The Dark Knight Rises is one of those movies that is so big whether it is good or bad becomes less of the point. Instead, at two hours and forty-four minutes, becomes an endurance test of what the viewer is willing to comprehend, retain in memory and feel (somewhat forcefully). Meanwhile, waiting for that one final cinematic thrust of orgasmic excitement before it all ends in moneymaking history. Some will go bat-shit crazy for it (yes, a pun) but this viewer will remember it as one of the weaker films of the Dark Knight trilogy. Yet, it is an enjoyable popcorn, summer film, which proves itself in the final, and somewhat, convoluted 40 minutes of Hollywood razzle-dazzle.
After a so-so beginning action set piece, (a minute or two shorter than the version which played as a preview before Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)) the film proceeds to stumble around at a pace it never really seems comfortable to find itself in. Scenes just begin and end without a firm sense of coherence. As the first hour lurches to a close, it repeats themes covered with greater depth and excitement in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), basically the trappings of death or loss (physical, financial or political) which courses regret, anger and the difficultly of closure after the loss. Still, the film at a beat of every two and a half minutes or so attempts to balance bleakness with flashes of self-deprecating humor.
Due to the abrupt editing in the second hour, characters conveniently disappear and reappear and feel as placeholders to extend more actions and reactions. Around this time, most viewers will become bored with the film's headlining villain, Bane (a audibly challenged Tom Hardy) and begin to miss the manic and terrifying presence of The Joker (the late Heath Ledger). Unlike Ledger, Hardy lacks excitement. Not to say Hardy himself is bad in the role or lacks authority but it is difficult for the audience to relish the pathos of an actor with 60 percent of his face covered in hardware and dubbed (by Hardy himself) no less. Are people more receptive towards the lovable movements and sounds of cats and dogs over the silent, flapping of a blank staring fish? Bane (Hardy) is the fish on the hook. This viewer understands that audiences want a true, real-life representation of their beloved comic icons but Bane (in his completely humanoid form) on film was in trouble from the start.
By far the best characters in the film Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) handle their roles with a nice balance of smirk and soft handedness and receive more mileage from their acting choices. Sadly, director Christopher Nolan wastes the talent of Marion Cotillard (for the second time, she is awful and equally as lost in Nolan’s Inception (2010)) as Miranda in a small but crucial role and also one of the characters mentioned earlier that just exist strictly to move the movie along but has no real dramatic coherence or glue. Finally, veteran actors Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Gary Oldman (James ‘Jim’ Gordon) repeat their roles in fine form but as the film wears on, become robotic with little regard to what’s spoken from their mouths.
Christopher Nolan the master of the first two films, primarily due to the cut of this film, now slaves away rushing to end the series before both the creator and created die a harsh death by the hands of a corporation (Warner and partially fueled by rabid fans) that is discussing possible future sequels. Even with Nolan’s efforts to build exciting, blowout action sequences, it all seems like a clockwork repeat from the previous films. Regardless, with what has been said, this viewer was amusingly entertained by the movie but couldn’t help thinking all of the above while and after watching. This viewer is just happy to give his opinion without dispensing one ounce of plot or storyline. See it, especially if you are a completist like this viewer.
