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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
As
a bonus, the screenplay from Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, cleverly ties all
three films together and puts a crowd-pleasing bow on top. We’ve come a long
way since the days of Joel Schumacher and his ridiculous decision to put
nipples on the Batsuit.
In
Gotham City, eight years have passed since anyone has seen Batman (Christian
Bale). Taking the blame for crimes Harvey Dent committed after the Joker
disfigured him and drove him insane, the masked superhero decided to become a villain
so that Dent can remain a hero to the city. Bruce Wayne hasn’t made many
appearances during that time either, becoming a Howard Hughes-style recluse and
mourning his lost love instead.
He
never leaves Wayne Manor, his appearance is strikingly haggard and he hobbles
everywhere with a cane. His trusted butler, Alfred (a movie-stealing Michael Caine),
begs him to get some fresh air and move on with his life, but the advice never
gets through.
What
– or who, I guess I should say – finally gets the billionaire out of his house is
Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a very talented jewel thief who disappears with
his dead mother’s pearls and piques his interest in some other ways too. Her
timing is impeccable: a brutal terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy) has arrived in Gotham.
He’s a hulk of a man, wears a ventilator on his face and declares he won’t stop
until the city is rubble. Suddenly, the citizens are willing to forgive and
forget when it comes to Batman.
Somewhat
reluctantly, Wayne dons the mask and cape again, relying on old and new friends
to help him stop Bane. There’s Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), now the commissioner
we know from the comics; Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), the genius inventor
behind most of the Caped Crusader’s cool toys; and John Blake (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt), a rookie cop who never doubted Batman was a hero. Even with the
city on his side again, it may not be enough to stop the seemingly invincible
villain.
Clocking
in at 165 minutes, The Dark Knight Rises could’ve afforded to trim a subplot
or two. It also has a problem with characters stopping in the middle of the
action to deliver a bunch of exposition. Granted, that happens all the time in
comic books so the Nolans’ screenplay is just emulating the source material.
But after the fourth or fifth time someone did it in the film, I just started
laughing. (I think it was when Blake interrupted somebody, looked almost directly
into the camera and said, “Now here’s the important part…”)
Overall,
though, there’s not much to complain about. Sure, Bane is nowhere near as
compelling as the Joker (through no fault of the always-solid Hardy). But no
villain was going to live up to Heath Ledger’s legendary performance. That’s
why the psychotic clown isn’t even mentioned in the new flick.
Just
like The Dark Knight, which dealt heavily with the War on Terror, the final
entry in Nolan’s trilogy filters modern issues through elaborate plots and
superheroes. The characters struggle not only with terrorism, but also income
inequality and class warfare. Of course, part of it is a smokescreen for
elaborate revenge plots and generations-old grudges, but we’re still talking
about comic book characters here.
Bale
is intense, broody and laryngitis-y as ever, but he finally reveals a sense of humor
in his scenes with Hathaway. He also continues the trend of being a supporting
player in a movie named after his character. Wayne/Batman essentially
disappears for the film’s second act. Still, he comes back big in the last half-hour.
Freeman is also good, though he doesn’t get enough to do.
Cain,
as stated above, evokes more emotion in a handful of scenes than others do in
the entire trilogy. Oldman also gets some great scenes that allow him to bring
his character’s arc to a conclusion. Interestingly enough, the newcomers
impress most. As Kyle (aka Catwoman), Hathaway brings some much-needed humor and
sexiness to the series. Gordon-Levitt makes his character into the story’s true
hero: an Everyman who faces just as much danger as Batman, but faces it without
a mask or expensive hi-tech gadgets.
Nolan
deserves a great deal of credit for being able to put a period on the end of
his story about such a famous – and lucrative – character. There’s definitely a
sense of finality about Bruce Wayne as the credits roll, even though the
director gives audiences a slight glimpse at Gotham City’s future. He also
hints at where another filmmaker could take the overall story, but good luck to
whoever that might be. There’s no way I’d want to follow up these films.
The
Dark Knight Rises is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action,
some sensuality and language.
Grade:
B+
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