The Dark Knight Rises (4K Ultra HD)

I just finished watching this for the second time (the first time was in the theater) so I thought I would write my review now. I was eagerly awaiting the release of this movie. I have been a huge fan of the franchise ever since the original Batman Begins [Blu-ray]. Whenever I am really excited about a new movie, I tend to feel a little disappointed the first time I see it. That is why I watched this movie a second time, and I definitely enjoyed it more the second time around. I am not going to give an overview of the plot. Other reviewers have done that. I am going to simply list what I liked about the movie (and one thing, at the end of my review, that I did not like). There are some spoilers in my review so if you have not seen the movie yet you probably should not read my review. This is also a very long review. Once I start writing I usually find it difficult to stop. Alright, enough preface, onto the review!I have always liked the idea of super hero movies, but there are actually very few super hero movies that I really enjoy. In fact, I do not even watch very many of them, because in my experience I am almost always disappointed with them. The three Nolan Batman movies are really the only super hero movies that I think get it right. There are a number of reasons I think these films work so well. Here are some of the reasons I think this particular film works so well.First, it is set in the real world, and not some cartoonish world. I realize that some super heroes can only exist in a cartoonish world. Batman is one of the only super heroes that is, ultimately, just a guy in a suit. When you start talking about actual super powers you have obviously left the real world. Still, I am amazed at how few super hero movies attempt to create realistic characters, with understandable human motivations. Christopher Nolan has done a great job in this film, and the other Batman movies, creating a whole host of interesting and realistic characters. Ra's Al Ghoul, The Scarecrow, The Joker, and Bane are, in my opinion, the most interesting villains I have ever seen on screen. Each one is different, they have different motivations, and, most importantly, they are each unique. Most movie villains are essentially interchangeable with one another, you cannot tell them apart. The villains in these movies are real, full blooded and fully realized, characters, and so are all the other characters. That, on its own, is a real achievement.Second, the writing is very good. I did not think that the writing in this third movie was quite as good as in the first two. There were some lines, which I did not write down and cannot remember off the top of my head, where I thought "I have heard that before". But mostly the writing is quite good. I have been noticing lately how many cliched scenes tend to show up in films and television. I am starting to get the feeling that there are ten or twelve scenes that literally get passed from writing room to writing room, implanted directly from one movie right into the next (how many times have you seen the "it's not your fault" scene?) I did not get the feeling that any of the scenes in this movie were stock scenes that I had seen in half a dozen other movies. The writers put some thought into what they were attempting to say. I especially liked the underground prison which, I thought, was a particularly good metaphor for a kind of Chekhovian despair, and the solution (climb without the rope) was a good piece of writing. I had a few minor quibbles with the overall plot, holding the city to ransom with a nuclear device, but ultimately I think it worked.Third, it is more complex than the standard super hero flick. For example, is Cat Woman a hero or a villain? I love the way that they decided to make her both. All of the Batman movies tend to move past the simplistic good guy/bad guy dichotomy. The world itself is more complex than that. Everything is not all black and white. It is rare to see any kind of moral complexity in a super hero movie.Fourth, the acting is superb all around. Christopher Nolan has a knack for picking really good actors. The repeat characters, or the characters that appear in all three movies, are all excellent of course. Some of the best actors in the world. And all the new characters in this movie were equally excellent. Tom Hardy is excellent as Bane, Anne Hathaway made an excellent Cat Woman, I have always been a big Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan, and Marion Cotillard, who I have had a minor crush on for years, was also excellent as Miranda Tate.Fifth, I love everything about Bane as a villain. Super hero movies are, in my opinion, more about the villain than the hero. If you have a really interesting villain then you are on your way to a really good movie, if you have a lackluster, or overly cartoonish, villain, then the movie is already ruined. Evil, for some reason, is just more interesting than good. The super hero is almost like the straight man. You need a good straight man. A bad straight man, or hero, can ruin a movie as well. But the hero represents us, the viewers, and our values. That is not where the true interest lies. The true interest lies in the villain. Bane is a very interesting and compelling villain. You feel his presence as soon as he enters the screen. Just the way he walks is enough to mesmerize. There is a scene where Cat Woman and Batman are fleeing from Daggett's, and there is a moment where Cat Woman turns around, there are probably a dozen henchman firing guns at her, and then there is Bane, just silently walking, and somehow Bane walking is far more interesting, and menacing, than all the henchman firing guns. He draws the eye, his presence is so much more powerful. It is only a split second, but it is one of my favorite scenes in the movie.Sixth, super hero movies need to be visceral and stir up emotions. I am a philosophy student, and I have actually spent quite a bit of time thinking about why people enjoy super hero movies. I do not really know the answer, but I have a theory. I think that super hero movies empower people. I think most people probably walk around with some unconscious fear or anxiety in their everyday lives. Bad things happen in the world. Even those of us who have never been the victim of a violent crime, know that they happen, and we have all probably been in situations where we were unsure of the outcome, where we felt things could go either way, or where we thought "If things go badly here I am going to be in a lot of trouble." I think that super hero movies are cathartic in the sense that they temporarily purge us of our fears. This movie does a good job tapping into that. There were a lot of "goosebump" moments in the movie for me, and when Batman finally starts to get the upper hand with Bane, you can feel it viscerally, in your body. That is what movies do, I think. They make you feel helpless (which is why you need a strong villain) and then they empower. This movie does that exceptionally well.Seventh, I know some people have complained about what they perceived to be the political message of the movie. It seems as if Bane represents the Occupy Wall Street movement. I do not know what Nolan's politics are, but I saw an interview where he said that they were just trying to show the cracks of society that people would try to wedge open. I actually think that was a good device. It made the movie more realistic, and it tapped into emotions that are already there. That is part of what made the movie visceral. Movies cannot create emotions in people out of thin air, they have to tap into emotions that are already there. I think the movie did a good job tapping into emotions that already exist in our society, complains that people already have, without becoming an overt political statement one way or the other. I think it made it a more powerful movie.There is one minor complaint I had with the movie. I know there were some plot holes, but plot holes, unless they are particularly gaping, do not usually bother me that much. I try to look at things from the writer's perspective. Movies are not meant to be carbon copies of real life, so it makes no sense to demand absolute realism from a movie. If you want absolute realism just live your life. Life itself is very realistic. So I am not going to go through the movie and pick apart the plot holes I thought I saw.There was, however, one place where I felt like the writer's made a real mistake, and that is the way that Bane was killed. Now, it makes total sense that Batman would have a "no gun" policy. When I say "it makes total sense" I do not mean that it makes sense from a moral standpoint, or from the standpoint of realism. No one has any moral objections to cops carrying guns, so they should not have any moral objections to Batman carrying a gun, and I am not sure it is really realistic to assume that a vigilante would adopt a "no guns" policy, for the same reasons that police officers do not have a no guns policy. When I say it makes sense I mean that it makes sense from a movie maker's perspective because Batman is a super hero. No one wants to watch Batman have gun battles. People want to see Batman fight, hand to hand, up close and personal. A hand to hand battle between Bane and Batman is way more interesting and engaging than a gun battle would be. However, it is not a good idea, in my opinion, to constantly remind the audience of the fact that Batman has that "no gun" policy. Particularly when a nuclear bomb is involved.The notion that Batman would still object to using guns when the city is being threatened with a nuclear device is obviously ridiculous. Now, I am not saying that the writer's should have given Batman a gun. Like I said, the audience wants to see Batman fighting, or using his bat stars, not shooting. What the writer's should not have done, in my opinion, is remind the audience over and over that Batman is not using guns. By having Cat Woman ride in on the bike and just shoot Bane the writer's are just reminding the audience that Batman could have killed Bane at any time if he had just been willing to use a gun, and just in case there are any audience members who do not make that connection immediately, they have Cat Woman make a "humorous" quip about Batman's no gun policy right after she does it! Why would you remind the audience that Batman could have killed Bane at any time? Perhaps they were trying to "own it" by getting out ahead of the criticism, but it tends, in my opinion, to undercut the whole movie.Bane took over an entire city because people were afraid of him. Why was everyone so afraid of him when anyone could have just shot him at any time? You do not want the audience to be thinking about such things, which is why I think they should have found another way to have Bane killed, and they should not have highlighted Batman's no gun policy (like the fight scene with Cat Woman). The no gun policy was already established in the prior movies, it should have gone unspoken in this one. That is a minor issue, and it certainly did not ruin the movie for me. All in all, I felt like this movie met my expectations, which were extremely high after the first two movies. Alright, that is the end of my review. Sorry it is so short. I just could not really think of much to say...

Me: "you don't NEED to make another Batman film! You have given us everything!"Nolan: "Not everything, not yet."The Dark Knight Rises borrows many elements from The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Knightfall, but DO NOT think this is a straight forward adaptation of those storys. This just borrows some key plot elements, and becomes a stand alone movie. It's alot like what Nolan did with Batman Begins, as that one was heavily inspired by Batman: Year one, but became its own story.WARNING: I may SPOIL The SECOND installment, The DARK KNIGHT, in DETAIL.So at the end of The Dark Knight, Batman took the blame for Harvey Dents fall, now becoming enemy number 1 of the police. The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the Dark Knight, and as it turns out, Bruce Wayne gave up Batman and is now retired. Meanwhile, Gotham City is currently celebrating a time of peace. The Joker was captured at the end of The Dark Knight (and although his fate is uncertain in this film, all you need to know is that he's gone) and the police have cleaned up the rest of Gotham. Although peace has been achieved in Gotham, our heros have pretty much been eaten alive by this lie. Bruce Wayne hung up the Batman symbol, but never moved on. He is a recluse in Wayne Manor, not knowing what to really do with is life. As for Jim Gordan, lets just say he has been messed up the most mentally after Dark Knight. His wife has left him, and he has been speeking this lie for 8 years, PRAISING Dent going "oh, Harvey Dent, truth, justice, and the american way!" while thinking "yeah, Harvey Dent, the jerk that tried to kill my own son!". So in a way, Jim Gordan is on his own, having nothing but this lie he has to live with.Things change, however, when our terrorist Bane steps in Gotham. He has one purpose: take control of Gotham. He starts a series of attacks in Gotham, forcing Bruce Wayne to pick up the mantle of Batman again to reclaim his city. Of course, there is much more to Banes plan, as he wants to break Batman both mentally and physically. Why? Because Bane is associated with a previous villain in this series, and seeks revenge. This all leeds to a number of sub plots and character arcs (along with the introduction of several new characters) all leading up to an ending where everything is tied together.The POSITIVES:-The writing is great (not as great as Begins and The Dark Knight, but still great).-The action and effects are sensational! 90 percent of the action of this film is done with practical effects and death defying stunt work. There isn't really an iconic "money shot" scene like the truck flip in the Dark Knight, but the action is still really good. Also, the fist fights between Batman and Bane aren't as good as they should be, but are still alright, and improved over Begins and Dark knight. But, the dialogue between Batman and Bane makes up for it.-The acting is incredible. The characters are written and portrayed well, and are all great. There are probably too many characters to take in one film, but, they are all still done well, and you don't want any of them to have been cut out of the film.-There are some great moralls too. Plenty of emotion, and some good character analysis.-The ending: there are no words to describe but EPIC. It's written great, filmed great, and acted great. Somehow, Chris Nolan wraped everything up PERFECTLY, and I am shocked he was able to do so. Trust me, he MEANT IT when he said this would be the final Batman film of this series.SURPRISES:-One of the main charcters in this film was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Her role isn't EXTREMELY pivotal to the plot, but important to Bruce Waynes story, and she has plenty of screen time. I didn't think Hathaway would be a good Catwoman, at all, but I was wrong! She was cast PERFECTLY, and gave a great performance. Tom Hardy I already new would be a great Bane (and he was).-In The Dark Knight Rises, ALOT of new characters are introduced, but thankfully, almost every character gets enough screentime, and they all give great performances.-Another newcomer particularly is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who gives a great performance as Officer John Blake. Although an original character by Nolan, he has several chatracteristics of a few charcters from the comics. He was acted and written so well, that I WANT to see this John Blake character in the comics.-And lets not forget the plot twists. There are moments of BRILLIANCE in this film. Obiously I won't spoil the plot twists for anyone though. Sure, I saw 1 or 2 of them coming, but there were a few I DID NOT expect.The NEGATIVES:-one nitpick I have is how Batman immediatly retired after Dents cover up. Instead, I would have stated Bruce continued to be Batman for 2 or 3 years (as a fugitive being hunted by the police) and slowly faded away, and by the point of this film, he has only been retired for a couple years. This is only a nitpick, since the starting off point of the film would stay the same, and this change wouldn't have made much difference to the plot. And it would still take place 8 years later, the only difference being he has just been retired for a couple years, instead of all 8.-Banes voice is an issue for alot of people. Trust me, you can understand him... 97 percent of them time. There are a few lines of dialogue that you can't quite understand, but overall, the voice was fine. BUT, in the opening, Banes voice was TERRIBLE! Yeah, I could understand him, but you couldn't help but laugh whenever he talked. After the opening act, however, they got the tone right, and Bane started to sound cool later, just bad in the opening.-editing was alright, but felt kind of "choppy" at times.-The pacing was good for the length, but still not that great.-alot of people think the film was too long. I disagree, I thought it was to SHORT!-The movie is 2 and a half hours long, but, this movie is the definition of a 3 hour movie. If it was just 15 minutes longer, almost all of my problems would be fixed.. The pacing would have been better, and the film just would have "flowed" better, instead of feeling clutered with information. And considering that some of our most successful films (Titanic, Lord of the Rings, and a few others) are well OVER 3 hours, I doubt extra length would have been a negative effect on this film in any way.-Despite the large amount of characters cramed into 2 and a half hours, most of the characters get enough screen time, except for one. Marion Cotillard as Wayne interprise member Miranda Tate. She gets a good amount of screentime, but still needed more. If the film was 10 to 15 minutes longer, 5 extra minutes JUST with her would have given her character more time. She was the one character that just didn't get enough development.-I have a few other nitpicks, but only a few are worth mentioning. There is a scene with a bank robbery in broad daylight, but 8 minutes later, it's pitch black! And when it comes to the plot midway through, it may seem a little illogical, but no more than Batman Begins or Dark Knight, so you can't question what is realistic and what isn't WITHOUT questioning the others. You can't ask one question without asking another.Overall, The Dark Knight Rises is, whether you like it or not, a good film, and an incredible ending to Chris Nolans trilogy. And alot of people complain about the ending, saying "MY Batman wouldn't do this!" well, it's not anyone elses Batman in this series, it's Chris Nolans Batman. We all have out own interpretation of the Batman character, and Chris Nolan gives us his. And personally, I don't think Chris Nolan could have ended his take any better. So, if you ignore the comics, forget your personal opinion on the Batman mythology, and view The Dark Knight Rises as a STAND ALONE MOVIE, you should be fine. The main reason why the ending works is BECAUSE it's forshadowed in the previous 2 films (if you payed attention, of course). "if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you will become something else entirely. A legend." As a man he can be destroyed, but as a symbol, he can live forever. THAT is a comman theme illustrated in this entire trilogy. If you can accept that, then you should know that The Dark Knight Rises has a very fitting end.If you liked Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, there is no good reason to NOT like this one. If you liked Begins (but didn't care for The Dark Knight) this should be a pleasant surprise, as this movie ties in ALOT to Begins, and I would even reccomend everyone to rewatch Begins before viewing Rises. But, if you DIDN'T care for Begins or Dark Knight, this film probably won't win you over, but everyone should still check this out. For me, this film gave me everything: Suspense, action, genius writing, great performances, 2 great cameos, plot twists, and an incredible ending, Nolan book ends everything as a trilogy should.Another word of warning: If you are looking for a nonstop "Batman" film, well, this may not be for you. This movie features less screentime for Bruce Wayne in the Batsuit than any other Batman movie. But that's the point. We got plenty of Batman in The Dark Knight, so now, we have Bruce Waynes story being completed.If you don't like Chris Nolans take on Batman, that's fine, but don't HATE on these movies just because they aren't for you. Sure, it is pretty illogical at times, but just as much as every other movie in existance. And if someone is going to tear this film apart over nitpicks or small plotholes, trust me, if I tried I could EASILY do that to any other movie. Just acknowledge that these ARE good films, instead of complaining about what you DON'T like. It's not that I ignore the problems in this movie, it's because there is MUCH more good than bad, so I can still give it 5 stars.Also, some people were dissapointed with The Dark Knight Rises because the expectations were SO overwhelmingly high. PLEASE, do NOT let your expectations get the best of you! Think logically (like me) before viewing this movie. Sure, this film isn't 10 times better than Dark Knight as that was to Begins, but, it's still great! I still love all 3 chapters of this trilogy (something alot of trilogys fail at).So, if you enjoyed Batman Begins and Dark Knight (and payed attention to the themes illustrated in them) you should enjoy this. Is this the PERFECT everything a fanboy could want Batman film? Well, no. But heck it'll do! It's still a great Batman movie, and succeeds in doing what was most important: giving the trilogy a fitting ending. Sure, the movie isn't perfect, but quite frankly, a perfect film just doesn't exist.And if there is anything else that anyone is confused or scratching their head about, please comment. After seeing this film 3 times, I have been able to explain nearly every plothole or problem I had when I watched it the first time. If you were confused in any way, feel free to ask questions :)Everyone should check this out, as it is a truly incredible ending to this amazing trilogy.Me: "I never said thank you."Nolan: "and you will never have to."