Surprisingly, Batman appears very little in a film named after him. If anything, Nolan focuses more on Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, of course) here while introducing new characters, including Tom Hardy as Bane, the formidable and muscular mercenary with a mouthpiece; a new love interest in the seductive cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway); and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake, a rookie cop who refuses to compromise his morals, even in the worst situations. Michael Caine and Gary Oldman reprise their roles as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, respectively.
As far as the story is concerned, it appears to be Nolan’s attempt at adapting the Batman comic “Knightfall”, while also trying to successfully tie up the entire trilogy in a satisfying fashion. The result is a sprawling film that–while undeniably ambitious and emotional at times–could have benefitted from a tighter, more focused narrative, trimming the nearly three-hour runtime significantly, and scrapping a few characters and story threads. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne has become a social pariah, a legendary recluse à la Howard Hughes. His past failures and losses have taken a toll on him, and he has given up hope that he’ll ever be able to move on. But no matter what lies he might have fabricated with Gordon to keep crime at bay, the truth is that evil always has a way of finding its way into Gotham city. In a visceral scene that will be familiar to fans of the comics, Bane breaks Batman’s back. Then the villain drags him out to an obscure, hellish pit somewhere in what seems to be the Middle East, and throws him in, leaving Wayne to suffer and watch his city burn, beyond hope and help. But while the man’s body may be broken, he discovers that his soul is reinvigorated, and so he plans his escape from the pit…and the salvation of Gotham.
Here, the acclaimed director gives us Bane, who is easily the weakest villain in the trilogy, but that is not the actor’s fault; like the rest of this film, Hardy is overshadowed by Heath Ledger’s Joker, who set an impossibly high bar. However, The Dark Knight was a tightly-focused character study that showed the duality and morals of Batman and the Joker. Even Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins had a clear, centuries-old plot to destroy Gotham. Unfortunately, Bane’s plan to burn Gotham to the ground simply doesn’t make sense. It involves societal upheaval and class warfare, taking from those who have and giving to the poor because…well, he’s a bad guy who was born and raised in poverty, I guess? It’s frustrating that the film largely glosses over these themes, making it seem more like a wasted opportunity. It doesn’t help that Hardy, while physically imposing, is given some clunky dialogue, and constantly forced to deliver it through a mouthpiece that sometimes makes his lines unintelligible. But the film also suffers in the acoustics department when it comes to Hans Zimmer’s assaulting score.
As mentioned, this trilogy closer is well-crafted, but it is also easily the bleakest of the three films, the cinematic equivalent of receiving a dry crust of bread after being deprived of food for weeks. Superhero films have always been violent to some degree, but just as its predecessor did, The Dark Knight Rises pushes the envelope with the gritty feel and unrelenting brutality that you wouldn’t find in a Marvel movie. In fact, it may prove too unsettling for some audiences, especially in light of the tragic Aurora Theater shootings. Indeed, the amount of death, torture, and sadism would make Mel Gibson proud.
Still, while nothing here tops the convoy chase in The Dark Knight, there are some impressive action set-pieces. The film is at its strongest when it focuses on the characters coming to terms with past decisions: whether Alfred is displaying his undying loyalty to his master by encouraging him to make better choices, or Gordon is coming to grips with the hard truth of how much his lies have cost him. Once again, Nolan’s cast is excellent, with a roster of both familiar and fresh faces. In fact, Gordon-Levitt’s Blake is more a beacon of hope here than Batman/Bruce Wayne. “A hero can be anyone,” Batman says, and despite some significant flaws, the director gives him a mostly satisfying sendoff.
*** out of four
Rated PG-13
2 hours, 44 minutes
THE REEL REVIEWER WITH JOSHUA KROEGER 