Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises…No..it doesn’t

It is with a heavy heart that I choose this title for my review for what has been easily the most anticipated movie of the season. With the The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan gave us one of the finest experiences in cinema, in a long time and instantly catapulted himself to that elite list of magical film-makers. Even as one emerged from the theaters then, one thing was amply clear – nothing would be better than this.
However, as the euphoria began to rise, trailers began to come and news around the movie and its plot began doing the rounds – some hope emerged – could it really be possible? could Nolan actually outdo himself? The anticipation reached a crescendo and the release of the film was met with packed houses
Sadly, it was all for nought. The curse of the third instalment of the trilogy (matrix revolutions, spiderman 3 etc.) was only too obvious as a disappointed and dejected viewer emerged after the last 165 minutes of the caped crusader. Forget Dark Knight, even Batman Begins was miles ahead of this last offering.
Movies like The Dark Knight and Inception have put Christopher Nolan in a special place. Almost where you felt that even if he made a bad move, it would still be a pretty good offering. However, with The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan probably offers his weakest movie till date. If Dark Knight and even Batman Begins offered you a complex and convoluted plot, psychological terror and thrills at the same time and memorable dialogues, The Dark Knight Rises fails miserably in all those 3 departments. Instead TDKR, relies on showing brawn rather than brain, explosive set pieces rather than unexpected events and twists and turns that add no merit to the story. The only saving grace is that you get to see Anne Hathaway looking delectable in a catsuit and delivering her role to perfection, so you can imagine the disappointment.
The first half of the movie starts well and builds in a familiar manner and you gear up for something exciting. However, the weakest point for Nolan is that the character of Bane is pathetic. That Bane is no Joker is but obvious, but his portrayal is too ‘in your face’. He may look menacing all right but by talking more than probably any other character including Batman himself, he leaves no mystery around him, his plans or what you can expect next.
To give credit, there are some jaw dropping action set pieces but they too are marred by an inept background score. If the first half gives you some hope, the second half dashes it hard into the ground. The action is predictable to the point of being mundane, the dialogues are cheesy and plain irritating. After gems like ‘This city deserves a better class of criminal and I’m gonna give it to them’, one expected a few more master lines that lasted for the next decade or two but TDKR almost seems written by someone else entirely. There is not one dialogue that stands out or stays with you.
At the end of the day, its really some fine acting by the entire cast that manage to leave some credit for the movie – Bale, Hardy, Oldman, Caine, Freeman, Marion, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Anne all deliver an earnest performance.
I really cringe while typing this review out because this is so not what I would have liked to say about the movie – but its important to face the truth. The Dark Knight deserved a better finale, a better tribute and Nolan was the right man for the job. Let’s just accept that he had a bad at the office.