The Dark Knight Rises - 10 stars out of 10

The Dark Knight Rises - 10 stars out of 10

"The Dark Knight Rises" is a stunning finale to arguably the best superhero trilogy in history.  While it fails to match the perfection of "The Dark Knight," it achieves its goal: to properly complete Christopher Nolan's vision of the Batman story.  It is absolutely necessary to see this film in the context of the other two and I recommend watching the previous installments within a week of seeing this finale.  What many may perceive as weakness in the middle of the film where there is little action and even less Batman, I view it as strength because all of the pieces are being set in place for two of the most jaw-dropping twists that you will ever experience.  Nolan was not looking to make the greatest Batman film of all time - he was looking to prepare us for the culmination of Bruce Wayne's character development over the course of three films.  This "Who's Who" cast list speaks for itself as Nolan introduces a few of his favorite "Inception" actors - Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy as Bane (and wow, is he frightening).  I was skeptical when I saw Anne Hathaway's name, but she is sexy and smart as Selina Kyle (and ten billion times better than Halle Berry).  Gary Oldman is given the opportunity to really show off his acting chops (with much success) and Michael Caine delivers the emotional monologue that we've all been waiting for.  Simply incredible, especially when you toss in Morgan Freeman in his usual awesomeness and Christian Bale as the ultimate hero.  Hans Zimmer's score is particularly good in this film, with the bass making the floor rumble and his heroic themes that build tension until the very end.  The fight sequences are great and, while Bane isn't as good of a villain as Joker, he is the right character for the job.  He gives this film a different tone since he is well-spoken and carefully calculates his crimes (while being fierce and aggressive) instead of an unpredictable madman.  The plot is carefully woven around Selina Kyle and most of the other characters in the story until everything comes full circle in the end, not only being set up by the events of this movie but also by events from "The Dark Knight" and "Batman Begins."  Everything from this film and its predecessors leads up to the perfect ending to this story, but maybe not the way that any of us expected.  If I was going to choose one of these films to watch on a Friday night, I would definitely go with "The Dark Knight."  But if I was going to cite the reason that Christopher Nolan's presentation of Batman is simply better than any other superhero series, the credit would belong to this film.  "The Dark Knight Rises" is the climax of the Batman series and will leave you frozen in your theater seat saying "Wow..."