Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) contemplates gearing up as Batman again in "The Dark Knight Rises" (photo by Ron Phillips)
From Gothamites’ speculation on who wears the cape and cowl to comic book and movie fans anticipating the next twist or dark revelation, Batman has always been a character of mystery and intrigue. Perhaps more so than any other movie in recent memory, The Dark Knight Rises is surrounded by the same kind of cautious speculation and protective tactics that have kept Bruce Wayne’s secrets safely hidden for more than 70 years. And much like those who speculate, but would rather not verify, that Wayne and Batman are one and the same, most of those waiting with fervent curiosity to see how this latest big screen adaptation will end would rather find out for themselves than be informed by a review such as this one.
With that in mind, The Dark Knight Rises sees a hobbling Howard Hughes-like Wayne (Christian Bale) seemingly retired from crime fighting eight years after the tragic conclusion of The Dark Knight. Wayne Enterprises is suffering as a result of Wayne’s reclusiveness, but Gotham City is in a time of peace thanks to the Dent Act, which has kept many of Gotham’s most violent criminals behind bars. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) struggles with revealing the truth about Dent, but realizes Dent’s legacy provides Gotham with the hero it needs. The struggle between keeping secrets or exposing the truth is naturally an ongoing struggle in the Batman mythos, but in The Dark Knight Rises it’s a heavier-than-usual topic in that practically no one is who they seem to be and almost everyone is harboring a darkness of his or her own.
Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) slinks her way into Batman and Bruce Wayne's life in "The Dark Knight Rises" (photo by Ron Phillips)
From the concern for Wayne’s personal well being that has always haunted his butler Alfred (Michael Caine) to the true intentions of Gotham’s newest (and perhaps most dangerous) villain Bane (Tom Hardy), these secrets gradually work their way to the surface (literally and metaphorically). Throw in a couple of new love interests for Wayne, including Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway, who is never directly referred to as Catwoman, but whose sly, emotionless demeanor is all too familiar to the man who knows a thing or two about repressing feelings), and emotions arise in even more ways. But when the fate of an entire city and its citizens is at stake, these romantic interactions are a bit hokey and unnecessary at times.
Even with Batman, Bane and Catwoman, the real star for much of this film is Gotham City itself. Not the physical landmarks that make up the city (though they are also crucial to certain scenes), but the people of Gotham (including a hot-headed young police officer played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt whose past isn’t all that different from Wayne’s) and how they collectively cope with the anarchy that ensues when Bane obtains some of Wayne’s most destructive gadgets and plunges the city into a war zone. In fact, there’s a good portion of the movie in which Wayne/Batman is hardly seen, leaving Gotham to really show what it’s made of.
Although Bane doesn’t have quite the history with Batman as someone like the Joker, he has been responsible for some of the Dark Knight’s biggest physical and mental defeats. So when he and Batman do battle in The Dark Knight Rises, it is a truly tragic moment capable of sending chills down the viewer’s spine (while doing much worse things to the Bat’s spine). Hardy adequately captures both Bane’s physical brutality and his terroristic intellectualism as he relentlessly cripples Gotham for several weeks. But since Batman is such a big part of what makes Gotham the great city it is, I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by revealing that he does eventually return to save the day (though there is a huge flaw in his return that is hard to overlook).
Tom Hardy captures the intellect and brutality of Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises" (photo by Ron Phillips)
At the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, many are still distrusting of Batman, holding him responsible for Dent’s death in The Dark Knight. But upon his return to Gotham, he now has an army of disgruntled police officers and other citizens following him into battle, realizing he is likely their last hope. He also has a new flying toy that Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) calls “The Bat” that plays a big part in Gotham’s fate. But, again, the most important things at play in The Rise of the Dark Knight aren’t the most obvious ones. Who lives and dies is almost irrelevant to who these people are at their core, and how their histories intertwine. Nolan definitely brings things full circle in The Dark Knight Rises, with direct references to Batman’s origin story from Batman Begins. But he does so in such a way that each time you think you’ve figured out what’s going on, you’re given another tidbit of history that makes the darkness that much clearer. And even though this is supposedly Nolan’s finale, he leaves many things open-ended enough that I can’t help but wonder if he has been keeping more secrets than we realized when it comes to the outcome of The Dark Knight Rises.
The Dark Knight Rises. Co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Rated PG-13. www.thedarkknightrises.com.