The Dark Knight Rises-review

So the end of Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy has arrived.Lots of hype have been surrounding this from the pre prodution itself .So does the film live up its expectation?Here is my review(spoiler free) of the film.

Director:Christopher Nolan
Cast:Christian Bale ,Anne Hathaway,Michael Caine,Morgan Freeman,Gary Oldman,Joseph Gordon Levitt,Marrion Cotillard and Tom Hardy

Plot: 8 years after Batman had took the blame for Harvey Dent's crime,Gotham City is peaceful and crime rate is declining thanks to Dent Act.Bruce Wayne(Bale) had been living in the dark  during this period mourning  for Rachel Dowes death and has no more will to live.Selina Kyle(Anne Hathaway) is a  thief who wants a new life, crosses path with Bruce and sets the story in motion .When Gotham city peace is threatened by the presence of a masked man named Bane(Tom Hardy) who is about carry out a revolution by releasing the criminals and taking over the city,Bruce has to make a decision whether to wear the mask one last time  despite the protest of Alfred(Michael Caine) who believes Bruce only wants to wear the mask  as a suicide mission.As the film progresses, the motive of Bane gets clearer and its clear that Bane is not only Batman's  strongest opponent but a clever one too.

Just like all the Nolan's film ,TDKR has a brilliant cast.Everyone does an amazing job here.As the plot might have hinted that this is a movie about Bruce Wayne instead of Batman.Bale  does a good job portraying a broken character who is quite depressed and  needs to fight his demons and find the will to live.For the first time we get to see that this superhero is a simple human and Bale is quite convincing .Michael Caine as the butler gives an emotional performance in the film while both Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon Levitt does a descent job for their respective roles which is bigger than many expected to be.I do feel Marion was slightly underused in the movie but thinking about it makes me realise that  her being underused is what makes the plot works.However,just like the previous film its the antagonists of the film that stole the show.While Tom Hardy performance is nowhere at par with Heath Ledger,I'm very impressed with his voice/accent in the film.His voice does convey pure evil.Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle gives the best performance of the cast.Her portrayal of Catwoman(although its never mentioned in the film) is superb and even surpass Michelle Pfeiffer's  performance in Batman Returns.She adds humour  and sarcasm to the dark plot.Her character is a character with grey shades and just like Bruce Wayne  she is a tormented soul and seeks for a happy ending and Anne definitely does a good job in giving a subtle performance during scenes showing Selina Kyle's sensitive side.

As for the plot of the film,is it the most original plot  anyone had seen,like Inception?Not really.It's almost similar to other bomb denotation films.However,I have to give credits for Nolan for creating a credible  and rich back story for all the characters,even the supporting roles.TDKR does not have any jaw dropping moments but the climax is surely something many had not expected.While some might find the part in the underground prison quite dragging,I do like it.There is some plot holes in the film regarding the bomb.I also loved the ending of the film.Its the perfect ending for the trilogy.I loved the fact that even though this is an ending for Nolan's trilogy,it starts a path for the future plans for the Batman franchise.

The musical score is one of the pluses of the film.The tribal/indian? like soundtrack by Hans Zimmer whenever Bane appears sets the tone of the film.The visual effects of the film looks awesome especially the flight scenes  during the first 10 minutes of the film and explosion scenes (there's quite a lot of explosion ).Nolan did not disappoint in the action scenes as the  car chasing scenes and Batman - Bane confrontation in the underground sewage with selina Kyle watching is epic.The scene at the bar involving Selina,Holly  Robinson (Juno Temple) is another superb scene.The sets in the film especially the underground prison looks amazing and Gotham City during winter definitely looks different than the previous films.

So overall,TDKR is an entertaining film with an  ordinary plot packed with brilliant performances from the cast and a great technical team as a strong support.

Possible Oscar contenders:

Best Supporting Actor- Michael Caine
Best Supporting Actress- Anne Hathaway
Best Original Score- Hans Zimmer
Best Art Direction
Best Visual Effects

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