The Dark Knight Rises [2012]
Had the character Robin been included in this film, Christian Bale said he would have refused to star in it. Sorry Chris O’Donnell!
Film #062 of 2013
Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Christian Bale [Batman], Gary Oldman [Gordon] & Tom Hardy [Bane]
Plot: Eight years on, a new evil rises from where the Batman and Commissioner Gordon tried to bury it, causing the Batman to resurface and fight to protect Gotham City…the very city which brands him an enemy. Source IMDB.com
Hipster Review: The Dark Knight Rises, the blockbuster finale to the most cultivated superhero trilogy of all time does not disappoint in the least…Christopher Nolan has accomplished cinematic miracles with the Batman franchise by getting the most out of his talented cast and producing some of the darkest villains to ever appear on screen. Re-watched March 2nd, 2013.
“Calm down, Doctor! Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.” Bane
Highlights:
- The soft purr of Anne Hathaway
- Banes mask, voice and all around mental and physical prowess is quite intimidating
- The Tumbler (a hybrid Humvee & Lamborghini) and the Bat-pod driven by Selena & Batman
- Christian Bale proves he’s the best to ever put on the Vigilante suit
- The Football Stadium
Biggest Surprise: Inception’s reunited cast of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine.
Biggest Let Down: Not available in 3D, but that may be a positive thing.
Does the guy get the hot girl in the end? Who Batgirl? He wishes.
Worth a Blu-ray purchase? Already purchased and viewed it three times, it’s bat’ilicious.
Similar to: The Dark Knight [2008], Batman Begins [2005].
What Tweeters are saying:
Robin Williams almost played Hugo Strange in The Dark Knight Rises.—
Superhero Facts™ (@HeroesFacts) February 24, 2013
Thanks for stopping by. Until next my fellow vigilantes, Chris
Posted on March 12, 2013, in 2012, Movies watched in 2013 and tagged Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Filmhipster, Gary Oldman, Movie, Movie Reviews, Movies, Review, Reviews, The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy. Bookmark the permalink. 77 Comments.
I totally read that quote in Bane’s voice! Great review!
You weren’t the only one!
Ha ha!!! But hopefully you didn’t picture Tom Hardy as he was in Bronson. Yikes!
You mean naked Bronson or oddly clothed Bronson? They should of advertised that movie as, ‘starring Tom Hardy and his D.’
Lol!!!
My favorite film of 2012 and one of the few films I score a 5/5
I tend to agree that it is a perfect film, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it!
Good review! It is definitely a very good finale but I still think The Dark Knight is better. I gave it 4/5 back then.
I think I prefer the Dark Knight as well. The Joker was just too good.
If you have been following me for a time my love of TDKR will not have gone unnoticed. Perhaps not in 3D but didn’t need it as imax is a far better experience which I first watched this in, it was incredible. Glad we have another TDKR fan!
I wish I had seen it in IMAX! Must have been something else.
It was, the earth moved! ( literally)
I’m sure, the audio in that film is phenomenal. Great moments of pure bass as well.
I enjoyed TDKR but it’s gone down in my estimations ever since. I thought the ending was incredibly flawed and there were too many gaping plot holes. Maybe I should watch it again at some point. I did love Bane as a villain though and Hathaway, well, just hell yeah!
The characters were excellent and it had a lot to live up to after The Dark Knight. I think it was successful in that regard.
Am I the only one who’s not obsessed with Dark Knight trilogy?
Quite possibly, you may be alone….not sure if I’ve ever seem a negative review of this film.
“This movie pretty much sucks.” – Brian, Hard Ticket to Home Video
LOL, of course. It didn’t have boobies.
But a nice Catwoman tush.
I don’t know if you’ve read this, it makes our thoughts pretty clear on the subject: http://hardtickettohomevideo.com/2012/12/04/i-dont-get-it-the-dark-knight-rises/
No, I don’t negatively review this film, but I’m not a kind of fan like “yay, TDK”.
that’s all
What films are you obsessed with? Just wondering…
You can find my favorite films on my blog: http://www.running-reel.com/
Yes, yes, yes! This was my favorite film of 2012!
Right on!!! A lot of people say 2012 was a bad year in film. I have to disagree, it was a fantastic year.
Yes…great review. I totally agree. This is one of those rare films that is able to live up to the hype.
btw…Have you ever seen director Christopher Nolan’s earlier release called ‘Memento’ starring Guy Pearce? It’s one of my favorite movies OF ALL TIMES!
Yes, I LOVE Memento. One of the few films I like Guy Pearce in. :p
He was really good in L.A. Confidential
I think that was the first thing I saw him in.
Oh yes, that too.
Such a great film, glad you loved it as much as I did! While The Dark Knight is still the best of the three, I thought TDKR tied up all the loose ends and was the perfect conclusion for the trilogy.
It was. I just couldn’t believe Nolan was able to match the power of The Dark Knight with his finale, but he did it. Just shows you how good of a director he really is. It’s no as good as The Dark Knight but very close.
Great fil, great review! I thought it was a great ending to the trilogy, good to hear you liked it as much as I did!
Thanks, looking forward to sitting down and watching all three together one day. That would be fun.
Ugggggggggggghhhhhhhh blllllllllllluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Brian, just so you know, I’ve hired security to help protect me from all of these subpoena servers you keep sending my way!!! Lt. Joe Bookman!!!!!!
Hahaha! You should talk to the last few security guards who tried to get in the way of Irving Spiderman’s business. I’ll send you GPS coordinates to the shallow grave.
YOU CAN’T INTIMIDATE BOOKMAN!!!!
There’s no intimidation involved, he simply won’t see it coming…
Ha ha ha!!!!!!!!
Nice write up, Chris!
Thanks buddy!!! lol
Hi, I’ve awarded you the Dragons Loyalty Award http://meeradarjiyr1.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/dragons-loyalty-award/
Nahhhhh… there are genuine issues with this movie. I dont like it as much as most people, but even if I did, I’d like to think that I’d recognize some of its shortcomings. 90% seems more reasonable for a big fan. Personally I have it at like 85 even.
I loved it and wouldn’t change a thing about it. Especially how it ties into the previous film and concludes an epic trilogy. 85% is still good though.
Good review. It’s a very long flick, but I could have honestly gone on longer. There was so many moments of pure epicness (I know it’s not a word, just stay with me here) and total entertainment, that I couldn’t help but keep my eyes glued to the screen at all times, regardless of what was going on with the story.
Exactly, when I saw this in the theater, not one person got up to go to the washroom or to get food. Everyone was glued to the screen. Pure epicness!!!!!
Yeaaahhhh!! Keep that word going!
I enjoyed the film but can’t give it anything close to 100% – it was a decent end to the trilogy but was flawed and needed an edit in my opinion.
‘The soft purr of Anne Hathaway’ was absolutely a highlight – I can agree with you there!
Thanks man, I’m taking a stand! lol
Honestly, I found this to be the weakest of the three Nolan Batman films.
Whaaaa??? Blasphemy!
Woah Chris, you really went for this one, huh?
This film has its moments, but I thought that so much of the goodness is undone by the out-and-out franchise serving ending that I found quite insulting.
Having spent around three hours building up the whole “is batman gonna die this time” thing, Nolan (or D.C. Comics as i suspect) completely let all the air out of this picture. There was great potential in maybe just showing the Michael Caine Vienna (i think) scene where he catches a glimpse of Bruce Wayne, an open ending to provoke the masses.
Instead we get a drawn out, painful cornball ending that doesn’t suit the tone of the film, as well as lines like: “You should use your real name….. Robin.” Please! that’s just plain bad.
I’ve always agreed with the statement that a “great” movie should have at least three great scenes and no bad ones. Under that thinking I think this film is a long way off being considered a great film, even within its genre.
Definitely understand that there is a lot to like here for fans of the genre, but 100!?!? Nooooooooooooo!!!!!
*erases review from memory, I still agree with filmhipster 100% of the time.*
I went for it man!!!! And it’s ok, just walk backwards slowly while whistling and I’ll pray you’ll forgive me and come back tomorrow! lol
I didn’t mind the ending so much and I liked how Robin is revealed (even though everyone saw that coming).
You sure do think a lot of films are perfect
70-80 for me 
Hey it’s all in fun….it was a great night at the theater with the wife and I was thoroughly entertained.
I think I’m the only person on the planet not to have seen this yet. I own it but I just have never been in the mood for watching it. I think this is also the first 100% I’ve noticed from you Chris. Nicely done sir.
I’ve done a few 100%, not many though. Tyson keeps giving me shit for doing so.
Get on it man! It’s a great film.
I think Bane is the most quoted character of 2012
“Calm down Doctor!!!”
“So you think the dark is your ally? I was born in it. Molded by it. The first time I saw the light I was already a man. And it was nothing but bright. The shadows betray you because they belong to me.”
Great writing huh? It must be hard writing for a villain and not making it sound too cliche. Dark Knight & Rises does just that!
I think writing for villains is much harder but I can imagine it to be quite fun as well, heroes can be boring but villains can off the wall crazy
I’m so glad to see how much you loved this film. A fitting end to one of the greatest trilogies of all time. Yes the original Star Wars and LOTR are in there too.
P.S. Good heavens! This review hasn’t even been up a day and you’ve already got 58 comments. Yes I know some are yours, but still that is impressive!
Thanks Mark, it seems The Dark Knight brings in a lot of comments. Some who love the film but a lot that didn’t care for it much.
More of a separation than I expected.
I love this one but not exactly a perfect film for me, in fact the giant plot holes are perhaps bigger than that one in the football stadium, ahah. That said, it’s very enjoyable indeed and all the cast are great, I was even won over by Hathaway despite my initial quibble. Ahah, good for Bale for refusing to star in it when Robin’s involved, he’s a wise man
Thanks Ruth, it’s funny how many plot holes people have introduced me to in this film. Hopefully I don’t catch them all next time I see it.
Great review, I’m so happy to see that both this and Skyfall got 100% from you since they were both in my top movies of the year for 2012. Now I’m seriously having a hankering to do a marathon of the trilogy, lol
Thanks Andy. Me too, I was thinking of watching all three together and really seeing how well they flow together.
Hey Andy, getting a few extra hits today?
Nice to read so much positivity in the review & comments. For a time it felt like all I was seeing were mediocre to negative reactions.
I don’t think it’s a perfect film — the supposed plot holes get over-emphasised by some people (how does he get from country-with-the-pit to Gotham? Pretty sure a former billionaire with a global company and a secret cave full of very expensive toys has his ways!), but it has a few other problems for me. I’d still give it 90-95% though… which comes to 5/5 on my scoring system, so it’s all good!
Okay good, I’m not alone then!!! lol
I know that The Dark Knight Rises split opinion but I couldn’t agree more with your review. I absolutely loved it! I already had a tough time trying to name a favourite from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and it’s made an even tougher choice with The Dark Knight Rises included… but that’s only a good thing!
Agreed, I loved it and surprised with the negativity towards it. Surer there may be a few holes but I can ignore that. I would say DKR would be my second favorite to DK.
Awesome to see such high rating, it’s my absolute favorite from last year and my all time favorite Batman film. That ending! <3
Me too, we may be the very few that rank it that high though. Oh well, more for us to enjoy and less to share with others.
It’s nowhere near as good as the first two films, sadly. For me, an enjoyable but somewhat disappointing end to Nolan’s bat trilogy.
I think I would put it somewhere in the middle, no way the first one is as good as Rises though IMO.
Thanks for stopping by!!