It doesn't matter who we are... what matters is our plan. No one cared who I was until I put on the mask.

The Dark Knight Rises

Rating: 5/5

Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon - Levitt

Director: Christopher Nolan

Year: 2012

I briefly talked about this film in my Batman Top 5 but as I have now seen The Dark Knight Rises three times in the cinema I thought that I would give it the proper review that it deserves.

I am still sitting in awe almost two months after I first seen this film and it is one which has really had a major effect on me. This is the film that I have been constantly asking people if they have seen, and is always a conversation starter between friends. I was so excited about this film and really anticipated it over the last year as more teasers and pictures got released.

The Dark Knight really raised the bar with film making and the performance which Heath Ledger gave was phenomenal, and so before the film was released Tom Hardy had a performance to match up to and possibly overshadow. I was really happy with the choice in casting when it was announced that Joseph Gordon - Levitt was to star, being a fan of his for years when he starred in 3^rd Rock from the Sun, 10 Things I Hate About You, (500) Days of Summer (Although I didn’t like this film I did like his performance). As I have previously said, I first saw The Dark Knight Rises on opening night 20^th July in IMAX. Naturally, I had really high expectations about it and I can say without hesitation that I was not in any way disappointed.

The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after The Dark Knight as Batman’s reputation is tarnished after he took the blame for Harvey Dent’s crimes. Commissioner Jim Gordon has nearly eradicated violent crime and Gotham’s streets are safe once more, however he still feels guilty about the cover up of Dent’s crimes and letting Batman take the fall. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne is living in exile with only Alfred for company and a new enemy in the form of a masked terrorist named Bane.  Wayne Enterprises crumbles after Bruce loses a large amount of money by investing in a clean energy project while Bane stages an attack of the New York stock exchange and uses Bruce’s fingerprints to place some risky investments. After a meeting with Lucius Fox, he convinces Bruce to entrust businesswoman Miranda Tate to take full control of the assets from Wayne Enterprises. 

 

In order to get her ‘clean slate’ Selina Kyle, a cat burgular who robbed Bruce Wayne takes Batman to Bane’s hideout in the sewers where the enemies battle it out until Bane overpowers Batman and breaks his back. Bruce is led by Bane and his men to a prison from which escape is virtually impossible. After many months Bruce regains his strength and escapes from the prison to bring Bane down and clean up Gotham once more.

I feel that this is without a doubt the best Batman film ever made, it is visually stunning, the acting is incredible and it is just a perfect piece of filmmaking. Christian Bale is fantastic as Bruce Wayne and personally my favourite Batman (after Michael Keaton of course!) I really liked Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and although I don’t particularly like her as an actress, I thought her portrayal was fantastic and I loved her scenes. The standout performance for me was Tom Hardy portraying Bane. I found it so hard to watch when he was destroying Batman and I think he was a great villain and was very memorable. I thought the voice he adopted for the role was fantastic and I had absolutely no problems understanding his dialogue and could quite easily follow what he was saying. My favourite scene has to be the opening where the plane is suspended in mid air as Bane and his gang are putting their plan into action.

IMAX of course really added to the experience and enhanced the film ten fold. This is definitely a film to see and one which will leave you wanting to see it over and over. Christopher Nolan really does deserve a lot of recognition for this film as it is modern day filmmaking at its best and his franchise will certainly go down in history as a classic.  Whether you are a Batman fan or not I beg you to see this film and I can guarantee that you won’t leave disappointed.