The Dark Knight Rises (2012) dir. Christopher Nolan

All of the theatrical posters kinda sucked for TDKR and this is sadly the best one, I think.

Spoiler free review!

I knew going into this movie that it would be a bloated, overstuffed mess. A nearly 3 hour super hero movie, are you friggin' kidding me, dude? My expectations were high, but tempered. I was expecting plenty of flaws, but plenty of thrills. At first blush, it's actually less flawed than I was expecting. I'm sure repeated viewings will lead to more head-scratchers, but watching the whole thing unfold for the first time is just an absolute blast. A big ol' thrill ride made even more thrilling in the IMAX format.

One thing I can talk about without getting all spoiler-y is that Nolan basically just completely ignored every major criticism of "The Dark Knight." Most people felt like the third act was too bloated and hectic, tons of people can't stand Bale's glowering Batman voice and lots of people hated the wacky bat cycle wheel spinning trick. Well, Nolan pretty much said "Fuck y'all" and did all those things bigger, bolder and more in your face. The result is a glorious spectacle that I can't wait to watch again.

I mean, the third act goes so far over the top that it comes back around the other side again and you're like, "Oh, okay, I suppose that makes sense?" It's completely mental, but it's also the work of an incredible directer pulling out all the stops and bringing the ruckus like few can. This is why I can forgive many of the details that don't hold up under scrutiny. Like "The Dark Knight," this is an ambitious, risky and emotionally-charged super hero movie. "The Avengers" was good and fun, but lacked any weight or consequence. "The Dark Knight Rises" has real emotional weight and yet manages to keep a sense of humor throughout.

There is one particular criticism about how Nolan portrayed Batman throughout all three movies that holds water for me. There is major difference in how Bruce Wayne/Batman is depicted in the Nolan Batman films and how the character has been written in the comics historically. The most well known, popularized Batman comic canons have him starting off rough and clumsy in his early days as a crime fighter, but then with experience he becomes a world class crime detective and an unstoppable, ass-kicking force of nature.

With Nolan's films, we get plenty of Batman's unsteady beginnings. Even in "The Dark Knight" he's still fucking up left and right, working out the kinks in his bat gadgets and being really moody and stuff, which he has every right to be. But Nolan never makes him out to be this incredibly intelligent and skilled detective that he becomes in the comics. Comic book Batman is constantly analyzing his options and is almost always one or two steps ahead of his opponents. Nolan's Batman is a well-trained fighter and has every ounce of passion in the world for fighting evil, but he's kind of flying by the seat of his pants when it comes to everything else. He relies a lot on his gadgets and comes across as unprepared far too often.

This depiction continues in "The Dark Knight Rises." It makes sense at first because Wayne has gone into seclusion for 8 years, so when he first gets back in the suit he's a bit rusty. But then he just kind of keeps under estimating things and keeps fucking everything up. You know how Batman got completely upstaged by The Joker, and even Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon in my opinion, in "The Dark Knight"? Yeah, that totally happens again in TDKR. Bane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character, Gordon, old ass teary-eyed Michael Caine and even Anne Hathaway as Catwoman; all of them outshine and upstage Bale's Batman. And it's not even Bale's fault. Bale kills it yet again in every way possible. But, it's almost like Batman isn't the main character of Nolan's Batman movies because there are always so many other things going on all at the same time.

On one hand, it's a much more realistic take on a super hero like Batman, and it definitely melds well with the real world aesthetic that Nolan's version of Gotham City conveys. It's not a deal breaker for me at all, just a very different take on the Batman character when compared to over seven decades worth of comic book canon.

Anyways, go see this on IMAX as soon as you can. I was hoping this movie would be the end-all for super hero movies, and I think when you take the trilogy as a whole, it pretty much is. I think it will be a long while before there's a superior take on the super hero narrative in movies, and as always, I look forward to whatever Nolan comes up with next.