Review: Batman’s final rise raises superhero movie bar

The Batman trilogy reaches its finale, showing how comic book adaptations can be made with style and substance.

Film: The Dark Knight Rises

Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine

Director: Christopher Nolan

Reviewer: Abdulkareem Baba Aminu

The bad guy’s introduction at the beginning of the The Dark Knight Rises is so dramatic – so well-staged – it would shame any James Bond opening. The breathtaking midair hijack by Bane (Tom Hardy) is strangely satisfying, without being entirely clear. But who cares? After all, it’s a comic book adaptation, right? Wrong. Director Christopher Nolan’s vision meshes political anarchy, terrorism and other real-life concerns to make his third (and final) visit to the Batman mythos believable.

After the last installment, eight years of dramatic time have passed. Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has been lying low, having been publicly blamed for the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Luckily for Gotham City, organized crime has practically disappeared. But our hero is nudged on when cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) steals a pearl necklace – and his fingerprints – from a safe at his mansion.

As if the sultry feline-themed Catwoman (though she’s never called that in the movie) wasn’t distraction enough, main baddie Bane commences his onslaught. After kidnapping Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), he embarks on a brazen attack on the city’s stock exchange. It lures Batman out of hiding and bankrupts Bruce Wayne in one fell swoop. Boardroom politics ensue while superheroics play out.

Batman induces Selina to take him to Bane, but finds out he’s overmatched by the muscled villain. Bane sends our hero off to a dungeon on a faraway exotic location. The prison, a huge well, has been escaped from only once, by Bane himself. Several treats abound, including a brief appearance by Liam Neeson’s character, Ra’s Al Ghul, who was in 2005’s Batman Begins. Then there’s a new character, a street-savvy cop called John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a last-scene reveal that will cause jaws to drop. Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) is also present with new heights of craziness. It’s also good to see Bruce’s longtime friend and tech genius Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

Even for Nigerian film-goers, director Nolan’s film is rooted in what is arguably the biggest headache today: Insecurity. The aforementioned opening skyjacking and underground explosions (especially one in a football stadium) are masterfully executed. Relevant as the tropes may be, at first glance it appears the director’s co-screenwriters – his brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer – have penned an airtight script. But holes are scattered here and there

Even for Nigerian film-goers, director Nolan’s film is rooted in what is arguably the biggest headache today: Insecurity. The aforementioned opening skyjacking and underground explosions (especially one in a football stadium) are masterfully executed. Relevant as the tropes may be, at first glance it appears the director’s co-screenwriters – his brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer – have penned an airtight script. But holes are scattered here and there, with many retcons bound to anger die-hard comic book fans. An example: It’s implied that Bane is actually Ra’s son.

Nolan pushes the credibility of a city under siege nuclear-armed revolutionaries but he gets away with it. Okay, maybe not entirely: In the only conspicuous continuity gaffe, the raid on the stock exchange happens during the day but the ensuing getaway at night. Also a bit iffy is how Bruce Wayne languishes in his ‘pit prison’ rebuilding his strength, immediately reminiscent of the first film’s build-up. Portraying both his characters as vulnerable, Bale is at his best in this, the final installment of the trilogy even if there’s still a bit of his voice sounding artificially deepened.

But production designers Nathan Crowley and Kevin Kavanaugh and cinematographer Wally Pfister, aided by costume designer Lindy Hemming, have helped the film look crisp and stunning. Their work – along with that of the sound and special effects crew – makes The Dark Knight Rises look every bit like the $250 million movie it reportedly is. It actually makes the past three or four movies from rival Marvel stables look cookie-cutter, clunky and immature. It is, undoubtedly, with a heavy heart that fans will bid Nolan’s vision farewell. Encore, anyone?