"The Dark Knight Rises"
Seven years ago Warner Brothers
decided that their beloved Batman franchise was in need of a reboot.
Christopher Nolan, having only two other films under his belt at the time, was
chosen to direct the picture and Christian Bale was cast as the lead.
Nolan's previous work consisted of Memento and Insomnia, both
films were well received by critics but had minute budgets and made little money at the box office. And Warner Brothers trusted him with $150
million of their money to make a darker, grittier, more intense world for The
Caped Crusader. Even though director Joel Schumacher ruined the prior
series with the tolerable Batman Forever and the atrocious Batman and
Robin, I was still not on board
with the idea of this remake. Well, to my surprise Batman Begins
delivered a fresh take on the origin story of the cape and cowl superhero, leaving me with
high expectations for its sequel, The Dark Knight. Although Heath
Ledger was sublime as the Joker in the second installment, I didn't think the
successor brought much more to the table than its predecessor.
Nolan made it clear that he was
only going to do one more Batman film set in the world that he created, hence
making his films a trilogy. Bale stayed on, but with the passing of
Ledger and the death of Two Face (Aaron Eckhart) who were the next two villains
going to be in the final installment? Bane (Tom Hardy) and Catwoman (Anne
Hathaway) were to be the last pair of foes Batman would face in The Dark
Knight Rises. With this film
arguably being the most anticipated picture of the year, I’d say Nolan and his
crew have given us a decent, well-made finale that proved rebooting a franchise
can sometimes be a good thing with highly lucrative results.
The film takes place eight years
after the events from The Dark Knight. District
Attorney Harvey "Two Face" Dent has been long dead, but his legacy
lives on. Gotham City saw Dent as their white knight. The citizens
still don't know the real truth though about what happened that one night so long
ago. Bruce Wayne (AKA Batman) decided to hang up his heroics and
eventually turned into a Howard Hughes like recluse. The city has been
much safer since the fearless acts of Dent. Gotham’s police force has done a fine job
keeping the criminals at bay.
That is until Bane, a terrorist
who wears one hell of a gas mask (not just looks,) shows up and wreaks
havoc. Bane believes that by sending the city into complete anarchy and
chaos he is giving the people what they want, the freedom to take back their
city. He makes sure the rich are stripped of their wealth, the city's
police are rendered useless, and that Batman is nearly pummeled to death making him
physically unable to do anything but sit and watch as place he once protected
falls to the ground.
Lots of new characters are
introduced throughout the first hour of this near three hour film. This
proves to be engaging and also somewhat problematic in that we have to have to
get acquainted with these new cast members. Hardy's Bane is the most fascinating
to watch of all the latest individuals. Don't except another Ledger
Joker. Even though his character possesses brute strength, Bane's brain
is just as big as his muscles. He's certainly no dummy when it comes to
executing a well thought out plan the likes of which sends Gotham into an all-out
free-for-all. Not even the Joker could do that. But like the Joker,
this villain too is full of characteristics that make him a cut above the
average bad guy you would find in a comic book. He has Batman figured out
to a tee. Bane knows he not only must physically break Batman, but more
importantly break his soul. Hathaway's take on Catwoman shows us this
kitty's got claws as she plays the role quite well. Pardon the expression, Hathaway is the cat’s
pajamas. I would have liked it though if the screen time for Joseph
Gordon Levitt's police officer Blake and Marion Cotillard's business woman
Miranda Tate had been reversed. There's also a good chunk of time where
Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Batman seemingly take a back seat so these other
players have their moment in the sun. At times there’s perhaps too much development on some characters
and not enough on others.
The Dark Knight Rises is
as a good companion piece to Batman Begins, making the middle film
almost a stand-alone affair. Batman's path to redemption and self-realization
is reminiscent of his origin story. Bruce Wayne has to be broken down so
that he can rise up and rebuild himself into to the hero he was once was, the
dark knight of Gotham City. This of course takes time and patience.
Nolan knows that his audience will have to endure a second act full of
reflective reasoning and thoughtful determination. I like that the film
references the past, making us fully appreciate the journey that Batman
has been on for these three films. Believe me, a mediocre first act,
followed by an unhurried yet still intriguing second act, leads to a
spectacular third act that we've come to expect from Nolan.
Deservedly boastful of
impressive action set pieces, incredible photography, a few striking
characters, and a lengthy yet effective screenplay, The Dark Knight Rises is
top notch summer entertainment. With Nolan's fine filmmaking senses, he
continues to establish himself as a director whose uncompromising cinematic
vision pays off in dazzling dramatic fashion. The film is far from
perfect and Batman Begins is still my favorite of the trilogy; however The
Dark Knight Rises had enough substance to up the ante one more time.
Warner Brothers plans to reboot the Batman franchise again because I think they want
to compete with Marvel's The Avengers and showoff to us their eventual Justice League. I
have a feeling though that this subsequent reboot will hopefully be disastrous
for the studio. What’s here is a good, but by no means a great
conclusion to this series of Batman pictures and that's just fine with
me. The Dark Knight Rises is summer filmmaking at its best.
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