The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

Content:

Violence: 8 This movie is a movie about a superhero. There are several intense scenes between the core character of the Dark Knight and the Villains of the movie. All involving fighting with fists, guns and other weaponry. 

Sex and Nudity: 3. There is a scene in this movie in which Bruce spends the night with one of the not so major characters. There is no real sex scene but you do see the after effects of the scene. You see Bruce in a bed with the other character, he is shirtless and he is holding her. There is a brief line of dialog and the scene cuts out

Frightening Scenes: 6 Much like every previous movie of Batman the movie is set in the dark city of Gotham. This movie much like the Dark Knight and Batman begins portrays Gotham city as much more of a criminalized city than an uplifting city. There are frightening scenes especially with the major villain in this movie. I would not recommend this movie for anyone under 13

Alcohol/Drug Content: 3. There is a scene in a bar, much like the last 3 movies, and scenes in which it is implied that Bruce Wayne is having a glass of Alcohol, other than that there isn't any blatant drug use. 

Blood and Gore: 3 I don't really remember there being any blatant blood in this movie but there are scenes in which people are being mowed down by gun fire and it is possible that there is blood splatter in the aftermath of those scenes as well as scenes between Bane and Batman. 

Review:

The epic batman series by Christopher Nolan comes to a close with the Dark Knight Rises, and much like the previous two films this one does not disappoint. The film opens as Gotham has slowly entered a time of peace. The Dark Knight has not been heard from in eight long years as the majority of the criminal underworld has been put behind bars thanks to the Harvey Dent act.

However, despite the peace that has occurred thanks to the law named after the so called White Knight of Gotham, Commissioner Gordan has reservations that he should tell Gotham that Harvey Dent was no hero. As many of you remember, Dent went from Gotham's District Attorney to Two Face in Nolan's second film.

As expected from any Batman movie, things slowly degrade into chaos as Bane comes on the scene and starts to shake things up. It becomes time for The Dark Knight to come back out of hiding and face the masked mercenary, but not without the help of Selena Kyle, or Catwoman and a young police detective whom Gordan names personally to his task force. 

This film has twists and turns to the very end, with an unexpected twist that will have comic book and game lovers kicking themselves for not figuring it out sooner. 

Critique

While the movie was reminiscent of the earlier films much of the movie almost became comical and unbearable. Fans of previous films scoffed at Christian Bale's voice of Batman whenever he was in a suit. Well they have something new to scoff at. Bane's voice in this film as well as Batman's and Catwoman's are all laughable. 

The voice of Bane nearly takes any fear that you should feel toward the character out of the equation, and Anne Hathaway seemed completely out of her element. The young actress who had done films such as the Princess Diary's was now expected to take on the role of a seductive Jewel Thief and honestly fell short on the seductive side of things. When Hathaway attempted to sound seductive it was borderline comical to listen to. 

To further the frustration of the voices, Bane was not well explained in this movie. Comic book, game, and cartoon lovers know that Bane is the result of taking what becomes known as Bane's syrum. This steroid not only gives Bane superhuman strength but also speed, agility and size. In the comics often Bane wore a pack that fed the syrum straight into his veins making him look borderline intimidating. In Nolan's rendition however there is no mention of Bane's syrum, only the elements of his mask seem to hold Bane's power. 

It would also seem that DC decided to incorporate elements of Marvel's Spiderman three as it seems that the majority of the movie Batman is not only complaining about how bad his life has gotten since the passing of Rachel in the previous film but he also is on the losing side of nearly every fight with Bane. 

Overall the movie was not the best of the Nolan series. However, it does end in a way that is so epic that I would have to spoil the entire movie just to tell you what it is. I'm not willing to do that and so in all honesty I recommend this movie 100%. Yes there are many elements to the film that leave much to be desired especially if you are a Batman comic book fan, however, there are huge plot twists in this film that leave you stunned in your seat. Nolan does a very good job of wrapping up the series and even leaves hints within the movie that he may not really be done yet. 

Once again because this film is a superhero movie it is really hard to gauge whether or not this movie is appropriate for your children if you have them. I would not recommend this film for children under the age of 13 because of the violent and frightening nature of this series. However, if you feel differently you do not have to take my word for it. As always I recommend you see this film for yourselves and decide for yourselves whether or not your children should see this film.