The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Trilogy is an example of a franchise that was entirely successful. I can compare it with the original Star Wars Trilogy: the first film is a hit, the second was an even bigger hit and the third provided the needed resolution even though it wasn't a perfect film. As with "The Dark Knight" and "Inception", I saw "The Dark Knight Rises" in IMAX. Unlike other films that are converted to IMAX format, this movie has shots that are fully compatible for it. The experience was fun and memorable but if I had to choose, the previous films are more enjoyable as is "The Avengers". As with happens with a lot of sequels, the balance between fun and drama was lost. Having said that, "The Dark Knight Rises" resolves everything I wanted to have resolved in this trilogy.

Something I didn't expect story-wise was to find Gotham in peace at the start of the movie. Usually "the night is darkest just before the dawn". I understand the reason for this choice however. Gotham must be lulled into a false sense of security in order for Bane to have any chance of success. Bane in past incarnations is depicted as using a drug called Venom to keep himself strong or to make himself stronger at any given moment. This realistic trilogy however depicts Bane as using a drug to help him to tolerate the painful injuries he has. Christopher Nolan also made Bane intelligent and refined like in the comics. I also love how we are introduced to Selina Kyle. The way she acts in the first scene is very reminiscent of her counterpart in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns". Once Bruce Wayne arrives to point out the stolen pearls from his safe, Selina shows her true nature. I was fooled by her act as the maid and I am sure that most of the audience was as well. We were teased for a moment into thinking that this movie was going to tell Catwoman's origin story. She is much different from the last time she was on the big screen in a Batman movie because she has no psychological problems and I am very much in favor of that. She is a better character even though there was nothing wrong done on the part of Michelle Pfeiffer back in 1992. The name "Catwoman" isn't even spoken at all in the movie; instead there are just a few hints of her persona as a cat. As a result, I can't even refer to her as Catwoman. I do love how her costume that she wears to the party resembles a cat. More importantly, when her eyewear is resting on her head, it reminds you of cat ears. In this movie, Selina wants to erase her past life as a thief and start fresh. This makes the romance between her and Bruce more plausible. Another great character in "The Dark Knight Rises" is that of John Blake. He is an intelligent man who shares a similar back-story with Bruce Wayne. Blake tries to avenge his parents' death by becoming a cop and because of his intellect & similarities with Bruce, he knows who Bruce really is. This movie has some funny moments. We get to see a device that is sure to be in every celebrity's letter to Santa for Christmas: Bruce uses it to shut down the cameras of the paparazzi. Another great moment of entertainment is the line, "So that's what that feels like." This film is mostly dramatic however and Alfred leaving is one of the saddest moments in the whole film. Once Gotham is taken over by the criminals, the movie becomes a little depressing. The use of "The Star Spangled Banner" was pretty powerful but they shouldn't have used that in the trailer. I enjoy Bane's line "That's a lovely, lovely voice." The subsequent line "Let the games begin" was also good but I think Shredder has him beat. I enjoy how Crane is the judge once the city is under marshal law. One part of the story that bugged me was that escaping the pit was easy for me to figure out: the rope is holding you back. The jump also didn't seem that hard once you gave up the rope. However, the big plot twist in the climax was very well done thanks to the casting and the script. I was completely surprised but some comic books fans may have seen it coming. Had I watched "Batman: The Animated Series" as a kid, I also might have seen the plot twist coming. There were hints in the story so that the twist would be plausible. These hints were very subtle however and thus surprise was well achieved. The rest of plot was somewhat predictable. Only two moments in this film had me stumped as to what would happen next: Batman appears dead by the hand of Bane and the fusion chamber is flooded. While watching "The Dark Knight", I could never tell what was going to happen next because the villain was like a "dog chasing cars". The plot also felt unpredictable as a result but it had rising action which was very important. "The Dark Knight Rises" had rising action (excuse the pun) but you could predict what was going to happen in much of the film. I feel glad that Gordon finally finds out who Batman is. He has put such trust in this hero that Gordon deserves to know. Bane's end in this movie felt a little anti climatic by the way and most people feel the same.

Because of the presence of Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine, "The Dark Knight Rises" feels quite connected to "Inception". The voice that Hardy chose for Bane sounds distinguished while his body says otherwise. Hardy's persona from "Warrior" was what I tried to keep in mind going into the film, even though I have not seen that show. I knew that there wasn't going to be much hint of Eames from "Inception". In summary, Hardy did a wonderful job. For the scene where Bane and Batman first fight, Hardy was mentally preparing and psyching himself up as the day for filming that scene approached. Upon seeing Bale in full costume however, Hardy was both intimidated and in awe even though he was in costume himself. Anne Hathaway, in some ways, outshines Michelle Pfeiffer and Hathaway says that working with Nolan helped her in a subsequent role that earned her an Oscar. Michael Caine's greatest scene is when Alfred leaves Bruce as well as the ending when he feels he has failed Bruce's parents. Marion Cotillard was the perfect choice to play Miranda. She is "lovely" but her persona from "Inception" comes in handy for the sake of this story. It was neat to have Liam Neeson back and this film was the first time I saw Ben Mendelsohn. Christopher Nolan wanted to make this movie only if he could keep himself emotionally invested throughout its entire production. I admire him greatly for that. Even though Warner Brothers wanted the film to feature Leonardo DiCaprio as the Riddler after the success of the Joker in "The Dark Knight", Nolan wanted a villain to contrast the Joker. I must admit however that Leo as the Riddler sounds really interesting. Nolan chose against shooting in 3D but instead desired to improve visual quality of moviemaking by shooting in IMAX. The reason why the whole movie is not shot in IMAX format is because the cameras make too much noise. Some directors go after the latest fad and treat it like a gimmick. Other directors respect the art of filmmaking. Nolan is a great example of the latter because he loves what IMAX offers and tries to improve that tool. I am not against 3D personally because it offers what we can't fully enjoy at home, even with a 3D TV. What I am against is using 3D to show off and as a result, the 3D is poorly done in some movies. "Life of Pi" for example has great 3D but has a scene that feels way to gimmicky. As with any filmmaking tools, 3D or IMAX must be used to tell the story of the movie and not provide meaningless eye candy. "The Dark Knight Rises" has twice as much IMAX footage as its predecessor and I noticed that. Just like during the production of "The Dark Knight", an IMAX camera was destroyed during filming. James Newton Howard chose not to come back because Nolan and Zimmer now had a stronger relationship after working together on "Inception". I am sad that this is the reason because I enjoy Howard's work and not just on this film series. Zimmer's use of the chant throughout the score was quite good. "Batman Begins" portrayed Gotham as a fictional but realistic city whereas the next movie felt a lot like Chicago where it was filmed. Now in "The Dark Knight Rises", Gotham is back to being New York City as is usually the case in Batman comics, TV shows and movies. I wish it could feel like the same Gotham throughout the trilogy but there are story reasons for this constant change however.

I think that "The Dark Knight" was so good that no one could top it, not even the same filmmakers. They did a great job trying though. This movie had genuine drama and suspense. I believe that the story is resolved but other fans might desire a fourth film because of the very final scenes. It appears instead that Warner Brothers and DC wanted to take the same magic that Nolan brought to Batman and sprinkle it on the "Man of Steel". They also wanted their own cinematic universe.

4 Stars