Back in 2008, The Dark Knight felt like the biggest film in the world. Then somehow, in what felt like the blink of an eye, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy was coming to an end.
And what an ending it is.
First of all, this is absolutely a film that deserves to be seen at the cinema. The scale is enormous. Every shot feels huge, Gotham looks incredible and the attention to detail is phenomenal. I spent half the film admiring the city and the other half wondering if I was about to spot an NYPD police car hiding somewhere in the background.
Let's be honest, Gotham is basically Manhattan wearing a Batman costume.
The strange thing is that I went into this wanting it to be better than the previous two films.
And it isn't.
That's not a criticism.
It's just a reminder of how ridiculously good The Dark Knight was.
The Dark Knight Rises is still an excellent film, but I never connected with it in quite the same way. Heath Ledger's Joker cast such a huge shadow over the previous film that it was always going to be difficult for any sequel to reach the same heights.
That said, Bane is a fantastic villain.
Physically, he's everything Batman doesn't want to face. Stronger, tougher and capable of giving Batman the sort of beating that makes you wince from your cinema seat.
There's just one problem.
I could barely understand a word he was saying.
I spent large parts of the film concentrating so hard on deciphering Bane's dialogue that I occasionally forgot to pay attention to what was actually happening. At times he sounded less like Gotham's most feared terrorist and more like KARR from the original Knight Rider after swallowing a voice changer.
The film itself is less about Batman and more about Bruce Wayne.
That's what surprised me most on this rewatch. It's really a story about a broken man trying to find his purpose again. Bruce starts the film physically and emotionally damaged, still carrying the weight of everything that happened in the previous films.
Watching that journey back to becoming Batman is where the film really shines.
And when Batman finally returns?
Epic.
The action is spectacular, the score is incredible and there are several moments that genuinely gave me goosebumps.
I wanted to give this a perfect score.
I really did.
But every time Bane started speaking, I found myself wishing there were subtitles.
Perhaps that's unfair.
Perhaps I just needed Batman's detective skills to work out what he was saying.
4.5/5
