The Dark Knight Rises: Busby's Review

I know I'm a little late on this review, but I had to REALLY think about my overall opinion on this movie.  The Dark Knight Rises was by far the most anticipated movie of the year the summer.  It's been 4 years since The Dark Knight was released, and a lot of people didn't really think this movie wasn't going to be made.  After Heath Ledger's unforgettable performance as The Joker, his untimely death, and the "To Be Continued" ending.  A lot of people thought that Chris Nolan wasn't going to conclude the story, myself included.  However, 4 years later Chris Nolan came up with a story that would be the final chapter in the Dark Knight saga.  Pretty much with same name just with the Rises right next to it.  Nolan was going to end Bruce Wayne's journey of Batman not with a fizzle, but with a bang.  Word to Emma Stone..

The story takes place 8 years after the events of the previous movie.  Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has went into seclusion, and Gotham City has become a safe place thanks to the "Dent Act".  Meanwhile a new menacing criminal mastermind by the name of Bane (Tom Hardy) brings his army to Gotham just to wreck shit.  Now with Gotham in trouble, Wayne has to come out of seclusion and has to put that mask back on.  "Why?" you ask? because he is the goddamn Batman that's why! The main characters are all back in their original roles along with some new characters.  Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle a.k.a Catwoman.  Joesph Golden-Levitt plays John Blake, a Gotham police officer who has a good heart, and Marion Cotillard plays Miranda Tate, board member of Wayne Enterprises that takes care of Bruce Wayne's money.

Now in my opinion, this was the most action packed movie out of ALL the Batman movies.  Matter a fact, this was the most action packed movie that Chris Nolan has ever made.  It was very fast paced in my opinion, the 2 hours and 45 minutes flew by very quickly.  The movie was also very emotionally driven, it captivated you from the very first frame all the way to the very last scene.  Everybody did a good job at their roles, especially Tom Hardy as Bane.  Even through he had a mask over his face, his eyes alone and his whole presence was just imitating enough.  Even with his proper English accent, it made him even more scarier.  Now was he more menacing then Heath Ledger's Joker? Well in my opinion, not so much, but it's up for debate.  Tom Hardy really did get the job done and was a good villein.

Anne Hathaway did a really good job as Catwoman.  Even though the closest thing they mentioned of Selina Kyle's alias was a "cat burglar" we ALL knew who she was.  Personally I felt that Michelle Pfeiffer's version was better.  However, Nolan's version of Catwoman was the one that was more close to the comic book.  Anne Hathaway was the perfect fit for that role, and honestly I couldn't see anybody else pulling it off.  She even pulled off those fight moves like she was Xena, I fucking loved it!

Now with the positive, there does come some negatives.  There were some plot holes in this movie that lightweight left me scratching my head.  Now without giving out spoilers, let me just say that almost every character from the first 2 movies are either referenced or they make an appearance.  Now you notice I said almost every character is referenced.  The elephant in the room was The Joker's absence.  They don't even bother mentioning where he was, or what happened to him.  They pretty much pretended that he didn't exist.  I can understand it was out of respect for Heath and all that, but c'mon.  I guess that 8 year gap left it up to the comic books, video games, and/or animated movies to fill in what happened to him.  However, the movie could have at LEAST mentioned the dude.

Also another thing I found annoying about the film was Christian Bale's Batman voice.  He was STILL talking like he has a bunch of balls in his throat.  I don't know WHY he kept doing that shit with his voice but it just so damn annoying.  I mean there even comes a point in the movie where damn near everybody knows who really is and he is STILL using that voice.  It became almost comical at some points, but whatever.  It is what it is...

Overall, it was a good movie and in my opinion it lived up to the hype.  Was it one of Chris Nolan's best movies? I wouldn't say that much, but it WAS a good movie.  Now this IS the final chapter in Bruce Wayne's story.  Now if you asking me if he dies or not, well you just gotta see the movie for yourself.  Or if you followed me on twitter, you would already know what the answer is, so it's on you to decide.  Now IF Warner Brothers decides to make another Batman movie, Nolan has REALLY set the standard high. and God bless anybody who wants to put their hands in it.  Now is it better then that other super hero movie that came out a few months ago? Well, in my opinion it comes down to preference.  I prefer both kind of superhero movies, ones that are both action packed, and also serious at the same time.  As of right now Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Saga will go down as one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.  That is IF Hollywood decides to push that reset button..


Busby's Review: 4.5/5

~~Mr. Busby~~