The Dark Knight Rises (warning - contains spoilers)

This contains spoilers

Really, its full of them

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So, I went to see the Dark Knight Rises this weekend, along with a goodly number of people it seemed who also didn't object to paying £22.00 to watch a movie in the Odeon Leicester Square a mere few days before the Olympics. I'm going to come right out and say that I pretty much loved the movie, but lets go through the review process anyway.

Obviously, this is the third film in Christopher Nolan's gritty reinvention of the Caped Crusader. Set 8 years after the events of Dark Knight, the film opens on a Gotham which hails Harvey Dent as a hero, and has used his death as a catalyst to fight organised crime. The Dent Act has cleaned up Gotham, and the place seems at peace. Batman has not been seen since he was blamed for Dent's death, and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, hiding his broken body in the halls of Wayne Manor. The only dark spot on the horizon is Jim Gordon, who is riddled with guilt over the way he left Batman to take the fall.

Enter Bane, a masked psychopathic mercenary seemingly hell bent on anarchy, and on destroying the fabric of society in Gotham. When he threatens to destroy the civility Wayne sacrificed himself to establish, and when he suspects a talented Cat burglar by the name of Selina Kyle is being used to aid their plans, Bruce has to respond to the calls of a young cop who knows his secret, and decide if he is ready to don the cowl once more. Even if it costs him everything.

So that's the premise, but could Nolan really deliver a climax worthy of his two previous movies? Could he bring a film which outdoes the other superhero mega hit, the Avengers?

Simply answer. Yes.

DKR is simply epic. Its epic in scale, its epic in scope, its epic in realisation. Its everything you could possibly want of a Batman movie. The direction and cinematography are peerless and pretty much flawless in execution. Its stunning to look at and behold. His use of IMAX creates sweeping vistas which are breathtaking, and set pieces which are stunning, but he also knows when to do small things that just bring you into his story and his characters. The score is brilliant as well, perfectly setting every scene. Nolan's insistence on using real machinery over CGI as much as possible pays absolute dividends. The mere fact that they built the Bat flying machine and hung it from rigs during filming, rather than use CGI, and couple that with 4 real Batmobiles adds SO SO much to the movie. Nolan just has a touch with movie making that helps elevate DKR so far above stuff like Spiderman or Avengers.

As for the characters, they are all excellent. Bale has always been an excellent Batman, and he carries this one off very well. You do get a genuine sense of a broken man pushing himself one last time. In Michael Caine you sense the real grief and agony of Alfred, Anne Hathaway makes a perfect Catwoman - far more believable in the thief role than her predecessors - and Tom Hardy manages to take a character that could have been very camp and cartoony, and inject a genuine sense of menace. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as the cop Blake who prompts Batman's return is excellent as well, and if things go as expected, will be a great addition to the DC universe.

I loved the storyline arc in this. The return of Batman, his fall at Bane's hands (even including the reference to the comics in damaging the back) and his eventual rise again. I loved the fact that it wasn't a "Crash bang wallop all over in 2 days" storyline. I loved the set pieces, the action stuff, and the twists and turns, and I absolutely love the way they left it open for the Batman character to be used in future movies. I know Jox preferred Dark Knight, but sorry old pal, you're wrong. Dark Knight Rises is simply the best superhero ever made, bar none.

10/10.

Since we're talking spoiler here, I would like to give my thoughts on one thing I REALLY wish had been different in the film.

I liked it too, and I will go in much detail about this soon.....

(Also this is a MUCH MUCH BIGGER spoiler about the movie's ending, so please DO NOT READ AT ALL until you've seen the movie..)






























But for now, I want to say that one revelation near the end, disappointed me and made me wish that they have made one slight alteration that would have made me much happier.

Blake's "real name".

I didn't like what his real name was. It came off too much as a fan-centric joke, and a throwaway to his identity, when it could have had more relevant meaning to it. Possibly.

I get what they were sort of going for with his name, but at the same time, and... I know this will probably be controversial, but I would have liked this better.... if his name had been "Terry", instead.

However, I do understand what they were going for, when I think about it, I know they were very vaugely hinting at him being someone else who takes up the job, that we know.

That's all fine and well for someone who worked with Batman to take up his ideals and is not meant to be "red and yellow" so much as "blue and black", but instead of being that, I wished his identity was the continuation OF a new Batman instead of another famous character that takes up his ideals.


Also, I'm surprised that this movie ended the way it did.

Not a happy ending. Not going to lie... someone ruined the ending for me, but even I didn't know that's how it would happen, and also that it would be such a sad end.

But I applaud that. It took a lot of guts for a "movie" to not give us the predictable "titular hero rides off into the sunset, his job well done" ending, and I don't think i've ever seen a movie do that, before. Especially a movie based on a franchise like that. Well.... now that I think about it, the remake of "True Grit" had a similar ending, but not to this level.


DC must have been feeling VERY brave to even allow Nolan to end the film this way. I was shocked by that, and it left me feeling disillusioned and unhappy.



And that was precisely the movie's intent. Leave me not with a happy ending, but a punch to the gut and send me on my way.

It was a smart, but risky decision to make me leave the theater, having to think about it. I appreciated that it was a VERRRRRRRRRRRRY unconventional ending, and I was actually kind of upset, felt a little betrayed by the turn of events and even wanted to cry.

But as I said, it was brilliant. It's exactly what it meant to do, but definitely not a "feel good" film. I have no problem with that, it just left me sad. The ending was 90% depression and only a sliver of hope. I guess that really is the only way it could have ended.

Do you know, I missed that in the cinema! I thought he said "Robert". So I was wondering what you were talking about until I just looked it up :0)

Ah. Yeah, Blake was meant to be Robin. And at first it seems like a bit of a joke, but it was actually intending to hint at Nightwing, I think. (Even though, if that's the case, his name should have been Dick Greyson, right?)

However, I still wish he had been "Terry McGuinness" instead. That just really would have made the ending feel much better, I thought.

Sure, Nightwing is sort of like a second Batman, but it makes me think more of Bludhaven than Gotham. Maybe "Terry" would have flown much higher over the heads of people who aren't Batman nerds, but then again, only Batman nerds would care about Blake's real identity, anyway.

That's my thoughts on it.

Hell, if Blake had been revealed as "Terry" and the rival corporation to "Wayne Enterprises" had been "Powers", this could have possibly felt like a prequel to a sci-fi continuation of a future Batman Beyond series of movies.

And that, I actually would like to see.

Everyone's ranting and raving about it so much - I feel like I missed something.

Better go watch it again!

I'd say that thing you missed is 90% of the movie.













Really, if I can say I had any problem with it at all, it would be only 10% that really disappointed me (A few minor details that really would be just nitpicking to pick out). For the most part, it absolutely blew my expectations away.

Might either just be equal with the second movie or better than it. I think it was just a little better than the 2nd movie, by just a hair.

Rises has it's faults but MORE than makes up for them in the sheer scope, size, grandeur, and story of this film. For it's few somewhat glaring logic holes, it does everything else better than Dark Knight.

I think its definitely better than Dark Knight.

I saw the film a few weeks ago, and thought it was brilliant. Better than the first and second films of the series.