Christopher Nolan | 164 mins | cinema | 2.35:1 | UK & USA / English | 12A / PG-13
After The Dark Knight’s runaway success, this trilogy-closer would inevitably disappoint some. It is imperfect, featuring a story so grandly complex that even the extensive running time fails to give it breathing space, and an occasional leap or fudged point requires audience thinking (which too few are capable of, apparently); but it also has its share of greatness.
It’s undeniably notable for being An Ending — superheroes don’t get endings. There’ll be a reboot, naturally, but no matter: Nolan’s Batman ends.
Whatever the flaws, there’s a rewarding experience here, albeit more comic-book-y than the real-world crime-thriller aspirations of its beloved predecessor.
The Dark Knight Rises placed 6th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2012, which can be read in full here.
In the interests of completing my ever-growing backlog, I decided to post ‘drabble reviews’ of some films. In the future I may update with something longer, but if I don’t, at least here’s something for posterity.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, a drabble is a complete piece of writing exactly 100 words long.
I have much more I could have said about The Dark Knight Rises, but damn I’m fed up with still having films from 2012 on my to-do list! A fuller piece may well accompany a re-watch in the future. For now, there’s always my initial thoughts.
100Films.co.uk 
Don’t think it’s a five-star movie mate. I don’t know if Nolan lost his grip of the story, or how much a part Ledger’s Joker might have played in it had he not died- we’ll likely never know. But Bane never fulfilled his potential and the cutting-off of Gotham doesn’t work. After six months with all those convicts running the show, it should have been more Escape from new York than the quiet streets portrayed here. Maybe some desperate would-be vigilantes could have tried filling the gap left by Batman while he was stuck in that prison.It just seemed to limp to a conclusion. Okay I guess but sadly lacking, I thought.
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I do think Nolan bit off more than he could chew, leaving some areas of the film (I’m sure some would say “all areas”) underdeveloped. He paints in broad strokes rather than filling in details; kind of the opposite to Begins, in a way, which was all about establishing the credibility of Batman in a from-the-ground-up way. I like the operatic scope here, though I appreciate such things are not to everyone’s tastes.
I don’t think it’s a perfect movie, incidentally. But, much like The Hobbit I suppose, though its undoubtedly outclassed by its forebears, I still greatly enjoyed it.
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Well that new Star Trek film makes Rises look like a classic piece of cinema and Hobbit positively restrained so I guess all things are relative.
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