introduction of a new character. As slinky burglar Selina Kyle, Anne Hathaway is superb: physically dangerous, emotionally intriguing and
sexy without milking it. As ambiguous as Kyle is, her journey shares with Wayne’s a sense of struggling for a fresh start, for a clean
slate, ultimately for redemption.
Dedicated fans of the comic books are unlikely to feel surprised by many story twists here, but that’s no surprise in itself given the
DC icon’s extensive history. Another story strand feels a little familiar and may unconsciously reflect the director’s love of Bond, but
it’s ideas, not schematics, that you will be mulling over afterwards. What’s impressive is how Nolan, his fellow story wrangler David S.
Goyer and co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan have found a way to bring their Bat-cycle full circle without coasting — instead touching on our
world within a comic-book context.
Where Avengers demolished New York with a glee unrivalled outside of a terrorist training camp, Rises takes turning Gotham into Gomorrah
very seriously indeed. Nolan’s has been the Batman of the War On Terror and the credit crunch, made in an age where belief-driven crazies
threatened world security and men with nothing more than computers and a sense of entitlement destroyed arguably as many lives as thugs
with guns. Rises plants seeds of sedition, questions the position
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of the financial elite and presents the plight of the 99 per cent. Even as the jeopardy ratchets and our position — as surrogate citizens,
the people Batman has sworn to protect — is dire, Rises doesn’t forget to have some fun, with a pyrotechnical act that brings to mind Fight
Club’s Project Mayhem. It’s this balance between sobriety and sensation that is Nolan’s most significant achievement throughout these films.
Batman can easily play as either glum or camp — it takes a special talent to not just recognise his inherent absurdity and his inspirational
power but also embrace them both: a talent with a taste for the theatrical.
Verdict
With spectacle in abundance and sexiness in (supporting) parts, this is superhero filmmaking on an unprecedented scale. Rises may lack the
surprise of Begins or the anarchy of Knight, but it makes up for that in pure emotion. A fitting epitaph for the hero Gotham deserves.
Batman Movie Countdown
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