The Dark Knight Rises: my thoughts.

If you haven’t seen the movie and want to be completely spoiler free, you probably shouldn’t read this. I discuss some plot events in detail, though I don’t give away any major plot turns. Now that that’s out of the way… There are so many thought-provoking themes raised in the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, I’m not sure where to start. The movie makes clear reference to the horrors of the French Revolution by way of allusions to A Tale of Two Cities, one of the greatest books ever written. Barsad and Stryver are two characters in the movie; Sydney Carton’s famous final speech is used in a moving way. In one scene, after Bane and his henchmen have taken over Gotham, supposedly freeing the people from oppression by the rich, there is a court scene straight out of the Reign of Terror. The accused even sits in a late 18th century French style chair. There is no justice. The accused are guilty by virtue of being rich, being in some kind of power-role, or a combination of the two. All are seen as oppressors worthy of punishment regardless of what they actually did. Those doing the condemning, and the ransacking and raiding of the wealthy’s homes, do so with the claim of “taking what’s rightfully theirs.” In one of many poignant scenes, Selina Kyle is walking through a now-squalid mansion that has been occupied by the low-lifes of Gotham and grieves over the loss of what was once a beautiful home. Another character remarks in answer to this that the home now belongs to everyone, as if this somehow justifies what they have done. Anyone who knows a little about history knows that the French Revolution was a horrific bloodbath that in no way secured equality. The people were no better off and instead of facing starvation, faced the guillotine if their neighbor so much as suspected them of sympathizing with the aristocracy. This aura of fear is reflected when one of the higher-up police officers lives in semi-hiding in his house, hoping no one realized he is in fact a police officer. Bane’s idea of “equality,” like that of the French Revolution, is reducing everyone to squalor, not elevating the lower classes to prosperity. This movie is violent, of course. But it shows the consequences of violence. Mad men with hatred in their hearts will do violence if circumstances allow. There’s an interesting scene where after Batman has told another character he doesn’t believe in guns, this character saves his life… with a gun. Sometimes the only way to stop evil, armed to the teeth and hell-bent on death, is to out-gun them. The violence that the heroes have to employ is not without consequences, though. It clearly weighs on their bodies and souls to do what no one else can or will in order to keep the city truly free. The performances the actors give throughout the movie are top-notch: among Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Gary Oldman, Michael Cane, and Tom Hardy there is not a single weak link. The cinematography is beautifully haunting. The moment where Batman lights the side of a building up with flame in the shape of the universally recognized Bat symbol, to give Gotham hope, is one of the most goose-bump inducing moments of any movie. Ever. As a fan of literature, comic books, comic book movies, and great film in general, this picture has so many levels to mull over. It has action, heroism, dialogue, a few subtle moments of humor, romance, and as someone familiar with the Batman comics, quite a few moments where I wanted to squeal loudly in the theater. I settled for subtly pumping my fists or grinning like a doof at my husband. Anyone making a comic book movie after this has a lot to live up to. If you are reading this and you’ve seen the movie, what did you think?