After months of speculation and hype The Dark Knight Rises was released a couple of weeks ago to much critical acclaim. We decided to see it the next day to avoid any spoilers and I'm glad we did because there are so many wow moments in this film to let out to the public; which is why this review will be spoiler free. As I write this review I'm actually listening to the soundtrack to hype myself up. Not that I need to be hyped up as I'm still reeling from how amazing this film is. I would even put it above The Dark Knight. That's right, you read that correctly. This is by far the best of Nolan's Batman trilogy and I hope that the review that follows will explain why I believe this to be the best Bat film of all time. The story
The Dark Knight Rises succeeds in part because of the amazing script which hooked me from the very beginning. The opening scene was a combination of adrenaline and intrigue and it provided a hint of what was to come. The story moved along at a fast pace and I'm pleased to say there was never a dull moment. There was always something going on to keep my interest levels on a high. The story has more twists and turns than a plate of noodles but every little twist works perfectly. Nothing in this film feels daft or out of place although there are a few stretches of the imagination. I like my films to have plenty of twists and turns and The Dark Knight Rises doesn't dissapoint in that respect. And then there's the ending. Somehow pure genius despite being the ending we all expected.The style
This film is pure class every step of the way from the amazing stunts (with very little CGI involved) to the top notch acting from the amazing cast. The previous Nolan Batman films were so different to any other superhero films but The Dark Knight Rises tops that by combining the best elements of Begins and The Dark Knight to create something truly special. At times it felt like a mix of M Night Shyamalan films (the good ones) because of the excellent plot twists but then you also have the fast paced action scenes which made me think of such films as Transformers. A combination of Big Bang Bay and Shyamlan sounds like a dream come true but it ain't no dream and it doesn't come close to how unique The Dark Knight Rises is. Throw in a piece of Tarantino and a handful of Michael Mann and you're half way there to understanding the mind of the Nolan brothers. Of course the film has its flaws but the kind of minor niggles that aren't even worth mentioning. There was never a dull moment and that's good enough for me. The music
Hans Zimmer is one of those composers who manages to stand out from the crowd so I knew that the score was in safe hands when I heard he was attached to the film. The man is a music genius and he has a great back catalog of films scores under his belt to prove it from Gladiator to Inception. I think some of the best films owe a large debt to the music that accompanies them; Star Wars just wouldn't be the same without that all too familar tune and neither would Rises. Overall opinion
I could harp on for a long time, about how great this film is. There is so much to it that it simply towers far above most other film series' that have come and gone before and it even puts Marvel films to shame. Most film franchises are drawn out to the point of boredom with each new installment in the series failing to further the story. Sam Raimi almost succeeded with the first two Spiderman films but botched things up for the third installment and the same can be said for the X-Men trilogy. Nolan has achieved something that most film makers have not. He has created a trilogy of films that can be seen as one story, a story that comes full circle and one that couldn't have ended any better. Nolan's Batman films deserve a place amongst the greats of cinema. It's up there with The Lord of the Rings, The Harry Potter series and dare I say, even the Star Wars saga in terms of having a well rounded story and because it's downright epic. The Dark Knight Rises has raised the bar impossibly high for the superhero genre and for the summer blockbuster in general, a bar that may never be reached.
