Product Description
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It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night,
turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the
blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight
sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both
hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as
criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of
the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the
arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far
more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a ed
terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his
self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again,
Batman may be no match for Bane.
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Of all the "most anticipated" movies ever cling that title,
it's hard to imagine one that has caused so much speculation and
breathless expectation as Christopher Nolan's final chapter to
his magnificently brooding Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
Though it may not rise to the level of the mythic grandeur of its
predecessor, The Dark Knight Rises is a truly magnificent work of
cinematic brilliance that commandingly completes the cycle and is
as heavy with literary resonance as it is of-the-moment in
into the political and social affairs unfolding on the world
stage. That it is also a full-blown and fully realized epic crime
drama packed with state-of-the-art action relying equally on
immaculate CGI fakery and heart-stopping practical effects and
stunt work makes its entrée into blockbuster history worthy of
all the anticipation and more. It deserves all the accolades it
will get for bringing an opulently baroque view of a comic book
universe to life with sinister effectiveness.
Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, TDK Rises
finds Bruce Wayne broken in spirit and body from his moral and
physical battle with the Joker. Gotham City is at peace primarily
because Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's murder, allowing
the former district attorney's memory to remain as a
crime-fighting hero rather than the lunatic destructor he became
as Two-Face. But that meant Batman's cape and cowl wound up in
cold storage--perhaps for good--with only commissioner Jim
Gordon in possession of the truth. The threat that faces Gotham
now is by no means new; as deployed by the intricate script that
weaves themes first explored in Batman Begins, fundamental
conflicts that predate his own origins are at the heart of the
ultimate struggle that will leave Batman and his city either
triumphant or in ashes. It is one of the movie's greatest
achievements that we really don't know which way it will end up
until its final exhilarating moments. Intricate may be an
understatement in the construction of the script by Nolan and his
brother Jonathan. The multilayered story includes a battle for
control of Wayne Industries and the decimation of Bruce Wayne's
personal wealth; a destructive yet potentially earth-saving clean
energy source; a desolate prison colony on the other side of the
globe; terrorist attacks against people, property, and the
world's economic foundation; the redistribution of wealth to the
99 percent; and a virtuoso jewel thief who is identified in every
way except name as Catwoman. Played with saucy fun and sexy
danger by Anne Hathaway, Selina Kyle is sort of the catalyst (!)
for all the plot threads, especially when she whispers into
Bruce's ear at a charity ball some prescient words about a coming
storm that will tear Gotham asunder. As unpredictable as it is
sometimes hard to follow, the winds of this storm blow in a raft
of diverse and extremely compelling new characters (including
Selina Kyle) who are all part of a dance that ends with the
ballet of a cataclysmic denouement. Among the new faces are
Marion Cotillard as a green-energy advocate and Wayne Industries
board member and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a devoted Gotham cop who
may lead Nolan into a new comic book franchise. The hulking
monster Bane, played by Tom Hardy with powerful confidence even
under a clawlike , is so much more than a villain (and the
toughest match yet for Batman's prowess). Though he ends up being
less important to the movie's moral themes and can't really match
Heath Ledger's maniacal turn as Joker, his mesmerizing swagger
and presence as demonic force personified are an affecting
counterpoint to the moral battle that rages within Batman
himself. Christian Bale gives his most dynamic performance yet as
the tortured hero, and Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman
(Gordon), and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) all return with more
gravitas and emotional weight than ever before. Then there's the
action. Punctuated by three or four magnificent set pieces, TDKR
deftly mixes the cinematic process of providing information with
punches of pow throughout (an airplane-to-airplane kip/rescue,
an institutional terrorist assault and subsequent chase, and the
choreographed crippling of an entire city are the above-mentioned
highlights). The added impact of the movie's extensive Imax
footage ups the wow factor, all of it kinetically controlled by
Nolan and his top lieutenants Wally Pfister (cinematography),
Hans Zimmer (composer), Lee Smith (editor), and Nathan Crowley
and Kevin Kavanaugh (production designers). The best
recommendation TDKR carries is that it does not leave one wanting
for more. At 164 minutes, there's plenty of nonstop dramatic
enthrallment for a single sitting. More important, there's a deep
sense of satisfaction that The Dark Knight Rises leaves as the
fulfilling conclusion to an absorbing saga that remains relevant,
resonant, and above all thoroughly entertaining. --Ted Fry
