With Prometheus failing to live up to expectations, next up on the list of hype machines for the year was The Dark Knight Rises, and despite it not being quite as sharp as it could be, it’s still a cinematic winner. Thanks mainly to the menacing presence of Tom Hardy as Bane, it starts with a strong pace that doesn’t let up until the final action scenes.
Though there are a few cheesy lines and the storyline doesn’t always flow well, the sheer juggernaut might of Hardy’s performance as one of the Dark Knight’s more recent scrappers is impressive enough to crush out even the most serious of criticism. Even his own once-in-a-big-bast*rd-blue-moon duff lines are more a fault of bad direction than his own acting. There’s a couple of scenes where it looks like he was asked to mine saying things expansively without being given any real context, direction or re-shoot options.
However, it’s Hardy’s 1 to 1 dialogue that really brings the character’s super villain intelligence and power to life, backed up by impressive fight sequences and a frightening muscularity. Although, why the dark knight can take out three baddy flunkies with bat darts and not do the same to Bane is hard to fathom.
Anne Hathaway is also pretty cool as Selina Kyle (the unmentioned Cat Woman) as she toys with bad girl does good sensibilities like a kitten with a ball of wool (don’t know what that means, but it’s provocative).
Emotional attachments are dealt with quite badly in the film, with Bruce Wayne or Batman getting mixed up in all sorts without any real build up, which again goes back to storyline issues. Although, the back story of Bane’s development and his attempt to fulfill the league of shadows’ plan to purge Gotham City is a good conclusion to the new series.
It may not be as pitch perfect as Marvel Avengers Assemble turned out to be, but it is still one of 2012s better action films. It’s dark, visually impressive and filled with a vivid cast of characters. Flaws are made up for in other areas making The Dark Knight Rises a good follow up to Heath Ledger’s seminal Joker performance.
The Dark Knight Rises review: 3.9/5
