Title: The Dark Knight Rises
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Distributed by: Warner Bros
Release Date: July 20, 2012
Rated: R
Synopsis: 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. (Via IMDB)
Brian: Christopher Nolan and Co. had to do the unthinkable with The Dark Knight Rises–follow up what is simply the greatest superhero movie of all time, 2008′s The Dark Knight. It seemed impossible that this third and final entry in Nolan’s Batman trilogy could live up to all the hype and anticipation, and while it is indeed a weaker film that the Oscar-winning predecessor, with an overabundance of story and characters that would have been enough for two movies, the film is in no way a disappointment. Tense and action-packed, with terrific performances and a true grand finale, The Dark Knight Rises is truly an astounding achievement.
Shaunta: First: I saw The Dark Knight Rises twice. Once on a regular screen with my husband, and then in IMAX with Brian. IMAX was insanely cool, and totally worth the extra money. It was like being in the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, and found more in it the second time around. It had a few problems, but over all it was fun, tense, and action-packed. What more can you ask for in a Batman movie?
Brian: So many movies are in 3D, but few are shot and presented in the pure, astonishing IMAX format. Christopher Nolan knows this format’s power, and a whopping 72 minutes of The Dark Knight Rises was shot specifically for the big IMAX screen. The result is spectacular. As Shaunta said, you really do feel like you’re in the movie. And considering how tense this movie is, the watching of it on an IMAX screen is a truly exhausting, but exhilarating, experience. Sure the movie has problems. Anne Hathaway is a bit hammy and the Catwoman character is underdeveloped, the Marion Cotillard storyline happens too fast, and as spooky and intimidating as Tom Hardy is as Bane, he never knocks the breath out of us like Heath Ledger did in The Dark Knight, giving one of the most memorably menacing villainous turns in cinema history. But the movie works. The arc of the Bruce Wayne character has a strong payoff, Joseph Gordon Levitt is fantastic (when is he not?). and the second half is a non-stop thrill ride unlike any movie in recent memory.
Shaunta: Brian didn’t think so, but Bane’s voice was SO MUCH like Sean Connery’s to me, that it kept him from being as scary as he could have been for me. Anne Hathaway was gorgeous, but a little silly and I didn’t buy the final payoff for her character at all. Joseph Gordon Levitt had my favorite moment in the entire movie (but I can’t tell without spoiling!) Christian Bale is so wounded, and so beautiful. Perfection. The pacing of the movie was really good. It’s long, but there was never a moment where I found myself wondering when it was ever going to be over (like I did with Savages, the last big action movie we saw.) Over all, this is totally worth seeing on the big screen. In Imax if you can.
Brian: I don’t know where Christopher Nolan will go from here, but I’m super excited to see where his career takes him. He’s one of the greatest, most visionary directors in Hollywood, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him. For decades fans yearned for a super Batman trilogy, and Nolan’s three films shattered expectations, leaving us with some of the most complex, invigorating, visually stimulating action epics ever made. The Dark Knight Rises is glorious entertainment. Long live the Batman!
