Everybody who knows me will know that The Dark Knight Rises truly came together in that one short scene at the very end. It didn’t have to be there, but in doing so, director Christopher Nolan has totally redeemed himself in my eyes, and I left the theater a giddy fanboy. I’ll spoil that scene after the jump, along with the rest of the movie, but it’s enough now to say it was my favorite part of an already awesome film. The Dark Knight Rises is a very good flick, and a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s trilogy. It ends with an absolutely spectacular climax that is both exciting and larger than life. A fitting end to this Batman story.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect film, and it’s not the best of the trilogy. The first 2/3rds of the film are rather slow and dull, in my opinion, throwing a lot of ideas and plot at the audience, which I don’t think come together all that well in the end.

Movie rating: 4/5: Good!

But the pacing, along with a few odd plot choices, are the only negative things I can say about The Dark Knight Rises. I loved all of the characters, I loved Batman’s personal story and I loved the ending. It’s a very good film. I especially liked the new antagonists, Bane and Catwoman. They’re no Heath Ledger’s Joker, but they’re still fantastic. Especially Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I expected great things from her, and I was not disappointed. She’s witty, wicked and very badass.  Tom Hardy’s Bane, likewise, kicks a lot of ass, often literally. He’s as physically imposing and oddly charismatic as one might hope.

But not all of the movie works. The new love interest, Miranda Tate, is kind of confusing at many parts of the film, not to mention painfully predictable. Alfred is a bit of a disappointment. And the overall threat kind of comes out of nowhere. I don’t remember it from the two previous films, but everyone seems to act like it’s been a big deal all along.

Still, despite is flaws, The Dark Knight Rises adds up to an awesome film. I highly enjoyed it. Join me after the jump for a full review and definitely some SPOILERS!

So what was that single awesome scene that totally made the movie for me? I’ll tell you later. I want to build up to it first. For now, let’s just say that new character John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, totally lives up to his potential!

First, let me say that I am not one of those comic book geeks who gets his panties in a big twist when a filmmaker takes a few creative liberties with his characters. That Bane and Catwoman are not exactly like they were in the comics is not a big deal to me. As long as they maintain the point of the character, I’m usually happy. Likewise the idea that Bruce Wayne retired as Batman at the end of the last movie, and that Bruce has been a reclusive hermit for the past eight years, doesn’t bother me. In the comics, Batman would never give up like that. But in the movie, it’s fine.

My problem, though, is with jumping forward a whole eight years since The Dark Knight and how that hampers this new film. Eight years is a long damn time, and even though Bruce has been a hermit during that period, apparently a lot of stuff has happened that the audience doesn’t know about. And this causes a big problem at the beginning of the film. The character of Miranda Tate, and the energy reactor plot device, both came into Bruce’s life sometime during those eight years. And when they appear in this film, everybody but the audience knows all about them. We don’t get a proper introduction to Tate or the reactor, and with characters acting like they’ve always been around, it robs the audience of getting on the ground floor of this film.

I have nothing against a director expecting us to keep up, but a lot of the movie is spent trying to catch up to the importance of Tate and the reactor, time that is dull and a bit confusing. There is a lot of time spent discussing board room politics and bankruptcy and stock market brouhaha that most of it just falls flat during the start of the film. And to be honest, I never fully caught up to either. I never bought Tate as a true love interest, and her sex scene with Bruce Wayne just seemed rote and predictable. Likewise, the reactor’s transformation into a neutron bomb revealed it to be nothing more than a plot device. I think Nolan started with the idea of having an atom bomb in the climax and then worked backwards from there.

In the theater, someone literally shouted, “I told you!” when Miranda’s real identity was revealed

And who didn’t see Miranda’s betrayal coming?

Granted, I think I was spoiled by early casting rumors that she would be playing Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Liam Neeson’s character from the first film. Which sucks, because a surprise like that should not be revealed through casting rumors. But such is the Internet, with even the smallest tidbit of anything to do with a Batman movie being picked apart by a million different websites. Oh well. Like I said, her betrayal was pretty obvious. I just kept waiting for it to happen. Then when it does, it comes way too late.

I loved how they did it, and I loved her connection to Bane, but it was far too late in the film to reveal that she was Talia the whole time. Especially since I never really understood who Miranda Tate was supposed to be. Was she investing in Wayne Enterprises? Or was she harassing Wayne to get him to invest in her? I was never very sure, but a lot of boring time was spent trying to establish her character.

Plus, in hindsight, I’m not entirely sure what this grand plan was. If they were always planning on blowing up Gotham with the bomb, why spend three months turning Gotham into a militarized state? To make Bruce suffer while he was locked up in that prison? Was that the only reason to draw it out? We also never really saw the people of Gotham react to the occupation. Everyone seemed to just lock themselves in their houses and wait it out. Nobody seemed demoralized or afraid. They were all just getting by, what few of them we saw.

There was never a moment like the bombs on the ferries from The Dark Knight. I still remember getting goosebumps in the theater during that scene, but The Dark Knight Rises never had an equivalent scene of excitement.

Though there was plenty of the Bruce and Alfred comedy team

But all this negativity is pointless, because all of that build-up, and all of that martial law stuff was great in setting up such an epic finale! The very streets of Gotham City became a war zone, giving us a climax even larger than The Dark Knight. The scenes of the army of police officers walking down the street and charging at the terrorists were fantastic! Truly the kind of large-than-life action that’s needed in such a conclusion. Like the Battle of Hogwarts, it was great that Nolan could go big in the end.

The plot of the movie is fairly simple, when you think about it, Nolan just adds a lot of bells and whistles. Talia al Ghul, and her protector Bane, want to fulfill R’as al Ghul’s scheme from the first film to destroy Gotham City for its decadence. To do so, they create this elaborate con game, in which Bane attacks directly while Talia schmoozes her way into high society. They turn Wayne’s reactor into a bomb and basically just kind of hold the city hostage for three months while their terrorist army walks the streets. They all know that the bomb will eventually blow up on its own, so they’re kind of waiting it out…for some reason. Meanwhile, an aging, injured Bruce Wayne is defeated by Bane, so he must go through a physical and spiritual reawakening (a rise, if you will) in order to come back and stop them.

There are probably a lot of deeper themes in this movie that a guy like me isn’t getting, at least not on first watch. Stuff about the fear of terrorism, the police state, trials without evidence, and more, just goes over my head. I figure I will leave that up to reviewers who are much smarter than I to discuss. I’m just a dude who likes superhero movies, and The Dark Knight Rises definitely succeeded in that regard.

The characters are the best part of this movie.

Especially the studly ones

I felt we saw a lot more of Batman in this film. A lot of the action took place in lighted rooms or in the daylight, so we literally saw Batman more clearly. He wasn’t hiding in the shadows as much as previous films. I liked that. Plus Batman interacted with a lot more people this time around, whether it be John Blake or especially Catwoman. He could actually be a real person with real dialogue instead of just growling at criminals. That was a big plus.

I also really liked Batman’s personal story. Getting over the whole “hasn’t been seen in 8 years thing”, Bruce Wayne’s decision to come out of hiding was played very well. I loved the little scene between Bruce and Gordon in the hospital room, where Bruce put on a ski mask so that ‘Batman’ could visit the ailing Commissioner. And then Batman facing off against Bane, losing, and then building himself back up to escape the prison and save the city was cool. Obvious and predictable, but cool nonetheless. Who doesn’t like the part where the hero is at the top of his game saving the day?

Or the part where he confusingly stands around like a deer in the headlights

Batman’s best scenes, of course, were with Catwoman, though she’s never actually called that in the film. Anne Hathaway did not disappoint as the slinky and badass Selina Kyle. With twisting allegiances, but a good heart in the end, Selina was definitely a highlight of the film. I still think she could have had a better costume, but it worked. I really liked the first time she and Batman teamed up to fight those goons on the rooftop. That was a hoot. And I liked the ease in which Batman agreed to work with her – not to mention the ease with which she agreed to work with him. Catwoman was the villain I wanted for Nolan’s third film, and she fit perfectly.

That mask isn’t fooling anyway

As did the imposing Bane. Seriously, as slow as I thought the first half of the movie was, anytime Bane or Catwoman appeared on screen was a delight. Bane perfectly filled the role of someone who could be both a physical and mental challenge for Batman. He was big and imposing, while at the same time surprisingly charismatic. I didn’t have any problem hearing Bane’s dialogue through his mask, and I thought his weird accent and attitude enhanced the character. He was so brutal and so over the edge that he was practically carefree about it. And Bane looked great. Nolan’s update to Bane’s comic book costume was perfect, keeping the mask but changing its purpose. And I liked the update to the ‘Venom’ drug. Bane isn’t pumping himself with a super steroid, instead he’s being pumped with painkiller, thereby making him stronger and tougher because he can’t feel the blows that Batman is raining down upon him.

Though that is another complaint. The fights between Batman and Bane were a little disappointing. They were basically just two guys punching each other. I understand that Batman’s costume was restricting, but I guess I was kind of hoping for some more acrobatics. Instead it was just a lot of punching. And the first fight could have been a little more dramatic. Batman loses a fight, which isn’t supposed to happen. It was a turning point of the entire film. But it felt kind of lackluster. Oh well, I still enjoyed the fights. I just think they could have been more grand.

At least Bane got to “break” the Bat!

Aside from the main characters, I felt the supporting cast was both good and a little disappointing. Commissioner Gordon was good, but then he spent half the movie laid up in a hospital bed. That kept him out of too much the action. Alfred was good, until he disappeared halfway through the film, just abandons Bruce. What was up with that? Heck, the next morning, when there’s a knock at the door, Bruce calls out to Alfred to answer it. Obviously Bruce didn’t think Alfred would actually leave. So they had a fight? That didn’t end their partnership – except I guess it did for Alfred. We don’t even see Alfred in Gotham once Bane takes over. Did Alfred really just up and leave the city comlpetely? Where’s his loyalty?

But all of this finally brings us to John Blake, a seemingly new addition to the Batman universe, but a character who really surprised me.

He doesn’t yet know that guns are against the rules

So what was that one single scene that I mentioned above, the one that completely made the movie for me? It’s Blake’s scene at the reading of Bruce Wayne’s will, where he picks up the bag of tools left for him that lead him to the Batcave. When John Blake reveals his true, legal name…

John Blake is Robin.

And with that one, single line, Christopher Nolan’s movie won me over completely. Readers of my blog will know that I am a huge Robin fan. He is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, and as far as I’m concerned, Batman isn’t complete without Robin. However, both Nolan and lead actor Christian Bale have repeatedly said time and again that they didn’t want Robin in their movies. This pissed me off. Robin gets a lot of flak, I understand that. Not everybody likes the whole 10-year-old in green underoos image of Robin. But true fans will know that Robin is far more than Burt Ward’s portrayal from the 1960s TV show. Robin can be much cooler. And I knew that a director like Christopher Nolan could truly make an excellent Robin on film.

Turns out I was right.

Watching The Dark Knight Rises, I just kept thinking that John Blake’s role could easily have been filled by Robin. It would have worked so well. I honestly was prepared to write a big essay later this week about how Robin would have fit perfectly in Nolan’s universe. Batman Begins, the first film in the trilogy, is a perfect set-up for Robin. I may still write that essay. But watching this new film, I just kept thinking to myself that Nolan clearly liked the idea of Robin…but didn’t want to use Robin specifically. So he created John Blake. Which is fine, I thought Blake was pretty cool. It was a little jarring that John Blake seemed to be the only competent police officer in Gotham City, a beat cop who still seemed to respond to every single important police emergency. And that Blake just randomly knew that Bruce Wayne was Batman. But by the end, especially in his interactions with both Bruce Wayne and Batman, I saw his potential.

The essence of Robin is that he’s both Batman’s partner and his eventual replacement. That’s why Robin is much more than a mere sidekick. Batman is mortal. One stray bullet and Bruce Wayne is done. So when he starts training a kid and putting him in a costume, Bruce Wayne is training his eventual replacement. Because, as these movies have told us, Batman is more than a just a man. Batman is a legend. You don’t need Bruce Wayne behind the mask for the legend to continue.

So that line at the very end, where it’s revealed that Blake’s legal first name is ‘Robin’. That was a glorious moment for me.

I still really like this Robin movie costume

My girlfriend complained that the line was a little too “fan-baity”, and I would agree. But considering I am the exact fan that line was meant to appeal to, I have to say that I just don’t care how much Nolan was winking at the audience.

Because he found an absolutely perfect way to include Robin in his films. Would I have been happier with the circus orphan in full costume fighting alongside Batman? Yes, probably. But Nolan said he didn’t like that, so I had long ago made my peace with the idea that Robin wasn’t going to be in the Dark Knight Trilogy. Would I have been happier if Officer John Blake had been called Officer Dick Grayson? Yeah, maybe. But in revealing the truth Nolan’s way, in saving the Robin reveal to the very end, he had the audience on his side.

People don’t like Robin. I get that. I have to live with that. So if everybody knew going in that Robin was going to be hanging around, they might not be happy. People would groan and roll their eyes, simply waiting for the moment when Joseph Gordon-Levitt found an excuse to put on a costume and help Batman. It would have been a little silly.

But saving the Robin reveal until the very end, with that throwaway line, Nolan got the audience on his side. He’d already sold everyone on John Blake as a character, and I’m sure everybody was on board with John Blake taking over as the new Batman. And the film could have ended right then and there, and I’d still be happy. But Nolan had two options. He could just forge ahead with his own new character and his own story, and that would have been fine. Or he could acknowledge the source material, acknowledge the fans. ‘Batman and Robin’ are household names. The audience might not like Robin, but they know who he is, they know his importance and his place in the Batman story. So when you’ve got a character who is acting as Batman’s partner, who is going to take over for the Dark Knight, why not acknowledge the history and the fans? Why not have a little fun with it?

And for that, I am one happy fanboy.