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English 331

John Doe

May 24, 2016

Critical Review of The Dark Knight Rises

With The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan brings yet another adrenaline-filled, comic-inspired movie to the big screen.  Viewers see all sorts of familiar faces this time around, but the audience is introduced to a few new characters as well. Christian Bale, as Bruce Wayne and the caped crusader, takes on a new mission against a new antagonist, Bane. When Bane threatens Gotham City, Bruce Wayne jumps back into the Batmobile to fight crime. Batman is joined on his quest by an eager orphaned cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a seductive cat burglar (Anne Hathaway), and a violent masked villain (Tom Hardy).  

This film served as great entertainment with its colorful cast and numerous plot twists. Nolan used actors that had either appeared in previous Batman films or in his blockbuster hit Inception, and all of them shone in their respective roles: Tom Hardy was almost unrecognizable in his Bane costume, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard were both excellent—and obviously comfortable with Nolan’s directing style and the film’s dramatic tone.  

The one initially unsettling casting was Anne Hathaway playing against type as Selina Kyle. She has historically been typecast as the girl next door, so it was a shock to watch her steal and fight her way through the City of Gotham. After a few scenes, however, viewers had to admit that the casting decisions was a good one, as Hathaway portrayed the darker Catwoman role brilliantly.

2 True to Nolan’s style, at 164 minutes, this film is fairly long. There were a few times when the movie felt a bit drawn out, but the gorgeous action scenes and impressive dialogue really held the audience’s attention and kept them on the edge of their seats. However, the timeline was a bit unclear at times. For a number of scenes, it was hard to tell whether it had been days or months or years that had passed since the last time a given character had been on screen.

Despite the films minor shortcomings, The Dark Knight Rises is exciting, creative, and dark—and well worth a few hours of one’s time.