The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review by Ralphthemoviemaker

The Dark Knight Rises is definitely one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Much more so than great movies like "The Avengers", "The Hobbit", "Prometheus" and "Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2." One of those was a lie, I think you know which one. The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight as the crippled Bruce Wayne lives a lonely and sad life until he becomes aware of a new villain named Bane who plans to destroy Gotham City. After that is a series of plot twists, action sequences and drama. 

The Dark Knight Rises is a great movie. In terms of both a fun summer movie and a work of art it achieves in its goals. It ties together all three movies while telling you a different and interesting story. The Dark Knight Rises is sure to entertain and if you find the movie bad it is simply because your expectations were too high. The film is good for what it is and if you were hoping that this film is the greatest film ever made you were mistaken. This film is entertaining enough for it to warrant a second viewing. Seeing the film twice really proved to me that even the second time you see it, there is still stuff you will enjoy. There are a few minor complaints but even those are very hard for me to identify. The biggest glaring complaint and the reason some people may not like this film is that it isn't as good as The Dark Knight. While DKR is a great movie, The Dark Knight is a masterpiece and it is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. The Dark Knight made commentary on society, order, law and what it means to be a hero. While DKR has a few underlying themes, it isn't as subtle or as plentiful as The Dark Knight.

Everyone in the film gives a great performance. Christian Bale does as good of a job as he always does playing Batman. The character of Batman, while not as interesting as in The Dark Knight, still is fascinating despite how long he is actually in the movie. Tom Hardy does a great job as Bane. Bane is an intimidating and scary villain. While not being as compelling as the Joker, Bane still is a smart, strong, cold blooded killer and that is enough to make any villain scary. I will give Nolan some credit because Bane is a much harder character to make interesting than the Joker. There has never been a bad interpretation of the Joker. But Bane is a much harder villain to give depth to. Nolan got Bane as good as you possibly can in a film. The rest of the characters are fantastic. Joseph Gordon-Levit, Gary Oldman, Morgon Freeman and Marion Cotillard are great of course but the 2 stand outs of the film was Anne Hathaway as Cat woman and Michael Caine as Alfred. All of the scenes with Michael Caine are sure to make you tear up if you are a real batman fan and Anne Hathaway's interpretation of cat woman is both funny and deep. She is definitely the best interpretation of cat woman I've ever seen thanks to both Hathaway and Nolan.

The story is probably the most complex of the series. While it is more complex, it is also way more linear than The Dark Knight's plot. The Joker is more of a random character and so its plot is way less linear. DKR is more like the plot of Batman Begins. The villain has a brilliant plan which is slowly revealed throughout the film until the big climax. The Dark Knight didn't have that because Joker doesn't have a evil scheme or a pattern. He just does evil things because he likes doing them. The villains have a clear goal and a very well planned scheme to not only destroy gotham, but to destroy batman. The plot and the way it unfolds is very fascinating and at times downright brilliant. The script is great but it just isn't perfect. I don't want to spoil anything but you will notice the problems in the script when you see it but overall nothing major.

The final thing most audiences want to know is if shit blows up good. And yes, shit blows up real good. The practical effects in the action scenes make everything feel real and more suspenseful. The few CG effects look great too. Other movies would use CGI to make the bat gadgets and vehicles. In those movies it looks like shit. Not making an action scene in a computer goes a long way. There are lots of action scenes in the film. The action scenes are well paced and are used at the appropriate moments. If you are going there for spectacle you will get it.

The final point I want to make is the predictability. People complained about elements in the film that they predicted before the movie even came out. To those people I say "Shut the fuck up." The people who could predict the plot are the assholes that made sure to analyze every frame of the trailers, look up the cast list, and read articles and behind the scenes stuff. They looked at and analyzed so much shit before they saw the movie. Of course they knew what was going to happen at times. They can't just sit down and watch a trailer and say "Hay. That looks good." They have to analyze the shit out of every element of the advertising until they know everything about it before the movie comes out. It is not the filmmakers fault that your ass looked up everything batman for 2 years. Here's a tip, turn off the goddamn internet and watch the movie when it comes out. Make your predictions, Im fine with that. But don't criticize a movie because YOU were so excited that you decided to perform an autopsy on the trailer.

Overall it is a very dark, action packed summer movie and it'll be something you want to watch in the future. While I pointed out some negative things it is still a great movie and it will be remembered. The Dark Knights shadow looms heavily over this film but if I were to not compare it to The Dark Knight, I can look at it as a smart, creative and inspired interpretation of batman. Overall The Dark Knight Trilogy is truly the greatest trilogy ever created and it will be one that you will show your kids later on in life. Long live batman!

The Dark Knight Rises: Better than Sex!