However, as the movie continues progressing, so much of what started in BATMAN BEGINS actually becomes more increasingly important to the plot of TDKR.
This movie is a great summer action film - there are thrilling action sequences all throughout - but at the same time it's so big and epic in its scope that it winds up being the most profound entry in the series. One of my concerns going into this movie is whether or not TDKR could stand on it's own, apart from the two previous films. Without a doubt, the answer to that is NO.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES would make almost no sense to anyone who hasn't seen both of the previous movies. It's a fantastic bookend to the series and, in my opinion, by the time I left the theater I was convinced it's the best of the three movies. But it absolutely stands on the foundation of the first two movies without taking time to build its own foundation.
I will add that I am not a comic book reader. I understand, based off some reviews I've seen online, that comic fans are angry about certain plot twists. I'm unencumbered by those trappings so I sat there completely eating it all up and enjoying every bit of it.
There is much to love about this movie. I love the fact that we got to see a side of Bruce Wayne that was unexpected and interesting as he wallows in self-pity. In the first film his father asked him the famous line, "Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up." Well, that seems to be the theme of this entire movie. The events of 8 years ago, when Bruce allowed Batman to take the fall for Harvey Dent's death and Rachel Dawes was killed, haunt Bruce even now. He's fallen down into a symbolic pit (and later in the movie will be put in a literal pit) and the movie is about him picking himself back up again.
I love the fact that there were several plot twists that I absolutely didn't see coming. Christopher Nolan is a genius at pulling the rug out from under us and he certainly does it with this movie.
I think it's great how this movie connects to the two previous movies, especially to BATMAN BEGINS, in surprising ways. In fact, now that I know the whole story, it will forever change how I see those first two movies. From now on, when I watch the first movie and I see the pain of lost love etched on Liam Neeson's face, I will see that scene in an entire new light.
I loved Bane and I'll readily admit that I've never been a Catwoman fan. However, she was fun to watch in this movie. So much of Gotham's unfolding chaos is seen through her eyes. In the beginning you really get the sense that she wants to see the city torn apart and for "rich people" to pay their fair share. But then when that actually happens and she sees the ugly reality of it all, it's not what she thought it was going to be and she's drawn to rebel against it.
Some folks complain that they can't understand Bane but I had no problem with him. He's such a spectacular menace every time he's on screen. Something unique that I loved in TDK was how we never find out Joker's origin because we didn't need to. In fact, that was perhaps what made Joker such a great villain was the fact that he came from out of nowhere and no one knew his origin or could explain him. That was brilliant. I was very concerned when I found out that you do discover Bane's origin. I really thought Nolan might be making a mistake with that but now that I've seen it, I understand that not only is it a good background story but it's actually so much more than background details. It's actually vital to the plot of TDKR.
I didn't like what they did with Jim Gordon's character in this movie. So much of what informed us about his character in the first two movies was how he was a family man and how important his children are to him. But in this movie we find out that his wife left him and took the kids away? That just didn't set well with me and it's probably the only serious negative feeling I had about the story.
John Blake emerged as perhaps my favorite character from the movie and I really don't want to say much about him without giving away the plot of TDKR. I'll just say that I'm proud that on May 23rd of this year I had a conversation with my brother about what the title of this movie meant and I'm so happy that I was dead on the money with my guess.
Finally, I loved the ending. The entire last fifteen minutes is just breath-taking and fantastic. Yes, I even teared up at one point. Nolan is so good at leading you down one path and then pulling the curtain back to reveal that there was something different going on all along. So in that last fifteen minutes I found myself going from heartbreak to fist-pumping excitement.
This was such a good story and I'm glad that, other than the fact that I correctly guessed why it was given this title, I didn't correctly guess anything else about this entire movie. Great job Christopher Nolan and to everyone else that made this trilogy so great. I can hardly wait to see it again.
