(Contains spoilers for the entire trilogy!)
I consider the movie The Dark Knight to be one of the best movies, action or otherwise, that I have ever seen. It spurred my love for superhero movies (though definitely NOT in the DC Universe outside of this trilogy- Marvel movies all the way!) and its incredible performances, especially from Heath Ledger, moved me to the extreme. And of course, the psychological and action-based aspects were so well executed. It adds to the world built in Batman Begins that includes Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), resident rich guy of crime-ridden Gotham City, who takes advantage of his hefty fortune and sad past to anonymously transform himself part-time into Batman, a superhero vigilante with advanced physical fighting training and a whole lot of fun and dangerous gadgets. So, after seeing this masterpiece, I had high hopes for what was to come. But alas, the third and final installment, The Dark Knight Rises, did not live up to my expectations.
Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
The movie opens on the villain Bane (Tom Hardy), seemingly human but with a mechanical muzzle-like mouth, as he apprehends a nuclear physicist for unclear reasons and then crashes the plane they are on, presumably setting up the coming malicious aspect of the film. Then, there is a large time jump. The bulk of the movie begins years after the end of The Dark Knight. Gotham City is finally close to crime-free thanks to a new act that gave the police extra power, named in honor of the deceased (perceived) hero, Harvey Dent. Batman is disgraced after taking the fall for Dent’s murderous acts as Two-Face at the end of The Dark Knight and has not been seen since Dent’s death. Coincidentally, Bruce Wayne has also stayed out of the public eye since then, the subject of endless speculations. Oh yeah, and his company, Wayne Enterprises, has lost a ton of money based on a failed investment in a power-saving machine that he later learned could be used as a bomb in the wrong hands. So yeah, he isn’t doing too great, and this is where our movie truly begins.
Bane, one of the villains in The Dark Knight Rises
The main plot of this movie is pretty long and complex, but here we go.. Bane shows up in Gotham City and Police Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Police Officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) try to apprehend him and his crew but fail. We meet Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway, later alluded to be Catwoman), who is on a mission to get Wayne’s fingerprints for Bane, but later gets betrayed by him when he refuses to pay up the one thing she wants: anonymity. Wayne catches her in the act, and although she escapes, this spurs his interest as to who she is working for and why the prints are needed. Then, Blake visits Wayne divulges the dire situation with Bane, who is wreaking havoc. Batman decides to come back, despite the fears of his butler Alfred (Michael Kane) that he is too old, and drama and action and conflict ensue. Through twists and turns, (not so) surprising romances and twists and backstabbings, Wayne and his allies, old and new, once again fight to save Gotham City as Bane weaponizes the aforementioned dangerous machine into an unstable nuclear bomb with the power to destroy its entirety.
Selina Kyle/Catwoman
First of all, as is seen by the lengthy and incomplete summary, it’s really long (almost 3 hours). Too many new characters are introduced and it takes forever for it to feel like it has truly begun. And a lot of these characters make obviously flawed decisions and actions. I mean, who thought it was a good idea to send literally the ENTIRE police force into an easily collapsable sewer system? It takes Bruce weeks to escape the pit when the answer is obvious to the audience in minutes. And how did so few people know that he was Batman?? Same height, build, similar voices, they are never seen in the same room, and yet even the characters who are supposed to be smart remain clueless.
Additionally, there are a lot of long and confusing backstory descriptions that seem unnecessary. During these all I could hope for was a The Incredibles-style abrupt “You got me monologuing!” finish, but unfortunately they seemed to never end. Sure, later they were all revealed to be meaningful, but without the witty comedy that permeates Marvel monologues or much accompanying action, they were painful to sit through. This was especially so whenever Bane was speaking because his motorized voice was incredibly difficult at times to understand.
And even when there was action, it was not always pleasant to watch. Bruce Wayne was clearly too old for many of the fights that he was in, so whenever he was without the help of his fancy technology, it all appeared kinda sad. I couldn’t help constantly comparing him and his machines to Iron Man’s, who as a character and inventor always won out. And yes, he has a bulking up and rejuvenating experience in a pit that Bane dropped him off in (that is several scenes too long), but even that did not feel like enough. He spent the last eight years alone and out of conflict, and yet now he is suddenly ready to rejoin the fight in full force? It all seems highly unlikely (because yes, the entire movie is completely realistic I know, but still).
Bane and Batman
In my opinion, the only redeemable and interesting part was the last half hour. It was the only time that I got the action, the intrigue, and the surprise that I expected from this movie. The scene where the football stadium is blown up is visually stunning and exciting, the race to save the police force builds up tension, the revelation of who the true villain is was well-executed. That is what I wanted from the whole movie. Yes, the very end was cheesy and slightly predictable, and perhaps I liked it because it meant that the movie was finally over, but it tied (almost) everything together and left me overall satisfied. But all in all, I would say that The Dark Knight could function as its own film, without films that sandwich it. Those two are fine, but they distract from the true masterpiece.
An action moment from the movie’s climax
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