Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is the final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. When The Dark Knight ended, Batman decided to take the blame for the crimes of Harvey Dent so that Gotham City would have a symbol of hope in Dent, the man who fought crimes and defended all that was good.  The Dark Knight Rises begins eight years after the last film ends.

If you haven't seen the first two films, or you don't remember what happens, I highly recommend watching them prior to seeing The Dark Knight Rises. You won't be completely lost without the prior knowledge, but it will help certain scenes and situations make more sense. I don't want to give away too much so I will leave it at this. Please infer from it what you will.

The acting in this film was terrific.  Anne Hathaway was spectacular as Catwoman and I really liked what Joseph Gordon-Levitt brought to the film as a young police officer that believes in Batman.  The reprised roles such as Batman, Alfred, and Gordon continued to be played wonderfully and the character's relationships to each other were full of emotions.

As with the previous installments, the costumes and special effects in this film were spectacular. My only issue with the costumes was how clean some outfits looked after explosions or other situations where you would expect them to look disheveled.  Seriously, if you just put a hole in a brick wall and walk through while debris is falling, your outfit should look a little dusty. 

My personal opinion of this film is that I had high expectations going in. Following Heath Ledger's amazing performance as the Joker, I wasn't sure how Nolan could top it for the final villain. I was impressed, and surprised, with the final film. Unless you have memorized every version of Batman ever written, this film will keep you guessing all the way until the credits. I think that all fans of Batman will walk out of this final film satisfied.

Dark Knight Rises will be released nation wide on July 20, 2012. Fandango is running a promotion this month where you can get a $2 Amazon MP3 credit with any ticket purchase.  Regal Theaters has a $2 off any popcorn mobile coupon available on their Facebook page.

Movie Rating for Dark Knight Rises

The passes for this pre-screening were won through Geekadelphia. Finding entertainment blogs in your area is a great way find free screenings near you. Check out my information post for more information about free movie screenings.



Update: Although I doubt this applies to most of my readers, I wanted to let you know that if you are going to see The Dark Knight Rises only to see the trailer for The Man of Steel, it will not be attached to the IMAX version of the film and will only be playing with the standard edition.

Update 2: This post was a scheduled post written a few days ago. I would like to extend my sympathy to the people of Aurora, Colorado. The senseless violence needs to end because no one should fear attending a movie.