It’s generally
acknowledged that the problem with film trilogies is that, while one or two
films within them might be classed as great, there’s always at least one part
(usually the third: see the Terminator
and Godfather series’) which lets the
side down. Only the Toy Story, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogies have managed it, so
when Christopher Nolan decided to return to Gotham City one last time in The Dark Knight Rises, the challenge he
faced to create a third Batman film which would stand up next to (and ideally
surpass) Batman Begins, and
particularly The Dark Knight, seemed
insurmountable to everyone except him.
Gotham has had eight
crime-free years and, with the police and the Harvey Dent Act ensuring that things
stay that way, there appears to be no need for Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) to
don his cape and cowl again. That, and the fact that Batman’s still wanted for
Dent’s murder while Bruce Wayne is still mourning the death of Rachel Dawes has
turned the billionaire into a Howard Hughes-esque recluse. However, Bane (Tom
Hardy), a terrorist trained by the League of Shadows (an organisation whose
leader, Ra’s Al Ghul, was Batman’s main nemesis in Batman Begins) whose imposing physique suggests that he could
probably give Marvel rival the Hulk a good run for his money, sets his sights
on shattering the idyllic peace that the city finds itself in, bringing Batman
out of his cave and back onto the streets.
That’s about as much as
can be revealed without giving away major spoilers, but it will have to
suffice. Thinking about it later, it’s staggering how much Nolan, his brother
Jonathan and David Goyer have managed to pack into 165 minutes of film – there
are themes that take in everything from personal betrayal to the very real
economic crisis, knowing nods to and full representations of elements and
plotlines from the comics, inevitable blockbuster action (including a
jaw-dropping escape from a plane in mid-air by Bane in the first ten minutes),
a good amount of screen-time for everyone involved (and with a cast that
includes Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Joseph
Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, that takes some doing) and above all a
re-examination of plotlines and events from the previous films, bringing things
full circle from the trilogy’s first film while suggesting that the story will
carry on after its end (although Nolan won’t be aboard – this is definitely it
as far as he and probably all of the cast and crew, including director of photography Wally Pfister, are concerned). 
Much of the attention
before the film’s release focussed on Bane – as the film’s main villain, Tom
Hardy faced the unenviable task of measuring up to Heath Ledger’s chilling,
Oscar-winning performance as The Joker in The
Dark Knight. It seems unfair to compare them, such was the power and
demented energy of The Joker, but Bane is a very different kind of enemy – one
capable of physically breaking Batman in half rather than trying to outsmart
him. Bane presents himself as a liberator of Gotham, breaking the people free
from the shackles they are placed under by the rich and powerful, but in his
own way, he causes just as much mayhem and chaos as his predecessor. It’s also
worth noting that, bar two or three lines, his voice (which is muffled and
distorted due to an anaesthetic-feeding mask that he wears at all times) is
perfectly understandable.
While the old stalwarts
are as reliable as they have been in the previous two films, two other new
characters stand out. Anne Hathaway is something of a revelation as Selina
Kyle, a very modern burglar whose night-vision goggles flip up on top of her
head to look like the ears of a cat. Playing a character with about six
different layers that she can put on display at the flick of her tail, Hathaway
ensures that we see every one of those layers, and her dubious morality gives
the film much of its intrigue. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays an entirely new
character, one who doesn’t feature in the comics – police officer John Blake.
He gives the film a much needed dose of morality and honesty as a foil to Gary
Oldman’s jaded Commissioner Gordon, never wavering in his determination to
rescue Gotham from the clutches of Bane and the gang of mercenaries he
commands.
The
Dark Knight Rises is by no means a perfect film. There
are a few minor plot-holes, a relatively old-hat “ticking bomb” scenario which
doesn’t add a huge amount in the way of tension and the effect Bane has as
Gotham’s reckoning and as a match for Batman is severely diminished by the end.
However, despite these small gripes, the film is a satisfyingly intellectual, highly
emotional and always thrilling trilogy-ender on the most epic of scales. Good
luck to the director that Warner Bros hires to resurrect cinema’s most famous
cape and cowl – they’re going to need it.
5/5
