First I’ll start by saying that this movie was excellent, possibly the best of the three. Nolan does a fantastic job of turning something that wasn’t initially planned as a trilogy into one, coming full circle in this final film. Fans of the Batman trilogy will find much to like in this final film, the tests and lessons that Bruce has learned in the last two films must be used in this one to pass this final test. Christian Bale (Batman) gives one of his best performances yet as the masked vigilante, because the movie really focuses on Bruce, Bale is asked to do a lot and he does; Bale does a fantastic job of showing a sense of loss, fear of mortality, and the innate capacity for self-sacrifice.
The movie’s villains really stand out even though they seem like they’re trying to fill a void left by the Joker. Alone, none of the villains really turned in the kind of memorable performance that Heath Ledger was able to deliver in The Dark Knight, yet each villain does an excellent job of testing Batman/Bruce Wayne to the limit. Tom Hardy as (Bane) is an absolute force of nature, imposing, intimidating and intelligent, he plays the complete package and without a doubt the most physical challenge Batman has faced yet. Anne Hathaway in the role of Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman, presents a completely different take on the character, she’s more of a modern con artist than the catty super villain we all grew up watching. Gary Oldman returns as Commissioner Gordon, he really pulls off his performance when he’s on screen, you can really feel the inner turmoil that lying to the people of Gotham has caused him, and how hard it is to praise the man who almost killed his son. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake) appears once again with a great performance, you really feel like the moral compass of the film, a character without a mask who is really trying to do some good.
The film lasts approximately two hours and 45 minutes. long, but accelerates at a clipping pace, you never feel the time go by, before you realize time has flown by and the last 30 min. from the movie is such a huge piece that it will blow your mind. As in the previous two films, the dialogue is spot on, the gripping interactions between the characters sometimes more intense than the action scenes. Nolan is really capable of depicting the human emotion that the characters face on screen, an example of that would be the character Bane, who wears a mask that covers his face throughout the movie, the only part you can see is the eyes of he. but the filmmakers can show so much emotion through them that you actually feel the fear and sadness that it conveys.
However, The Dark Night Rises is not the perfect movie, I think there were too many characters, I didn’t see the point of adding the character of Holly Robinson played by Juno Temple; this character was Selena Kyle’s assistant in the comics, but she didn’t play a very big or important role in the movie and she didn’t really need to be there. With so many characters on screen and so little screen time to share, someone had to suffer and unfortunately the character of Alfred played by (Michael Caine) took the cake as I really don’t think the filmmakers got his character right.
Those few minor issues aside, The Dark Night Rises is a fantastic movie and a fitting end to the trilogy. Christopher Nolan may have accomplished much more than he set out to do, he may have crafted the best complete Batman story from start to finish. In the first two movies, you really see how Bruce Wayne has progressed from a vengeful young man with a focus, doing justice, and this movie really puts a stamp on the character and comes full circle and shows how far he’s come. The Dark night Rises really stands out from the rest and for that reason I give it a 4.6 out of 5, go see this movie.