The Dark Knight Rises (2012) * * *

 

Directed by:  Christopher Nolan

Starring:  Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Matthew Modine, Morgan Freeman

The Dark Knight Rises comes off the heels of The Dark Knight (2008), the best film in the Dark Knight trilogy.  The Dark Knight Rises is still well-crafted and a fitting conclusion to the series, even with a slow first hour.  

The Dark Knight Rises picks up eight years after The Dark Knight, when the DA turned villain Harvey Dent met his end at the hands of Batman.  Bruce Wayne (Bale) lives as a recluse while his company and foundations lose money.  Dent is still hailed as a hero, with Commissioner Gordon (Oldman) espousing Dent's virtues on Harvey Dent Day in a speech while fully knowing the truth about him.   A smart and honest police officer named Blake (Levitt) knows intuits that Bruce and Batman are one in the same.  It are these traits that allow Blake to be promoted to Gordon's right-hand man.  As the muzzled and vicious Bane (Hardy) sets up beneath Gotham and starts setting off a series of crimes, Batman leaps into action again.  

Meanwhile, sexy burglar Selena Kyle (Hathaway) is drawn into the web after she robs Bruce of precious pearls.  She becomes his frenemy, but soon sides with him in his battle against Bane, who nearly cripples Bruce in a fight and exiles him to the same prison from where the dreaded Ra's al Ghul once escaped.  Bane is not Heath Ledger's Joker, but he's formidable and may not even be the person pulling the strings to bring Gotham to its knees.  The returning players from the previous two films (Bale, Caine, Oldman, and Freeman) continue to shine in crucial roles which impact Batman's fate.  

There have been other incarnations of Batman since The Dark Knight trilogy concluded.  I especially enjoyed The Batman (2023) with Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.  This series, however, mined the Batman mythology for all it was worth; dealing with the moral and physical implications of Bruce Wayne's journey.  One thing we know for certain at the end:  Being Batman is not for the weak.