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I woke up today for the first time in 6 years with no Batman film to look forward to. I know a reboot is only years away but it will never be the same. I know the truth. Nolan changed things...forever. :)
With that being said I woke up today very satisfied even though a bit depressed. The Dark Knight Rises, while not without fault, is a resounding success. Now let's get to the review.
The first 7 minutes or so were no surprise given the IMAX showing of Ghost Protocol. With that being said I actually understood everything Bane said as the voice quality was greatly improved from when I see the first 7 minutes in December. I was really put to rest immediately and knew I could just focus on the film rather than worry about understanding Bane.
It is not too surprising that our first scenes of Bruce Wayne show a broken man. Damaged both physically and mentally by his actions as Batman. I was really happy to see the collateral damage being a superhero had on a human being. Bruce is exactly that, a human who has asked his body and mind to be more than it is. The consequences are not pretty.
The first big surprise of the movie for me came when John Blake called out Bruce Wayne as Batman. This was a huge shocker for most in the crowd and I honestly did not see it coming. However, I was a bit upset with John's reasoning as to how he knew. It seemed like it was just going on some real big assumptions. But Kudos to John for being the only one in Gotham to find out the truth on his own!
On to one of the first issues people may be talking about. Why the hell does Batman trust Selina Kyle so much? For such a smart man Batman really is duped on more than one occassion by Selina. Maybe he is getting old, or maybe he is just too trusting. I would like to side with the later. Batman tries over and over to see the good in people and is let down time and time again. This is actually very representative of the identity of Batman and does pay off in the end.
One of the bigger emotional scenes to follow was the conversation between Bruce and Alfred. Alfred informing Bruce of Rachel's last letter to try and stop Bruce from not caring about life was gut wrenching. I never expected to see Bruce's one constant in Gotham be torn away from him. I have only got that heavy chest feeling in a few movies. But after being so invested in this trilogy I really felt the tension and pain between Alfred and Bruce. The acting was absolutely superb and Michael Caine really stole the scene. No offense to Christian Bale who did a fine job as well.
Now, the scene that people will be talking about the most. Batman and Bane's first battle. The fight scene is pretty magnificent. I was so entralled by the battle that I almost forgot to breathe. The filming and choreography were both top notch and really allowed the audience to enjoy the scene without the fast cut or close up camera action. It was brutal and beautiful at the same time. Finally Batman met his match physically. We all knew it was going to happen but Nolan did not dissapoint in this scene. While Bane doesn't completely break Batman's back he does severly damage it in a tribute to the comic storyline.
With Batman exiled to Bane's prison the film slowly dives into a deeper and darker tone. Bane takes over Gotham in one feel swoop of his masterplan. It really is something to see and Tom Hardy does a great job of acting behind the mask.
I did enjoy the recovery of Bruce in the prison and the fine storytelling given there to help with the background. We get our Liam Neeson cameo and a very disturbing upbringing of a child. Now the twist that maybe some could have guessed but I missed out. I was glad I did as it really helped conclude the story. Most thought that Miranda Tate was going to be Talia but for the first 2 hours or so Nolan did a good job of keeping this rumor unfounded. It wasn't until Batman's glorious return and subesequent defeat of Bane that we get the knife in the back from Nolan. The child from the prison was Talia not Bane! M. Nolan Shamalan hard at work!
Finally! the last part of my loooong review. The heart breaking end to the trilogy. When Batman saves Gotham by pulling the bomb out to sea I really thought that Nolan did it. He killed Batman! He was not joking about the end. It was here and it was now. Batman made the ultimate sacrafice to save Gotham and Bruce Wayne was no more. Once again the scene was very emotional and very somber for the fans of the trilogy. However, Nolan would not let his trilogy end on such a sad note. Not only do we get a final scene that reunites Alfred and Bruce but we also get that John Blake was Robin all along. With Batman "dead" Bruce passes the torch(and Batcave) to Robin thus ending the greatest comic book trilogy ever.
My last thought's on the trilogy were that there is definitely plot holes in all three movies. Some very notable ones in this one but such fine storytelling and gripping scenes quickly allow you to overlook them and enjoy the films. Excellent job to Nolan's entire staff.
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