The Dark Knight Rises Review

It’s been half a year since the caped crusader better known as Batman, stepped foot onto the big screen. Since then, I have been waiting for the next installment like a little kid waiting for Christmas. Christopher Nolan released the sequel of The Dark Knight this past Summer, and delivered another box office hit. The Dark Knight Rises was bigger and broader, which was filmed in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New york, England, Scotland, and India. From a story standpoint I’m viewing this film as a sequel to an incredible trilogy, not as the film itself. What I appreciated from Nolan was that his number one priority was to tell a story. Not just about Batman, but of Bruce Wayne. Many people criticized him for not having more Batman in TDKR, it was a bold move. However, it was the right choice, I enjoyed this film equally from the last two. Each film sets a different tone and mood. Each film had there epic moment, and TDKR made me care for Bruce Wayne. I was cheering for Bruce when he attempted to climb the pit. Nolan increased the ante and the stakes were higher for TDKR.
This film was incredible, can’t say I grew old with these films because I kept feeling nostalgic everything the score would hit. I would like to point out Hans Zimmer and his amazing job on the Batman trilogy. The score was flawless, can not say enough about the guy, simply amazing. Nolan made TDKR knowing he had to increase the stage, and he did. The Prologue which introduced Bane was amazing with the whole plane hijacking, creative on his part. What I like about this film was how it was approached. Nolan has a great mind and he wanted every possible shot in IMAX. I was relieved it wasn’t shot in 3-D, it just ruins the movie experience for me, personally. Making this his “last” Batman film you really have to appreciate what the man did. He evolved storytelling and revolutionized the Batman Universe. Whoever takes over the Batman story, The Dark Knight trilogy sets a damn good foundation on how it should be. Luckily Batman & Robin was released when I was a kid and I certainly didn’t take that movie seriously,and I was only 13. If anything writer David Goyer new how to tell a Batman story, he brought out that little kid in me that came home from school ate his dinner and sat in his couch ready to be entertained by my favorite cartoon to date, Batman: The Animated Series. That’s what these three films were to me, a live action version of my childhood. The ending of this epic sequel was everything I could ask for, minus the Talia death scene and the killing off of Bane(Bane should have had an epic death).
The cast was superb of course, but they added more than needed, for example Burn Gorman, who played Stryver and Ben Mendelsohn as Daggett. Anne Hathaway was amazing, she proved me wrong big time. I was those skeptical of her able to play as CatWoman, but she knocked it out of the park. Her guilty innocnet persona was very good, she made a very good CatWoman, but Michelle Pfeiffer will always be sexier. Tom Hardy was the most impressive he completely transformed his persona and how he became Bane was amazing. Yes his voice was an issue, but that wasn’t his fault, if you ever see the special features, Christian Bale talks about how Hardy came in and through in that accent we hear in Bane. That was impressive how he could just change his voice like that, not to mention his eye movement. When he had a close up shot of his eyes, it was like you knew what he was saying despite the mask. Very good acting by Tom Hardy. If anything was bad, I would have to say the 3rd act had some issues. Like I mentioned before Bane was such a good character that he deserved to go out at least with something to talk about, not just a blast from the Batpod, and it wasn’t even Batman who “killed” him. That’s really the only thing I had an issue with. The cinematography was amazing, thanks to Wally Pfister for that. The action scenes were ok, nothing to crazy, but I did love some Bane killings. When I look at films, I first look at the location and how it creates a vibe in the shot being taken. Everything was on point and the first Bane vs Batman scene was intense. I loved how they created Bane’s layer almost similar to the Bat-cave, but more serious and intimidating. This has been an extraordinary ride and this will definitely be a classic in my book. TDKR is the sequel to a legend and a childhood hero. The story of Bruce Wayne was done right, and I couldn’t have written it better myself. Until the next chapter. RISE.