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The Dark Knight Rises 
Review: The Dark Knight Rises
3.5/4 stars

It's finally here! The conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy has finally hit the mainstream theaters. It is The Dark Knight Rises, which I'm 99.9% sure most of you have already heard of. This film wraps up director Chris Nolan's brilliant bat-trilogy in the most satisfying way possible, leaving you with a movie that has its imperfections, but are made up by its powerful acting, a remarkable climactic action sequence, bone-crushing brawls, a main character who we truly start to feel for, and a satisfying ending that closes the series with substance. No, it's not better than The Dark Knight, but it's still as great of a closure as I could've hoped for.

The Dark Knight Rises brings back a lot of characters from the previous films, as well as some new characters such as Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway), the villainous Bane (Tom Hardy), and officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Some may complain that there are too many new characters which makes for a film that feels jumbled and a bit messy. I don't disagree. But it's still clean storytelling, and director Christopher Nolan (who's becoming one of my favorites) keeps the main story about Bruce flowing steadily in a good pace. Nolan also makes great use of Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy, who are both amazing in their roles.

The film looks amazing, especially in IMAX. There are several thrilling action sequences and hand-to-hand combat scenes that are well staged and intense. Batman vs. Bane round 1 may go down in history as one of the greatest fight sequences of all time. It's one of the shining moments of the film. This scene leads to a segment in the film in which Bane has Bruce Wayne imprisoned. All he gives Bruce is a television so he can watch Gotham's destruction. Batman has already fallen, but now he's basically dead in the water. I liked this portion of the film because it felt like Bruce was becoming Batman again. And I'll say this: the final 5 minutes of this portion of the film is yet another shining moment, and it gave me the freakin' chills. It's so great. The film's enormous climactic action sequence is very exciting, with a big reveal that may shock most moviegoers.

Never has a superhero movie felt so emotionally rich. It's a dark and dramatic film, and Nolan makes it work well. Even if you're not invested in Bruce Wayne's character emotionally, you can still enjoy the big, big spectacle Chris Nolan creates. This thrilling epic is a fantastic closure to one of cinema's greatest trilogies.

3.5/4 (See It)

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