Since Memento, I’ve been a huge fan of Nolan and his work that captures both the eyes and the heart. My impression of him furthered even more after he rescued the Batman character from the stenches of some very horrible film adaptations. Being the big Nolan fan I am, I’ve been itching to see Batman: The Dark Knight Rises for the past four years. I’ve even memorized exactly what was said in all four of its trailers. It was definitely one of my year’s highlights to be able to attend this movie’s midnight premiere last night to witness how this epic story ends. And yes, it was most certainly worth staying up till four in the morning for!
(**SPOILERS ALERT**)
Casting:
- Christian Bale has been Batman for such a long time that he’s a natural to the role. Bale’s portrayals of Bruce Wayne’s pain and sorrow have always been key in defining Batman’s tragic heroism. When Batman was imprisoned by Bane, Bale’s expressions of both rage and misery were powerful in convincing the audience of Bruce Wayne’s altruistic and responsible character.
- Anne Hathaway‘s role as Catwoman has been controversial since its announcement. At first I too thought that Hathaway was too pretty and delicate to play this role; Catwoman needed to be someone fierce and assertive. Surely, Hathaway’s soft facial features couldn’t be changed, but she compensated all that she lacked with superior acting. Hathaway brought sexiness and comic relief into this movie, which was something that the prior two instalments lacked of. She played a confident and playful Selina Kyle which was close to what the original comics described her to be. Her interesting love-hate chemistry with Bruce Wayne was definitely something that kept the show going.
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle
- Tom Hardy is a fantastic actor and I have so much more respect for him after seeing his portryal of Bane. Even with just his eyes poking out of his mask, he can come off as an extremely terrifying villian. And props to all the training he did to get into that Arnold Schwarzenegger shape!
- Marion Cotillard is one of my favourite actresses, but I still must admit that she was the weakest link in TDKR. She wasn’t all that bad as Miranda Tate, since she was just a bland and ordinary business executive. But in her ten minutes of being Talia Al Ghul, she was a complete failure. She was the most unconvincing villian I’ve ever seen and her unnecessary French accent made things only worse. She wasn’t like this in Inception!
- Michael Caine’s portrayal of Alfred Pennyworth was the emotional grounds of this entire movie. His genuineness and concern for Bruce Wayne plucks the heartstrings of audiences. The scene where he weeps in front of Wayne’s grave was definitely one of the saddest scenes in superhero movie history.
Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth
Hits:
- All the visual effects were perfection. From the stunts to the vehicles to the costumes, everything was immaculate.
- The plot twist with Talia Al Ghul was extremely surprising and caught me completely off guard. But despite its randomness, all of it fell into place nicely as it made compete sense. Clearly, Nolan begins with the end in mind.
- As with the other two Batman movies, the music to this installment was awesome. It certainly helped elevate the intensity and vigilance of all the scenes. In fact, I might even buy the soundtrack to listen to while driving.
- The cameos with Ra’s Al Ghul and Johnathan Crane! Nolan knows how to please his fans.
Misses:
- This movie did suffer from the too-many-characters effect. Great characters like Selina and Blake were not explored in depth, whereas minor characters such as Gordon and Fox got too much screen time.
- Marion Cotillard’s failed attempt at being a villian.
- The Gotham city bomb threat was an unoriginal and overused storyline. Didn’t The Avengers just do the exact same thing? This was probably one of the most cliché plot points ever used by Nolan…
The Dark Knight
Favourite Scene:
The perfect ending. Despite how I was not impressed with the bomb threat climax, all that followed after could not have been better. Blake turning into Robin shows that Batman’s spirit will live on. Alfred’s donation of the Wayne Mansion to orphan boys is very touching and meaningful. Most of all, I loved the open ending at the cafe in Florence. It’s never confirmed whether Alfred’s vision of Bruce and Selina is real, but the notion Bruce being able to live such a life is moving enough. I could not have asked for a better ending.
“There’s a storm coming.”
No, TDKR was not better than TDK, nor was it Nolan’s most unique and powerful piece of work (although it was the most expensive). But despite all that, what’s certain is that TDKR provides an appropriate and satisfying ending to the Batman trilogy. At the end of the movie, what’s learnt is that Batman’s legacy has been recognized and it will continue to live on through Robin. His reward, assuming his survival, is being able to live the life that Alfred had lectured him about all along. It was amazing how everything fell into place in this epic conclusion, which is why I can’t ask for more. Now that this is over, we can sit tight and wait till next summer for Nolan’s Man of Steel. This guy doesn’t take a break, does he?
Rating:
Readers – Did you like this ending as much as I did? Thanks for reading, and please like or comment below to show your support!