Rating of
3/4
Great - But Just Too Long
Andy89 - wrote on 07/28/12
The Dark Knight Rise is great but flawed movie. The excellently high production, acting and directing is slightly marred by a script which is over-complicated, bloated and not entirely believable. There is also a problem with the soundtrack, with the incessant music making it difficult to make out everything that is being said by the actors.
At more than two-and-a-half hours, this film is just too long. It takes ages before we finally get to the final showdown between Bane and Batman; by then my bum was well-and-truly numb. But that last half hour is terrific: the action is breathless and non-stop.
Earlier on, things happen in the plot that just don't make any sense: instead of killing Batman when he has the opportunity, Bane imprisons him in a jail where there are apparently no guards to stop him from escaping. And rather than simply blowing up Gotham when he gets his hands on a nuclear bomb, the baddie decides to spend months turning Batman's favourite city into an anarchist's paradise, even though he always planed to nuke the place in the end. His actual motivation for wanting to destroy Gotham appeared to be vague: I couldn't work out what beef he had with Batman or the city. And it's not believable that your average garden criminal would want to follow Bane into nuclear hell.
Of the three films, this one is my least favourite, but it is good - but just too damn long.
