The Hero we need, the Hero we deserve - Dark Knight Rises

First things first – there’s no easy way to talk about The Dark Knight Rises. Looking at volume 3 of Christopher Nolan’s epic Bat saga purely as a movie became nigh impossible after a single twisted individual decided to annihilate the lives of an audience of innocents last week. Deciding to go to the theater to see the film feels weirdly uncomfortable. I felt very self-conscious sitting there waiting for the movie to start. There are a lot of creepy overlaps between fiction and reality in this movie – I’m going to attempt to be somewhat discreet, but I will also say that HERE THERE BE SPOILERS – at least potential ones. So if you have NOT seen the movie yet, my frank advice is to READ NO FURTHER…

I don’t think I can recall a time when the events of real life have so affected how it feels to just go to the movies. Movie-going is an outing of escapism – sitting in the theater, you can’t help but identify with the kindred souls who just wanted to see a Batman movie, never imagining what madness lay in store for them. Rather than the normal giddy anticipation, there’s a feeling of anxiety and guilt. Is it acceptable to be enjoying this when so many suffered and died doing the same thing? It’s not rational, but it’s also very hard to dismiss, particularly when the antagonist of Dark Knight Rises is a particularly brutal psychopath fond of inflicting violence on public gatherings.

The movie opens with a colossal wallop involving mid-flight airplanes that’s just astonishing. It’s like the mother of all opening sequences in a Bond movie. The kinetics and scope of this scene will have your jaw gaping off its hinges. It’s here that we meet Bane, personified by the enigmatic Tom Hardy. Bane is a monster – a brute of huge proportions, he evokes The Humungus of Road Warrior fame – an embodiment of chaos and terror. Like Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love, we quickly feel that this a nemesis who could do serious damage our hero won’t walk away from. Masks and the pain that causes us to wear them are a prominent theme in Dark Knight Rises and Bane is a palpable literalization of that theme. Any issues with Bane’s voice are minimal – I found him very easy to understand, with a Germanic accent that sounds like Auric Goldfinger’s sadistic brother. If Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane from Game of Thrones lived in modern times, he’d be a lot like Bane.

The ghost of Harvey Dent looms large over Gotham as things begin – Gary Oldman has always been fantastic as Commissioner Gordon in these films, but he’s flat-out fantastic here, mired in moral compromise and guilt - when things get dicey, Gordon is not one to hesitate when it comes to taking action. He finds a kindred spirit in Joseph Gordon Levitt’s patrolman John Blake. Levitt’s tremendous here, with a substantial role and makes the most of it. Gordon sees his younger self in Blake – so does someone else. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred – though he’s more reproachful and sanctimonious here than in the prior films.

I confess I was a little nervous over the choice of Anne Hathaway as cat burglar Selina Kyle. Sigh of relief, Hathaway is fantastic, playing it real - no camp, actually coming off with many of the film’s best lines. She’s a breath of fresh air in some pretty dark proceedings. This Selina Kyle is from the Han Solo school, putting self-interest above any involvement with a higher purpose.

Comic fans will note a lot of influence from the Knightfall and No Man’s Land arcs of the Batman history. Bane turns Gotham into a war zone, and Nolan creates a truly epic struggle in the ruins, heavily influenced by 9/11 and the Occupy movement by way of Escape from New York. As fantastical and outrageous as the proceedings become, it all still feels real, thanks to heroic work by Wally Pfister (Inception, The Dark Knight) and a stunning effects team.

But the core strength of this film is Christian Bale, who's never been better here. We get a bit more of Bruce Wayne than his alter ego in Dark Knight Rises - a recluse who's retired from both crime-fighting and involvement in life itself. When his personal life is invaded by Selina Kyle and his personal Gotham invaded by Bane, Bruce must decide if he's going to get back on the horse and face his demons - to see if he can weigh trying to save something against the risk of losing it forever. Bale makes Bruce Wayne a person of real feeling here - his shock at Alfred's admonishments, his anger over Bane and his need to inspire others to action, coil together to paint a rich image of a man striving to make one last significant difference in the world.

This is the second time Christopher Nolan has faced horrific real life tragedy in the course of making these films - it's also a riveting example of Nolan and Bale rising to the occasion and delivering a rich, potent and pain-fueled finale to what's been the most satisfying and adult superhero epic to date. There is likely to be much debate over elements of the ending - but from where I'm sitting I found it a beautiful fit to what's come before in Nolan's first two films - and true to the spirit of everything that Batman has always stood for.

While the here-and-now may be lacking a grim avenger to save us from the madmen of this world, maybe that's why we seek out the dark cathedral of the movies - because at least there, the guilty can be punished, heroes can inspire others to do the right thing and there's a chance that someone will emerge from the shadows to save us, just when we need it the most.