Chris Nolan absolutely delivers. That’s really all you need to know. If you must know more about the film, however, I will give you more. Every actor in the tremendous cast Nolan has assembled is fantastic, but special mention must go to three people: Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine.
First, Anne Hathaway steals the show. She’s not featured as heavily as Bane in the marketing, but she runs away with as many scenes as she does precious jewels. I was incredibly skeptical of her when she was cast–how do you ever beat Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns?–but I was awestruck at her transformation (often within a scene or a line of dialogue) from a simple girl to a scary, sexy, and badass woman. I never would have guessed at such range from the star of The Princess Diaries. Count me a fan.
Second, Tom Hardy. He had to act through the disconnect between his processed voice and body with mostly his eyes and nonverbals but became the embodiment of pure evil. Though I expected a striking performance (having seen his brilliant turn in Bronson), his presence was terrifying onscreen and worked incredibly well towards instilling fear in the audience for the safety of Gotham and all its citizens, even Batman. His voice is phenomenal: articulate and haunting. In his first major fight with Batman, he takes on an even more sinister lower version of the voice that sent shivers down my spine.
Finally, Michael Caine. He elicited the majority of the film’s powerful emotions from his performance. I’m not afraid to say there were some tears welling in my eyes during several of his scenes. I can’t speculate to the likelihood of an award nomination, but he did a superb job, nonetheless.
You probably want to know about the movie as a whole. I will not spoil it for you, but I will say that it is a fitting conclusion to the legacy Christopher Nolan has built over the years. There are numerous crowd-pleasing reveals and moments that will take your breath away. There is action aplenty. There is a satisfying emotional and cathartic end to the tale carried by a fantastic score courtesy of Hans Zimmer. Yes, what you have heard is true: there are some points in Bruce’s story that are left unexplained or are weakly developed. I will tell you here and now with no reservations that almost every single one of these plot holes can be resolved by remembering one simple truth:
He’s the Goddamn Batman.
I will likely post another entry detailing my specific reactions to the themes of the film: pain, hope, and legacy, but I want to avoid spoilers for the time being.
What did you think of The Dark Knight Rises?
Thoughts on Reserve 