Many comic book superheroes have become household names and cultural icons over the years, but very few have ever managed to rival the success of Batman. Created in 1939 by Bob Kane and an uncredited Bill Finger, Batman is arguably the most popular and culturally relevant superhero ever created. His popularity across the various forms of pop culture that have featured him has never waned in the seven decades since he debuted in the pages of Detective Comics #27.
Batman's appearances beyond the realm of comics haven't always worked out for the best, though. I'm specifically referring to the two films directed by Joel Schumacher. While Schumacher's Batman Forever has its defenders, Batman & Robin was critically savaged and is often derided for being so intolerably campy that it made the classic Batman TV show from the '60s look like a gritty drama. So negative was the reception for Schumacher's movies that the Batman movie franchise was killed dead for nearly a decade.
But all was not lost, as the franchise was revived and rebooted in 2005 by Christopher Nolan. Batman Begins firmly returned the cinematic Batman to the gritty realm he occupies in the comics, and it was a legitimately fantastic movie in its own right. But Nolan managed to surpass it three years later with The Dark Knight. One of the rare sequels that completely outdid its predecessor, The Dark Knight was so good that it became the first superhero movie to win an Academy Award for its acting and as of this writing is listed on IMDB.com as one of the top ten best movies ever made.
Flash forward to this summer and the release of Nolan's third and supposedly final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Anticipation for the movie was at a fever pitch upon its release last weekend, and considering how awesome The Dark Knight was, the movie had a hell of an act to follow. So does Nolan's "Dark Knight Saga" end on a high note
Eight years have passed since the events of The Dark Knight, during which time Gotham City was finally able to free itself from the grip of organized crime thanks to legislation named for the late district attorney Harvey Dent. The murders Dent committed following his mental breakdown were swept under the rug, with Batman accepting the blame for both Dent's death and the crimes he committed so that the city would remember Dent as a hero.
Batman rode off into the sunset after that, and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has spent those eight years practically becoming a hermit secluded away in his mansion on the outskirts of Gotham City. Though he gave up the mantle of "Batman" long ago, Bruce is drawn back to the cape and cowl upon the rise of a new threat in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy). A monstrous mercenary with ties to Ra's al Ghul and the League of Shadows, Bane arrives in dramatic fashion, wounding Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and staging a siege on Gotham's stock exchange.
Bane quickly assembles an army who begin to turn class warfare into traditional warfare pitting the working class against Gotham's more affluent citizens. He also surprisingly has a personal vendetta against Bruce, setting into motion a plan that leaves Wayne Enterprises facing bankruptcy and Bruce himself penniless. Bane even goes as far as to cripple Batman during a fight and leave him for dead in a hellish prison in the middle of nowhere.
With Batman out of the way, Bane quickly neutralizes much of the police department and completely conquers Gotham City by threatening to detonate a nuclear weapon if he is opposed. The government is unable to do anything about it, as any and all attempts to thwart Bane are met with abject failure. Faced with no other options, Batman must escape from his prison and ― with the help of cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and a brave young cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) ― get back on his feet so that Gotham City can be safe once again.
It's an odd coincidence that The Dark Knight Rises was released in the same summer as The Avengers. The anticipation for both movies had been building since 2008, and The Dark Knight Rises is still shaping up to be a huge blockbuster even in spite of that tragic shooting in Colorado. But comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges. One was a lighthearted adventure, while the other is a serious drama. But the one thing that they do have in common is that they're both not only great superhero movies, but downright amazing movies period. I've already had my say in regards to The Avengers, but on the topic of The Dark Knight Rises, I can honestly say that it's an absolutely tremendous movie and a near-perfect way to end the trilogy.
Working on the movie as both director and co-writer, Christopher Nolan has crafted what I can truly call one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. From his director's chair, Nolan shapes the movie into a grand epic that concludes the saga on a high note. Though the movie runs two hours and 45 minutes, it never drags or feels overly long. Nolan tells the story in such a way that we the viewer stayed glued to the screen from beginning to end. It helps that he's working with Hans Zimmer's fantastic score and Wally Pfister's absolutely gorgeous cinematography, but Nolan probably could have made a great movie with lesser tools at his disposal.
The script, written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, is also very good, but has its share of flaws. Really, the only problems whatsoever I have with The Dark Knight Rises are due to its script. The plot feels very rushed, like they're trying to fit in as much story as possible into the movie without making sure it flowed smoothly. Christopher, as director, did a great job trying to make sure it didn't drag but it still felt way too murky for its own good. We're told that five months have passed after Bane conquers Gotham City, but as fast as the story moves, it could have been five weeks for all we know. Would it have been so hard for the Nolans to take their time with the pacing? They had nearly three hours to work with, so it's not like they had to worry about a time issue.
But outside of that, practically everything the Nolans have written is gold. They actually make a bold move in writing not a Batman movie, but a Bruce Wayne movie. The full Batman costume doesn't even appear until nearly an hour into the movie. Instead, the Nolans delve into Bruce's psyche, to show just how his adventures as Batman would impact his sanity. So devoted to being Batman is their version of Bruce that when he gives up the cape and cowl, he doesn't know how to be Bruce Wayne. He sequesters himself away in the darkest part of Wayne Manor, so hidden from the world that even the people that work for him barely even know what he looks like. He's become almost as much a myth as Batman.
But despite his hermit-like existence and the guilt and heartache that are eating him alive, Bruce still longs to be Batman. It's who he is; that's all he is. Many comic book writers over the years have painted Batman as being the real person and Bruce Wayne as the disguise he wears, but I really got the feeling that the Nolans decided to take it one step further with a story that, for all intents and purposes, sets up that without Batman there's no Bruce Wayne either. I actually felt it was quite poetic, in that Bruce is so driven, so compelled into heroism that he practically can't function without the cape and cowl.
And since most other critics and reviewers have brought it up, I guess I'll have to mention it too. Even though the movie was supposedly written and in production long before the whole "Occupy Wall Street" movement took off last year, there's definitely a similar vibe to the movie. Of course, none of the Occupiers ever took over a city with a nuclear bomb, but Bane's class warfare rhetoric that he uses to stir Gotham City into a frenzy definitely feels like what would have happened if the Occupiers branched out into terrorism. It's much less over-the-top with Catwoman's "there's a storm coming" monologue and her general disdain for the wealthy, but the whole thing is there whether the Nolans intended for it to be or not.
But let's move along to the superb group of actors assembled. Returning to the role of the titular Dark Knight for the third and final time is Christian Bale, who once again knocks it out of the park with his performance. As good as his performances in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were, I think he actually managed to trump them with this movie. Bale brings a lot of credibility and emotion to the role, making you forget that you're watching just an actor playing a character. He wholly becomes the character, making Bruce Wayne just as fascinating to watch as his costumed alter ego. The movies made by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher movies had a hard time balancing that, but Bale succeeds and makes this movie (and the two prior entries in the trilogy) better for it.
From our protagonist we move onward to the movie's primary "big bad," as played by Tom Hardy. Hardy casts an intimidating presence, giving Bane an air of menace and frightening determination with every move he makes. He plays Bane as cold, calculating, and intelligent yet monstrous as well. It's thankfully much closer to his character's comic book counterpart than Jeep Swenson's grunting hulk from Batman & Robin. Hardy makes for both a charismatic and scary villain that really suits the character.
Perhaps the most controversial bit of casting was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. People thought that she wouldn't be right for the role, that she'd never be able to match any other incarnation of Selina Kyle. This could be due in part to Hathaway's past roles in teen-themed fluff like The Princess Bride and Ella Enchanted, or perhaps it was due to the popularity of Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal of Catwoman in Batman Returns. But those doubters were proven wrong, because Hathaway's performance is fantastic. She approaches Catwoman with the perfect combination of self-assurance and sex appeal, making the character the alluring figure she needs to be. Hathaway makes it very easy to see why Batman would be drawn to Catwoman, as she and Bale's playful, flirtatious chemistry together effortlessly duplicates Batman and Catwoman's fabled relationship in the source material.
Unfortunately, because the Bane character takes up so much of the movie's spotlight, Hathaway doesn't get as much time to shine as she probably should have. She does have some fantastic moments, but the role doesn't feel quite as big as it deserves. Had the role been a bit beefier, I'd honestly have no problem calling Hathaway's performance the absolute definitive live-action portrayal of Catwoman. Hathaway totally nails it, doing the very best she can to steal the movie and very nearly doing so.
The members of the supporting cast also turn in some fine performances despite appearing in smaller roles. Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman are great as always, while Marion Cotillard is okay yet not quite memorable. Cotillard appears as a Wayne Enterprises executive who plays a pivotal role during the climax, but until then, she barely has anything to do. This lack of meaningful screen time unfortunately means less time for Cotillard to make an impression. She's decent enough, though, but I would have
But my favorite performances among the supporting cast come from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Caine. Gordon-Levitt plays his role with aplomb, injecting his character with a necessary intelligence, bravery, and idealism. His performance is captivating enough that it really felt like Gordon-Levitt was in a competition with Hathaway to see who could get the audience to like them the most.
My personal favorite performance in the movie, however, is Caine's. Caine's performance is perfect, exemplifying everything that Alfred is and should be. He's not just a butler, but a father figure for Bruce, and Caine approaches Alfred in this movie with all the heartache and fear of a father who is watching his son fight and risk dying for a cause bigger than both of them. It's an emotional, gripping, utterly heartbreaking performance that, for all the efforts of Bale, Hardy, Hathaway, and Gordon-Levitt, truly does steal the show. It's just a shame that Caine disappears for much of the movie after the first act, because I wanted to see more of him.
The Dark Knight Rises isn't the perfect Batman movie, but I'd still call it one of the best ever. Yeah, it's got a couple of flaws, but it's still fantastic. And while the ending will more than likely leave you hoping for a fourth "Dark Knight" adventure, the movie still brings Nolan's saga to a satisfying conclusion. I'm sad to see the franchise face another reboot a few years down the road, I hope whomever is placed in charge can fill the huge shoes that Nolan, Bale, and crew are leaving behind. But either way, I can't wait to see where Batman goes from here.
Final Rating: ****
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