The Dark Knight Rises has, without doubt, been one of the most hotly anticipated films of recent times. Indeed, I have no qualms about prefacing this review with the confession that that I am a Nolanphile, so I approached this film with heightened expectations of what it would bring. Without hesitation I can say that the team behind TDKR have successfully created an immensely satisfying end to Batman’s story arc.
The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the previous film, with Batman disappearing out of sight after intentionally being vilified for the death of Harvey Dent. Batman’s sacrifice preserved Dent’s image and created the Dent Act which successfully crushed organised crime in Gotham. However, the city’s new found peace is once again disturbed by compulsive thief Selina Kyle and the arrival of the biggest threat the city has ever faced embodied in the terrorist Bane.
The choice of characters is perfect and the standard of acting is to the high quality that is to be expected. Bane was a brilliant choice of character as, while watching the film, you get the impression that no other villain could rein such chaos over Gotham, this idea supported by his physically and intellectually intimidating aura. The background the character is given and the similarities Bane shares with Batman reinforces Bane’s intimidating persona and makes their fight feel like an inevitable and colossal showdown. The physical strength of Bane storms home with every thunderous punch he lands and creates a real sense that Batman is facing his toughest and perhaps even his final challenge. On top of Bane, there are an abundance of new characters thrown into the mix but Nolan does a great job of incorporating them into the world. The introduction of these characters never comes across as forced and their place in Gotham feels real and justified. Anne Hathaway did a stunning job as the devious and sultry Catwoman, who had enough emotional depth and internal conflict to make her interesting and not just a plot device.
As it is big budget with large action sequences, out of the three Batman films TDKR feels least like a Nolan creation. The gritty film-noir and dark feel that set Nolan apart from his contemporaries has a coating of gloss over it, characterised in its showy visuals and sleek effects. With a film of this size and ambition, some of the director’s traits being lost are unavoidable and the cast and crew did a fantastic job in making sure that the film didn’t devolve into a soulless action flick. The large set pieces which are developed are mesmerising but Nolan’s characteristic tone isn’t fully glossed over; the plausibility of the film feels very real, the action sequences feeling like full blown urban warfare grounded in reality unlike other recent superhero ventures. This tone is kept through Nolan’s trademark cinematographic vision, an under-reliance on CGI and the real brutal nature of some of the fight arrangements. Gotham really feels under siege and from start to finish an effort is made to show the massive scale and impact of the events which are occurring throughout.
However, the epic scale of this film actually becomes one of its drawbacks too. TDKR is, as Christian Bale mused, a mix between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight and this is never more prevalent than in its storytelling. Batman Begins’ plot was much more focused on character development and story setup, whereas Nolan enjoyed discussing the philosophical in the Dark Knight. TDKR is a blend of the two, but tends to weigh down more heavily on the former, which means the economic subtext which is discussed sometimes feels neglected or the point lost through everything else which is occurring in the plot. The film does, at times, suffer from a bloated script, with quite a few throw away lines. I appreciate the need for plot exposition to bring everyone up to speed with what’s occurring in Nolan’s universe, but the first hour feels overly lengthy with unneeded dialogue which could easily have been conveyed visually with greater ease. The occasional introduction of cheesy dialogue more suited to traditional superhero films is surprising and I found myself cringing at Catwoman’s appalling interjection at an important plot point.
Despite the scale of this film and the sometimes bloated plot, there was real emotional depth throughout and points of real poignancy. When the film gets going it’s impossible to tear yourself away and not get behind the Bat. The aforementioned brutality of fight scenes and the allusions to Wayne’s character and the past films build up the audience’s emotional connection with Batman, leading the release at the end to be even more cathartic. Although the Dark Knight had a much more intelligent plot and was a slicker production, the impacting moments of this film are incredibly intense and really do jerk some tears. The last thirty minutes of the film are so emotionally engaging that people were visibly shaking and were so affected by the film that the audience erupted into applause which led to a standing ovation.
So to conclude, comparisons between TDKR and its predecessor were always going to be drawn and, even though it doesn’t quite have the flare of The Dark Knight, it still is a triumph. It doesn’t even matter that it’s not better than TDK, because it feels so very impressive on its own. Nolan had an incredibly difficult job ahead of him and pulled off a truly staggering cinematic feat. Although it has a few flaws, TDKR is a fitting cathartic end to the best superhero film trilogy of all time. Nolan has succeeded and the end result is not just a fantastic end to the series, but he has created the best film of this year so far.
“This tone is kept through Nolan’s cinematography” – Careful with your terms. It’s Wally Pfister’s cinematography. There’s a reason Nolan’s been working with him for 10 years.
Thanks for your comment cinemagoer.
While I recognise the importance of a cinematographer in a film-making capacity (and in this case Wally) the point I was making is that the cinematography is Nolan’s vision. Directors have the creative vision and cinematographers realise that vision for them, which is presumably why Nolan works with Pfister and continues to work with him now. Wally has worked on other films which have a completely different cinematic tone, take Marley for example. Nolan has always had his neo-film noir trademark style which has stuck with him even before Pfister worked with him, one only has to look at Following or even Doodlebug to see it.
I understand your point and maybe I wasn’t clear enough in my own exposition of what I meant.