The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Spoilers

"When Gotham is in ashes, you have my permission to die." (-Bane)

A fitting and epic conclusion to a fantastic trilogy.  It completely deserves to be included with the others as part of Batman lore.  (Not you- "Batman and Robin").

It's unfortunate that I didn't actually like it all that much.  It was good.  That's about it.

However, I will go ahead and talk about some of the things I did like, and of course highlight the moments I didn't enjoy as much.

The Good: The cast was incredible.  I didn't find a single performance lacking.  I always like Gary Oldman.  Joseph Gordon Levitt continues to impress.  Michael Caine is Michael Caine.  Anne Hatheway is always more talented than I give her credit for, and Christian Bale is a tinsel town "movie-star".  I would like to highlight the relative unknown actors that made this whole movie come together.  Well done, Aidan Gillen, Christopher Judge, Marion Coutillard, and Brett Cullen (BC- you rock in everything!).  A special well done goes out to Tom Hardy for taking on the impossible role of Bane and pulling it of with grace, dignity, and a great deal of respect.  ( I liked the voice.)  Oh, and if you look closely, Bill Cowher and Hines Ward also make cameos.

The not so Bad:  There was too much story.  It had so much potential....but there was way too much of it to be a convincing and amazing movie.  I would love to see this movie done as a miniseries or an HBO 10 episode season.  It deserves it.  However, it was underserved by its 2 hour 30 minute length.  


To make the movie fit, critical character development, and tension were sacrificed.  The idea of the "pit" was cool.  Darkness is a writers bread and marmite.  However, that sort of story line takes time- and I don't mean like 30 minutes.  I mean like a whole week to wait in darkness with the character between continuing the story.  I also thought that the element of time and geography were sadly lacking from The Dark Knight Rises.  I was sort of surprised that Christopher Nolan would commit such a grievous error as just magically teleporting Batman back to Gotham even though it was under heavy guard and all the bridges were out.  I admit -he is Batman- so I completely understand how Batman got there...it just grated my movie senses.


Catwoman.  Way to go Anne Hatheway.  You are a respectable actress.  Unfortunately, I did not see how your story ended up with you kissing Batman.  Your story was good enough, but they pushed into somewhere I didn't believe it would go.  


Bane-  You were so cool!!!  and then your final fight sequence with the Dark Knight fell horribly short.  After your epic beat down at about the (1/3) mark I expected the final showdown to be ****!!!^^^^#### (Rocky IV in like 10 minutes) , but sadly the fight sequence did not meet the expectations the film created.


( I bet the first run through Chris Nolan made of this movie was borderline 3.5 hours, and it was probably better than the 2.5 hour version.....but studios don't do movies over 3 hours.  T_T )


Ratings


Everyone:  See it


Fan boys:  Saw it


Those affected by or close to tragedy:  my most sincere and heartfelt condolences, sympathy, and empathy.  


Editors:  Skip it


Jay Michael Strazyniski:  I would have loved to see you take on this story and give it the justice it deserves


On a scale from 20 minutes of fireworks to the same amount of fireworks in 20 seconds, I give Batman: The Dark Knight Rises 3.5 out of 5 stars.