Not many movies inspire me to want to write a review, and almost never 40 minutes before the movie launches worldwide. Dark Knight Rises is one of those rare occassions where I need to speak my mind on what I just saw, and help you make the decision to want to see it.
For lack of a better term, Rises is a masterpiece. Nolan's latest work feels very familiar, while still something new and the scope feels that much larger. Ultimately, this is the swan song, and a tip of the hat to those willing to invest as much time in watching as they have. As always, his characterisation is still the centerpiece to this. It isn't that it's Batman, it's that even after an 8 year absence (ala Dark Knight Returns), Bruce Wayne is still the mask, which we get reminded of multiple times throughout the movie, and he is removed from the normal world.
Anne Hathaway pays homage to previous Catwomen, and probably gets away with being the first Catwoman EVER to not have a scene with a living feline. As well, it wasn't necessary, as you understand her role from the previews, but it's expanded well enough, but there are a couple flaws... Does she use a neurotoxin to make people fall for her, or do we just believe she makes men fall madly in love with her? Does she actually put them under a spell?
The returning cast members all put on a showcase of talent, and look to be attempting to one up each other and their previous performances with Bale's BATMAN being the one one left looking weak. Morgan Freeman takes on a pretty large backseat, Gary Oldman continues where he left off, and Michael Caine is absolutely phenomenal. Marion Cotillard as the lovely and saving grace, Miranda Tate is a lovely addition, and Tom Hardy is distinctly in charge as Bane. The previously underdone voice of Bane seems freakishly OVERdone in the movie, and feels it needs to be toned back a smidge. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is probably the most surprising addition to the film, and the everyman with a touch of hope still in his eyes as Gotham begins to fall around everyone...pretty literally. There is also a cameo from a former character once again that just adds to Gotham, though you can't help but wonder if this would have been the role that Heath Ledger somehow would have played, had he not passed on.
(THE SPOILERS REALLY START HERE)
As with the every man falling for Catwoman, one plot point bugs me pretty intensely. Batman hasn't been seen since that fateful day that Harvey Dent was "awakened" by the Joker, and neither has Bruce Wayne. The household help believes he is disfigured like the Hunchback from Notre Dame, or worse. So, how is it that no one notices that Gotham's prodigal son shows his face showing up at a charity event (which leads to him looking like a pompous ass), and later in the same evening, Batman is seen on every major news network? Could it possibly be they are the same person? I guess we aren't the only ones that notice, right? Not exactly, but kind of.
Gordon-Levitt probably delivers one of, if not his best performance here, but he goes mixing his accents, or they just don't hold up. Some scenes he sounds like a New Yorker, in other scenes, he just speaks his lines, but you never lose the sense of his character, his heart, or that he still has a glimmer of hope.
You can't review this movie without asking if it is better than the first or second in the franchise, but it is't meant to be better, it is meant to be a conclusion. I won't spoil the twists at the end, or even the moment that looked like it was added in a way that makes a character's involvement more clear for new viewers who don't know any of the lore to Batman without using a name that is obvious.
In fact, it's interesting that two characters have names that are different than what they are known throughout the movie as, and one is made really easy to see, and the other isn't made simpler for new viewers, but I disgress...
Christopher Nolan has crafted the perfect endpiece to his trilogy, satisfying in almost every way, and the pacing of the film does not feel like two hours and forty six minutes, and he uses filmmaking tools that he utlized in movies like Memento and the end feels eerily similar to Inception, while still nodding to comic fans everywhere.
I give this a 4.5 / 5 Bat Symbols because it seems it will require multiple viewings to fully grab everything, and see his filmmaking Easter Eggs, but it is marvelous and spectacular. Nolan has proven he is a master of his craft, and while his filmmaking is often imitated, like Quentin Tarantino, he still deserves the title of the best director of the last 10 years.
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