Review of The Dark Knight Rises (2012) by Kieran R — 20 Dec 2017

The amount of anticipations going into The Dark Knight Rises was big, higher than any of modern films.

And despite the fact it shatters at times, it tends to live up to most of them. It's a huge movie, with a big budget slated on its plate and many explosions to back it up. So with the only person who can mangle all of these expectations and still making a movie being Christopher Nolan, this movie was not full of hype that could never be lived up to.

The special effects and action sequences definitely live up. But the story told here is about none of that and is instead about Bruce Wayne's personal journey as he struggles between becoming Batman and letting his old life go, with effects to go with it.

And this film makes it work. Despite not being as strong as its predecessor, which can make it seem like a disappointment, it truly works as a solid and coherent story.

In it, Harvey Dent has died the hero that Gotham has expected him to be, with Batman taking the fall for his crimes and has subsequently not been seen since. The only people who know the truth about that night eight years earlier are Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Alfred, and they are the only ones knowing there is trouble stirring on the streets.

The trouble comes in the form of Bane, a masked bald villain, who starts off his crime spree by pulling a seemingly impossible stunt through escaping from an airplane, crashing it and only saving one passenger, who he takes hostage of. Later in the film, this stunt turns out to unfold into a plan to take over Wayne Enterprises.

But the movie doesn't end here. Bane's plan goes further and deeper. He turns out to take over an entire city full of hostages in order to control Gotham once and for all. His reason for this actually dates back to the original film in the Batman trilogy, Batman Begins, when Ra's al Ghul realizes the only way to truly save Gotham is to destroy it, as it has gone beyond corruption. It's a brutal and dark philosophy that Batman has fought all these years.

Bruce Wayne, on the other hand, is no criminal fighter. Broken from the death of his girlfriend Rachel Dawes, he returns to crime-fighting when he is stolen of his mother's pearls and fingerprints. His burglar, Selina Kyle, is portrayed by Anne Hathaway, who wants Bruce to fall down hard and strike out economically, being very poor herself and left with very little from the rich. She gets her revenge in ruining Wayne's bank account through his fingerprint, resulting in an enthralling action sequence in which he must rise again as Batman in order to fight back against her and Bane, accompanied by the brilliant Hans Zimmer's score.

To save his business, Wayne must give his entire company to rich philanthropist Miranda Tate. It's a sad move but it is necessary to save Wayne Enterprises and the film takes this, with no empathy, showing Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth's pain to remain loyal.

As well as Alfred and Lucius, Wayne also requires additional help. This comes in Commissioner Gordon and new-school character John Blake, a young orphan who has recently been promoted and is a strong threat to the villains in the film.

Despite being "dark", this film has a theme of hope. At least, it claims there can be no despair without hope. This comes to effect later in the film...

Christian Bale is a strong actor for Batman and a relatable one for Wayne. He's torn between giving up as Batman and helping Gotham when they need him most, at these days. Gary Oldman receives the most screen time he had in any of the films in this trilogy, which works. And the new characters are also interesting, particularly Anne Hathaway's dark Catwoman. She fits as a cold-blooded, no alliance, dark thief. Blake also appears as believable in this film. Being an orphan, he truly connects to Wayne, making a few exchanges truly seem heart-to-heart.

The only other character in the supporting cast is a surprisingly unrecognizable Bane, played by Tom Hardy. He by no means makes any connections to the legend Heath Ledger and his iconic character Joker, but feels like you wish he would. While Hardy is a good actor who can bring many characters to live, Bane is simply not his type. This makes Bane stand out as the down-point. On the good side, he seems like an intelligent, muscular, and frightening villain. But neither of these traits can pass Heath Ledger's abilities. To his defense, not many characters can.

This hurts but in the end, doesn't kill the movie. The amount of loose ends needed to be tied up can though. But thankfully, The Dark Knight Rises instead brings the Batman trilogy to a close on an emotional and action-filled level.