The Dark Knight Rises: "Befitting finale to the trilogy!!!"

Hollywood & superheroes have an undeniable bond which goes down to many decades starting with Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster "The Superman". Many of the directors have tried their hand in churning out movies of this genre be it Richard Lester, Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher. The latter two were famous for dabbling with the Batman franchise following which the mantle has been handed over to the talented Christopher Nolan. Amongst much fanfare & hype, this week Nolan has come out with "The Dark Knight Rises" the final installment of his Batman series. So will it be an icing on the cake???

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since the events of "The Dark Knight", which witnessed the death of Harvey Dent & the brandishing of Batman as an outlaw. Now, Gotham City was in a state of peace while Bruce Wayne has confined himself within the sprawling walls of Wayne Manor. But little did the citizens of Gotham realise that it was the calm before the storm. At a function organised in honour of Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), who was the silent witness to the innocence of Batman prepares a speech revealing the truth but decides against delivering it. At this juncture, a Congressman gets kidnapped from the function & in the ensuing pursuit, Gordon's speech falls into the hands of the dreaded Bane (Tom Hardy). Bruce Wayne soon realises that it was time for him to don his mask & rescue the city of Gotham, as it seemed Bane's motives seemed much larger than what it seemed. So can Batman save the day once again or will he succumb to the greatest foe he ever met???

There is no point in wasting time proclaiming the brilliance of Christopher Nolan as he has already shown us in each & every one of his movies as to why the audiences adore him. The scenario isn't much different in his latest venture as well, as he has done an impressive job in scripting it along with his brother, Jonathan Nolan & David Goyer. However, I wouldnt say it has been all smooth sailing as the first half seemed pretty slow & dragging at times. But the latter half gradually picks up tempo with the last half an hour being a visual spectacle & an edge of the seat thriller. Nolan was more than adequately supported by Hans Zimmer's brilliant BGM and the awesome IMAX effects.

Christian Bale donning the Batman for the last time has done an impressive job as in the previous parts. There is no point in comparing the Joker & Bane as they had two entirely different mind sets & outlooks, so even though Heath Ledger will remain my favourite villain, Tom Hardy has been successful in providing an intimidating & powerful character in Bane. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman has done an apt job imparting the slithery yet mysterious nature with aplomb. As for the rest of the cast, they have all reason to smile on a job well done. 

Verdict: Nolan's track record & also the fact that this is going to be the final installment of his Batman series has upped the hype & expectations like never before. Though not as brilliant as "The Dark Knight", (thanks to the fantastic Joker, Heath Ledger), this is still a thrilling & befitting finale to the Batman series. There's no doubt that this has the potential of being a blockbuster with many of the factors working in its favour. In short, dont miss it primarily for the latter half!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben