Truly Dreadful Film

Really Surprised!

Just so...so bad

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The Dark Knight Rises (or T.D.K.R.) became the centerpiece of many Batman fans debating as to whether or not it was the sequel we deserved or needed; I say it was exactly that and more. T.D.K.R. managed to deliver the same super-thrills of The Dark Knight and then some of its own dare I say more ambitious thrills in making this like a blockbuster take on 'A Tale of Two Cities' while expanding on the areas Batman Begins may, or may not have, squandered in its story and exploration of the League of Shadows. This film makes The Avengers look like a cucumber sandwich compared to the French 'croque monsieur' of blockbuster proportions that is Chris Nolan's T.D.K.R..I love this film; it's a great exploration of what happened after The Dark Knight, and Batman's not the same person he was after he encountered The Joker. Now he's about to confront Bane, come out of retirement since Harvey Dent's demise, save Gotham from the League of Shadows, and maybe Bruce Wayne will meet his untimely end in this chapter. Also Catwoman's in this movie and she's one of the strong points for me. Somebody could argue that this movie is almost too much movie for a superhero film to contain; you have social commentary, terrorism, nuclear weaponry, thieves, the impact of one's influence on children, and of course this is all revolving around Batman and Gotham City. It's suitably epic, over-the-top and bombastic; it's exactly what a superhero movie strives to be. It never pulls its punches in its set-pieces and it shows Chris Nolan makes movies like nobody else these days can come close to.The Dark Knight Rises is a 5/5 star superhero flick that can be argued as one of the most over-the-top yet baldest movies of the 2010s. Chris Nolan knows how to make his movies a gargantuan event.

It is understandable that there were difficulties during the production of the movie, considering an unexpected factor which caused the change in plot and introducing a new villain, who was probably the ultimate test for the Dark Knight. The movie revolves around ailing Bruce Wayne, who needs to stand up in order to protect his city when it's lost all hope. The whole aspect of changing the character and returning to shape is shown spectacularly and gradually, unlike in many superhero movies where a character can fall from 100 feet and still be entirely healthy. The film, despite being a superhero flick where one doesn't expect things to flow as if in reality, is shown rather disturbingly realistically, bringing an element of despair, which had many people shocked and perhaps giving up on the thought that Batman can defeat the villain. Bane is presented as somebody who is fearsome and an ultimate threat to the City, but in a different and more extreme way than The Joker (albeit not necessarily better). The whole story was executed excellently, even though there are some mistakes which were probably very hard to avoid due to production issues. The camerawork, sound and other important elements were also top notch, as well as superb acting that raised the bar. Overall, an excellent conclusion to one of the best trilogies ever made.DISCLAIMER : Everything stated in this review is entirely matter of personal opinion and doesn't have to coincide with the opinions of other reviewers

Going into the filming of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Director Christopher Nolan had a problem on his hands. The previous film in this trilogy - 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT - had turned into a cultural phenomenon based, in part, on the late Heath Ledger's bravura performance as The Joker. So how does he top it?The quick answer is - you don't, so don't even try.THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is a satisfactory conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy that started with 2005's BATMAN BEGINS and, again stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the "Dark Knight".What Director Nolan wisely does is continue his dark tone with this film, but does not even mention The Joker (or Ledger) in this film. Let the memories of the past films be just that - memories - and let this film stand on it's own.And it does, for the most part.Taking place 8 years after the events of THE DARK KNIGHT, this film has Batman coming out of self-imposed "retirement" to, yet again, save Gotham City from the clutches of a bad guy - this time, the masked Bane. In the course of this film Batman is torn down, to be risen and reborn again as the shining light of good over evil, shedding the "Dark Knight" moniker once and for all.Nolan - and his brother, and frequent collaborator, Jonathan - wrote the screenplay and it is...serviceable. Nothing really remarkable about the story and plot. It gives each one of our returning characters - Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman), Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and - especially - Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) room to shine along with other, new characters like Selina Kyle/Catwoman (a really good Anne Hathaway), Officer Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and, of course, Bane (Tom Hardy).As you might be able to see, ALL of these actors are members of Nolan's "troupe" of actors - they either have been in other Nolan films (or, in the case of Hathaway, WILL be in another Nolan film) and each of them appear on the screen with gusto and a quiet confidence in their characters and a trust in a filmmaker that comes from frequent collaborations.In the lead, Bale, of course, gives his usual, strong performance, though I did detect a hint of weariness in the performance. Now...some will say that is because the character is becoming weary, but I think it is more to the case that Bale was growing weary of playing this character.But that is a quibble for all of the characters/actors do a terrific/professional job pushing the plot forward, which (let's admit) is just an excuse to go from one gigantic battle/chase scene to another and...Nolan certainly knows how to do these.From the opening to close, every one of these gigantic "set pieces" held my attention and I found myself - even though I have seen this film before - sitting on the edge of my seat as the good guys - led by Batman - raced time to thwart the machinations of the bad guys in the end.I'm glad these action sequences held my attention, for there are, inexplicably, looooong sections of this film where there is no action, but "character development" and "growth from strong internal retrospection." This sort of thing might have looked good on the page, but it is rather dull and boring when put on the screen. This film is almost 3 hours long, and - if Mr. Nolan would like to contact me - I can suggest a few spots where we can trim about 20-30 minutes out of this film, starting with the long stretch where Bruce Wayne is imprisoned.But...these stretches are tolerable when you know it will lead you to some really fine action sequences featuring character/actors that you care about and are actually rooting for them to succeed. As I stated before, this is an "agreeable" conclusion to the trilogy. One who's journey I was glad to be one, but - to be honest - one that I was glad was over as well.Letter Grade: B+8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

This movie was a very interesting one, but in so many different ways. This movie has so many question marks which needs to be addressed. Yes, The Dark Knight Rises was a good movie to watch especially when you first see it, but it's definitely not as good as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. This movie seems to have too many plot holes which causes problems. Also, I don't like the eight year gap after The Dark Knight story because it's too long for my liking: three, four or five years would've made far more sense. Story was good, and it gets you very interested, but it could've been so much better. It does get you, the viewer, very engaged. Obviously, the best thing about this movie was Bane - the villain was very fearsome. Bane was terrific. The only downside to Bane was the outfit. Bane could've or should've looked far more menacing than it already was. He definitely should've been a lot bigger especially in height. After all, Bane was the only villain that was known to have "broken the bat". I don't think this movie did quite a good job of it. Some of his quotes were very memorable such as "Why are you here?", "Do you feel in charge" and "I was asking you". I like Bane, but I don't think he was the right choice to play the villain in this final movie. Someone such as the Riddler or the Penguin would've been far better, but that's just my personal opinion. But I can see why Bane was chosen, but the movie could've been far better than it already was had more care was given to it. I have a feeling after what happened to Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight Rises already lost a lot of its light before it was made, so that's why the movie wasn't as great. I don't know about you, but The Dark Knight Rises looked pretty dull to me right from the very beginning, and that's something I just didn't like about this movie. The soundtracks or themes for this movie was brilliant, and that was one of the few best things about this movie. The first movie was "Batman Begins". The second movie was "The Dark Knight". The third movie should've been either "Batman Ends" or "The Dark Knight Ends" - this is what this movie does I'm afraid. Yes, "The Dark Knight Rises", but it rises far too late. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight is something I could watch repeatedly, but not The Dark Knight Rises because The Dark Knight Ends.