The following spoiler-filled review of The Dark Knight Rises was written in August 2016
I don’t think I have ever mentioned this on the blog before, but I’ve only seen The Dark Knight Rises three times. Once in the movie theater, once on Blu-Ray, and once yesterday when I rewatched it for this review. I really liked it when I first saw it in theaters, but, when I rewatched it for the first time, it didn’t work on me as well as it had previously. Following this latest rewatch, I will say immediately that it definitely is not as disappointing as my memory had conjured up. Look, I’m not going to come out and say that this film is an ‘underappreciated masterpiece’ or anything like that — not at all. This film still has its problems. But when I finished rewatching the film last night, I had to admit that maybe I had been a bit too harsh on it for the last couple of years. The online vocal minority has begun to really criticize this film in recent years, but while The Dark Knight Rises definitely doesn’t come close to the quality of the first two films in the Dark Knight Trilogy, I do think it is still a solid ending to an excellent trilogy.
Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises follows a weak and injured Bruce Wayne who now hides in his mansion away from the rest of Gotham City. But the villainous Bane and a certain female burglar soon get him back onto the streets of Gotham City. after breaking his back during his first confrontation with Bane, Bruce Wayne is stuck in a pit and is struck with despair. Now, he must learn to get back up again — to rise again — and, this time, save Gotham City from total nuclear destruction before a clock runs out.
To reiterate, The Dark Knight Rises isn’t nearly as good or as satisfying as Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. Compared to the other two films in the trilogy, this film has the most convoluted plot of them all, and at times it can even be a little bit dull. The film feels a little bloated, and I think its structure maybe gets in the way of the film. Then, of course, there are the characters. While I normally love Tom Hardy, and while I like the character design of Bane in this film, the character’s motivations and his overall plan don’t always make a lot of sense. I think it is fair to say that Bane is the weakest villain in this trilogy, though definitely not the least memorable — I should add. The pit that is described as ‘Hell on Earth’ is depicted in such a way that it seems surprisingly easy to escape from, and Bruce Wayne really doesn’t have a lot of trouble just being in the prison pit. The demanding psychological torture that Bane wishes to inflict on him doesn’t fully sink in when you see it. Other than being injured and seeing Gotham City crumble on television, what is particularly hellish about Bruce’s experience? I feel like a lot could be done here to improve these scenes, including switching the structure of the film — which Nolan is wont to do — around somewhat.
I think the film also suffers from sidelining not just Bale for too long, but also its best supporting performance in the film. Michael Caine does a really good job in this film (arguably his finest work in any of his Nolan flicks), but he exits the action pretty early on in the film and doesn’t return until the very end of it all. Another character that I need to talk about in the negatives is John Blake. Don’t get me wrong. I actually think Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a really solid job in this film, but his character is lacking something. Somehow, someway, John Blake just knows Bruce Wayne is ‘the Batman.’ He just knows this. It feels too easy and underdeveloped. Also, the ‘Robin’ name reveal still doesn’t work for me, even though I would’ve loved a sequel with Blake as Batman or Nightwing or whatever. I am also somewhat conflicted about how the film ends. On the one hand, I think the way the music swells and we get the great pay-off to an earlier Alfred quote works extremely well for the film. But, on the other hand, I do think the ending might have stuck with you more if Nolan had dared to stick with Batman’s ultimate end. I think it works well enough as it is, but I think it could’ve been even more powerful.
So, those are all of my issues with the film. And yet, I still feel like The Dark Knight Rises manages to pull you in as an audience member. What I really do like about this film are the perfectly-tuned performances delivered by Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. Although he isn’t featured in a lot of the film, Michael Caine always brings me to tears in the scene by his master’s grave. Caine is punishingly affecting. His emotion feels earned, and Caine is pitch-perfect. His performance merited a greater role in the film. I also think Oldman is consistently great in these three films, and the scene where Batman indirectly tells him who he really is remains extremely touching. I’ll add that I think Anne Hathaway is a perfectly fine Selina Kyle, and I would’ve happily seen her carry on with that role in a spin-off.
And because this is a Christopher Nolan film, it is technically spectacular. The sound design is on-point. The production design could not be improved upon. The musical score is adequately stirring. It looks like a higher-quality product than most comic book films. When a film is as well-designed as Nolan’s film is, then its actual issues don’t manage to demolish the film, they only blemish it slightly. There are enough issues here that keep me from outright loving the film, but there are still so many exceptional things about it that make it so that I still really like it warts and all. Frankly, while this is a flawed trilogy-capping film that may be Christopher Nolan’s weakest big-budget film yet, I don’t think it is anywhere near as bad as some people seem to suggest it is.
7.5 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 