The Dark Knight Rises

The wow! effect of surprise that would mask the heartless treatment of characters is no longer there. Said treatment was still somehow forgivable in the previous instalment, but number three is drowning in it. It is impossible to absorb every twist and its influence on the characters, who are too numerous and keep appearing and disappearing as if on cue, just to do something cool and say a catchphrase (not one of which is worth remembering). Moreover, Christopher Nolan once again (after Inception) underestimates the audience’s intelligence and feeds them cheap non sequiturs. Tom Hardy’s Bane is a dull mountain of muscles. He is interesting thanks to his muzzle and voice, but he does not arouse either fear or respect. The only good thing about Catwoman (or whoever that is) is her pert behind when she rides a motorcycle. The only one who does the best work from the trilogy is Hans Zimmer. He uses the motifs from previous instalments, adds new ones (the Balkan piano from Sherlock for the treacherous Catwoman and anarchist chorales for Bane are invigorating), transforming the flat mass of dark depression from before into a bombastic, orchestrally rich action background. So why am I awarding four stars after all this criticizing? Because the movie still has that colossal quality in which Nolan is unrivaled. You will enjoy being carried away by all that epicness and immense drive, even if you don’t care what is happening or why, or where it will all lead. (07/19/2012)

A monumental film – maybe too much so. It exhausted me as if I’d had to carry Bane on my back for three hours. The Dark Knight Rises has a massive scope, it follows about a billion different characters and the network of motivations and relationships among them it’s never very clear (at least not after watching it once). In all this burnt-out expanse, it needs to resort to various shortcuts (someone always comes and meets someone – without it being clear how they knew that said someone would be there – then they say something important and carry on – repeat and rinse after a bit) and pathetic holy speeches (and I won’t even mention the bus full of orphans), while Bane’s plan and its execution feels very dodgy. Yeah, it’s (only) a “comic book movie” and you also can find similar “comic book” twists, motifs and dialogues in the previous two parts, but here it’s a bit too much and Nolan is trying to take his very realistic concept too far. Naturally, the movie is technically flawless. In the end, it’s the character of Bruce the one who gets most of the attention, so as a conclusion to “his” trilogy, it does work well in all its fatality and epic (8/10). As a standalone film, however, it grinds a little. Let’s hope that in two years Christopher will go for something smaller. PS: Of course, it’s very likely that watching it a second time will make the film feel more cohesive, complex and clear (as usual with Nolan), but I don’t feel like going through it again so soon. (08/01/2012)

The ending of Nolan's trilogy is outright weak, although seemingly everything fits together like a puzzle. In three films, Batman was born, fell, and was reborn only to let the Bat fall back to sleep. In the third film, the theoretical highlights include Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Marion Cotillard as Talia al Ghul, but even they don't rank amongst the best displays of acting in DC films. (05/09/2022)

There are many forms of immortality.. The series from one bat cave does not end with a movie that rewrites or destroys its rules or genres. The laws of Batman stories were determined by the first part, and the immortal saga defined the second part. Therefore, Bruce Wayne rises in a completely logical way at the end. In one hand, Nolan gave him the comic book-like Batman in the form of Selina Kyle or references to the League of Shadows. In the other hand, he gave him the determination of the Dark Knight with anarchy and political-police intrigues. There is no need to rush, no reason to shock. Just untangle the final plot twists and place the characters of one great story in their final positions. In the end, another one and a half hours of fascinating and equally suffocating spectacle full of captivating characters, and a royal comic book trilogy with everything that goes with it. (08/04/2012)