Finally! The first wave of reviews is in for The Dark Knight Rises. According to some critics, Christopher Nolan has not disappointed on the finale.
“Few blockbusters have borne so heavy a burden of audience expectation as Christopher Nolan’s final Batman caper and according to critics the filmmaker has stepped up to the occasion with a cataclysmic vision of Gotham City under siege in The Dark Knight Rises. This hugely ambitious action-drama nonetheless retains the moral urgency and serious-minded pulp instincts that have made the Warners franchise a beacon of integrity in an increasingly comic-book -driven Hollywood universe. Global B.O. domination awaits,” wrote Justin Chang from the Variety.
Todd McCarthy in his spoiler alert review said, “In a curtain raiser, James Bond would kill for a CIA aircraft transporting terrorists is sensationally hijacked in midair by Bane (Tom Hardy), an intimidating hulk whose nose and mouth are encumbered by a tubular, grill-like metal mask which gives his voice an artificial quality not unlike that of Darth Vader. What Bane is up to is not entirely clear, but it can’t be good.”
The benefit of having one director for all three Batman films is that the continuing storyline is clear as day. What happened in Batman Begins directly effects what Batman does in The Dark Knight Rises.
“The Dark Knight Rises confirms that these films have always had an endgame in mind, and it has been a remarkable ride, one I would not want to follow. Whoever Warner Bros hires to reboot the Batman films a few years from now, I wish you luck. The bar is as high as it could possibly be,” Drew McWeeny raved in his review for Hotfix.
A major factor to the success of a film is the cast that tells the story. Of course for the finale Nolan decided to cast Tom Hardy to play Bane, the villain who in the comic broke Batman’s back and ended his vigilantly career. Also cast is Anne Hathaway, as the very sly and sexy Catwoman.
“Nolan’s Catwoman is the best cinematic rendering of the character to date, allowing Anne Hathaway sex appeal, humor and real humanity in equal measures,” wrote Todd Gilchrist for the Indiewire blog The Playlist. “Not to mention motivation that places her on equal footing with her male counterparts without making her a fetish object who’s ultimately subject to them,” he added.
More and more critics will speak their mind throughout the week, but so far its turning out to be a triumph for the Warner Brothers camp. The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20, which is only days way.
