The Dark Knight Rises might be a slight step down from its predecessors in terms of story, but the performances from Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Anne Hathaway were all top notch and it was a satisfying enough conclusion to the trilogy.
The Dark Knight Rises
(2012)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Thriller
Warner Bros. | PG13 – 165 min. – $41.99 | December 19, 2017
Date Published: 12/24/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 4.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Eight years ago, after assuming the blame for D.A. Harvey Dent’s death, a disgraced Batman (CHRISTIAN BALE) mysteriously vanished. But everything changes with the appearance of a cunning cat burglar, Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (ANNE HATHAWAY) and the arrival of Bane (TOM HARDY), a ruthless madman and leader of a cult and terrorists. Bane’s reign of terror forces Bruce out of his self-imposed exile and into the ultimate battle, along with street cop John Blake (JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT), and into the ultimate battle for Gotham City’s survival… and his own.
Quick Hit Review: An end of an era for Batman with The Dark Knight Rises. When I initially saw this movie now 5 years ago (yikes!), I was head over heels thinking it was right in line with The Dark Knight and ahead of Batman Begins. Over the years, following a few more viewings, although I still think it’s a solid conclusion, the film does have its problems, mainly the plot which wasn’t nearly as tight as its two predecessors. Christian Bale: When I first saw Batman Begins I thought Bale was phenomenal and he carried that feeling to The Dark Knight, but here I really wasn’t all that wild about his performance from his ‘Batman’ voice which was cringe-worthy (glad they’ve gone with the electronic version in Batman v Superman and Justice League). I don’t know, it kind of felt like neither he nor Nolan were 100% on board and seemed to do it to conclude the trilogy.
Although I did love Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bane washing away the horrid taste left from his appearance in Batman & Robin, his mask voice certainly was distracting at times clearly sounding like ADR work. Anne Hathway’s Catwoman was pleasant for both her physicality but standing toe-to-toe with Batman to the point I wish we got a bit more from her. She might compare with Michelle Pfeiffer’s frightening version, but Hathaway was a worthy addition to the long line of ladies to play the role. The supporting parts were fine I guess. Michael Caine is still great as Alfred but he sadly exits about halfway through and shows up for a couple minutes at the end; Marion Cotillard was absolutely frightening in Inception but here she seemed to struggle with an English accent but beyond that, the dialogue was poor enough which didn’t help with a truly bad performance. Besides them, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fine basically as Batman’s sidekick (*cough* Robin *cough*).
In the end, The Dark Knight Rises, for all its problems, and there are plenty of them, is still a solid enough Batman movie and a satisfying conclusion to the Christopher Nolan trilogy and as much backlash as the movie has received over the years, I think fans would take this over Batman v Superman… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5 |
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This release comes with a shiny (glossy) slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. All of the features are contained on the Blu-ray bonus disc which has been ported over from the previous Blu-ray release. The Batmobile (58:17; HD) is a documentary on Batman’s vehicles used over the years from the comic books, the old Batman serials and series to Nolan’s trilogy. Features interviews with Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, Adam West, Joel Schumacher and others. Ending the Knight:
Characters (TRT 28:24; HD) looks at The Journey of Bruce Wayne (8:53), Gotham’s Reckoning (Bane) (10:05) and A Girl’s Gotta Eat (Selina Kyle) (9:26) Reflections (TRT 14:41; HD) is two parts, “Shadows & Light in Large Format” (5:37) on the scope of the scenes in TDKR and “The End of a Legend” (9:04) on the conclusion for the character. Trailer Archive (8:35; HD) contains 4 trailers. |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| The Dark Knight Rises charges onto 4K presented in the film’s original 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p high-definition transfer (HEVC/H.265). The picture here looks pretty good, detail is rather sharp as would be expected for a movie only five years old and as with the previous movie, the IMAX shots really take full advantage of the 4K format and HDR where colors are vibrant and are bright as demonstrated in the James Bond-like opening sequence. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| Although this did not get the Atmos treatment since per the back cover this is the “Original Theatrical Audio Mix”, instead there is a strong and rather impressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Dialogue levels come through the center channel with nice clarity but where this really comes to life are during the action scenes such as the stadium explosion and the chase for the nuclear bomb toward the end. (Copied from The Dark Knight 4K review as it matches up) |
OVERALL – 4.25/5 |
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Overall, The Dark Knight Rises might be a slight step down from its predecessors in terms of story, but the performances from Christian Bale (to an extent), Tom Hardy (even muzzled), Gary Oldman and Anne Hathaway were all top notch and it was a satisfying enough conclusion to the Nolan Batman Trilogy. The 4K release offers up excellent video/audio transfers and a solid selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.