The Dark Knight Rises: Review By JIm Mourgos

The Dark Knight Rises

Great film, action packed drama in the conclusion to Nolan's Batman trilogy. Like Batman Begins, we get a fully developed view of Wayne, the state of his company and empire, and more importantly his own personal struggle, as he sacrifices his reputation of both his Wayne ego and Batman persona to help Gotham City. His selflessness knows no bounds.

Unfortunately his selflessness grates on his long-time friend and butler, Alfred. The dynamic between the two was quite emotional and powerful.

Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon really takes a beating in this film. The guy is barely out of the hospital and is running not only the remnants of the police force, but pushing for a "hot head" cop to head his detective division. This young guy plays a few twists and harrowing experiences especially towards the end, which foreshadows (for me at least) a possible fourth film? Sure, Gordon jumping onto trucks and tracing a nuclear bomb may be unreal, but it was a lot of fun!

Best characterization goes to Anne Hathaway as the Catwoman. Unlike other versions of this character, Selina Kyle is a cat burglar with no superhuman powers other than her extreme athleticism, sly wit and martial arts moves as she dances with the devil and flirts with the Bat.

Bane was an OK character. Clearly Nolan paints this guy to be the ultimate in terrorists. Shooting up the stock exchange, blowing up a few bridges and terrorizing the populace was a bit overwhelming. The fight scenes with the Bat and Bane were great, but I did not expect the Bat to lose so quickly!

Themes:

Some of the themes of the film were old, but they were warmly familiar. The father figure of Gordon, his personality and strength coming from several places: wanting to protect reputations, taking a hot-headed cop under his wing, and finally some flashbacks to Batman Begins where he comforts a boy who just lost both his parents in a mugging. The Gordon character was over the top by the way. Let's get past that!

Loyalty to a vow, betrayal and trust run throughout the film. Ms. Tate plays a strong role in this as well as the continuing vow from the League of Shadows (introduced in Batman Begins), all play well and to the hilt!

Bottom Line: Catwoman takes the film to a whole new level; more humor and struggle than the other characters. Bruce Wayne's "Howard Hughes" move was hard to take, breaking his vow and helping Gotham one more time. The betrayals from the Board of Wayne Corp and from friends who are enemies and enemies who are friends, may be hard to follow in the first viewing. Just enough explosions and firefights to satisfy the fanboy as well as the casual viewer of these Batman films.

Recommended