The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan for his 8th film, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final installment in Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the sequel to The Dark Knight (2008). The film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman. It premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012.

Plot
Eight years after Batman (Christian Bale), in collusion with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), vanished into the night. Assuming responsibility for the death of Harvey Dent, Batman sacrificed everything for what he and Gordon hoped would be the greater good. However, the arrival of a cunning cat burglar (Anne Hathaway) and a merciless terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy) force Batman out of exile and into a battle he may not be able to win.

Why It Rises

 * 1) It's a good conclusion to The Dark Knight Trilogy of the Batman franchise.
 * 2) Christian Bale still did an amazing job portraying as Batman.
 * 3) Does bring back certain connections found from Batman Begins.
 * 4) The darker tone and gritty tone is amazing.
 * 5) Tom Hardy's portrayal as Bane is one of the best villain characters to date, despite looking nothing like the character in the comics. Hardy did make an amazing job portraying Bane, who is arguably the best villain in all of the DC films.
 * 6) *Also, he is a friend and protector of Talia al Ghul and the field commander of the League of Shadows. He was potent in both strategy and physical combat.
 * 7) The scenery is still amazing.
 * 8) Ra's Al Ghul returns as a cameo in the movie.
 * 9) The soundtrack that was performed by Hans Zimmer is so epic and exciting as well.
 * 10) It still has a bunch of awesome fight scenes.
 * 11) The scene near the end of the movie where Batman uses his aerial craft, the Bat, to carry the bomb far over the bay and explodes is well handled.
 * 12) Well done acting from the actors, including Tom Hardy as the memorable incarnation of Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.
 * 13) Superb cinematography that was well shot, even the plane crash scene is a highlight.
 * 14) "Tell me where the trigger is! Then, you have my permission to die."
 * 15) Awesome pacing, despite the overlong.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It never explained how Bruce came back to Gotham City after escaping from the pit prison.
 * 2) Bane and Talia Al Ghul's deaths were underwhelming, especially Bane's.
 * 3) While the ending was great, it didn’t feel like a conclusion to the series. Instead, it feels rather a sequel baiting.
 * 4) *Also, the audience is led to believe that Batman's alive and well, living life as an anonymous civilian. In reality though, Wayne is an internationally recognized business magnate, who's been featured on the front of TIME magazine — there’s no way he would have been able to enjoy a quiet life without strangers pushing cell phones in his face every time he left the house and the news of his survival getting out.
 * 5) *The movie ends with John Blake discovering the Bat Cave, hinting that he'll replace Batman as Robin.
 * 6) Despite that many characters from the first two films are officially returned for the grand finale, the biggest main criticism is that the Joker (Heath Ledger's character) is neither mentioned nor referenced at all and doesn't even seem to exist anymore despite being the main antagonist of the previous film, which is quite ironic considering that Two-Face barely had an important role in the previous film and is constantly mentioned and shown in flashbacks. Understandably, the Joker's absence is given due to Heath Ledger's death and Christopher Nolan's refusal to recast the role, which means that a full appearance was impossible, but seriously, how much did it costed them to include a mention to the Joker or a quick cameo in flashbacks with footage of The Dark Knight?
 * 7) *Indeed, by omitting the Joker, if not because of Two-Face's death and Batman's exile because of it, one could feel that this film feels more like a direct sequel towards Batman Begins rather than to The Dark Knight, as it brings back the League of Shadows and the Ra's al Ghul plot after their absence in the previous film.
 * 8) During one point in the film, Commander Gordon decided to send the entire Gotham police force underground at once, where they are trapped by Bane. But when the force are rescued, and they show up impeccably dressed, in great health and in perfect condition making the entire scene look pointless.
 * 9) Given that Bruce's escape from the pit prison is going to be a foregone conclusion, the portion of the film set there goes on for way too long than it should.
 * 10) After the previous film was able to make it feel like the events of the Batman comic could actually happen in real life, the film adapts a Batman story line (No Man's Land) that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief for it to work.

Reception
The Dark Knight Rises received positive reviews, with praise being directed toward the performances, action sequences, screenplay, direction, musical score, and emotional depth, with many critics deeming it a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave The Dark Knight Rises an approval rating of 87% based on 368 reviews, and a rating average of 8.00/10. The web site's critical consensus reads, "The Dark Knight Rises is an ambitious, thoughtful, and potent action film that concludes Christopher Nolan's franchise in spectacular fashion.". Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Trivia

 * On July 20, 2012, during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 cinema in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire inside the theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Police responding to the shooting apprehended a suspect later identified as 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes shortly after arriving on the scene. Initial reports stated that Holmes identified himself as "the Joker" at the time of his arrest though this has been debunked. Warner Bros. cancelled the Paris, Mexico, and Japan premieres of The Dark Knight Rises, and suspended the film's marketing campaign in Finland. Several broadcast networks also suspended television ads for the film in the United States. The trailer for Gangster Squad, another Warner Bros. movie included in the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, was removed as it contains a scene which shows gangsters shooting submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen, similar to the shooting in Aurora. Director Christopher Nolan released a public statement calling the shooting "unbearably savage". Other stars of the film released statements expressing their condolences, with star Christian Bale paying a personal visit to the survivors and the memorial in Aurora.
 * This film is the highest grossing Batman movie to-date.
 * before settling on Talia and Bane, Edward Nygma/The Riddler was planned to be the film’s main villain. One consideration for the role was Leonardo DiCaprio.