REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises
164 minutes. Rating: General. Director: Chris Nolan.
Jody Houton
Thursday 2 August 2012, 12:06PM
Like its two predecessors, The Dark Knight Rises is dark, moody, and very much a post 9/11 ‘be wary of terrorists’ type movie. But it’s also, for the first time in Christopher Nolan’s otherwise impressive Batman trilogy, rather corny.
The storyline picks up eight years after the last installment, following the killing of District Attorney Harvey Dent. To protect Dent’s / ‘2 Face’s’ image as a beacon of hope for the city, Batman convinces Commissioner Gordon to cover up 2 Face’s recent atrocities and murders and allow the caped crusader to take responsibility.
The crucifixion forces Batman into hiding and Bruce Wayne into leading a reclusive lifestyle. He grows a beard, his joints get achy and he no longer feels so super any more. In short, Batman gets old.
Enter Bane, the winged one’s nemesis this time round, who suffice to say is none-too happy with the running of Gotham and seeks to change order by force.
But who’s to stop him? Certainly not Batman, because he’s in retirement. Well, actually, of course Batman because it wouldn’t be much a movie if he didn’t, would it?
However all kinds of shenanigans take place in the interim include the unneeded introduction of Catwoman and the subsequent will they, won’t they dilemma? Will anyone care anyway?
That all said, the film’s star-studded cast is impressive, and the conversations between Michael Caine’s Alfred and Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne are rich in emotion and pathos.
Rather ironically though, it is these scenes rather than the car chases, gadgets and special effects that rescue this super hero movie from mediocrity.
3 stars.
