SYNOPSIS: Eight years after Two-Face’s crimes, Gotham City has been kept safe following the Harvey Dent Crime Act which has led to criminals being imprisoned. However Batman hasn’t been seen or heard during that period with alter-ego Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) hiding away from the public eye at the newly rebuilt Wayne Manor. Despite the caring support of his faithful butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Bruce continues to exile himself from the public though he is soon distracted by a seductive foe in jewellery thief Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway). But Gotham itself is about to face a new threat in the shape of muscular mask-wearing terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) whose aim is to destroy the city. When Batman is left crippled by his new enemy, he must regain his strength quickly in order to stop Bane from destroying the city with help coming from loyal friends like Commissoner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and determined cop John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

When innovative film-maker Christopher Nolan took on directing duties for the reboot Batman Begins in 2005, the outlook of the Batman franchise changed completely as Nolan delved deep into the origins of the man behind the mask and his aim of saving Gotham from the corrupted criminals. But he then went one better with the spectacular sequel The Dark Knight (2008) which saw the late Heath Ledger give one of the greatest villain performances as The Joker whose psychotic mind games led to chaos and anarchy for Batman and Gotham. But four years after that film, Nolan has finally decided to end his involvement with the franchise and draw it to a close with the epic conclusion of the trilogy The Dark Knight Rises.

As we have predicted, the renowned filmmaker goes full-throttle with this concluding film and by doing so continues his domination of the summer blockbusters as he has done with the other Batman films and Inception. With Rises, the promised thrills are there from beginning to end as it doesn’t allow us time to recapture our thoughts as we are transferred from scene to scene and having to deal with so much detail for a film which clocks up at almost three hours long. As one eager cop says to another; “Boy are you in for a show tonight!”. And what a show it is as the action takes control with the IMAX experience a must-see courtesy of cinematographer Wally Pfister’s crisp camera-work. From the opening sequence of Bane being saved in a daring mid-flight rescue to the football field explosion to the first-look of Batman’s new vehicle The Bat, everything about this finale is simply breathtaking and redefines the word ‘epic’. That approach is also crucial as the whole trilogy is pieced together with precision reminding us of why these character’s journeys have come full circle not just for Bruce Wayne but for the supporting characters like Alfred, Gordon and Fox. It also gives us a chance to remember the previous two films through the use of flashback scenes (and a couple of familiar faces) to link everything together by the time the memorable final scene appears. We should also not forget the contribution from composer Hans Zimmer who goes solo with this conclusion (having worked with James Newton Howard on the previous two films) as he wallops out his thunderous, energetic score from the old films with the Bane chant being the most memorable of the new music.

When it has come to exceptional casting, Nolan has always succeeded in that department throughout the trilogy. With this finale, the original cast bring the curtain down on their association led by Christian Bale who gives his best performance of the trilogy by capturing two sides of the reclusive billionaire and the growling superhero whose bid to protect Gotham one last time leads to both pain and salvation. One of the key aspects of the films has been his relationship with dedicated butler Alfred as Michael Caine provides the heartbreaking support during his scenes with Bruce. Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman also back-up the exceptional cast as they have done over the last several years with both of them given more to do in the action segments. As for the newcomers, you only have to look back on the build-up to The Dark Knight to find scores of people groaning about the casting of Heath Ledger as The Joker. How wrong they would be! The same thing happened when it was announced that Anne Hathway would play the leather-cladded thief Selina Kyle/Catwoman but like Ledger, she manages to silence the doubters. She sinks her teeth into the role instantly by charming men one minute and then brutally kicking their backside the next while having a lot more chemistry with Bruce/Batman than Rachel Dawes did in the latter films. On the subject of The Joker, it was always going to be a tall order for Tom Hardy to surpass Ledger’s Oscar winning performance but his portrayal of Bane is still mind-blowing. After watching him crunch bones in the UFC drama Warrior (2011), his mixture of muscular strength and a witty English accent make him terrifying to watch when it comes to the film’s more violent moments including his first encounter with Batman. Rounding off the impressive newcomers is Joseph Gordon-Levitt whose rebellious cop John Blake is a vital link to the conclusion as he shows humane responsibility in trying to help save Gotham with his fate in the film’s finale significant for the Batman legacy. He’s certainly come a long way since the days of playing the long-haired teenager Tommy Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun!

But while Rises closes the curtain on the trilogy in grand fashion, it just lacks the consistency of the second film which not only had a more memorable villain but wasn’t as cluttered as much whereas here, a lot is going on but you can’t quite take it all in. While you can appreciate Nolan’s best effort in fitting everything into a two hour and forty-five minute film, it is clear from some moments that something is missing especially with the surprisingly below-par editing. This is obvious in the sound department where some moments of Bane talking are sometimes hard to understand which was to be expected given his muffled voice. Various characters come and go with the biggest being Alfred who appears in the first half of the film before disappearing until the final couple of scenes while the smaller characters portrayed by Matthew Modine and Juno Temple are under-developed and somewhat needless. But the one major addition to the cast who proves a disappointment is Marion Cotillard’s businesswoman Miranda Tate whose significance here is to stand around swooning after Bruce Wayne and looking icy with the usually reliable Oscar-winning actress surprisingly bland here. Even when her character’s true intentions are revealed, you can’t help but feel it’s all been done before (Inception fans will know what I mean).

VERDICT: While it just falls short of The Dark Knight’s brilliance, this compelling and jaw-dropping conclusion to the trilogy is a fitting end to Nolan and Bale’s Batman saga. Mr. Nolan….you’ve changed things forever!