![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-07VsbG.jpeg)
DEPTH 4ACTING 4PLOT 4ORIGINALITY 4PRODUCTION 5ENTERTAINMENT 5DEMAND ON VIEWER Mild-ModerateOVERALL Selectively recommended (may be unpalatable for some children)
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This movie is a fun, wild ride, and while it has certain deficiencies—most glaringly the absence of a villain as mysterious and disturbing as the Joker—it is a solid capstone on a well-made trilogy, and it offers some powerful lessons in personal sacrifice, virtue and in understanding one's fear.
![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-nXjgtY.jpeg)
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![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-6Rq5gF.jpeg)
The production pyrotechnics combine with a solid plot and great character acting to deliver a film in league with director Christopher Nolan's first two installments. Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine — these are some of our best film actors, and any story with them would be worth seeing. This is one of the finest performances I've seen from Caine. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway also complete the well-rounded cast, along with a brief return visit from Liam Neeson. Each of these characters comes with a rich and complex worldview that gives them roundedness and solidity, and makes them intriguing to watch on screen.
![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-bBTQOK.jpeg)
![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-Dl2mfs.jpeg)
![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-UWHuZ1.jpeg)
![Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises Morality and Sacrifice — The Dark Knight Rises](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/31/314048/morality-and-sacrifice-the-dark-knight-rises-L-nO9aR0.jpeg)
The best lesson of the film comes in Wayne's imprisonment. Stripped of his batman armor, he returns to his roots as a person struggling with core beliefs, and living in a very primal state. The scene in the pit recalls the original training sequence in Batman Begins, a nice literary device that makes the story feel contiguous with the earlier films.
Dark Knight Rises offers an important lesson: we must not deny our fear or our weaknesses, but rather recognize their power to connect us to our true humanity, our ability to sacrifice, and get us to do what we thought was impossible for the sake of our common welfare. These virtues are not easily found in films, especially not in this genre. For their effort at putting forth these lessons in an entertaining way, the director, cast and crew deserve accolades, and this film deserves to be remembered.