The Dark Knight Rises

My Grade:  A-

Christopher Nolan is one of my top three favorite directors right now.  And it’s not just because he has an amazing last name.  It seems like he strives for perfection in his films and I respect him for making Inception because it is one of the only completely original, big budget films to come out of the studio system in recent history.  But enough about him, we’re here to discuss his latest offering; his epic conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy.  And I was not disappointed... but I do have some questions (which we will get to later).

Everything about this film is epic.  The shots, the number of extras, the grandiose writing, etc.  And that is how this had to be in order to close out one of the most successful trilogies in recent film history.  While being big in every way, though, it still tries to keep its focus in the right place - on Bruce Wayne.  Unfortunately, this film kind of strays from that.  It still shows Bruce in this internal struggle of what to do and what not to do as Batman, but it seems like Nolan toned that back in exchange for some GIGANTIC fight scenes, HUGE locations, and even some (seldom used by Nolan) big-time special effects.

The acting in this installment is probably the best it has been in any of these three Dark Knight films.  I mean, Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight is absolutely the best acting performance by anyone in any of these three films (and should go down in history as one of the greatest portrayals of a villain ever), but the returning cast (Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine) are better than ever in this film; especially Michael Caine.  He has some of the most emotional material in this film and, assuming you have a human heart, he will bring tears to your eyes in at least two scenes.

The new additions to the already stellar cast certainly added some star power and incredible talent including Tom Hardy’s Bane, who is terrifying at times.  That speaks to Hardy’s amazing talent seeing as how the majority of his face is covered for the duration of the film AND his voice is digitally altered.  Another Inception alum, Marion Cotillard, joins the cast as well and brings her beauty, lovely French accent, and incredible ability to bring depth to whatever role she plays.  My favorite addition, though, is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.  Not only is she gorgeous, but she portrays Catwoman’s inner struggle perfectly.  Also, she owns one of the best scenes in the film (when she ends up on Batman’s bike... I’m not telling you why or how, so it’s not really a spoiler).  Then, of course, there is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is always good.  He brings life to the easily forgettable character of Officer Blake.  Gordon-Levitt brings a passion to the character, that makes us sympathize with his story and makes us care about him even though some may argue that his character isn’t actually needed.

Before I tell you the problems I have with this film, I have to mention the best mini-monologue in the entire film.  This is something that Bane says to Batman and it is beyond amazing:

“You think darkness is your ally.  You merely adopted the dark; I was born in it.  Moulded by it.  I didn’t see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding.”

This does so much to allow us to peak into what makes Bane the psychopath that he really is.  And it shows us the differences between Bane and Batman despite them having a lot of similarities.  Beautiful writing.

Now, I have to talk about my concerns.  I really, really wanted to give this film an A+ but I feel like I can’t because I would have to ignore some glaring concerns of mine to do so.  To talk about my concerns, though, I have to mention things about the story.  Some are big spoilers, some are not; however, I would hate to ruin this film for anyone who hasn’t seen it (even though pretty much everyone has, judging by the box office).  So here goes.

SPOILER ALERT!  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS FILM!

First of all, how can anyone (even a superhero) recover from a broken back as quickly as Bruce Wayne does?  The prison doctor even says that a vertebrae is sticking out of his back!  That’s not something you come back from so quickly.

Secondly, once Bruce does recover from his broken back and makes it out of the prison, how does he get back into Gotham?  And, even if he is logically able to make it back in, how does he get back so quickly?  That prison couldn’t have been anywhere near Gotham seeing as how it was in the middle of the desert and Gotham is a major metropolis.  Traveling that kind of distance would be even harder with no money, no transportation, no way to contact people, etc.  Then, once he actually gets to Gotham, all the bridges into the city are blocked off my masses of military personnel.

I guess these two things can be explained by one fact... this is a movie.  And, more than that, it’s a super hero movie.  So it doesn’t have to make complete sense.  And these two things alone aren’t enough to really concern me.

This next thing, however, is what really concerns me.  The story in this film recycles plot points from the previous films.  In Batman Begins, there is this special item (the microwave emitter that vaporizes water supply) that is supposed to be used for good, but it falls into the wrong hands and can cause extreme problems for Gotham... same in this film with the energy source.  Also in Batman Begins, Bruce has to escape from a remote place (the League of Shadows stronghold) just like he has to escape from the desert prison in The Dark Knight Rises.  Finally, the Joker from The Dark Knight is very similar to Bane from The Dark Knight Rises in that they both are agents of chaos and use local, poor thugs to create an army of followers.  Bane also breaks everyone out of Blackgate prison just like Scarecrow does in Batman Begins.  The biggest difference in Bane and the Joker, though, is that we find out that Bane was a pawn in Miranda/Talia’s master plan which makes him less terrifying in the end.

Because of these, and a few other issues, I say that The Dark Knight is the best of the three films, but The Dark Knight is still a wonderful conclusion to the trilogy and I will be purchasing it... on blu-ray.