The Dark Knight Rises

Batman was created by Bob Kane and was first published by Detective Comics(DC Comics, effectively known afterwards)in 1939. It featured a protagonist that had no superpowers, but a wide assortment of gadgets. The protagonist wore a cape and cowl modeled after a bat. Bruce Wayne, the man who became Batman, was scarred for life when he witnessed the murder of his parents at an early age. Batman has been featured not only in comics, but in TV shows, including the campy 1960s series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Then in 1989, Batman was reintroduced to audiences by Tim Burton, with the lead character of Bruce Wayne/Batman played by Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as The Joker. The film was an immediate blockbuster, featuring dark and gothic undertones as befitting a Tim Burton film. Tim Burton would direct the sequel, Batman Returns which featured new villains, such as The Penguin(Danny DeVito) and Selina Kyle/Catwoman(Michelle Pfeifer). The sequel was also a success, but wasn't as widely accepted as the first film. A second sequel, Batman Forever, would see Val Kilmer in the title role and featured The Riddler and Two-Face as the main villains. Directed by Joel Schumaker, Batman Forever was more campy and featured more neon lights than the previous films. The third sequel, Batman and Robin would again see Batman recast. George Clooney stepped into the role. Unfortunately, Batman and Robin was nothing more than a glorified toy commercial. It was a spectacular failure at the box office and threatened any possible future films. In 2005, Batman would again return to the screen, but with fresh talent. Christopher Nolan of Momento and Insomnia would direct the film with Christian Bale in the lead. Featuring the talents of Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, and Morgan Freeman, Batman Begins threw all doubts out the window with a far more realistic and grittier take on the character and the City of Gotham. It wound up being a real money-maker and a sequel was commissioned. Christopher Nolan would again take the reigns and Bale would return. Darker and more violent than the first film, The Dark Knight upped the stakes, not just for the people of Gotham, but Batman himself when The Joker(Heath Ledger)comes knocking. Released in 2008, The Dark Knight was heralded as one of the best comic-book movies of all-time and rightly so, with great performances, particularly by the late Heath Ledger. Originally imagined as a trilogy, Nolan's films would culminate with a very spectacular final film, which takes things to a whole new level.

8 years have passed since the events of The Dark Knight. Batman, accused of the murder of Gotham's shining knight, Harvey Dent, has disappeared along with Bruce Wayne himself. The years have not been kind. Bruce Wayne is a broken man, in more ways than one. Forced to use a cane to help walk around, the years of being the caped crusader have taken their toll on Wayne, physically and emotionally. He remains a recluse until a beautiful cat burglar, Selina Kyle(Anne Hathaway) infiltrates his mansion and steals his mother's pearl necklace. Faced with running out of money, Bruce Wayne finds himself pulled back into the world of crime when a mysterious and demented terrorist, Bane(Tom Hardy), arrives in Gotham to wreak havoc.

Batman has always had his fair share of memorable villains. In Batman Begins, he faced off against Ra's Al Ghul(Liam Neeson, who makes a cameo appearance in Dark Knight Rises)and Scarecrow(Cillian Murphy). In The Dark Knight, we had The Joker, who was much more of a terrorist than a clown like Nicholson's character was. Heath Ledger's performance was unbelievable awesome. He was psychotic and demonic and strangely funny at the same time. Now, in The Dark Knight, the real villain shows up in the form of Bane, played to perfection by Tom Hardy who really bulked up for this film. Bane isn't a psychopath the way that The Joker was, but instead of the lumbering dumbass that we saw in Batman And Robin, Hardy's character is not only physically overpowering, but extremely intelligent and patient. It isn't before long before he takes complete control of Gotham, in one of the most spectacular and explosive sequences in the trilogy. I mentioned that Bane was physically overpowering. This is extremely evident when he and Batman clash for the first time. It's an incredible one-sided fight, considering how long Batman's been out of action. The other "villain" is Catwoman, played by the beautiful Anne Hathaway. Unlike Michelle Pfeifer's femme fatale character, Anne Hathaway's character is more of a survivor than a true villain and a real foil for Batman. The stakes in The Dark Knight Rises are upped to nth degree, as Batman is in serious jeopardy, as is the entire city. One of the new characters, Detective Blake is played by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, who does an amazing job. But one of the most effective performances comes from Michael Caine, who plays Alfred. I'll just say: Wow, this is the best I've seen from Caine in many years. Christian Bale really ups his game as a beaten-down Bruce Wayne who's faced with more uncertainty than he's ever faced before in his life, financially, physically and psychologically.

The Dark Knight Rises is the darkest and most violent of the trilogy. This is never more evident than in Batman's first confrontation with Bane, as I've said before. Not only that, there are casualties on all sides, but the ones who get stuck in the middle are the people of Gotham who are held hostage by one of the most vicious villains that Batman has encountered. Christopher Nolan has always had an eye for detail and realism in his Batman films, but he never forgets where the character came from. He also adds some nods to Batman Begins with a cameo from Liam Neeson as Ra's Al Ghul. There are twists and turns in the story that are far from predictable. The resolution to the film is very well done and ties up the trilogy with a neat little bow. The Dark Knight Rises is quite possibly the best comic-book movie this year. I loved The Avengers, but The Dark Knight Rises is a completely different beast and is more centralized. It's hard for me to say that Dark Knight Rises is better than the previous film, because honestly, in terms of quality, they're about the same. But I do think that Tom Hardy's Bane is far more of a menace than The Joker, mainly because Bane is cold and calculating and doesn't just....do things like The Joker. As far as comic-book movies go, The Dark Knight Rises is one of the better ones. It also does a good job at tying up loose ends.

Overall, The Dark Knight Rises gets a 10/10 from me. It's awesome in every way. The word is, is that Warner Bros wants to reboot the franchise again, since Dark Knight Rises is the last Batman film for both Christopher Nolan AND Christian Bale. I don't see it happening for quite a while, because Nolan's films have some serious staying power.

On a much more serious note: In Aurora, Colorado during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman entered a movie theater and opened fire on an audience, killing 12 people, including a 6-year old girl and injuring many others. It's one of the worst mass killings that the United States has seen in recent history, so I would like to extend my prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of this heinous crime, and I would urge others to do the same.