Movie Review: Batman The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is without a doubt a promising title in the Batman franchise. It's got the herculean mercenary Bane, it's got the sexy leading lady Catwoman and of course Batman and new toys! The movie starts out at a slow pace, but the action seems to peek out soon enough. Many things in the movie however are left unexplained. In order to keep this review spoiler free I will not go into full details but I will have to mention some things that went well and others that really did not. First of all lets get into Batman's new toys, he finally unleashes that Batwing into the world. While we have seen in the trailers, it looks even more incredible throughout the movie, although in this movie it is only called "The Bat." The Batmobile sadly does not make an appearance, but the Batpod is reintroduced and it plays a bigger part than in the last movie. In addition to this Batman now carries an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) gun that fries electronics and makes vehicles come to a stop. He also seems to carry a version of the EMP where the effect is only temporary. The fighting is as good as ever but somehow it seems slower, maybe to give us a better view. Bane's fight against Batman proves how much of a force Bane is compared to Batman and those who have read the comics will re-live some iconic moments. Catwoman is just as graceful as in the comics as well and also just as sneaky. The movie has originality aplenty but it also deviates a lot from the Batman mythos. The movie does not give us a really good glimpse at Catwoman's costume and it doesn't help that the costume doesn't really look like in the comics and Anne Hathaway's role as Catwoman is too emotional and not quirky enough as Catwoman really is. Bane is very strong, unfortunately he does not wear a mask like in the comics, it is very hard to understand what he is saying in certain parts of the movie and he does not make use of the one thing that makes him be the menace he is in the comic books, the substance known as Venom which turns him into a hulking behemoth of even greater strength. The movie also takes many liberties with characters and their origins, liberties that will greatly upset fans and more likely than not even those who follow even the most basic of Batman's history. The movie does have it's twists, some that will be enjoyed and others that will highly disappoint. There is no need to stay until the end credits are over as there is no extra scene at the end, this movie could've really used it though. The Dark Knight Rises was called the end of the trilogy and by the end of the movie it really seems that way yet at the same time it doesn't. As I previously mentioned there are twists but the direction the movie took makes some of those twists unusable. The story of the movie is great and very original, the deviation from it's source is actually not all that welcome and can make the movie feel broken, and with the lack of explanations of many of the aspects of certain characters it will leave you wondering if this was really a Batman movie or an attempt to cash in on the success of the past two movies. One clear example of this is Bane's mask, there is no explanation as to why does he need it and what does it actually do, it feels more like a gimmick than a necessity. Overall the movie is good but not great, although originality and great special effects may be what saves it, the lack of information and lack of a real back story to some of the characters may be what takes away from it's success.

Drake's Reviews Score 8 out of 10