Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy set a benchmark for comic book and superhero films. It was aspirational, entertaining and yet followed the style of the neo-noir. The three movies in the trilogy include Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
With Nolan at the helm and Christian Bale wearing the cape, the trilogy featured fantastic performances and made its mark in the history of movies and pop culture. While many critics and viewers argue that The Dark Knight was the best movie in the trilogy, a case can also be made for The Dark Knight Rises.
BEST: The Epic Scale
The Dark Knight was almost like one man against the people, but The Dark Knight Rises pits people against other people. There are nuclear weapons and even an all out war. People are tried in kangaroo courts and sentenced to death.
Especially towards the end of the movie, viewers see the epic proportions of the events in the movie. The stakes are really high and an entire city is about to be blown up by a nuclear bomb. Batman has to fly out with said nuclear bomb and viewers even see it explode. In this way, The Dark Knight Rises takes the trilogy to another level.
NOT: Joker
While Bane is an extraordinary villain, most superhero villains pale in comparison to Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. It is hard to match up to such a dynamic and chaotic character like the Joker and The Dark Knight Rises is unmatched in this extraordinary performance.
The Joker is one of the primary reasons why The Dark Knight is considered the best movie in the trilogy and it is hard to argue with this.
BEST: Women Have Substantial Roles
Compared to the first two movies, The Dark Knight Rises gives more roles to women in the narrative. Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Selina Kyle, especially, needs to be mentioned. She is almost as stylish and suave as Batman, and equally physically capable.
The Dark Knight mainly revolved around a few men, and Rachel Dawes was reduced to someone who simply had to be protected. The Dark Knight Rises, however, has two strong female characters in the form of Selina Kyle and Miranda Tate.
NOT: Doesn’t Work As A Stand-Alone Film
The Dark Knight Rises doesn’t work too well as a stand-alone movie. It requires one to have substantial knowledge about the other two movies to understand some things, and to better appreciate some others.
Batman Begins, however, offers the backstory of some characters that is so vital to understanding some of the major plot points in The Dark Knight Rises. In this respect, The Dark Knight works better as a stand-alone film, with the entire story compressed into this one film, and it doesn’t rely too much on Batman Begins.
BEST: Closure
The Dark Knight doesn’t really end on a positive note, with Batman having to flee the public after having taken the blame for Harvey’s death and the deaths caused by Harvey.
The Dark Knight Rises, however, gives quite a satisfactory and happy ending to most characters. It gives Bruce his well-deserved break after all the complicated problems he has faced so far. It also gives the viewers a sense of closure, a neat tying up of the Nolan trilogy.
NOT: Uncomplicated Characters
The Dark Knight Rises has quite uncomplicated characters, in a manner of speaking. It is very easy to understand why they are the way they are, and why they do the things they do. There is explication through the plot and, quite straightforwardly, through some dialogue, as well.
This was not the case with The Dark Knight. It had characters that were complicated and layered and the movie acted as a case study for these complicated characters.
BEST: The Old Vs The New
Visually, the stark contrast between the pit and the high rise buildings of Gotham was exceptional to watch. The movie, at one point, went from a scene in the pit, to a scene that showed the nuclear reactor. The contrast between the old and the more traditional, to the new and technological advancements, could not be more pronounced.
The Dark Knight Rises also raises important questions about data, the inability to start afresh in an internet and technology-saturated world, and technology’s ability to weaponize every advancement.
NOT: Ratings
The Dark Knight Rises has an IMDb rating of 8.4, while The Dark Knight has an IMDb rating of 9. The difference in the Rotten Tomatoes score is not as much between the two movies, with The Dark Knight Rises scoring 87% while The Dark Knight scores 94%.
Therefore, by virtue of ratings, The Dark Knight seems to clinch the title of the best movie in the trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises misses this position in many reviews by critics and viewers, as well.
BEST: The Portrayal Of Anarchy
The Dark Knight was chaotic and flirted with anarchy. The Dark Knight Rises takes this one step ahead to portray an all-out anarchic state ruled by fascists. The movie tries to reflect some historical elements from the French Revolution, as well.
The storming of the Blackgate prison in Gotham can be seen in light of the historical storming of the Bastille. The movie tries to make a case against this blatant destruction and fascism that is so thinly covered up by characters like Bane, who has only vague ideological notions that he proclaims.
NOT: The Defeat Of Bane
The Dark Knight trilogy is exceptional because it doesn’t resort to comic book-esque villains. The villains have substance, beliefs and are multidimensional characters.
And so, it was quite disappointing when Bane, who was built up in such an amazing manner through the film, succumbs to quite an easy end. The very sudden displacement of Bane from the position of the main villain, in the end, to accommodate Miranda Tate, who was the brains behind the whole thing, was also quite a letdown.
