I’ve thought of this movie as a solid-but-underwhelming sequel to The Dark Knight since I first saw it back in 2012. Now that I finally rewatched it, I’ve realized that being an underwhelming sequel to a 10/10 movie leaves a lot of wiggle room. The Dark Knight Rises is a great movie, and I have unfairly maligned it for years.
Just to get this out of the way – Tom Hardy’s Bane doesn’t hold a candle to Heath Ledger’s joker. Anne Hathaway doesn’t keep up with Maggie Gyllenhaal, and this story has a more convoluted, awkward middle phase than we saw in the previous two movies. There. Now we can focus on what this movie does have – an excellent cast, a great story, and a solid conclusion to the trilogy.
The plot starts eight years after the previous movie, and shows a completely different side of Bruce Wayne. Most of the Batman movies outside of this trilogy struggle to feature Bruce Wayne at all, but Nolan and Bale present him as a complete and interesting character. Alfred, Fox, and Gordon all continue to be strong supporting roles played by brilliant actors, and the new cast of characters in this movie is solid as well.
It’s a great movie (even if not as strong as its predecessor), and it gets an 8.
Spoilers
Strange plot detail – Bruce Wayne not only ends up in a pit somewhere with a broken back, but rehabs it and gets back to Gotham in under five months. This is just silly. Otherwise, the story is great.
My Score
IMDB Score
RT Critics
87
RT Audience
90