Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of Hollywood's premier directors. With several movies that have captured audiences, Nolan has proven he can tell complicated stories and keep the audience on the edge throughout an entire film.
Nolan's Dark Knight Rises proved he was able to create another fantastic film that can keep the audience on the edge in what is his third and final installment in the Batman franchise. Nolan became the second director to make three films based on the same superhero and completed what is a legendary trilogy.
Even if you have never seen the first two films, Dark Knight Rises can easily stand alone. The script does an incredible job at explaining key plot points from previous films and helps guide the story along. Those who haven't seen the previous two films in the trilogy will still be able to pick up the pieces and follow along.
Similar to the previous two films in the franchise, Nolan's cast is what makes the characters believable and the emotions come to life on screen. Christian Bale performs well as the Batman and Bruce Wayne while Gary Oldman picks up where he left off as Commissioner Gordon. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a great addition to the cast as Blake, a young Gotham city police officer and Marion Cottillard plays a believable and mysterious Miranda Tate, a businesswoman who tries to align business interests with Bruce Wayne's money.
The film's main villain, Bane, is brought to life by Tom Hardy, who was in Nolan's film Inception. Even though it is difficult to hear Bane's lines at times due to the mask he wears, Hardy brings a villain that was a sideshow act in Joel Schumaker's Batman and Robin to life as a terrorist and power hungry foe. Hardy, who gained 30 pounds for the role, looks frightening and is believable in the fight scenes with Batman.
One of the most pleasant surprises of the film is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. Even though the alter ego of Kyle's character, Catwoman, is never mentioned in the film, Hathaway almost steals the show. Nolan took criticism for picking Hathaway for the role but proves again he made the right choice. Hathaway adds evil to the character but also other dimensions as well. Hathaway and Bale have great chemistry on screen and makes several of the key scenes emotional.
Nolan was able to tell the story without blood and guts and while the film does have a lot of violent parts to it, it is there to help move the story. The audience never feels that the it is all action and no plot because the action scenes help tell key areas of the story. The script takes ideas from popular Batman storylines such as Knightfall, No Man's Land, and The Dark Knight Returns and all ideas fit well into the script.
Grade: A-
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