The Dark Knight Rises

Time to cut to the chase. The Dark Knight Rises isn't quite as amazing as The Dark Knight (which is the greatest superhero movie ever made), but don't get your bat cape and cowl in a twist and start storming my apartment looking for my blasphemous head. It's still good. It's still VERY good.

We pick up 8 years later, and Gotham City is not the same Gotham City you remember from the earlier films. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), using new powers given to him under a law dedicated to the late Harvey Dent, has cleaned up the streets and all but eliminated serious crime from the metropolis (oops, wrong super hero), even if he feels guilty about it and knows the real story behind Harvey Dent.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse, hiding out in his mansion and hobbling around from the physical beating his body has taken while fighting crime and some of the craziest villains you could ever imagine. However, while most believe Batman to be an evil vigilante who killed the beloved Dent, it soon becomes clear some want to destroy the caped crusader for other reasons.

The enigmatic, violent Bane (Tom Hardy) has come to Gotham City with mysterious motivations and a gang of killers who might not be stoppable. And, a master cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), has targeted Bruce Wayne for reasons unknown.

What is Bane's plan?

Is it time for Batman to re-emerge?

What kind of welcome can he expect?

Co-writer/director Christopher Nolan is one of the best in the business, and you learn that by trusting The Dark Knight Rises as it starts a bit slow, but builds to a mind blowing crescendo inspiring you to watch the movie again to see all of the little clues and twists he dropped throughout the movie to lead you to this amazing climax. However, it is a climax that pays off because you have been paying attention to all three movies, and the surprises, big and small, delivered throughout the movie made my jaw drop three or four times (and I was already familiar with the material the movie is based on).

The Dark Knight Rises is for those who have seen the previous two movies. Sure, Nolan tosses in enough flashbacks and reminders of what happened before, but, if you are one of the two people on the planet who haven't seen The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, you won't get half of the battle playing out on screen, which is a shame, because it is that combination of new and old that makes The Dark Knight Rises so fantastic. This story exists to wrap it all up from the very first scenes in Batman Begins to the majestic The Dark Knight and its impact on Bruce Wayne and Gotham City to the vulnerability exploited by those who want to destroy Batman.

Nolan and Bale still found some new territory to mine when it comes to the internal battle being waged inside Bruce Wayne for his own soul and peace of mind. Yet, it's everyone else that feels more interesting.

Hathaway puts in the performance of her career as Selina Kyle by bringing sexiness, power, strength and ethical and moral ambiguity to her. In the mark of a great performance, the audience always is wondering what is going on in her head, what is motivating her and what decision she will make next. You can't stop watching her in any scene in which she appears, and Hathaway doesn't even wear that leather cat suit that often in The Dark Knight Rises, so it must be talent and not just "talent".

Then, Hardy benefits from a great character and story. Granted, he can't do too much with half of his face covered up by that mask, but Bane, because of his backstory, gets more interesting and intriguing scene after scene, while Oldman gets to make Gordon as conflicted as Bruce Wayne as he goes from shame and guilt to ultimate rabble-rouser in the movie's most important scenes.

I think some of the plot points get rushed, which left me wanting to know more about Bane, as well as how one character seems to have the whole Batman thing figured out without much background, and I think Bane would have been more ruthless to avoid any chance of the plan being thwarted, but The Dark Knight Rises is a fitting ending to what will go down as one of the greatest movies franchises ever. I'll even dare to say THE greatest franchise ever (greatest franchise ever by an ewok or two or three).

The Dark Knight Rises is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language.