I watched this last weekend but seeing as how it's Christmas I've been too busy to write about it, until now. I finished up watching this trilogy in three days and I've got to say it's the best trilogy that's ever been done hands down. I will put the Toy Story movies in second place but what Nolan has done with the Batman story is simply amazing and blows my mind when I think about it.
Each movie is it's own entity, with it's own story line, not rehashing things from the other movies, but telling a completely different story. They also expand the mythology established in the previous movies not just simply settling for what had been established. I think one of the joys of watching these movies has been seeing Nolan grow as a director because with each movie since Batman Begins his command of story telling, pacing, camera movement, camera placement, and editing has grown. But I think the one stable foundation in his talents has been his consistent eye for casting and finding the right person for the right part. Again in this movie every person is perfectly cast down to the first guy we see as the movie opens. The man leading the professor onto the airplane, who just has that one part but I wouldn't have cast anyone else in that scene and Bane's silent, second in command who doesn't say much but his appearance and facial expressions made him a person perfectly cast. I've noticed in all Nolan's movies since his first movie The Following, casting has been his one stable foundation that has followed him through his movie career and I would say he's the best at it in Hollywood by far.
I like how this movie deals with the consequences of the second movie namely Rachel and Harvey Dent's death. Rachel's death has deeply affected Bruce Wayne and Dent's death has truly changed Gotham in a way no one would have known. So much so that Bruce Wayne has pretty much retired as Batman. And that is where the movie begins with a retired Bruce Wayne dealing with the after effects and emotions of Rachel and Harvey's death. What a way to begin a movie dealing with the after effects of the first one!
Well at least starting it off on familiar grounds because the opening part of the movie is one the greatest action sets pieces I've ever seen done on film in a long time. And was simply amazing to see in the theaters. This is another thing I like about Nolan, he doesn't get caught up in the fades of Hollywood namely 3D which is just a gimmick nothing more. I will tell you I saw Avatar in 3D and Transformers 3 in 3D at the IMAX, which were cool and a good movie experience but lost a lot of the wonder when I watched them at home because they were gimmick movies. But when I saw that opening scene of The Dark Knight Rises in glorious 70mm IMAX I was blown away like I'd never been before even the effect of it translates well to the smaller screen. It also says something if the director actually has a descent story to tell and doesn't solely rely on set pieces but instead, you know, relies on acting, story lines, dialogue, and pacing. It helps to make the movie experience better when you actually care about the characters and know them. I hope Nolan stays away from 3D because from what I've seen from him his connection with IMAX blows away all 3D movies I've seen. And this movie was one of the best movie experiences I've had in the theater, right next seeing Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut in the theaters.
There's just something about seeing a good director at work in a theater that no amount of gimmicks, flashy special effects or glittering technology can compare with. That and also seeing Anne Hathaway in a black, sexy suite as Catwoman - whose never actually named Catwoman in the movie - but I found she was as sexy when just wearing the simple, plain clothes in this film, which just goes to show that a woman doesn't have to wear revealing outfits to be sexy...hint...hint, that terrible acting job by that girl in Transformers 3 whose every scene seemed destined to enhance her sexiness but instead did nothing for her character. Where as Hathaway was given a character and made her appealing and sexy without the use of revealing clothing, but I've got to hand it to the wardrobe department they did a good job dressing her.
I also like how Nolan boldly cast new characters in this movie and gave them something do and made them interesting. Hathaway being one example and Joseph Gordon-Levitt being the other who was given a good part and made his character very interesting as the movie went along. These are two examples of building on the mythology created in the first two films but not copying the previous films. Lucas could learn a thing or two from this as New Hope, Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace all have the same type of ending: a ship going to blow up a larger ship but the sequels also fail in the one aspect of adding new characters but not making them interesting, therefore I don't care about the characters despite all the flashy effects surrounding them. Nolan understands you must care about the characters to be truly involved in the film, which is why I've liked every Nolan film I've seen since I first saw Memento on DVD with Jess and his crime thriller Insomnia with my brother in the theater: characters dominate his movies. Characters I care about. Characters I'm interested in seeing how their story plays out. Because of that I'm eagerly looking forward to his next movie.
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