The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Overall: A
Cast: A
Plot: A+
Special Effects/Stunts: A
Similarity to Comic: A-
Director: Christopher Nolan
Comic Company: DC
Stars: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page


I've never been anticipating the release of a movie more than I have for this one.  Four long years we waited for this, had to try to sort through all the rumors and updated cast lists and predicted plot lines.  They even released the scene early where Bane escapes from the CIA plane and boy did that make us eager, it was almost mean in a way.  But in the end this movie was totally worth the wait.

The Good: Let's start with the cast.  They all did fantastic, moving on.  Another thing I liked about this movie was how well it followed the comics, specifically "The Dark Knight Returns", "Knightfall", and "No Man's Land".  They change things a little in the end, but I'll get to that, for the majority of the movie however it is one of the most comic-following movies of the modern era.  The overall plot was superb.  "Batman" Begins" had a theme of fear, "The Dark Knight" had a theme of chaos, and this film's theme was pain.  Not only did the plot exemplify that nicely, but after watching all three movies in the trilogy you can notice the subtle differences in cinematography that portray their respective themes too.  Well played Mr. Nolan, well played.

Once again the special effects were stellar.  Nolan makes sure there is as little CGI as possible, so all of his chase scenes, fight scenes, and landscape shots are mostly organic and that's a nice change from most other superhero movies.  The soundtrack was good, and in some places the lack of music made the scenes more powerful and seems to get the audience more emotionally involved.  Probably my favorite thing about this movie is that it's the first in which Bruce Wayne isn't really conflicted about what he needs to do, whether Gotham needs a hero or not.  He simply makes up his mind in the beginning of the movie and sticks with it.

The Bad: I'm no doctor, but it seems to me that if someone had a vertebra sticking out of their back, punching it may not be the best way to heal it.  Apparently that works in this movie though, so that's cool.  My main beef with this movie though, if I have to pick one, is that the ending doesn't follow the comics at ALL.  They killed Tim Drake early in the movie and then Blake becomes Robin?  And when they said Robin did they actually mean Robin or did they mean the next Batman?  And either way Batman trains him in the comics, and that sure didn't happen in this movie.  And what's this crap about Bruce Wayne retiring anyway?  And last but not least, why did they act like Miranda being Talia was such a big twist?  Anyone who knows anything about Batman knew that was going to happen as soon as they mentioned Ra's Al Ghul having a child.

Another thing I thought was kind of dumb was that even after Gotham got invaded and Bane was threatening to detonate a nuclear bomb, Batman still wouldn't use a gun.  I understand if the city is being terrorized by the Joker and you need to make a statement by not using one, but come on, under threat of a nuclear attack I think even Batman might make an exception.  Am I wrong?

The Interesting: A couple of times there I forgot what movie I was watching, because 90% of the cast from "Inception" was in this movie too.  It makes me wonder how many of the actors got their roles because of "Inception" and not because they actually earned it or because they fit their role well.  Specifically I think Talia and Blake could have been cast a little better.

So they brought back the Scarecrow for another cameo, worth mentioning, and his whole scene seemed way overdone and not very realistic as far as the set goes, it looked like a piece of concept art.  Oh and the final showdown between Batman and Bane; is that all Batman had to do?  Just punch him in the mask?  Because I seem to remember him doing that like a hundred times in their first fight and that didn't work out so well.  Also, I wasn't really a fan of how they basically wrote Gordon and Alfred out of the plot, by having Gordon in the hospital for 80% of the movie and having Alfred walk out on Bruce.

Conclusion: This movie was fantastic.  I picked apart some of the details in this post, but overall I've seen very few movies that are as good as this one.  Go see it, four times.