Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises

Movie Name: The Dark Knight Rises
Year of Release: 2012

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, Ben Mendelsohn, Daniel Sunjata, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Brett Cullen, Nestor Carbonell, Juno Temple

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6

Synopsis:

Following the huge critical and commercial success of "Inception" and "The Dark Knight", director Christopher Nolan is back with his final chapter in the interpretation of the Batman character. The film picks up 8 years after the events of the "The Dark Knight", and Gotham City has become a more orderly city. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse and tends to his wounds. However a new menace comes to the city in the shape of Bane, a criminal mastermind, who battles Batman on equal terms, and who has resources which enable him to take over the city and hold it ransom. It's up to Bruce Wayne/Batman, to rise above all his limitations and with the help of old and new allies, save the city and it's inhabitants.
Christopher Nolan is back expanding on the themes of his previous Batman film, namely the deterioration of the economic and social tissues of society. Batman is a haunted figure, now battered by the fights he has fought, a recluse who has to deal with a menace that looms over the entire city, and over him and his personal well being (as well as survival). The film feels very much like an extension of the previous one, a closure to a path that the character of Bruce Wayne started with "Batman Begins". The film is very successful in building a momentum and a tension that grows progressively, anchored in actors that are uniformly good and solid. The film does feel a bit contrived and forced in certain sections, but the overall spectacle that the director builds, far surpasses the shortcomings of some characters. Special highlights should also be given to Wally Pfister's cinematography and the impeccable special effects. A solid and entertaining film worth watching.