The newest addition to Christopher Nolan’s realistic, gritty adaptation of the DC Comics character Batman, “The Dark Knight Rises,” is, in short, excellent.
I just want to get that out there. I don’t need any rabid fanboys attacking me for my opinion and forcing me to temporarily shut down the blog…
Anyway. The movie starts in its first scene immediately where “The Dark Knight” ends, with Police Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) giving a speech about Harvey Dent’s (Aaron Eckhart) death. The story then immediately shifts to eight years later. Eight years without the Batman protecting Gotham. But Batman (Christian Bale) isn’t needed. The Dent Act has given the police the ability to sweep organized crime almost entirely off the street. Peace in Gotham has been achieved.
But the peace won’t last, as the mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy) is coming to Gotham City. While he seems at first to be working in tangent with an unscrupulous member of the Wayne Enterprises board, it becomes increasingly, rapidly clear that he has his own designs.
I watched this movie twice. First, I watched it before rewatching the previous two films. The movie was excellent then, completely followable and understandable despite my not really remembering much from the previous films, particularly “Batman Begins.” The second time, I rewatched the previous films first, and it made things clearer. The previous films, and “Batman Begins” in particular, are referenced strongly throughout the film, giving Nolan a circular arc for his story. The ending meets back, to an extent, with the beginning.
I feel like, the first time, the first half of the movie was perhaps a bit cluttered. The second time I watched it, it seemed far less cluttered. But the pacing seems perhaps a little off. If I had to pick a complaint about the film, it would be that. But around the second half, things hit their stride and become far smoother.
There are quite a few little twists and turns in the stories, particularly toward the end, that some have said were easy to call. Personally, I think Nolan didn’t care about keeping them secret. Those conscious of the comic book characters will likely catch the bigger twist long before it happens. Those meticulously detail oriented and remembering “Batman Begins” will perhaps catch on before that. And that’s the great thing about the twists: It’s not about shocking the audience. For the audience, it’s all about the story. The twist is there for the characters, completely unaware.
The acting in the film is also wonderful. In two sentences, Michael Caine as Alfred manages to bring me close to tears. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, playing Officer Blake in a debut character, pulls of the no-nonsense, empathetic and intelligent cop rather well. But my favorite new role probably comes with Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle. The sensual, seductive thief struggling between doing “the right thing” and doing what is best for her is portrayed amazingly through Hathaway.
Some complained about the soundtrack being too percussive. I think the percussion is extremely appropriate for the film, a percussive, final look at the Batman character. It is the most aggressive, dangerous, violent story yet, and the percussion brings out the danger and immediacy of the tale.
Other small nitpicks would include Bane’s voice… It sounds like, to me, they changed it, making it clearer… I personally feel like the gruffer, less audible voice was appropriate thematically. Another nitpick would be a lack of explanation for where Bane got his men. He has a cadre of extremely devoted, to the point of death, soldiers. There’s no real explanation given for them, or for why they’re so devoted. But, as I said, these are minor nitpicks, me searching for anything to say negative about the film.
As for the political statements or the philosophical statements of the film… I think the political ones that some are trying to come up with are ridiculous. As for the philosophical ones, I’ll try to discuss some of those later. I think I’m going to talk about Bane vs. The Joker and which is more frightening. Point is, watch the movie. It’s worth it.
chaoticpen 