before. That aside, it wraps things up nicely.
“The Dark Knight Rises” rises to a 7/10. Its no Dark knight. Not even Batman Begins. But it's got the Nolan stamp, it’s the last of the trilogy and its still worth watching.
- Josh
“The Dark Knight Rises” rises to a 7/10. Its no Dark knight. Not even Batman Begins. But it's got the Nolan stamp, it’s the last of the trilogy and its still worth watching.
- Josh
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