The Dark Knight Rises

Justin and I saw The Dark Knight Rises on July 21, 2012. What an epic conclusion to an amazing trilogy!!! Christopher Nolan did an excellent job with this. I was very impressed with the theme of anarchy mixed in with physical and emotional pain/loss on two sides of a personality. There were things from the comics that were added in which made the movie seem more authentic and fun to watch. The movie connected all three parts of the trilogy really well, particularly focusing on Batman Begins, but looking at The Dark Knight in terms of Harvey Dent. Batman has retired for the time being in the 8 years since the night Dent died. Christian Bale did a great job of portraying a man scarred from nightly combat and trying to repair his existence as Bruce Wayne. Encountering the wily ways of jewel thief Selina Kyle (an important element from the comics/animated series that was omitted in other features) leads to several complications for Bruce Wayne as Selina Kyle's skills lead to problems for Bruce Wayne. Anne Hathaway did a great job in the role of Selina/Catwoman. I liked her portrayal of the character dancing between being a hero and a villain which is what Catwoman is. Tom Hardy as Bane was very good, and I thought his chaos was better than The Joker's in The Dark Knight. Everything Bane does is strategically planned, and like the comics they made him intelligent and somebody that leads. Of course, he is still a mercenary that was brought up with the same teachings as Bruce Wayne. Gotham City is basically crumbling with Batman out of the picture for the time being. Selina Kyle's skills actually make Bane capable of carrying out most of his plans, which fascinated me. The female characters in this movie determine the direction of the movie. Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate is the most important character overall. You just have to watch to see what I am talking about. I marked out at a certain plot twist let's just say. It was done in an intelligent manner, and one that makes sense in conjunction with the comics and the animated series. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was my favorite part of the movie, though. He starts out as beat cop John Blake, but gets promoted to detective by Commissioner Gordon because of his bravery and ability to be a hero for Gotham. Blake knows secrets about characters and this knowledge along with his own natural abilities lead him to be an integral part of the battle against Bane's Revolution!! The action sequences/battle scenes are some of the best I've seen, and I thought each main character was given equal time to do something in the main battle at the end. The first battle with Batman and Bane is hard-hitting and in your face. It's what it should be. Bane beats the hell out of Batman in this instance. The second face to face battle with them leads to the mark out plot twist I said. I liked some things they did with Joseph Gordon-Levitt towards the end of being a hero without a mask. An excellent cast with well-written characters, great storyline, incredible action scenes, and scores that captured the emotion and personality of the characters, as well as the scenes make this movie a 5/5 for me and one of my favorite movies of the year. Very impressive conclusion to a great trilogy of movies!!