The Dark Knight Rises (Review)

I had the pleasure of watching the last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. I have been anticipating this film for a year and was bursting with excitement when I bought my ticket. So many thoughts entered my mind. The most prevalent one was how will he end it? How can Nolan close the book on his version of the Batman? I wanted to get the full scope of how important this movie was so I took the liberty of watching it twice. The second time was in IMAX.

Let me say that I tried to avoid the same mistake that many people made and that was comparing and/or anticipating it to be better than the last film, The Dark Knight. In my opinion, after seeing it, it's useless to compare the two because you're dealing with two different characters and two different stories. All this I'll cover in my review.

Let's start with a brief synopsis: the story takes place eight years after the events in The Dark Knight (side note: I highly recommend watching the first two films). Gotham City is at peace and crime has taken a sharp decline. Across the world terrorist leader, Bane, makes a dramatic escape and makes his way to Gotham hellbent on destroying it. This new threat causes the Batman to reappear in order to thwart his plans of destruction and save Gotham City yet again.

Nolan's latest Batman saga is exciting. I found myself glued to the screen and zoning out at the action. It was a fitting end to the franchise that he singlehandedly revitalized. The conflict here is immense. We have two men who possess the will to give their very last to their cause; Batman's will to protect Gotham, Bane's will to destroy it. It seems to overpower them to a point. But the conflict isn't between the two men alone. Batman has grief and guilt that he must overcome in order to protect the city. Batman's troubles is twofold: the evil that is Bane that proves to be more than a formidable foe and the regret that he has from the previous film. We are seeing Batman at his nadir which proves to make for a more suspenseful conclusion.

Bane vs. the Batman

The stakes are higher this time. The city is taken by a calculated and meticulous threat that is Bane. The way that he gains control of Gotham is unique. He gives Gotham what Batman has given them: hope. Let's just say that the way he presents it is genius and is the total antithesis of the Caped Crusader's version.

Tom Hardy's Bane

Bane is one of the reasons, among many, that so many people went to see this film. So, what was all the hubbub about with this guy? For starters we have a villain that Nolan has once again created with a deep root in reality. When the announcement came that Bane would grace the screen people scratched their heads. For those who know the comic, Bane was portrayed as a juiced up muscle donning a wrestling mask. For those who saw the earlier Batman films know Bane as a masked idiot with muscles. Nolan remade him into a cunning and ruthless antagonist. A few alterations were made: the wrestling mask was replaced with a face mask that provided an anesthetic to keep his pain at bay (they touch on this in the movie) and he was dressed ready for a military coup than a wrestling ring. Granted, in the comic Bane was highly intelligent and well read. Nolan simply utilized that. Bane is a military genius that relied on explosives and mercilessness to grip Gotham into fear. The plot that he hatched was, in true Nolan fashion, rooted in reality. All the bad guys that Nolan used in the trilogy all had plots that could happen and still possessed the epic goodness of a comic film.

With the good comes the bad. One of the negatives that people had with Bane was his dialogue being inaudible at times. I had a discussion with two people that I feel are astute when it comes to cinema about this and there a few theories: I felt that the voice was mixed in a way that drew you in. Can you expect someone in a face mask to be audible all the time? The way that his voice was mixed was intentional. It enhanced his menacing demeanor and made him more interesting as a character. Their theory was that the sound editing was just off so much so that his voice sounded detached from the body and it took away from the experience. Darth Vader was brought up in the discussion and how his voice was clear and understandable and he's still memorable. My rebuttal was that was his voice too clean? Both circumstances are different and call for a certain approach. I feel that all points are valid. It's true that there are parts that left you saying "what?" but I still feel that the essence wasn't taken away from him and I was still anticipating seeing him on screen. This debate I'll leave up to the viewer. I will say that when I saw the film in IMAX his dialogue improved slightly. Still, I loved it.

Bane displays the look that many had trying to understand his dialogue

The question that I hate to dwell on but must address because it is prevalent is: is it better than The Dark Knight? My answer is not to answer at all. The Dark Knight was amazing. So was The Dark Knight Rises. Both films had a bad guy who was epic. Heath Ledger's Joker was an agent of chaos and relied on disorder to destroy Gotham. Tom Hardy's Bane was more organized. There can be no comparison between the two. They both served their purpose of bringing the city down. I don't feel that one is better than the other, but I will say that they both edge each other out in certain areas. Still, there is no better villain. Plus, you have a different circumstance here as well that needed a different kind of baddie. This is the last film and as such you need a villain that suits the situation. Bane's plans were brimming with the possibility that this could prove too much for the Batman to endure. To me the Joker didn't give you that because both men wouldn't allow it; they needed each other. With Bane he wanted to break the Batman. The only thing that mattered was the plan and its execution. Again, two different villains with two different ideals.

All in all, The Dark Knight Rises is a hit. My only qualm with the movie was the end. But then again I shouldn't have expected what happened to be what ends the trilogy so I guess the very end was appropriate. I still think it would've been interesting if Nolan ended it in that manner. I feel that I was witnessing history. The Dark Knight Rises will mark 2012 with sadness (the Colorado shooting of 12 people during the film's screening) and excitement. So do yourself a favor and watch this film.