Final Batman installment draws on current events, transcends superhero film genre
Rise.
It's the single word that completely defines how director Christopher Nolan has elevated the comic-mythology behind Batman.
I'm talking about how Nolan's Batman trilogy is a huge step above the mediocrity that Batman films have suffered through, especially those abominable Joel Schumacher films.
Under Christopher Nolan's direction, this Batman trilogy is nothing less than pure metaphor, an art form that easily surpasses the comic-book cheese offered from a tights-wearing Adam West or a Batman credit card-carrying George Clooney.
Now comes the end of Nolan's grand trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises," a testament to how Nolan has transcended the Batman mythology.
The film begins eight years after the events of "The Dark Knight," in a world where Harvey Dent is treated as a post-mortem hero, Batman is in exile and Gotham is in its longest bout of peace from organized crime.
But a storm comes in the form of Bane, a hulking menace played by Tom Hardy, who comes to bring about the downfall of Western civilization. He isn't exactly the agent of chaos and anarchy that Heath Ledger's Joker was, but he is equally nihilistic. Bane arrives in Gotham to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's vision of destroying Gotham to liberate the city from corruption.
Bane's actions here suggest some form of conservative politics behind the making of "Dark Knight Rises." While "The Dark Knight" found thematic material from Patriot Act-related commentary, "The Dark Knight Rises" finds thematic material in more modern-day relevancy. Bane enlists the working class to liberate Gotham from the criminal methods used by the elite. He starts by attacking the stock market, therefore framing Bane's actions in the context of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Christian Bale gives the best characterization of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the entire trilogy, maybe because much more definition is added to the character. This is a Batman more imperfect, more conflicted and more heroic than the Batman in the film's two predecessors. Wayne is now a lost soul who has now completely given up on heroism, seeing that there is nothing left for him in the outside world. But when Bane comes around, Wayne has to rise above his fears and learn true heroism.
The only thing that comes to mind while talking about the character Bane is his mask, which he wears to numb the excruciating pain in his face. When talking, Bane sounds like a Darth Vader-ized Sean Connery and there are times when the audiences won't have a clue what he is saying. But still, Hardy manages to embody the character not with words, but with piercing eyes and a menacing appeal.
The story gives us two new female characters, a gender that Nolan isn't the best at writing. Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle, a cat burglar who steals from the rich like an Occupy Catwoman. Marion Cotillard plays philanthropist Miranda Tate, whom Wayne gives control of his company after he runs it to the ground.
Unlike earlier superhero summer films "The Avengers" and "The Amazing Spiderman" which favored fan-friendly archetypes over much else, "The Dark Knight Rises" is much more menacing and complicated than anything people have come to expect from a superhero film. Perhaps that fact alone sets Nolan's famed trilogy among the great film trilogies in history.