Christopher Nolan concludes his Dark Knight trilogy with the Dark Knight Rises, promising the end of a Legend and the Fire rising as Gotham is sunk into utter chaos. The story was written by David S. Goyer, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, giving a proper conclusion to the saga that began in 2005 with Batman Begins, with actors such as Christian Bale, Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, each returning to their respective roles of Batman, Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox and James Gordon. Star actors such as Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard as Catwoman, John Blake and Miranda Tate. The main antagonist of the film is the terrorist leader Bane, played by Tom Hardy. Hans Zimmer as well returns to give his final soundtrack for the Caped Crusader.
The movie is not just a continuation of the previous installments or a movie of its own, but it is a finale to the series and that is why I can’t help but to feel very emotionally attached, I already love everything there is about Batman almost, but when I see the drama that Bruce Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth have to endure, with very human (and more importantly, real like emotion) you just really feel it when the things start to break apart from relations to pressure, such as the burden James Gordon has had to carry for Harvey Dent’s fall. I was tearing myself with each scene Michael Cane is, the chemistry we’ve seen him and Christian Bale have is one of the most cherished aspects of the franchise, I’d honestly hope Michael Cane would at least receive an Oscar Nomination from his performance, but that’s my inner Batman fan boy speaking.
Now on to the movie itself, it truly is Bruce Wayne’s story, he has exiled himself from the world after the events of the Dark Knight, both spiritually and physically weak, he gains new spark in life with the introduction of Catwoman, with rumors of a terrorist named Bane, a once member of the League of Shadows now in Gotham city, it’s time for Batman to get back into the game and chasing the cat. Anne Hathaway’s performance is a show stealer, which is funny because like Heath Ledger before her, it seemed majority we’re against her, but this performance has really sold the idea she can be a proper big action star herself, definitely another strong portrayal of Batman’s main bad girl.
Bane’s army isn’t simply a group of fanatical cultist terrorists, but also the poor and orphans of Gotham City, as all big crime organizations have more or less been dealt with thanks to Batman’s sacrifice over Dent, it’s the rich and powerful business men who have become the bigger threat, while the normal citizens keep getting poorer and poorer, it’s Bane’s plan to shake things up and have the people fight back for Gotham, but this is all just faux-social commentary, feeding the poor false hope while blaming the society’s fat cats as the cause of all bad, but in truth Bane is just wanting one thing: the total annihilation of Gotham. Tom Hardy’s face is covered the whole time with a gas mask more or less that keeps him alive, however Tom still makes a very physically imposing act with his body and more importantly, his use of the eyes. You feel the danger, the pure eyes of dedication he has for his cause, but it’s his voice that makes him at times feel more sympathetic villain, than a dangerous force of reckoning that someone like Darth Vader has as a voice. I guess I just feel I personally would have went with a different direction with the voice, but at the end of the day, Bane as he proclaims, he was the necessary evil that Gotham “had to” endure.
However, as the movie doesn’t truly have any real social class political message people we’re assuming there was, the only real message I can see this movie providing is the support on vigilantism, that people like Batman are needed in a society that is held by shackles, however how does this blend with the Dark Knight, which had Batman try to utilize the law to provide peace, is something you can debate and exchange views upon really, but is something interesting to think about.
Now, I have to mention two issues I had with this movie, the 1st being that this movie does question your suspension of disbelief, but how can this be possible? After all this is a movie about a man dressing up like a Bat! But when you have this franchise that marks itself for being such a hyper realistic world, it does become bothersome how characters just happen to be at the right place at the right time, or manage despite any real answer to move to a whole different location because the story demands it. The 2nd problem I had with this movie is sadly very disappointing, because you’d hope something better from the creative team, but the character of Miranda Tate is completely pointless in this entire movie. She serves no real purpose in the movie outside of fleshing out and motivating two other characters, besides that she is just one-sided character whose last scene is flat out laughably bad. These two flaws just really stick out, but luckily they don’t stop this from being a good movie.
Now if there is one thing Christopher Nolan has evolved the most from 2005, it definitely is his talent of filming action sequences, from the choreography to the camera angles, alongside the co-operation he has with Hans Zimmer, the music blends incredibly well within the action, and the action is downright chaotic in this film, explosions everywhere! War between the police and the terrorists! Batman vs. Bane! Don’t even get me started on the sheer awesomeness that is the first 8 minutes with the airplanes, it’s all just eye candy for the viewing pleasure.
There isn’t a thing I couldn’t over talk about and ramble about, with such a good movie that delivers such a great ending to a series of films, I couldn’t do anything more than to shout on top of my lungs to go see this movie, because the Fire Rises and the hype delivered, good bye to the wonderful creative team behind these movies.
(the former: www.standaard.be, the latter is in the paper edition of www.nieuwsblad.be, both are in Dutch)
