The Dark Knight Rises Review

July 29th, 2012. By Marcos Daniel Alvear

They weren’t lying. The Dark Knight Rises is epic. It’s Bold. It’s a perfect conclusion for The Dark Knight Trilogy. Its production, its legacy, its meaning; they all go beyond expectation. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is about looking and going beyond the boundaries of things, and that’s why I look beyond ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ as a reflection for everyone.

I’ll admit it right now: this is definitely not what I expected it to be, at all. Make no mistake; I’m not disappointed at any level whatsoever, I just wasn’t thinking outside of the box. Nolan did it and that’s why he’s trusted with one of the most iconic characters in the world. But despite all of this, the film is everything I wanted it to be. It is the conclusion to The Dark Knight Legend, and more importantly, it is a story worth to be told.

I remember when this was first announced back in March, 2010. I was glad Christopher Nolan decided to go back for a last film. Inception wasn’t released, yet, and I didn’t know what to expect from him, post ‘The Dark Knight’. While I’m a fan of his work, the Bible reads: “cursed is the man who trusts in another man” (or, as other versions put it, mankind itself), but let not be too extremists, the point here is that I was aware this film could be bad, terribly. In spite of this, everyone who has been next to me in the past two years, knows that I’ve been very optimistic, living a façade of loyalty and spreading the word that this film was meant to be a masterpiece. And now that it is released, we’re able to answer such question… And, was I right?

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F*ck Yeah.

The direction, the actors, the script, the cinematography, the score, the editing; all of it was perfect. Perhaps the pace goes at a faster speed than any other Nolan movie, but at 2 hours and 45 minutes, the film is fully packed with emotion and entertainment delivered by amazing action sequences.

Nolan’s writing strikes me the most, as it is the key of his Batman films’ success. From a technical point, the story may only teach so little by itself, but it is the awesome work done by Nolan that inspires the most, and the themes of hope that they evoke. The film doesn’t touch moral ambiguity themes like ‘The Dark Knight’ did, but it delivers, with a very big heart, a very clear and human message: no matter how long you wait for something to happen, stand by what you believe, and you will be surprised for what you can achieve by doing so.

The film asks us to rethink how much courage we put to achieve our goals and to weight the determination we put on our everyday actions that work towards that very specific goal. How resilient will you be in front of the most desperate situation? Will you give up easily?

Let’s take a break and talk about what happened to me after the midnight presentation. Honestly, I didn’t know how I felt. I just didn’t. I was confused. When I watched ‘The Dark Knight’ for the first time, back in 2008, I was speechless by such an excellent film. This time around, I couldn’t work out my ideas.

I arrived home and my mom was awake, waiting for me. When I checked in, she asked me if the film was any good, - It was great, mom - I told her. I went to bed and didn’t wake up till 10 AM. The first thing I did when I woke up was to call someone important; someone I like. A friend of hers answered and told me that she wasn’t available. She was very nice. I went down and checked my laptop. I started doing some random stuff. Suddenly, I felt empty. I wasn’t sure why.

For some reason, I decided to call ‘this special someone’ again, two hours later. She answered and talked to me, no more than 5 minutes. And you know what? You know that feeling you get when you continue doing something despite everyone telling you to give up, and yet at the end you get what you wanted because you stood by your beliefs? I felt like that after she talked to me for those 5 precious minutes, ‘cause when I called her, I didn’t know if she was going to answer the cell phone.

Despite having her for 5 minutes, it will never be enough for me: I want more and that’s how resilient the story of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ tough me to be: I can always achieve more. I know it. This “cell phone story” is just a little something from my little world, but it matters to me and means a lot. And just as I know it is a little thing that reassures my faith, if I want to get somewhere, I need to keep trying harder, because the world will never stop changing, it will ask for more, and I’ll never stop running.

I realize, now, that it wasn’t emptiness, or disappointment, the feeling I got when I woke up. It was sadness: sad at the realization that this was the end of a cinematic journey, of Bruce Wayne’s journey, of Nolan’s journey, and that I’ll never see them again in a movie, together. And while the conclusion of this journey overwhelms me with sadness, its legacy, what it means, what it inspires, it goes beyond the boundaries of filmmaking and entertainment and touches my spirit, telling me a real story: hope is never lost. Perhaps, that’s why people may not understand my love about these films. They aren’t just a form of entertainment. They’re artistic. They’re psychological. They’re inspirational. They’re human.