While at a near three-hour length, it all goes by so quickly. Even when it's a mess, it's watchable and engaging. You may not know what's happening, but there's always something slightly more coherent, engaging, and/or distracting around the corner. As usual, you have to be quick on your toes to figure everything that's happening as it plays out. Even then, a second, sometimes third, viewing is required just to comprehend the events. God help you if you can't keep up the first time, though. While watching the DVD, I realized my head must have been spinning last summer if I didn't even get that characters were sentenced to walk across a frozen river of thin ice.
The acting is hammier than the filmmakers and its fans are willing to admit. At times, Bale inadvertently parodies his caped crusader with mouth formations and that throaty, barely audible voice manipulation that can only be described as comical. For most of the film, you never see Hardy's mouth and his vocals come across like he looped in a Sean Connery impression during post-production with inflections that make him an easy target for derision. It doesn't help that despite Hardy's impressive physical bulk, there's a threatening nature missing from the character. Anne Hathaway, who plays Selena Kyle (and, for all intents and purposes, Catwoman) a young, street smart thief who fends for herself quite well and harbors a cynical view of humanity. She's given the only real arc in the movie, which is as clunky and unbelievable. She often employs the over-the-top acting seen in Brokeback Mountain, but is nevertheless fun to watch, as usual, even when she's laughably bad. I can't say that I wouldn't have wanted the role to played any other way within the context of Nolan's world. Kudos go to Michael Caine who turns on the tear-works quite tenderly and gives his Alfred an urgent sympathy.
The film plays fast and loose with concepts like wealth distribution and clean energy, somewhat stigmatizing liberal virtue in the process, yet dependent on an independently wealthy man in a latex costume with superhuman abilities and the willingness to work for free. I guess that's why he's a myth at the end of the day. Regardless, one can project their political persuasions all they want on this film, but they're not going to stick. There are two big twists towards the end that were entertaining during the initial view. One of them has a character reveal something about their identity that essentially presents two opposing agendas. The other leaves this viewer confused about what exactly the film was saying about the future of another character. I get more specific in the movie spoiler, of course.
Movie Spoiler Summary: The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises opens with Commissioner Gordon commemorating DA Harvey Dent eight years after his death. With the help of comrades in a tailing plane, a villain known simply by the name of Bane (the full-lipped Tom Hardy) hijacks a jet carrying CIA agents involved in interrogation and Dr. Pavel (Alon Aboutboul), in a thrilling sequence including over-the-top dialogue and a driving score. After attaching the tailing plane to the jet, it slowly loses control and disintegrates. Before the hallow vessel is dropped, Bane imports a corpse and conducts some kind of blood transfusion with Pavel, so that it will be used to identify Pavel as deceased, before sky-hooking himself to his plane with the doctor, much like Batman kidnapped Lau from Hong Kong in the previous film.
Before the city of Gotham, the mayor speaks the praises of the Dent Act, an "uncompromising stand against organized crime had made Gotham a safer place," because it "gave law enforcement teeth in its fight against the mob." Bruce Wayne, and Batman, as a consequence, has become a recluse. The mayor refers to him as "a murderous thug," who killed Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in cold blood. Gordon steps up to speak the truth about Dent, but opts not to. He also speaks of the success of the Dent Act, as there are now over a thousand violent and mafia-related criminals put away in Blackgate Prison.
Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) asks a maid by the name of Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who is really a jewel thief, to deliver Bruce's dinner to his room. She acts meek at first, but then reveals her true colors. A man by the name of Joe Daggett (the dashing Ben Mendelsohn) and a woman Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), who has a charity looking for an investor, wish to speak with Bruce. At the party, Foley (Matthew Modine) and a Congressman (Brett Cullen) gossip about Gordon. While in his room, Kyle, breaks into his safe and steals his mother's peals. He catches her off guard by shooting an arrow that hits a target right near her head. She thinks quickly on her toes and knows how to use her heals, swiping his cane from underneath him; with a back flip out the window, she's gone, like a cat. The congressman, with hopes of some sexy times, picks her up. It turns out she has also swiped Bruce's fingerprints for Joe Daggett. A cop, Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), questions Gordon about Batman. The next morning, Alfred locates Bruce in the Batcave, who is looking up data on Kyle. Blake visits an orphanage to get information on a young man named Jimmy, who aged out of the orphanage and fell into the wrong hands, no thanks to the ceased funding from the Wayne foundation. Jimmy's brother explains that he found work in the sewers.
Kyle delivers Bruce's prints to Daggett's henchman Stryver (wonderfully played by Burn Gorman), but doesn't get her end of the deal (a software program giving her a clean record). As a backup, the forward-thinking Kyle used the congressman as a bargaining chip; a blowout of firearms results when police arrive. She then pretends to be a damsel in distress who was innocently caught in the shootout.
Bane's men bring him Gordon, but he escapes via aqueduct. Blake recovers and transfers him to the hospital. Blake has figured out Batman's identity and informs Bruce that he is needed to beat this new villain Bane. He also shares that Bruce has been a hero of his ever since he visited his orphanage when he was a kid. Alfred shares with Bruce that Bane is a mercenary who secured a West African mining operation for Daggett. Bruce visits a doctor (Thomas Lennon who is best known as Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911!) and then Gordon, wearing a mask over his head.
Bruce arrives at a masquerade ball, hosted by Miranda. "You have to invest if you want to restore balance to the world," she says and speaks of her clean energy project. Bruce: "Sometimes, the investment doesn't pay off." Miranda: "A man who doesn't care about the world, doesn't spend half his fortune on a plan to save it and isn't so wounded when it fails, but he goes into hiding." Bruce has a dance with Kyle. She plans on stealing the diamonds of her paramour's wife, who is in Ibiza. "I take what I need from those who have more than enough. I don't stand on the shoulders of people with less ... you think all this can last? There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because, when it hits, you're all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large [inhales], and leave so little for the rest of us." "You sound like you're looking forward to it." "I'm adaptable," she purrs as she curls her lips. "Those pearls do look better on you than they did in my safe, but I still can't (Bale's accent slips) let you keep them." She ends up stealing his car.
Bruce visits Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who, apparently, still works for him. Fox explains that Wayne mothballed a fusion project after heavily investing in it. Bruce refuses to start the venture back up. Fox's plan of action: "Your majority keeps Daggett at bay, while we figure out a future for the energy program with Miranda Tate." Fox is unfortunately very supportive of Tate and her interests in the project. Fox shows Bruce "The Bat," a fancy new air vehicle that flies like a hovercraft and looks like a beetle. In the Batcave, Alfred unknowingly supplies partial misinformation and explains the prison "pit" where Bane was born and raised, before being trained by Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), who would later excommunicate him from the League of Shadows for being too extreme.
Bane, along with his henchmen, "occupy Wall Street," (which isn't the best analogy, as Bane and his thugs terrorize people, while executing a fraudulent trade) at the GCSE (Gotham City Stock Exchange). A trader informs Bane, "this is a stock exchange; there's no money you can steal." Bane: "Really? Why are you people here?" Foley announces, "This is a hostage situation." A trader corrects him, "This is a robbery; they have direct access to the online trading desk." "I'm not risking my men for your money." Another says, "It's not our money, it's everybody's." Another, "Mine's in my mattress." Yet, another, "You want to put these guys down, then the money's in your mattress will be worth a whole Hell of a lot less." After terrorizing the exchange, Bane and his gang make a memorable escape with bankers tied backwards to the seat of each of their motorcycles. Batman manages to kill the power in the garage where the chase has led through, just as he did earlier when he stepped out onto the red carpet lined with paparazzi at Tate's shindig. Foley, hell-bent on arresting Batman, has his men corner him a couple of times, but he escapes each time, the second of which with The Bat.
Stryver updates Daggett on the status of Bane's progress. Kyle shows up to give Daggett his just desserts, if not to procure the "clean slate" application that will help her start a new life. Daggett says the program was a ruse. His goons show up and Batman helps kick their asses. Just as Bane arrives, they take off in The Bat. Before she disappears, she shares that she gave Bruce's prints to Daggett and suggests that it may have been tied to the Stock Exchange raid.
At the Bat Cave, Alfred tells Bruce that he needs to move on and that Rachel didn't really love him. Fox lets Bruce know that his prints were used to buy some failed options, he's broke, and Daggett is in position to take over Wayne Enterprises, which oversees the energy project. Fox and Bruce show Tate the reactor, which was created by Pavel. Bruce fears it getting into the wrong hands (haha) and being used as a nuclear weapon. He asks her to take over Wayne Enterprises, and destroy the reactor if necessary. At a meeting, where Daggett is in attendance, Bruce steps down. Later, Daggett is furious that Tate has taken over. Bane shows up at his home and kills him. Blake takes Bruce on a ride to Kyle's. He offers her a clean slate for information on Bane. Blake shares with Gordon that Daggett had applied for several city permits to access Gotham's tunnel system. Gordon takes him under his wing. Tate shows up at Wayne Manor in the rain and they make love. If it wasn't enough that one woman was about to backstab him (later, literally), Kyle leads Batman into Bane's clutches in an underground tunnel. It turns out they have been underneath Wayne Enterprise this whole time. Bane pummels him and tears off his mask as a souvenir.
Blake brings in Kyle for questioning. Bane takes Bruce to an underground jail, The Pit prison, with a small view of the sky. Kyle is transported to a men's penitentiary. At the next board meeting, Bane surprises Fox and Tate. He shows them the work they're doing in the sewer system. In confinement, some prisoners take care of Bruce. He explains how many have tried to scale the wall to escape, but only one child has managed. We'll be led to believe it was Bane, but it wasn't. Foley and Blake go on a hunt for Bane. Tate and Fox volunteer to sign into the reactor's access system at Bane's gunpoint. Pavel is produced and works on the reactor to convert it to a bomb. Blake finds two of Bane's men and explosives. The mayor arrives at a football game. Foley orders his troops out of the tunnel, as a young boy sings "The Star Spangled Banner." Bane engages the bomb at kickoff, and the city, including the playing field, begins to implode. Bane arrives at the stadium. Blake saves Gordon from some of his men. Bane kills Pavel in front of everyone, falsely informs the audience that one of them holds the detonator to another bomb that will destroy the city, and announces Martial Law. US Armed Forces arrive. One of Bane's men informs a soldier that one person leaving the city will detonate the bomb.
Bane stands before Blackgate Prison and reads Gordon's confession in front of cameras that Batman didn't kill Harvey Dent, who was actually a madman. Gordon allowed criminals to be imprisoned under a law that was passed based on a false myth. Bane frees the prisoners. The rich are thrown into the streets in scenes reminiscent of Kristallnacht. It's complete anarchy.
The reactor is packed into a truck. A prisoner tells Bruce of "Bane's" (but really Tate's) origins. He tells the tale of a mercenary and a woman whose love is torn apart by the father. He agrees to allow the mercenary to be free, when the daughter, who is with child, agrees to take his place in The Pit. She is raped and killed, and a man takes the child under his wing. Bruce begins to heal. Ra's al Ghul appears and Bruce identifies him as the mercenary. Kyle begins to feel regret for the way things have turned out for Gotham City, while she ransacks an apartment with her girlfriend and partner Jen (Juno Temple). Blake visits an orphanage. Bruce tries and fails to scale the wall of The Pit. Captain Jones (the delicious Daniel Sunjata) arrives with special forces to save the cops. Gordon and Blake catch him up to speed on the reactor, now a bomb. A surprise attack kills Jones and his men, and they are hung from a bridge. Bruce fails to scale the wall again. But, on his next attempt, he manages to escape.
Dr. Jonathan Crana aka The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) presides over a kangaroo court. He sentences Stryver to exile which involves walking across a partially frozen over river. He falls through a hole and dies. Gordon summons Foley, who blows him off. Tate offers to volunteer. Kyle saves a boy from some guys he stole an apple from. Bruce enlists Kyle's help. He offers her the clean slate for Fox's whereabouts. Gordon is arrested and put before the court of anarchy. He's sentenced to death by exile. Bane grabs Tate. Bruce briefly reunites with Tate and Fox. Kyle shows up as Catwoman and frees all of them. Bruce and Fox break into the warehouse. Gordon walks the ice with others. Blake is caught smuggling a cop through a manhole. Batman finds Gordon on the ice and has him light the bat signal. Batman saves Blake's life. "If you're working alone, wear a mask ... the mask is not for you. It's to protect the people you care about." He sends Blake to save people. Kyle agrees to clear the tunnel with one of Batman's cycles, but that's it.
There's a standoff between the criminals and cops, headed by Foley. The Bat interrupts Bane's attack. Kyle clears the tunnel, but contemplates saving herself and leaving. The police brawl with the prisoners. Batman and Bane fight. Blake rallies some orphans to save the city. Batman overpowers Bane and demands to know where the bomb trigger is. Tate reveals herself to be the mercenary's child, Talia Al Ghul, who scaled the wall, as she stabs Batman. Bane was her protector, whom she went back to save at the pit. Now, even though her father fucked her over, she is still going to carry out his plan to destroy Gotham City and the rest of the world. She tries unsuccessfully to detonate the bomb. Blake tries to cross the bridge with the orphans, but the authorities won't let them cross. Tate takes off. Kyle saves Batman from Bane. The authorities blow up the bridge as Blake tries to cross. Tate assumes control of the vehicle carrying the bomb. A big action sequence ensues. Tate crashes the vehicle. Gordon climbs out from the back. Tate enacts the emergency flood in the warehouse. Tate dies a hammy death. Kyle kisses Bruce (so long Jen!). Gordon figures out Batman's identity. Batman uses The Bat to carry the bomb over the ocean, where it explodes. Gordon delivers eulogy in the presence of Alfred and Blake. Bruce's assets are liquidated, leaving Alfred a good share; Wayne Manor is turned into an orphanage. We learn that Blake's first name is Robin, Batman's partner-in-crime in the comics. Blake enters the Bat Cave and assumes the caped crusader's mantle. Some say he's now going to be Batman, as Bruce is retiring. I don't really follow the comics, but it's just kind of weird for Robin to become Batman, especially when played by a little pip squeak. Alfred travels to Italy, where he sees Bruce and Selena in retirement.
While writing this post, I found it impossible to google "Ra's al Ghul." Try it. My computer froze each time before I finished typing his name. Perhaps I'm just crazy.
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