 Tagline: A Fire Will Rise. It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane. Storyline: Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city. Written by WellardRockard Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on November 20, 2012 -- It's hard to imagine a time when a Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman film wasn't a sure thing. And yet seven short years ago Batman Begins was a risk, and not just in the eyes of short-sighted box office analysts. Warner Brothers and DC Comics executives, Hollywood insiders, journalists, critics, audiences, even the filmmakers themselves... few were willing to go on record with any certainty as to how Batman Begins would resonate or perform. But here we are, seven years later. Seven years of appreciation, seven years of hindsight. In 2005, Batman Begins was a critical, creative and financial success. It remains a thrilling introduction to Nolan's brave new Gotham. In 2008, The Dark Knight arrived to thunderous applause, smashed records, earned more than a billion at the box office, and mounted an equally impressive run on home video. It still stands as one of the best comicbook movies of all time; a near-perfect culmination of everything the genre has fought so long to achieve. Then came this past summer and the release of The Dark Knight Rises. Could it escape the dreaded trilogy capper curse? Could it surpass The Dark Knight? Would it deliver a satisfying conclusion to Nolan's Batman saga? It's been eight years since Harvey Dent plummeted to his death. Eight years since Batman took the real fall and disappeared from the public eye. Eight years since Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) agreed to allow the city to mourn a villain and forsake its hero. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is a recluse, his butler and friend Alfred (Michael Caine) is his only contact with the outside world, and his father's company is safely in the hands of trusted ally in arms, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). But when a new evil comes to Gotham with plans to level the city -- a terrorist mastermind and former member of the League of Shadows known only as Bane (Tom Hardy) -- Wayne decides it's time for Batman to return. To stop Bane, Batman first elicits the help of cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), beat cop-turned-detective John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard). Ultimately, though, Wayne has to face his greatest fears if he hopes to pry Gotham from Bane's steel grip. Even though The Dark Knight Rises was more divisive than many anticipated -- it is, after all, a vastly different film than mass audiences were expecting -- those who returned to the theater more than once hopefully discovered a more masterfully crafted tale than they may have caught the first time around. Nolan and younger brother/co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan skip the sort of traditional three-act structure that might lighten their load and divide the film into three grand Acts, each of epic proportion. It's almost as if the filmmakers' third Batman outing is a self-contained trilogy of its own. (Beware. Mild spoilers lurk ahead.) Act I: Bane emerges, Batman is broken and Gotham is left unprotected. Act II: Bruce is locked away, Bane makes his move and Gotham is held hostage. Act III: the Dark Knight returns, Bane tightens his grip and Gotham hangs in the balance. Months pass. Seasons change. Power shifts hands. Forces collide. And the game changes forever. It's almost too much for one movie to encompass. And yet there's just enough time to pull it off. No scene is wasted, no shot is squandered, no moment is tangential. Every piece moves at Nolan's command, nothing slips by the director's watchful eye and every theme, arc and obstacle established in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight is brought full circle. My first viewing was thrilling but bewildering. The initially jarring breaks from one act -- ahem, Act -- to the next knocked me off balance, and the script's sudden lurch into "No Man's Land" territory only exacerbated matters. Wayne's early sluggishness, woundedness and ineffectiveness gave me pause as well, Alfred's exile from much of the story baffled me, Bane's handler smacked of it'z a tweest! contrivance, and the film seemed to lack the strong but steady momentum and ragged-edge inventiveness of its predecessors. It was still an incredible experience, made even more incredible in IMAX, but it seemed to lack the dexterity of Begins and the will, fortitude and raw power of The Dark Knight. But oh what a difference a second viewing can make. Once-jarring breaks allowed previously unforeseen heroes to fill the void left in Batman's absence. The seeds of the filmmakers' loose "No Man's Land" adaptation are apparent from the beginning. Wayne's resignation and fall only enrich everything that follows. Alfred's absence strips the Dark Knight of his greatest ally and leaves him vulnerable to the betrayals to come. The film's ultimate reveal traces back through all three films and unites them more than any other element. And the momentum and inventiveness I craved were out in full force, albeit so radical in comicbook nature that I nearly failed to notice the intricacies of Nolan's master plan. Over-analyze and you'll surely uncover plot holes. Resist investing and you'll see little more than a cumbersome actioner. But lean forward, dig in and open yourself to the delights of Nolan's trilogy prestige and you'll come away with few complaints. The action is bigger, bolder and more electrifying than before, the superheroics are grounded but gripping, those wonderful toys are more wonderful than ever, the scope and scale of the story is breathtaking, and the performances are some of the series' most rewarding. Bale drags Bruce and Batman to hell and back, Cotillard is a sly enigma, Caine's work is heartwrenching, Oldman walks a fine line between guardian and charlatan, and Freeman gives it his all. It's Hathaway, Hardy and Gordon-Levitt that steal the show, though, and The Dark Knight Rises is all the more absorbing for it. Hathaway manages to summon every iconic Catwoman from page and screen and create an alluring antihero all her own. Hardy is a presence to be reckoned with, a frighteningly charismatic terrorist and something far more intimidating and intriguing than the brainless bruiser his Bane could have been. And Gordon-Levitt strides confidently into the fray -- the vigilant heart and soul of the third film -- cooly crafting a very human hero struggling to survive a larger than life clash of the titans. The Dark Knight Rises isn't a perfect film, nor does it leave as significant mark on the genre as The Dark Knight. But it comes close, and makes up the difference in ambition, nerve and sheer scale. What will the next Batman project look like? What will the next Dark Knight entail? It's impossible to tell. It's safe to say, though, that whatever it is will have an exceedingly difficult time standing shoulder to shoulder with Nolan's trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises begs repeat viewings. The film so thwarts expectation that limiting yourself to a single viewing is to risk dismissing an amazing story and experience that only gets better upon each return. Nolan has accomplished something truly extraordinary with his Batman trilogy, and The Dark Knight Rises brings nothing but gratifying closure to three of the greatest comicbook movies of all time. Warner's 2-disc Blu-ray edition doesn't disappoint either thanks to an excellent video transfer, an exceptional DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a reasonably extensive collection of high definition special features. It isn't a perfect film or a perfect release, but it doesn't get much better than this. As trilogy endgames go, The Dark Knight Rises delivers on all fronts. (Based on Comic Book) Ending: The ending to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy isn't as ambiguous as the director's Inception. Logistics of just how he escapes a nuclear blast aside, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lives at the film's end, despite some fans' theories that his appearance in Florence is all Alfred's (Michael Caine) dream. Shortly before the end, the idea that he ditches the Bat before the nuclear bomb explodes is established when Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) learns that Bruce Wayne fixed the vehicle's autopilot six month earlier. So it's possible for Wayne to jump out of the Bat while it flies the bomb away from Gotham City toward the bay.And sure, when Alfred sees Wayne in Florence, it's exactly how Alfred describes it to Wayne earlier in the film. But that's not a dream—there simply isn't a better way for Wayne to show his well-being to Alfred other than playing out the dream in reality. Moreover, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) is there, wearing Wayne's mother's pearl necklace, which she steals at the beginning of the movie. While Alfred briefly meets her in the beginning of the film, he doesn't know that she and Wayne could potentially become an item. Alfred quits long before she and Wayne team up to save the besieged Gotham City. And besides, if Wayne is really dead, where does the new Bat-Signal, discovered by Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), come from? It's not until after the discovery of this new Bat-Signal that John Blake, aka Robin, (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) discovers the Batcave and inherits the mantle of the bat. So Wayne has got to be alive. [CSW] Long but good. (Based on Comic Book) -- (DC) Cast Notes: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), Tom Hardy (Bane), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blake), Anne Hathaway (Selina), Marion Cotillard (Miranda), Morgan Freeman (Fox), Michael Caine (Alfred), Matthew Modine (Foley), Alon Aboutboul (Dr. Pavel [as Alon Moni Aboutboul]), Ben Mendelsohn (Daggett), Burn Gorman (Stryver), Daniel Sunjata (Captain Jones), Aidan Gillen (CIA Op), Sam Kennard (Special Ops Sergeant). IMDb Rating (05/01/16): 8.5/10 from 1,113,890 users Top 250: #62 IMDb Rating (07/24/14): 8.6/10 from 803,445 users Top 250: #50 IMDb Rating (11/03/12): 8.8/10 from 409,313 users Top 250: #29
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