The Dark Knight Rises, if not to new heights, then to a thrilling finale
The Dark Knight is risen. He is risen indeed. Christopher
Nolan’s third Batman film promised to be an epic conclusion to The Dark Knight saga, and it is truly
epic in ambition, scale and action. Though there is no use in claiming that The Dark Knight Rises is perfect, for
those who are fanatical about the films it should be an incredibly satisfying
end to the trilogy.
We return to Gotham eight years since The Dark Knight. The streets have been cleaned up with the help of
the heroic example of the myth of Harvey Dent. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse
and Batman is no longer required. All seems well. However, a new villain is on
the horizon in the form of the masked man-mountain, Bane. His intentions are
unclear. All that is apparent is that he should be feared. As dangers mount,
will Batman return?
The film starts off much more in the vein of Batman Begins than in that of its sequel.
There are a few quips (the movie is not humourless) but, crucially, there is a
more apparent emotional core than there was in The Dark Knight. This is most clearly seen through the increasingly
strained relationship between Bruce Wayne (the ever-excellent Christian Bale)
and his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine being absolutely brilliant). Wayne
has given so much and has gained nothing but depression and loneliness. All
that seems to be left for him is death, and Alfred has “buried too many members
of the Wayne family”.
The threat of Bane, combined with the complacency of the
police, forces Bruce Wayne to put the cape back on. Indeed, Bane is a fearsome
villain to watch, with his brutal physical presence and cultish zeal. Whereas The Dark Knight’s Joker illustrated
chaos and a belief in the corruptibility of even the whitest knight, the thinking
behind Bane is more intriguing, if less clear. Bane’s rhetoric to the people of
Gotham is not too dissimilar to that of the TEA Party or, bizarrely, UK Uncut.
As Gotham descends into the anarchy wrought by his terror, Bane’s rhetoric
transforms the city not into a utopia that either side of that divide would
like, but into total and brutal disorder. What we are left with is a warning:
be careful what you wish for, as you might just get it.
Batman, meanwhile, is diverted to a pit-prison where the
inmates are taunted by the apparent possibility of being able to climb out.
However, it is this middle period of the film where things almost begin to
unravel. There’s no defending aspects of this section. The whole thing is all
over the place. In the pursuit of the epic, Nolan shows that same sprawling
lack of control that is present in The
Dark Knight, but he also indulges in moments of sheer nonsense. Lines like “Whatever
it is, it’s nuclear” and a cameo appearance by an alumni of the franchise are
laugh-out-loud funny and, dare I say it, stupid. There’s a Prince of Persia bit which is just nonsense. Oh and, on top of
this, you have the otherwise brilliant Tom Hardy’s Bane being muffled by his
mask to the point of all too frequent inaudibility. For a while, a thought
crossed my mind: has Nolan gone too big? Has he blown it?
The good news is that the final hour is just magnificent.
The scale of Nolan’s ambition may have led it down some very silly paths at
points, but it’s worth it for the climax. Gotham is essentially in civil war,
and Nolan directs the melee with verve and confidence. It’s fantastically easy
to follow, and thrilling at every turn. However, there is a heart throbbing in
this film. One rides the highs and lows with these characters, even though many
aspects of the plot are predictable. To that end, mention should be made of
Anne Hathaway’s great performance as the sexy Catwoman, and not should be taken
of another impressive performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is turning into
a real star (he’s come a long way from that floppy-haired kid in 3rd Rock from the Sun).
The whole cacophonous majesty of the thing crescendos to a
thrilling conclusion which is not about cold ideas (as The Dark Knight perhaps was) but is one of genuine emotion. This
means that despite everything – despite the messiness, the lack of control, the
sheer nonsense, the predictability of certain plot-points and the utter
craziness of some aspects of the script – you are left completely satisfied,
because you don’t care about the flaws. Nolan doesn’t allow you to. Throughout
164 minutes of running time, Nolan keeps you totally gripped, absorbed and
holding your breath. Besides you should never think that you’ve out-thought the
master. No-one constructs endings better than Nolan and, sufficed to say, with
this mother of all endings, you’re in for a really great ride.
Rating: A-
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