The Dark Knight Rises

Batman returns to Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises, but don't get too used to him. There are a lot of other moving pieces in this, the capper to Christopher Nolan's run of dark and enormous Batman films, and just as he was in The Dark Knight, Batman is probably not even the 8th most interesting character in his own movie-- at times he's outshone by characters not even listed in the credits. Nolan makes a lot of nods toward the emotional development of his hero, but never quite connects with him, and doesn't do much better with the motives of the film's villains, represented largely by the hulking Bane (Tom Hardy) but, of course, a little more complicated than that.

There are action scenes set at the stock exchange, talk of power returning to the people and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) purring that it's time for people like Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) to give something back to "the rest of us"; The Dark Knight Rises is clearly born from the time of Occupy Wall Street and financial despair, so much that even Bruce Wayne winds up broke. In the 8 years since Harvey Dent died and Batman fled Gotham has become not just safe, but complacent, so much that when a young inquisitive cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) questions the details of Dent's death, even Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman)-- who knows the truth-- brushes him off. But as Selina (a.k.a. Catwoman, though that name is never mentioned) promises, there's a storm coming; when we meet Bane in a stunning aerial sequence that opens the movie, we know it's only a matter of time before he comes looking not just to break Batman, but to bring Gotham to its knees.

The plot is relatively simple, as Gotham endures Bane's hostile takeover while Batman-- and, working separately, the intrepid John Blake-- tries to figure out how to fix it. But as ever with Nolan's Batman movies, which he co-writes with Jonathan Nolan, there are so many damned details to get through to even understand what's at stake, and who's threatening it. Bane's goals are maddeningly unclear for a long section of the movie, as is Batman's motivation to jump back into action, and while the fight scenes between them are electric, neither character feels like the true heart of the movie. That role falls to Gordon-Levitt, who humps around Gotham doing the kind of detective work Batman might do in a smaller story, setting himself up as the clear-eyed hero in a more complex world. He's the best thing in the movie, sneaking just ahead of Hathaway's slinky and witty Catwoman, and at times it seems even Nolan would rather spend time with John Blake than with the Bat.

With the exception of one lengthy detour, the action mostly sticks with Gotham this time around, and the fictional city-- an amalgam of New York's skyline, Pittsburgh's rivers and Chicago's highway tunnels-- comes alive more vividly than ever before. The dazzling IMAX photography certainly helps, using both wide aerial shots and ground-level street scenes to plunge the audience into the grandeur and mounting unrest in the city that's so obviously worth saving. Even Bane says that he is Gotham's reckoning, not Batman's, and populated as it is by such interesting people-- Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox, Michael Caine's Alfred, and Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate also being part of the equation-- it's easy to be invested in Gotham's salvation, even when the man in the bat suit charged with saving it is less engaging than he's ever been.

As the conclusion to a genuinely game-changing trilogy The Dark Knight Rises is appropriately big and ambitious, and it's unlikely we'll see anyone make a superhero movie with Nolan's sense of scale and devotion to old-school, captured-on-film razzle-dazzle. It has moments that are captivating and special, but also lines of dialogue impossible to swallow, plot developments that meander, and a commitment to real-world political overtones that don't quite line up with the story. It's sprawling but undeniably engaging, not quite the blast of clever mayhem The Dark Knight was, but no slouch either.

Batman will live on beyond Nolan, and hopefully with a filmmaker who finds him a bit more interesting, but the world he inhabits will never look quite the same, and short of someone letting Nolan make his series of Gotham movies without the Bat, it's probably the best we'll ever see this city. No one goes into a superhero's movie to explore the world he lives in, but Nolan dares us to do it anyway, and his willingness to challenge his own genre makes The Dark Knight Rises, like all of his Batman films, unmissable.

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Alt Take: The Dark Knight Rises

There isn?t a single thing about The Dark Knight Rises that isn?t epic. It?s the highly-anticipated sequel to two of the greatest comic book movies of all time; its central villain, Bane (Tom Hardy), is an absolute monster; the cast is filled with recognizable faces at every turn; and it clocks in at nearly three hours long. Hell, when shown on real IMAX even the projection of the movie itself is epic. And while any major structure is bound to have a few cracks at the result of its own size, the most important thing about Christopher Nolan?s final Batman film is that it?s a fitting conclusion to the story that cements the trilogy as one of the greatest of all time.

While Nolan had no problem letting Heath Ledger steal the show as The Joker in The Dark Knight, one of the best things he does with The Dark Knight Rises is he makes sure that it?s Batman?s story. Set eight years after the events of the last film, when Batman was blamed for killing Harvey Dent and forced to go on the run, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) starts off as a broken character who has a gaping void in his life due to the absence of the Batman, and the real heart of the story is the hero?s determination to find his way back to the cape and cowl so that he can once again become Gotham?s watchful protector. While madness explodes and the city and Bane works to take power, it?s Wayne and his ascension (hence the title) that truly drives the film. Nolan makes his struggle powerful and captivating, creating pathos and getting the audience to not only root for the hero, but to empathize with him.

A big part of what makes the film so special and satisfying is that it knows that it knows it?s more than a simple sequel, and instead acts as a capstone. It uses plot elements from both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to fuel its narrative, and makes the audience feel like this was always where we would end up. It even goes as far as to take advantage of tiny details from the previous movies, such as a particular string of pearls, and even ties off some loose threads that you may have completely forgotten about. Because the director has been so adamant about this being his final go-round with Batman, The Dark Knight Rises need to provide not only an ending to its own story, but the story of the entire franchise. And it does so wonderfully.

With the stronger focus on Batman comes a stronger performance from Bale, but he?s not the only powerhouse in the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Gotham Police Officer John Blake, continues to establish himself as one of the best young actors in Hollywood. Though we are only introduced to Blake for the first time in this movie, Gordon-Levitt infuses him with a strength and richness of character that makes us feel like he has been in the series the entire time, just off in the background fighting crime somewhere away from the action. Conversely, Hardy?s Bane feels like he comes out of nowhere, but that only serves to make the character even scarier. Because most of his face is covered by a mask, the actor has to sell his performance through his eyes, and the result is stunning, whether he is filled with intense rage or having fun toying with the Bat psychologically. Not to be ignored either are Anne Hathaway (who puts her own memorable spin on Catwoman) and Marion Cotillard, as well as franchise strongholds Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. Nolan has always had a talent for both assembling great casts and getting the most out of them, and The Dark Knight Rises is no exception.

But being so damn epic does come with a cost. It?s a surprising thing to say given the film?s 165 minute runtime, but The Dark Knight Rises? greatest weakness is that it moves far too quickly. Upping the ante from the last two movies ? which is clearly no small task ? the finale introduces a slew of new and interesting characters and has a true journey for the hero to embark on, but the consequence is that the first 20 minutes feel like they happen in a flash. While the audience is just getting re-settled back into the world of Gotham, Nolan and his brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer (who wrote the script) rush to establish a ton of plot. Within the first few minutes we learn that Bane is a powerful villain, that eight years have passed since the death of Harvey Dent and the disappearance of the Batman, that Harvey Dent Day is now an annual event, that Commissioner Gordon (Oldman) is going to be replaced soon, that Miranda Tate (Cotillard) lost a great deal of money on an investment with Bruce Wayne, that Wayne has a crippled leg, and that Catwoman has a penchant for thievery.

There are many people out there, like me, who would have no problem sitting through a 10-hour journey through Nolan?s Batman universe, but the challenges of normal Hollywood running time mean everything has to be established at lightning speed. This continues, though to a less exaggerated level, through to the end of the second act, and not helping is the film?s timeline, which rushes past days and months. The director does finally give his story some room to breathe in the third act, and the result is that it?s the best part of the movie.

The Dark Knight Rises is the weakest film in The Dark Knight Trilogy, but given the standard established by the previous two movies that?s practically a compliment. While you can?t ignore the pacing issues, ultimately Nolan has created exactly what he needed to: an epic conclusion and satisfying ending to a brilliant and unforgettable franchise.

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Christian Bale's Batman Departure and Other "The Dark Knight Rises" Rumors Addressed

Nick Nadel is a comedy writer and blogger living in Brooklyn, NYIt's official: Filming on The Dark Knight Rises has wrapped. While we won't see the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy until next summer, rumors and plot details have been circulating faster than the Batmobile peeling down a Gotham back alley. So let's separate the fact from the fiction in the Dark Knight Rises rumor mill.  How Much Time Has Passed Since The Dark Knight?Answer: 8 years. As I speculated when the first teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises hit, much time has passed since Commissioner Gordon and his annoying son watched Batman run off to become the "hero that Gotham needs." In the brief clip of an injured Gordon talking to Batman (or is it Bruce Wayne?), we learn that the Caped Crusader has been "away" for some time. Now we know that Batman has been absent from Gotham for nearly a decade. Nolan revealed to Empire, "Our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after The Dark Knight. So he's an older Bruce Wayne; he's not in a great state." And, from the looks of the early photos of Bane in action, neither is Gotham.

Will Bane "Break" Batman?  Answer: Yes, metaphorically at least. Since Bane was announced as the "big bad" in The Dark Knight Rises, fans have been wondering whether Nolan and company would bring the infamous moment from the "Knightfall" storyline where Bane broke Batman's back to the big screen. Indeed, Tom Hardy, who plays Bane, has revealed that the villain's fighting style is "brutal" and that he does everything from "crushing skulls" to "ripping out spinal columns." While there's no indication so far that Bane will literally "break" Batman, Christian Bale's recent comments about Batman's emotional state in The Dark Knight Rises hints that perhaps Bane's destruction of Gotham will push the Caped Crusader to his breaking point. As Bale told Ace Showbiz, "It's time for Bruce Wayne to face the pain that has always stirred his life." Bale confirms that Bruce will finally start to deal with the death of his parents. Between his emotional pain and the physical beatings that Bane will no doubt hand out, Bruce Wayne will be lucky to come out of The Dark Knight Rises in one piece.  Will Christian Bale's Hang Up the Batsuit After The Dark Knight Rises? Answer: Yes. Bale recently told the press, "I wrapped a few days ago, so that will be the last time I'm taking that cowl off ... It's all done. Everything's finished. It's me and Chris -- that will be the end of that Batman era." We all suspected that The Dark Knight Rises would be Bale and Nolan's swan song, although many fans wondered whether Bale would sign on for a fourth film without his director. Now we know that Bale is officially saying goodbye to the franchise. Let the casting rumors for "Batman 4" begin!  Answer: No. Rumors have circulated for a while that Ellen Page would cameo as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon who eventually becomes Batgirl. Recently, Dark Knight Rises Rumors claimed to have spotted a sign on The Dark Knight Rises set that read "E. Page 'B. Gordon.' " However, sources close to the production have now confirmed that the sign is a fake. Looks like we'll have to wait until the inevitable Batman reboot to see a new Batgirl on the big screen. Maybe Batman & Robin's Alicia Silverstone can play the new Batgirl's mom! Let's start that rumor now ...  Answer: For this one, we go to costume designer Lindy Hemming, who told Empire, "[Bane] was injured early in his story. He's suffering from pain and needs gas to survive. He can't survive the pain without the mask. The pipes from the mask go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at his back, where there are two canisters." So the question is, will the gas be the "Venom" drug that Bane draws his strength from in the comics? Also, will his gas tie into Scarecrow's fear toxin? You know Scarecrow has to pop up somewhere in The Dark Knight Rises. Will the First Scene of The Dark Knight Rises be shown before Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol? Answer: Yes. Nolan confirmed that, much like The Dark Knight prologue that played before I Am Legend way back in 2007, the first six or seven minutes of The Dark Knight Rises will be shown before IMAX screenings of Tom Cruise's latest spy opus. (In case you skip that flick, a new trailer will be shown before Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.) Nolan also revealed that the prologue would introduce Bane to audiences and be "a taste of the rest of the film." Clearly Batman will once again be the talk of the holiday movie season.

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