Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

Directed:

Stars:  Christian Bale, Michael Cain, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

What we think: So the curtain finally comes down on Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and what a trilogy it has been and what an adventure we have been treated to over the last few years.

The franchise was left in tatters at the end of the late 1990s no thanks to Joel Schumacher’s quite frankly god awful interpretation, films which we hope will never ever be spoken about after this point.

With The Dark Knight Rises, eight years have passed since Batman disappeared into the Gotham night after taking the blame for Harvey Dent’s death. Dent is now hailed as a hero for ridding the streets of organized crime, while Batman is condemned as the villain.

Bruce Wayne has been hiding out in Wayne Manor (now rebuilt), not wanting to show his face he keeps a low profile and to one part of the house, he’s aided by a stick, the years of punishment fighting crime have clearly taken their toll. When a new terror arrives in the shape of Bane (Hardy) Wayne must decide what it is he is really fighting for, and if he is still ready to accept the mantle of the bat if Gotham will have him back?

The Nolanverse as its now often referred to is immense; the film opens with an unbelievable sequence in which Bane takes control of a plane with a plot to kidnap Dr. Leonid Pavel.

What’s even more mind bending is that at no point does there look like any CGI is required. During which, henchman skydive from one plane hooking it up to a much larger one leaving the plane’s hull dropping out to reveal Bane and Pavel hanging in the air.

The Bat takes flight

When Batman turns up for the first time he rides in on the Batpod in hot pursuit of Bane and his army making a getaway on motorbikes. Followed by Gotham’s Finest one of them says “boy, you are in for a show tonight,” and he’s not wrong as the Batpod revels a neat trick for turning sharp corners.

We also get our first look at The Bat, a very impressive piece of aviation hardware that slots nicely into Nolan’s Bat-verse. Batman of course cannot wait to pilot this and so it’s introduced pretty early on and is a very integral part of the story. The Tumbler, or should we say Tumblers get their return as well, although in the wrong hands.

Bane is the perfect foe for The Dark Knight in every sense of the word, he’s bigger, badder, and cut from a very similar cloth mentally (you’ll have to delve into the League of Shadows). The fan boys will know exactly what is coming for our hero once he is confronted by the huge form, as Bane breaks a hole in Batman’s cowl you know it’s not going to end well, more so when he’s held aloft.

Hardy put on 30lbs for the role and it shows, as he towers over everyone he shares the screen with. His voice is not what you’ll be expecting, think of a very polite and slightly camp Darth Vader, sometimes incoherent it does work extremely well however once you get used to it.

While we know the Joker is still very much alive you can’t help but wonder what he must have been thinking from wherever he was? Had Heath Ledger still be with us I am very much in the belief that Nolan would have included him in some guise, even for a few moments so we could again relive that amazing and sinister performance. Alas its not to be, but Bane holds his own more than admirably here.

Nolan has not overlooked the more sensitive issues and Michael Caine delivers some of the more poignant heartwarming moments. As Alfred he has been by Bruce’s side and is his conscience and at times the voice of reason, so he’s notably devastated to learn that Bruce will carry on as Batman and Bruce is equally hurt by Alfred’s revelation about the letter to Rachel.

The cast list is a star studded one, Freeman is back as Lucius Fox still looking to show Bruce Wayne what’s hiding downstairs in the weapons cache “just for old time’s sake”. Oldman is excellent as dedicated Commissioner Gordon, still very much the defendant of Batman as the hero, he too is overcoming his own personal problems from the fall out with Harvey Two-Face.

Two other characters stood firmly out for me, Hathaway as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (although she is never referred by that name during the film) and cop turned Detective John Blake (Gordon-Levitt).

Hathaway was more than capable of pulling off this role; she’s devious in her own gains and is desperate to rid her past life. She can also handle herself as the bar fight would suggest in one of the film’s earliest action sequences.

Blake is an eager cop with amazing detective skills and Gordon-Levitt was perfectly cast in this role. He’s worked out Batman’s alter ego and even has time to offer him a few choice words of advice. Wayne however sees something more in him, perhaps as a possible protégé.

Batman finally meets his match in Tom Hardy’s Bane

A small criticism if any would be the somewhat brief seduction of Bruce Wayne by Marion Cotillard’s Miranda. At face value this is a beautiful potentially lethal femme fatale with a hidden past almost as dark as Bruce himself. To head into anymore detail would spoil things.

Nolan once again takes the writing duties accompanied by his brother Jonathan of which the pair has created a truly mesmerizing story and a perfect ending to the previous two films.

They have really connected with all the characters and the dialogue is believable and at times sympathetic. They have given Batman a sendoff deserving of a superhero, made him realize his true calling when he feared that Gotham may no longer want a Dark Knight as their protector.

The closing of the film was the most enjoyable, and it will no doubt be talked about for some time to come. The final few minutes sets up resolutions for a few of the characters, and may even introduce a new one (our lips are firmly sealed on that).

It’s a perfect way for Nolan to close the door on the Batcave, lock Wayne Manor and put the Bat suit back in its glass case, ensuring he leaves having completed one of the greatest superhero trilogies of all time. To leave the final words to Nolan himself he said: “ I will miss the Batman. I like to think that he’ll miss me, but he’s never been particularly sentimental.”

View the trailer

Rating: (5/5)

Visit the IMDb page for The Dark Knight Rises

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