The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Christopher Nolan has never been one to make his plots simple and straightforward (he did do Inception after all), but most of his previous efforts have at least tried to focus on only one or two things at a time. In Dark Knight Rises however, he has gone properly ambitious, trying to weave no less than 6 different storylines into one film. Not only that, but 4 of those are trying to explore entirely new characters and a fifth pretty much does the whole 'road to Batman' origins story that was done in Batman Begins; precisely why this was considered a necessary part of the film is unclear, given that it probably creates more plot issues than it solves, but it's there nontheless. This complex mesh of character-centric storyline places the onus of the film firmly on its characters and their development, and trying to do that properly to so many new faces was always going to push everyone for space, even in a film that's nearly 3 hours long. So, did it work? Well... kind of. Some characters seem real and compelling pretty much from the off, in the same way that Joker did in The Dark Knight- Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle (not once referred to as Catwoman in the entire film) is a little bland here and there and we don't get to see much of the emotion that supposedly drives her, but she is (like everyone else) superbly acted and does the 'femme fakickass' thing brilliantly, whilst Joseph Gordon Levitt's young cop John Blake (who gets a wonderful twist to his character right at the end) is probably the most- and best-developed character of the film, adding some genuine emotional depth. Michael Caine is typically brilliant as Alfred, this time adding his own kick to the 'origins' plot line, and Christian Bale finally gets to do what no other Batman film has done before- make Batman/Bruce Wayne the most interesting part of the film. However, whilst the main good guys' story arcs are unique among Batman films by being the best parts of the film, some of the other elements don't work as well. For someone who is meant to be a really key part of the story, Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate gets nothing that gives her character real depth- lots of narration and exposition, but we see next to none of her for huge chunks of the film and she just never feels like she matters very much. Tom Hardy as Bane suffers from a similar problem- he was clearly designed in the mould of Ducard (Liam Neeson) in Begins, acting as an overbearing figure of control and power that Batman simply doesn't have (rather than the terrifying madness of the Joker), but his actual actions never present him as anything other just a device to try and give the rest of the film a reason to happen. Worse, he never appears to have any genuinely emotional investment or motivation in anything he's doing, and a Batman film, hell any superhero film, without a genuinely compelling villain is putting itself at severe risk. Part of the problem is his mask- whilst clearly a key feature of his character, it makes it impossible to see his mouth and bunches up his cheeks into an immovable pair of blobs beneath his eyes, meaning there is nothing visible for him to express feeling with, effectively turning him into a blunt machine rather than a believable bad guy; it could have worked, but somehow didn't. There's also an entire arc concerning Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and his guilt over letting Batman take the blame for Harvey Dent's death that is barely explored at all, but thankfully it's so irrelevant to the overall plot that it might as well not be there at all. It is, in many ways, a crying shame, because there are so many things the film does so, so right. The actual plot is a rollercoaster of an experience, pushing the stakes high and the action (in typical Nolan fashion) through the roof. The cinematography is great, every actor does a brilliant job in their respective roles and a lot of the little details- the pit & its leap to freedom, the 'death by exile' sequence and the undiluted awesome that is The Bat- are truly superb (I hope I haven't spoiled anything by saying that). In fact if Nolan had just decided on a core storyline and focus and then stuck with it as a solid structure, then I would probably still not have managed to wipe the inane grin off my face. But by being as ambitious as he has done, he has just squeezed screen time away from where it really needed to be, and turned the whole thing into a structural mess that doesn't really know where it's going at times. It's a tribute to how good the good parts are that the whole experience is still such good fun, but it's such a shame to see a near-perfect film let down so badly. The final thing I have to say about the film is simply: go and see it. Seriously, however bad you think this review portrays it as, if you haven't seen the film yet and you at all liked the other two (or any other major action blockbuster with half a brain), then get hold of the DVD and give it a watch. I can't guarantee that you'll have your greatest ever filmgoing experience with it, but I can guarantee that it'll be an entertaining way to spend a few hours, and you certainly won't regret having seen it.