Life is Brutal

Christopher Nolan completes his  Batman trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises (2012), an epic blend of darkness, pain and nonsense.

It starts with a better, cleaner Gotham City. The death of Harvey Dent has inspired real reforms, leading to an end to organized crime. Of course, this means obscuring Dent's insanity and makes Batman the villain who  killed him, but that's all right. Batman wanted to retire and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse.

I kind of liked Christian Bale as reclusive Bruce Wayne. He let his hair grow out of that terrible haircut I lamented in Batman Begins and adds a natty mustache and goatee. It's a good look for Bale, although it certainly doesn't shout "Bruce Wayne". His solitude is broken by a cute little cat burglar, played by Anne Hathaway.

Hathaway as the proto-Catwoman is a lot of fun. She is a low-life bitch, in it for herself and making sure all men are serving that same cause. She even has a little kitten, played by Juno Temple. I would like to see a lot more of her, maybe in her own movie - heck a whole series.

The real villain, however, is Bane, a guy with a steampunk facehugger mask and a scary voice. Since the Christian Bale Batman's main superpower is his creepy voice, we see them as evenly matched. Bane wants to see people suffer, to overthrow civil order, and not much else. He doesn't seem to want power or money, just to hurt Batman. Since Batman is in constant pain due to the rough life he's been leading, it isn't that hard for him to achieve this goal.

Special thanks to Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon - he seemed to be having fun. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has an odd role as the beat cop who gets close to Bruce Wayne, but is pretty satisfying in it. Michael Caine as Alfred, what can you say? He gets a few very sappy scenes, but plays them like a champ. He almost makes me want to try Fernet Branca.

In conclusion - does everyone know Bruce Wayne is Batman? I think about 5 people figure it out in this movie. I guess it is kind of obvious when you think about it.