I went to see the Dark Knight Rises with a heavy heart. After the opening day tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado on Friday’s midnight show, my excitement for this movie felt impeded. With all of my energy, I fought that empty feeling in my stomach so it wouldn’t taint my perception of this movie.
(There will be spoilers– be warned)
Plot:
The movie starts eight years after The Dark Knight. Batman has not been seen since that night that Two Face nearly killed Jim Gordon’s son. Harvey Dent’s betrayal was kept secret and his actions were blamed on Batman. This conspiracy was agreed upon by both by Commissioner Gordon and Batman.
Bruce Wayne has become a hermit. He never leaves the Wayne Mansion and is rarely seen.
Bane is an international mercenary with a fierce reputation. A course of event brings him to Gotham City. Under Bane’s domination, Gotham is cut off from the world. Bane’ group has a bomb that could kill the whole city. The majority of the police force is trapped under ground. Bane bring anarchy and chaos to control Gotham until the Bomb will explode and cleanse Gotham City.
Batman comes out of retirement to stop Bane but is betrayed by Selina Kyle (Catwoman). His back is broken by Bane and thrown into a prison pit. Can Batman heal, escape and save his city from a ticking time bomb?
What I liked:
The details of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are not forgotten. This movie brings in plot points and unexpected characters from the first two movies. I did not expect this level of wrapping up this series.
I enjoyed the portrayal of Bane. It did not go by the comic book lore. Bane did not have the tubes for the drug Venom that gives him super human strength. But Bane has the bigger and faster body than Batman. Bane has the military tactical genius mind from the comics. They did have Bane’s later connection to Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia al Ghul. It was superior in every way over Bane from the terrible Batman and Robin movie.
I liked Anne Hathaway in her role as Selina Kyle. I don’t recall a single time she was actually referred to as Catwoman. She played the role as a theft with a bit of a conscience very well. It was extremely different take on Catwoman than Michelle Pfeiffer’s version in Batman Returns (which I still love). Even with the differences, I enjoyed Hathaway’s performance.
What I Didn’t Like:
As much as I enjoyed the portrayal of the character of Bane, I could not stand the mask on his face. The Bane full face mask (similar to a Mexican Wrestling mask) could have worked for this movie without distracting from the morbid dark tones. This movie’s mask never grew on me but took away some of intenseness of his character. The mask would be KOOL in a steampunk movie but it did not work for me for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
Marion Cotillard is a fine actress with an Oscar under her belt. (Major Spoiler) But I did not like this version of Talia al Ghul. They telegraphed her identity from the beginning of the movie. She did not have the look and feel of Talia. She did not have mixed feeling about killing off Bruce/Batman. Her death at the end was completely meaningless and anticlimactic.
John Blake is not a bad character as a young police officer/detective. (Major Spoiler) It bothers me that his character has this innate knowledge that Bruce Wayne is Batman. When he confront Bruce, Bruce quickly admits that he is Batman. Even worse is the ending where they imply that he is Robin (middle name) and Bruce gives him the coordinates to the Batcave. If you were going to do this, why not just refer to him as Richard through the whole movie?
(Major Spoilers) Nolan wrapped up all of the loose ends of the series in this movie. It is impressive but I hate how it was delivered. I hate the idea of killing Batman in a nuclear blast out in the sea. What is worse is the pseudo killing of Batman and having Bruce Wayne show up in Italy with Selina Kyle just to give a nod to Alfred. I hate Bruce “dying” broke and Wayne Industries on the verge of bankruptcy. Bruce leaves the mantle of Batman or Robin to a character created for this movie in John “Robin” Blake- really? The ending was not what I was hoping for.
Review:
This was a very good movie. It has several things going against it. It will always be compared to the great middle movie (similar to how Return of the Jedi is compared to Empire Strikes Back), The Dark Knight. It came out the same year as the awesome Avengers movie that was fun ride. The tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado does loom over the head of this movie. All of these demand this movie hit it out of the park and it did not. It was a solid double. It was a good movie and better than The Amazing Spider-man but not by much.
My Grade: B+
Other Reviews
IMDB: 9.2
Rotten Tomatoes/Critics: 87% Fresh
Rotten Tomatoes/Audience: 94% Fresh
