Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Cinema: The Dark Knight Rises  7/10

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne 

Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Plot: eight years have passed, Batman has become p

public enemy number one after his absence however

a new terrorist leader named Bane causes him to

resurface.

After Batman received the reboot it deserved from Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins and the Dark Knight were both phenomenal in their own ways. Whilst its third instalment aims to be more grand and epic in its scale, it slightly fails to reach its objectives; however it is an extraordinarily exciting and entertaining film.

Firstly, beginning with the downsides of the film. None of the cast give spectacular performances; Christian Bale as Batman doesn’t step up to the mark as much as the previous two instalments and, if anything, is the least exciting he’s been - even once he attempts to save Gotham City. Tom Hardy as Bane is perhaps the biggest downfall of the whole film. Bane’s voice is not at all chilling, neither is he a crucial character by the end either. Bane, whilst looking slightly daunting, seems distanced from his voice as you can barely see his face move when he speaks and sounds more Santa Clause than mass-killing lunatic. The returning cast consisting of Gary Oldman and Michael Caine are nice to see on-screen, however, for a final instalment, it would’ve been nice to see either characters ‘kick some bottom’ as it were and reach out of their comfort zones (who wouldn’t want to see Michael Caine in Batman’s car?) The film’s storyline is also quite poor considering its predecessors; it follows a typical end-of-the-world type scenario with more threat of bombs going off than the actual villain himself.

However, the film does have many features to love. Anne Hathaway as Selina/Catwoman surprises fans worldwide with an edgy, cool portrayal of the feline, with funny and light moments but also with darker and more sinister ones. After watching interviews and behind-the-scenes videos, Hathaway did most, if not all the stunts herself, proving to have some of the organic and real close-combat moments in the film whilst still sustaining her class and cat-like credentials (like jumping out of half-closed windows, for example).

The action sequences in the film are staged perfectly, they are no doubt far bigger than anything Nolan has done before. A particular sequence at Wall Street is chilling and feels completely real with gun fights a necessity. Another new, welcomed member to the film is ‘the Bat’, an aircraft with humungous power which flips, dips and zooms through Gotham City with a colossal presence, adding to the cinematic experience.

In Conclusion: perhaps being caught up in too much hype, the Dark Knight Rises takes a while to find its feet when it comes to story. Tom Hardy doesn’t get the chance to really play out Bane with a massive piece of metal over his mouth and his character is rather pointless by the final 30 minutes. The action set pieces are climatic, the dangers larger and climax humungous, it’s a gigantic film with huge expectations to meet and whilst it meets some with its heart-pounding pace, it lets down others with a slightly cluttered storyline. However a must-see in cinemas and IMAX if possible.