THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
DIRECTOR: Chrisopher Nolan
CAST: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway
★★★★
The Matrix, Spider-Man and Pirates Of The Caribbean, all critically acclaimed and all bringing in a satisfying box office return. Their reputation inspiring movie bosses to produce sequels, which all ended up disappointing... Will the epic 'Dark Knight' trilogy be reduced to the same fate... The world waited with baited breath.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the third and final installment of Christopher Nolan's comic book saga lived up to it's name to rise above other movie trilogies and soar to the thematic and stylistic heights of its predecessors.
In the mid 1990s' the reputation of Warner Bros. Batman franchise was at an all time low with 'Batman & Robin' producing some of the cheesiest one liners in cinema history (such as Mr Freezes "Ice to see you!").
In 2005 Nolan resurrected the Caped Crusader in with the critically praised 'Batman Begins', the grittier and darker origin story of how Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) became to be a moonlight masked vigilante. a sequel was inevitable. So, in 2008, Nolan and his team returned for the follow-up. 'The Dark Knight', just as captivating and ingenious as the first but with one exceptional difference. Heath Ledger's Joker, stole the show (and Academy Award) as he bought Gotham City to it's knees by turning Gotham's White Knight (DA Harvey Dent) on to a grief driven killing spree that destroys everything that Harvey and Batman had fought so hard to stop.
In 'The Dark Knight Rises', the story has progressed eight years. Batman has taken blame for Harvey Dent's murders and left Gotham to fend for itself. Bruce Wayne is holed up in a rebuilt Wayne Manor. Weakened, and even going grey, Bruce and Alfred (Michael Caine) debate Batman's future in tense and tender exchanges, that will tug your heart. You're hooked, and the fighting hasn't even started. In a scene James Bond would kill for, a CIA aircraft transporting terrorists is sensationally hijacked in midair by Bane (Tom Hardy), an intimidating hulk whose nose and mouth are encumbered by a tubular, grill-like metal mask which gives his voice an artificial quality similar to that of Darth Vader. What Bane is up to is not entirely clear, but it can't be good.
Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), A spirited Cat burglar tries to get Bruce Wayne/Batman back into the limelight. But an attempted kidnapping of Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and a brazen attack on the Stock Exchange from Bane is what catches the Bats attention, the latter catastrophe having the double effect of bankrupting Bruce Wayne. Commandeering the city's sewers with his fellow mercenaries, Bane begins his first onslaught on the caped crusader which will leave you gasping in disbelief. If the underlying theme behind Batman Begins was 'fear' and The Dark Knight is chaos then the theme behind this is clearly - 'Pain'! The remaining 90 minutes will keep you on the edge of your seat, the pinnacle moment when Bane destroys, well, everything, including a masterfully created scene when Gotham's football stadium implodes to the earthy depths below. The real world threats of terrorism, political anarchy and economic instability make The Dark Knight Rises incomparable to this years other superhero blockbusters. While The Avengers may have bigger zings, The Dark Knight Rises has one thing Whedon missed: emotional engagement; a genuine sense of jeopardy and deepening human drama. (OK, three things).