The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga comes to an end with this engrossing and absolutely spellbinding installment, with the dense narrative following Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne as he’s forced to come out of retirement after a fearsome new villain (Tom Hardy’s terrifying and instantly iconic Bane) arrives on the scene. As expected, Nolan has suffused The Dark Knight Rises with a larger-than-life, intensely cinematic vibe that’s perpetuated by such elements as Wally Pfister’s striking visuals and Hans Zimmer’s grandiose score – with the movie’s pervasively epic atmosphere ultimately compensating for an undeniable case of overlength. (Though never dull, the film contains a number of less-than-enthralling subplots, eg an attempted takeover of Wayne Enterprises, that kick the running time up to an almost unwieldy 164 minutes.) It goes without saying, of course, that The Dark Knight Rises is at its best in its action-oriented sequences, as Nolan employs an astonishingly propulsive feel that’s nothing short of electrifying – with the visceral impact of such moments heightened by the film’s jaw-dropping use of IMAX cinematography. The movie’s periodic atmosphere of pure spectacle, impressive as it may be, is effectively counterbalanced by a number of smaller, quieter character-based interludes, as Nolan elicits expectedly superb work from his impressive roster of performers – with Bale’s stirring turn as the title character matched by an eclectic supporting cast that includes, among others, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine. (There’s little doubt that Caine’s gripping work as Bruce’s loyal butler remains an emotional highlight within the series.) The note-perfect conclusion, which follows an almost overwhelmingly action-packed third act, cements The Dark Knight Rises‘ place as a perfect capper to an incongruously above-average trilogy of summer blockbusters, and it is, as such, impossible to meet Nolan’s proclamation that he’s firmly done with the series with anything less than extreme melancholy.

**** out of ****

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