Film: The Dark Knight Rises

People who know me or have read my blog will probably be aware of my love for Batman. Comics, video games, film; whichever format it's in Batman is often the best of comic book heroes. Even so, with the release of The Avengers (which I loved) I questioned whether The Dark Knight Rises could live up to the hype and complete what had been the best series of Batman films. Thankfully The Dark Knight Rises doesn't disappoint, even if it doesn't quite live up to the greatness of it's predecessor.

Opening eight years after the end of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has retired from his life as Batman, with Gotham City enjoying a new crime free era. That is until the powerhouse that is Bane (Tom Hardy) arrives; reuniting the League of Shadows to bring forth "Gotham's reckoning". With the help of the cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), Batman has to rise to the challenge and save his city; possibly for the final time. 

As with the previous films in the franchise the acting is top notch, adding the brilliant performances of Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the stellar cast. The greats: Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman return for the final chapter, but in smaller roles. Particularly Caine who more or less disappears around the first act and Oldman spends a great deal of screentime in a hospital bed. They still make great use of their screen time even if they don't feel as involved in the main plot.

Bane is a remarkably different villain than we've seen before in this trilogy, a psychical threat to the Dark Knight but also one with a powerful mind. When Batman first goes toe-to-toe with him it honestly feels like he doesn't stand a chance, with him essentially getting his arse kicked. Nolan makes the fight scene so unbearably personal that you almost feel every bone break. Hardy brings a real presence to the role, his distorted voice booming out creating a true sense of peril for the heroes; with the previous films making it quite clear that no one is safe. While I have still heard many complaints about how hard it is to understand Bane, even with them tweaking it in editing, I feel this is part of the point. You don't necessarily need to understand every word out of his mouth, you know he's here to cause trouble.

Oddly enough for a film about Batman you see very little of Bale in the costume, which is both a help and a hindrance. On one hand you get a lot less of the much maligned deep Batman voice which has been heavily mocked throughout the series. On the other it makes the first hour or so drag a fair bit as you wait for Batman to actually rise. For me the Batman voice has never really been an issue, yes no one talks like that but no one dresses up like a bat and beats the crap out of bad guys either. And on the lack of actual Batman front; while the film may seem a bit slow for people expecting it to be filled with action, fans of the franchise should have come to expect a slower film that is still capable of fantastic action. By focusing on Bruce Wayne more, Christian Bale gets more of a chance to act as opposed to being hidden by the mask. He is portrayed as a far weaker character at the start of the film, one so broken you wonder if he will even be able to done the suit. The film is mostly centred around Batman getting back to his former glory so that he can stop the superior Bane.

Hathaway was definitely the biggest surprise for me, I wasn't confident she could play the role (which we're not supposed to refer as Catwoman) with the level of sexiness and power it deserves. But witnessing her performance it's obvious why Christopher Nolan chose her for the role, she brings all these aspects without being quite as over-the-top as say Michelle Pfeiffer; creating the break through performance of the film. It's never exactly settled whether Selina is a hero or villain, instead she is allowed to walk the line between both; definitely much more in keeping with her comic book counterpart. It's also quite clear Hathaway is having a great deal of fun in the role, often bringing a bit of lightness to proceedings without steering the film away from its darker roots.

Some of the other characters roles feel a little limited, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as police officer Blake) for one could have been better established. He is made in to a big player at film's end which might have felt more deserved if he had been introduced earlier in the series. It also feels like they take too long to get Commissioner Gordon back on his feet, it's clear why he has to be out of certain events but it makes him feel much less important in the plot overall. Marion Cotillard's character feels a little but aimless for a lot of the film; it's clear there is something not quite right about her but they don't give enough time to really explore the shocking twist about her as it occurs very late in the film. However, these flaws end up being quite minor, the story is about the return of Batman; these characters fulfilling the roles required to bring him back.

While not as perfect a Batman story as The Dark Knight, this film is able to wrap up the necessary plot stands while also telling its own story. With this film, Nolan is able to craft a magnificent end to The Dark Knight trilogy (as they're now calling it), a very touching finale that feels totally deserved.