Many falls before this Rise...

Christopher Nolan has made us wait for 4 long years before he presented the last edition of his Batman trilogy to us. And not without reason too. Heath Ledger blew us away with his portrayal of 'The Joker' in the previous film, a performance that won't be forgotten anytime, even though the man himself is no longer with us. Nolan probably wanted to have enough time between the 2 movies so as to minimise any comparisons with the previous edition, no matter how difficult a task that may be.This time around, there is no singular path-breaking performance, there are no wicked smiles which attract you to the anti-hero, but the hero himself is brought to 'light' with so much darkness, that the line seems to be blurred between good and evil. The characters in the movie constantly mould and remould themselves to become a part of the circumstances surrounding them. The entire first half seemed like a giant connect-the-dots game, with hundreds of dots spread over an area not much bigger than a notebook page. It does take some concentration to connect all the pieces. And if the sound system of the theater decides to go low volume during the dialogues, then it gets quite confusing. Don't get me started there!
The movie begins with Gotham's 'White Knight', the Late Harvey Dent being remembered on the 8th year of his passing. What follows is a whirlwind of activity, where a host of new characters are introduced, old lies are exposed, old friendships are tested, a servant's love comes agonizingly to the forefront, and one man's resolve to fight a city's battles is again tested. Having given up his cape that same day 8 years ago, Bruce Wayne is once again faced with the conundrum of choosing either his well-being or his city in a time of massive crisis. No prizes for guessing which one he chooses. But even Batman himself may have bitten off more than he can chew this time around. He is faced with a brutal enemy, hardened in a torturous prison, and trained by the same man who was once Bruce Wayne's trainer. There are a lot of references to the previous two movies of the trilogy, so a little bit of a revision would do you no harm. It would probably take you the entire first half and a bit more to figure out who's who. Once that is done with, the pace really picks up in the second half as Gotham City comes under the control of Bane, Batman's nemesis in this movie. The scene in the football stadium where the attacker runs to the end-zone, all the while the entire playing surface gets blown to bits is amazing. Pity it was already shown in the trailers. For me this was probably the scene of the film.

It takes Batman more than one attempt to get the better of his nemesis this time around. Not without help though. The absolutely stunning Anne Hathaway plays a stylish and slippery Catwoman, portraying both the spoil as well as muse for Batman. She steals the show when acts the role of a helpless woman trapped in the crossfire. That happens at the beginning of the movie. By the end, she is as willing to get rid of Bane as Batman, and together they form an unlikely, but not too surprising team. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are back as Alfred and Lucius Fox. The scene where Alfred leaves Wayne mansion, bidding an emotional farewell to Bruce is touching. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a spunky, 'hotheaded' police officer, who is probably the only one in the entire movie who doesn't have any gray shades. He portrays the role well and comes off as genuine. Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon, a man saddled by the lies he is forced to keep alive about his former colleague, Harvey Dent. Marion Cotillard plays Miranda, the President of Wayne Enterprises, after Bruce's misfortune, and it is her character which will answer most of your questions. Christian Bale in the role of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman, doesn't do much different from the previous movies, but doesn't do too badly either. Here in fact he is more in the spotlight than the previous movie, where The Joker stole most of the spotlight.
All in all, a compact second half makes this film worthy of a watch. It does get a bit confusing at times. A second watch would probably clear out most of the details. In my opinion, this is not as compelling as the previous movie, but it is definitely not one to miss, especially if you are a fan of the 'Dark Knight'.