***BEWARE OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
How do you top a movie like The
Dark Knight? This is a movie that not only smashed box office records, but
also seeped into the cultural consciousness in a way that few films can, changing
people’s expectations of what superhero flicks can do and lending weight to a
genre often dismissed as superficial or purely escapist. According to The Dark Knight Rises, the explosive yet
surprisingly sweet conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking blockbuster
trilogy, the answer is: apparently, you don’t. Faced with such a daunting task,
many directors would have opted for a “bigger is better” approach, as though
adding more action, more special effects and more villains can make what is
actually a mere repetition of the same story feel fresh. Instead, Nolan finds
new creative ground to mine, resulting in a film that seeks to complement,
rather than copy, its predecessors. By combining the intimacy of Batman Begins with the ambitious scope
and intellectual musings of The Dark
Knight, Rises delivers both as a
compelling piece of entertainment on its own and a natural extension of
previous installments.
Unlike The Dark Knight, which
was arguably the Joker’s show, this film returns to its roots by using the arc
of Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne/Batman as its focal point. Bale continues to
unveil new depths to a decades-old, iconic character, and with Bruce Wayne now
aging and increasingly unable to cope with the physical and mental demands of
his alter-ego’s lifestyle, the actor excels at conveying the doubts and
struggles that plague the superhero, reminding us of how all-too-human the man
behind the mask is. Wayne’s relationship with Alfred (a heartbreaking,
pitch-perfect Michael Caine) forms the quiet yet poignant heart of the movie.
Rounding out the supporting cast, along with returning members like
Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman, is a host of newcomers, many of whom also
appeared in Nolan’s most recent, non-Batman venture, Inception. I normally find it rather tiresome when directors
constantly use the same actors in different projects, but as it turns out, the
casting choices in this case are spot-on. Recently graduating from indie
darling to genuine Hollywood star thanks, in large part, to his (literally)
gravity-defying effort in Inception,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns in as good a performance as ever as John Blake, a
hot-headed but idealistic rookie cop who develops a strong personal bond with
Bruce Wayne. Playing mysterious Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate,
Marion Cotillard also does solid work here, despite fairly limited screen time.
And then, there’s Tom Hardy. Though studio heads at Warner Bros allegedly
wanted to bring in the Riddler as Batman’s new antagonist, Nolan smartly went
with Bane, a villain radically dissimilar from Heath Ledger’s Joker and whose
role in the comics made him an ideal candidate for the trilogy’s last entry.
With his newly-shaved head and a body transformed into a hulking mass of
muscle, Hardy intimidates through sheer physicality; it’s impossible to take
your eyes off of him whenever he’s onscreen. Though, like the Joker, Bane could
easily have devolved into a cartoon, Hardy makes him utterly believable,
disappearing into the character with ease, and when the movie hits a third-act
twist that adds an unexpected dimension to his role, he completely sells it.
The possible MVP of the film, however, is the one actor most people would
have least suspected. As Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Anne Hathaway is a revelation.
She makes a character who has been portrayed onscreen frequently, though rarely
well, feel novel, bringing a sultry yet whip-smart and tough vibe to the femme
– or, should I say, feline – fatale while also proving to be a brilliant foil to
the grimmer, more pensive Batman. If I had any doubts about Hathaway’s
abilities as a thespian (and I’ll admit they were there, even after seeing her
emotionally raw, unflinching performance in the otherwise mediocre Rachel Getting Married), they have now
been eradicated.
Buoyed by this superb ensemble cast, as well as slick but unshowy
cinematography from Wally Pfister and the always-reliable Hans Zimmer’s awe-inspiring
score, The Dark Knight Rises is an
epic thrill-ride, one that never lets up even with a running-time of over 150
minutes. Christopher Nolan handles the sprawling, stunningly elaborate
narrative with dexterity, displaying the confidence of someone who knows
exactly what he wants and how to achieve it. While The Dark Knight served overtly as a high-minded allegory for
post-9/11 America, its follow-up utilizes such real-world parallels – this
time, themes of class warfare and political and economic power struggles –
mostly as a springboard to bounce off of; the ideas are there, but the film focuses
less on trying to compose a parable out of them, and more on how they apply to
and affect its characters’ lives. In addition, Rises embraces its comic book origins more easily, indulging in
several plot points that would’ve seemed plain ridiculous if the stakes didn’t
feel so captivatingly urgent. The result is an enthralling blockbuster that
feels dark but not somber, meaningful without veering toward heavy-handed
preachiness. Perhaps contrary to most people’s expectations, The Dark Knight Rises is an essentially
optimistic, even romantic tale about courage, sacrifice and letting go. If Batman Begins and The Dark Knight sought to plunge into the troubled, corrupted soul
at Gotham City’s core, Rises strives
to bring us back into the light at the end of the tunnel, to remind us of that
dawn at the end of the darkest night.
Therein lies the secret to the movie’s success: it wants to not just
continue a story, but to conclude it with a bang and a big, fat period. It
brings audiences closure, that all-important plot element we seem to rarely see
nowadays. In a world where franchises are more often than not intended to plow
on until they run themselves into the ground, where there’s always a door left
open for a possible sequel, the sense of finality offered by Rises is gratifying. Sure, the movie
provides ample opportunities for potential spin-offs (who wouldn’t love to see The Adventures of Batman and Catwoman?
Or delve deeper into Bane’s origin story?), but for all intents and purposes,
the story Christopher Nolan and his collaborators set out to tell seven years
ago is done. His work here has finished, and let me tell you, the end is
glorious.
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