Eight years after The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has been a shut-in since the deaths of Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes. Organized crime has been eliminated due to the stiff punishments allowed under the Dent Act and Gotham City is enjoying a time of prosperity. Peace is broken by the League of Shadows, now led by masked vigilante Bane (Tom Hardy). Armed with the knowledge that Wayne is Batman, Bane plunges him into bankruptcy by manipulating the stock market. Batman unsuccessfully confronts Bane, is literally broken by him, and exiled to a prison in the Middle East or Africa. Bane then sets about cutting Gotham off from the rest of the world and holds the city hostage under the auspices of class warfare. In reality, Bane plans to fulfill the plans of Ra’s Al-Ghul (Liam Neeson) and destroy Gotham, killing Batman only after he has witnessed that failure.
This was a surprisingly fulfilling conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman films. It’s not as action-packed as The Dark Knight was, nor did it feel as big in scope as Batman Begins. The ending is a bit anti-climactic and many of the earlier action scenes provide the bigger cinematic payoffs, but I think there’s a greater emotional achievement in the ending. Nolan creates an environment where we are truly rooting for Batman to get the bad guys. Nolan ups the emotional stakes for Bruce Wayne and I related with the character much more than I did in the first films. Michael Caine is sorely missed for most of the film and the romantic relationship between Wayne and Tate could have been developed more, with less focus on JGL’s John Blake. The overwhelming presence in the film, though, is Bane. Tom Hardy, despite the mask, makes Batman’s antagonist a fearsome foe. He is ruthless like Heath Ledger’s Joker and able to control Gotham City through fear.
3.5/5
Brian's Film Log 