Country:
USA
Starring:
Christian Bale
Tom Hardy
Gary Oldman
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Anne Hathaway
Marion Cotillard
Morgan Freeman
Michael Caine
Ben Mendelsohn
Aidan Guillen
Nestor Carbonnell
Liam Neeson
Directed By:
Christopher Nolan
Synopsis:
Batman's abusive relationship with Gotham City seems to be over. It's been eight years since The Joker has turned the city upside down and nothing of similar magnitude happened ever since, thanks to the Harvey Dent act. Gotham City is good without Batman, but Batman is withering away in Wayne Manor without Gotham City. That's until Bane happens. The masked monster is unleashed on the unsuspecting city he plans to destroy. Absolute chaos ensues and Gotham finds itself in need of its caped crusader again.
Christopher Nolan doesn't leave anybody indifferent. He's been standing under Hollywood's magnifying glass for many years and has shown grit, artistic drive and individuality in a world of yes-men and washed up, coked-out executives with ideas of grandeur. The movie MEMENTO brought him international recognition in 2000, but it's when he took over the Batman trilogy project in 2006 that he became a big gun. The first chapter, BATMAN BEGINS, was great. THE DARK KNIGHT, released in 2008, was by far the best superhero movie ever shot and featured a legendary performance from Heath Ledger as The Joker. Where could it go from there, really? How could Christopher Nolan could outdo himself, when he outdid everybody already? Well, he just did. How? By radically changing the structure , drawing inspiration from other, older art forms and working with a much better script.
First, let's clear the air and take care of the elephant in the room. There is no performance that comes even close to Heath Ledger's in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. But it's fine.
THE DARK KNIGHT relied on Heath Ledger's a lot more than THE DARK KNIGHT RISES relies on any character. It's gripping and visceral whatever direction it goes in. Everybody chips in and up their game. Tom Hardy manages to be inhuman and terrifying with a mask covering most of his face. His eyes ooze the darkness and the cold hatred that Bane is made from. Anne Hathaway is a pleasant surprise as Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman. Her game is very physical, lascivious. I never thought much about Anne Hathaway as an actress, but that character was a natural fit for her. Michael Caine is worth mention, also. He is dealt some overly emotional lines, but his British restraint makes it work beautifully. He makes Alfred into this broken, old companion. Christian Bale is also great, but that you already knew, I'm sure.
There were reviews that called out THE DARK KNIGHT RISES for "not living up to its Wagnerian ambitions" and after viewing the movie, I really wondered what the hell they were talking about. It is a movie best qualified as "Wagnerian". Forgot all the comparisons you want to make with the 20th century classics, because they are all unfair. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES was not created to rival THE GODFATHER or CITIZEN KANE. It doesn't care about psychological accuracy and narrative subtlety. It's crafted to be an emotional experience, like when you went to the play in Ancient Greece or when you went to the opera in the 19th century. In lit. speak, it's catharsis and not mimesis. Nolan's latest piece aims to make its viewer access exalted emotions their day-to-day life doesn't purvey them. It's been a long time cinema didn't aim there and it's refreshing and satisfying as all hell that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES does.
Of course, it's not a hundred percent perfect. There are clunkier scenes. I'm thinking about Blake (Gordon-Levitt)'s first encounter with Bruce Wayne, where he pours his heart out thirty seconds into the conversation, goes into this long, emotional tirade and Wayne answers as if it were normal that cops bust into his living room to have male-bonding conversations. This is explainable by time constraints though. If the movie would've built every relationship properly, it would've lasted five hours. The first fight scene between Bane and Batman also had no music, which was an almost comical reminder that the scene is not supposed to inspire awe. There is also a bizarre right-wing political message to the movie, but it can be overlooked if you dismiss the scene where Bane delivers that clumsy discourse about "giving Gotham back to the people". But for all its minor flaws, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, rises above them (pun fully intended). They are timid, almost endearing blunders scattered along a spectacular scenery.
I left the theater after THE DARK KNIGHT RISES with that typical feeling of hollowness that you have after seeing something so great and spectacular for three hours. It touched this wordless place of awe at the core of my being. It wasn't subtle at all, but it wasn't aiming at being subtle. Historically speaking, this could be a very important movie. A landmark film that sweeps cheap action and "shaky cam" techniques off Hollywood. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES will set new standards for action movies. Its material is treated with such respect and craftsmanship, it casts a new light on what is considered cheap entertainment. We deem forms of entertainment cheap. We dictate the course of action of the entertainment industry. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES was an empowering viewing as it showed the narrative possibility of an insular subculture such as comic books, when given the proper treatment. Chris Nolan hit a home run with THE DARK KNIGHT, but he hit a grand slam with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
SCORE: 95%
