Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway

Genre: Action, Crime Fiction, Thriller, Drama

Rating: 4/5

With tons of jaw-dropping moments and a very well crafted climax twist, The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) is the best movie of the year so far.

Director Christopher Nolan’s imagination and devotion to the movie takes the highly anticipated finale of the epic trilogy to a whole new level, the level of Pure Awesomeness.

It has been 8 years since the ‘murder’ of Harvey Dent and in tribute of his death, the people of Gotham mark his Death Anniversary as Harvey Dent Day every year post The Dark Knight (2008) events.

All seems to be finally perfect for the city which was under the tight holds of organized crime until the arrival of the masked terrorist, Bane (Tom Hardy), who is the main antagonist and also a very bad, Bad man.

The story starts with a guilt filled Jim Gordon, who has the burden of the truth on his shoulders. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is now an old crippled man who has lost his faith in the need of the symbol of Batman. Bale, who gives one of his most amazing performances as the Bruce Wayne in TDKR justifies the Legend of Batman in the movie.

TDKR has many new characters in its movie canvas. A Cat Burglar, a Very Idealist Young Cop and a Bruce Wayne-ish rich businesswoman.

Anne Hathaway who plays the role of Selina Kyle, the Cat Burglar is absolutely beautiful and very agile. A very peculiar thing is that she is never referred to as the Catwoman in the whole movie, just as a Cat Burglar.

One very notably brilliant performance in the movie is of Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays the role of John Blake, a young upcoming cop in the Gotham Police Department, an idealist who believes in Batman.

Nolan’s very bold decision of not producing the movie in 3D depicts his confidence in the story and faith in the fans. Wally Pfister’s cinematography is sheer brilliance. Chris and his crew have outdone themselves in the action sequences of the movie. If you think that overturning a whole truck in The Dark Knight was mind-blowing then you can expect a lot more from TDKR.

The many outstanding performances in the movie make TDKR a worthy finale to the trilogy that has had two very successful films in the past. Michael Caine’s portrayal of Alfred is just true to his nature, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon can never be replaced and Morgan Freeman’s Fox, the guy who has all the Cool Toys is near to perfect. This trio is just not an ally, but a father figure to the caped crusader.

Hans Zimmer’s music is a cinephile’s lullaby. It just synchronizes with the flow of the movie.

TDKR is a very huge movie, which amidst all the big action sequences and the sophisticated gadgets and technology ends up having certain flaws in the story.

Some very minor shortcomings are the only reason that I would say that The Dark Knight was a tad bit better than the TDKR.

What The Avengers lacked, TDKR was full of it. It would be silly calling TDKR just a superhero movie, it’s a whole summer package; Drama, Action, Emotions, GREAT music and an amazing cast.

I’m going with a 4 out of 5 for the Batman movie that is very true to the comics. The climax will leave you spellbound, although if you have the read the comics before you might figure out the ending well in advance.