Before I begin the review, Yes, I know you heard of the tragic Colorado shootings and I know many people pointed that out in the reviews but this is something that we can't just outright avoid it like it's nothing. As I said before in earlier stages via Spill statuses, my thoughts goes out to the family members and friends of lost ones and survivors to keep hope in their spirit.

Also, there will be no spoilers.

This is it. It’s the final entry of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy and people have been anticipating this ever since the first teaser theater came out last year. There has been many speculations on how will it measure up to The Dark Knight or in this year’s case, The Avengers, since it did gotten praise from both critics and audiences and is the 3^rd highest grossing movie worldwide, although the latter may not later to most people (including myself), I’m just wondering if the movie is worth watching, if it’s one of the best movies this year or will it fall into the number of franchises of movies that has bad third entries?

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

Okay, I noticed complaints from many people that Bruce Wayne appears more on the screen than Batman, and it was very noticeable but as much as I enjoyed the Batman scenes, the evolution or devolution of Bruce Wayne is manageable to draw me into his character development after what happened in The Dark Knight and all the events of how Batman took the blame for Dent’s death and he mysteriously disappear for 8 long years that would transcend into the eventual fall of Gotham City once Bane came in. I think that most people expected something like the predecessor but it’s more like the first installment but my expectations wasn’t really that high. I was just expecting an enjoyable movie and did I enjoy it? Yeah, I did.

The acting performances in the movie were very top-notch and very spectacular as the well from the Nolan movies from Christian Bale (who proved to be more than a movie hero from what I heard this week), Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman & Gary Oldman. Tom Hardy delivers a brutal and haunting performance as Bane, bringing the character as the fans wanted him to be and the voice changer, it did make me wonder why does he sound like Colonel Sanders with a voice box? Although, yes, he is nowhere near the level of Heath Ledger’s the Joker but I don’t think Hardy was trying to top him because he was playing his own character, not emulating what Ledger did.  Other new players like Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard & Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also in the spotlight as they done wonderfully for their roles as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Miranda Tate & John Blake, respectively.  Especially for the role of Catwoman, considering after all the flack Anne Hathaway was getting for being chosen and the other movie about Catwoman……..yeah, let’s not mentioned that.

The writing/directing team of Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer (as a writer, never think of him as a competent director) has again brought their A-Game to this franchise that was once extinct due to incompetence and poor handling and let’s thinks about it; do you really think this movie is worse than the previous Batman movies (i.e.: bat nipples, bat credit card, ice puns)?

Yeah, I don’t think so.

The music by Hans Zimmer was absolutely beautiful throughout the movie with it being heroic and daring at first, and then haunting and frightening with a bit of silence in the middle but I think his Batman theme which was used a lot in the Nolan Batman movies is still of the better works in there. The special effects…….yes, there was special effects but there wasn’t any added CG thrown in there. That was 100% real, just like the last movies plus Inception, and sometimes the biggest special effects in movies can be created by your own two hands…..or something like that.

FINAL VERDICT: Overall, despite the plot being less stellar than TDK, this movie is still and will forever be one of the best films I watched this year. Maybe it’s just I’m not really that picky but then again, I really enjoy the movie and what it brought on the table. It didn’t disappoint (much) in my eyes but hey, the movie brought in much suspense and thrills to keep me watching.

Also, before some of you will say, “Is it better than The Avengers?” I won’t answer that question mainly because those are two different comic-book movies with different tones. Comparing them wouldn’t be right as all.

So, The Dark Knight Rises gets the final score of:

10/10

BETTER THAN SEX!!

So, until then, this is MAK2.0 aka HybridMedia, bringing all the elements in one format.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy / DC Comics.