Here's what 'The Dark Knight Rises' did right as a superhero thriller

Christopher Nolan's film humanizes Batman and gives us a terrific villain to root against


NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, July 20, 2012, 6:00 AM

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The anticipation that led up to the release of “The Dark Knight Rises” — which I gave four stars in my review Wednesday (read it at nydailynews.com) — is rare in American movies. It bespeaks the place Batman occupies in our pop-cultural psyche; the critical and mainstream appreciation for director Christopher Nolan’s skills; and, frankly, a hunger for real emotions, even among young audiences, in a superhero film.

“Rises,” which ends Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy with guts and glory, gets almost everything right on its way to a satisfying conclusion (after an epic 2 hours and 45 minutes.) Here are 5 of them.

1. Batman’s brought down to our level.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has always been aloof, the blank-eyed billionaire rattling about in a cold marble-walled mansion, separated from his inner life. In “TDKR” Nolan and cowriters Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer show Bruce hobbled and weakened more than once — mainly physically, but also financially, thanks to a Wall Street scam courtesy of the League of Shadows.

And then he’s handed a spiritual reckoning. We feel it specifically in two scenes with Alfred — a wrenching one mid-film, and another, more optimistic one before the fade-to-black. Bruce essentially mans up for self-examination, and, thus, self-reward.

2. Bane is bigger than life .

Nolan has stated that he wanted the evil Bane (Tom Hardy) to be the opposite of Heath Ledger’s wiry Joker in 2008’s “The Dark Knight.” Yet there’s more than just serious bulk to this bald, gas-mask-wearing mercenary. Hardy stalks through scenes with his shoulders seemingly on each side of the IMAX screen, plowing through a role that, on paper, likely allowed for little nuance. (He’s often shot from below, like he’s the Colossus of Gotham City.)

There may be issues with Hardy’s disembodied voice, and, truth be told, Bane could never knock the Joker out of our psyche. But when he’s onscreen, he knocks everything else out.

3. Gotham’s now a tinderbox of various police state tactics .

Although “TDKR” wants to have different politics and eat them, too, there’s an interesting current running through the policies of both the good and bad guys: abuse of power.

In the film, adherence to the “Dent Act” has allowed for wide sweeps of criminals, though there’s a lingering question as to whether the methods are as pure as the motive. Meanwhile, Bane and his goons let the citizens run Gotham — until the time comes to keep them in control, which comes courtesy of Bane’s iron fist. Corruption, alas, cuts both ways.

4. “TDKR” = very little CGI

Though there is of course some visual trickery, you’d be hard-pressed to point it out. That’s due to Nolan’s (thankfully) old-fashioned technical style — from using actual crowds of people (one hundred souls really do feel different than CGI-duplicated ma#ses) to having a pair of real planes tied together mid-air.

5. The movie’s ticking time b0mb gets into your head.

A lot of thrillers use some kind of time constraint to keep us riveted; “TDKR” turns its last hour into one giant Doomsday clock, maintaining an admirable, burning-fuse immediacy. And, thanks to Hans Zimmer’s blood-bubbling score, Wally Pfister’s cold-steel visuals and, especially, Lee Smith’s elegant editing — which holds multiple characters together in one action-drama heartbeat — “TDKR” never lets us forget who we lose if Gotham is lost.

Read more: Here's what 'The Dark Knight Rises' did right as a superhero thriller - NY Daily News

I need to watch this [pic]

Bane was a cool villian, till the end.

movie was d0pe!

I think the best thing about that movie is that it was 2 hours and 45 minutes, but it didn't drag.

In TDK, once the joker was gone and we move on to Harvey Dent as the villain, the movie dragged for the last 45 minutes or so

TDKR gets better and better as it goes on and keeps you thoroughly engaged the whole time. Especially at the end.

in imax

yea that was kinda cheesy the way he went out



yes the end did it for me very rarely can i not predict a flick....
when certain elements are revealed it took me by surprise

with this said i won't go into this movie with high expectations
not that i was anyway

I rooted for Bane, !! off article.

bane was by far the worst o all villain in any comic book movie, all other comic book movies they depict some type of weakness to the villain. ban was cold,dedicated, smart, and ruthless the stuff that is truly distributing. if joker was a sample, bane was the full package of dangerous, he cleary had everybody shook including batman and Alfred......[pic]

Bane made this movie hands down

Yea man. Batman had nothing for Bane. Even Alfred was tryna tell him he not seeing this dude let the police handle this. Movie was crazy overall tho, everyone needs to see this.