The Dark Knight Rises reviewed by Mark Kermode

www.bbc.co.uk/5...
Fridays at 2pm on BBC 5 live.
Mark Kermode reviews The Dark Knight Rises. Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman star in the most anticipated film of 2012.
This week's show guest presented by Zoe Ball.

[@maverickmegastar]

Since Ebert passed away Mark has been my favorite critic..

[@StandByShields]

He's a big guy

[@BannedPhotoshop]

agreed

[@estd1759]

@@StandByShields For you.

[@IMOReviews]

I think he has a brilliant perspective regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him. I’m always interested to hear his thoughts

[@Epiousios18]

What's strange is I was just watching another review of Mark's and thought about commenting this same thing. Strange how that kind of thing works.

[@TheConciseStatement]

Wish Zöe was on more often. It's like getting a second full review but from the perspective of a normal person.

[@sumanthnagabushan1063]

But Simon is Mr (or Dr) Superb regardless... the complimentary part of the odd couple😄

[@razkable]

i love the passion..wish more people let go of plotholes and small nitpicks and just allow us who enjoyed the film to enjoy it..

[@MrCostaC]

A second review that nobody asked for. She’s cringy.

[@MyHerpderp]

Imagine the tremendous sound that must be produced when Kermode claps

[@kermodeandmayo]

He definitely liked the movie. We've had to delete your comment though. Feel free to repost without profanity.

[@DonBarracuda117]

This is one of my favourite reviews by Kermode. The movie was brutal, epic I shed a manly tear. Nolan constantly surprises me, also credit to the supporting roles. Bane and Catwoman were better than I could have imagined

[@LukesEnglishPodcast]

Some great hand-waving going on here from both Mark and Zoe

[@StayFractalesque]

what does that mean? dismissal? how so

[@LukesEnglishPodcast]

@@StayFractalesque Doesn’t mean anything else. I just enjoy the way they wave their hands around while they talk.

[@johnmellor932]

Its actually my favourite of the 3

[@timothyw98]

Making a comparison with Kick Ass, the fighting in crowd sequences had the same underlying narrative. The mob mentality, the police, the hoodlums, the good guys trying to do right. It essentially becomes a no win situation, everyone becomes the freak and the damned.

[@jackbutler3133]

Also get to see Batman fighting alongside the same people who have hunted him as a murderer for years and years, recognizing him as an ally once again after all this year's in their combined struggle against evil.

[@kermodeandmayo]

'Commode' translates as 'convenient' from French to English...

[@Tymbus]

Yeah but in English it is a kind of toilet!

[@peripheralperception2267]

You forget the other meaning of "commode": a dresser. Trust me on this, I am French.

[@Goochbot]

Not quite as masterful as The Dark Knight, but still a fantastic movie.

[@litteralyjustsam5262]

@Funk O'Matic calm down

[@ntube7]

Mark preferred Rises! He was quite critical of the Dark Knight

[@KydzPlays]

@@ntube7 There’s nothing wrong with that. I can understand why he feels that way too.

[@syndrome3215]

TDKR is actually pretty trash lol.

[@allofthepoints9636]

@@syndrome3215 coldest take on the internet

[@BradderzSG]

I love Mark Kermode he's so passionate on movies and i respect him for it

[@AseannaesA]

I absolutely love Mark, he is fully able to reflect on both the love and the hate in his reviews and it is so great. Knowing that there is an actual reason behind the slow beginning because that it immerses you in the struggle of Bruce and the bombastic climax. Genius!

[@walnutpenguin]

He only cried in 2 scenes, one being when he tells Bruce about burning Rachaels letter and the other being stood at Bruces grave. Both very suitable for 'water works'

[@Klaaarke]

These films also have more in common with 60s Batman & Robin than they would like to admit: Bruce disappearing from parties a moment before Bats turns up, Villains who risk their plans by explaining them for no reason Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb.

[@guyvizard549]

Yep. I totally thought about "...just can't get rid of a bomb."

[@OsBKenshin]

"I think sometimes people look too hard to find anything we can to pull something apart. A movie is supposed to be an experience. It's not meant to be a check list of a bunch of small things that don't really matter in the end. The Dark Knight Rises hit every emotional note it needed to. It weaved multiple characters into a solid story and none of them felt short changed."

[@maxrav1831]

I usually hate film reviewers, probably watching Barry Norman all them years. However, with Mark I couldn't agree more. The three films are brilliant and I don't mean to be over the top they just are superb examples of film making and to me personally Nolan never puts a foot wrong.

[@z0uLess]

The first thing that hits me when watching this is how far we have moved culturally since then.

[@Jordannadroj20]

in what sense?

[@z0uLess]

@@Jordannadroj20 in the sense of things moving faster and faster, movements being shorter and shorter, the pulse of information oscillates in a more strained sense.

[@Mehbz]

I ABSOLUTELY ADORED IT! One thing Mark fails to mention is the beautiful moral situations the characters find themselves in, which engage the audience and ask us, what would you do?! WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO BECOME?! WHAT WOULD YOU SACRIFICE?!! Utterly stupendous film making. Utterly.

[@Goochbot]

I preferred it to TDK and BB. I loved the atmosphere and there's more emotional weight to it in comparison to the other films, and it wasn't in constant climax mode that TDK was ( I do love TDK though). Also that ending, was perfect.

[@chrishiggins7166]

The film is well acted, well crafted, stylish, effective, well directed & is overall one of the best Batman films if not the best. (93%) (4.5/5 stars) (positive)

[@TheHappo]

Absolutely loved this, brings Begins and Dark Knight together wonderfully, and more comic booky, lots of great nods to fans, whilst retaining Nolan's style. Loved it loved it loved it.

[@orges_x8652]

😂

[@robertcooper457]

It's an amazing spectacle if you don't think too deeply about it.

[@KajiCarson]

The film is kind of a masterpiece. I felt it tried to do SO many things, but it succeeded as almost evey thing and theme. HUGELY ambitious film, and rightly so. It delivers. I LOVED it.

[@PaulMMartinMovies]

Brilliant review! Can always rely on Mark Kermode for balanced, insightful and enthusiastic comments. I'm going to see it for a 3rd time tomorrow and this has just reminded me of my overwhelming excitement :D

[@RADMANRB]

This is the most genuine review of this movie on youtube. He actually gets what this movie was supposed to be. Lots of people that didnt like this movie didnt like it because its not the dark knight 2. People really need to look at this movie as a character piece because in that regard,its one of the best comic movies ever made, and in terms of the character of batman and portraying the greatness and depth ofhis character,this is the best film of the trilogy. Its not perfect, but it getsthe char

[@blubido]

In my opinion one of the best reviews you have ever made, i havem t seen the movie yet but i will watch after this positif critic . Keep showing these reviews on your channel. I also would like to know what s your perfect movie 10/10 (if there is)

[@OscarHarding]

What a great, insightful and passionate review! I wish he'd made more of a comment on the characters/actors, but... wow. What a film!

[@TimOaks]

Thank you. Honestly, so many people are reviewing and criticizing this movie as if they had no idea this was the case. If you have read the comics or looked them up you can find the points they borrowed from and if people like those comics then they'd like the little bits that were infused within this movie.

[@davidian3412]

I re-watched the Dark Knight trilogy recently with my daughter and we agreed that it is a masterwork.

[@tanory07]

I've loved batman since the first time I've seen him; I've bought every game, seen almost every show, and read everything I can about batman. I loved the first two movies so much-they were amazing, I got goosebumps, something I never expected, and I wanted so much. When I saw the new trailer for this movie, I got chills, I was so happy, I pre-ordered the tickets, sat down and got giggly preparing for the movie, and watching it, it looked good. But at the end, I just, it didn't lead up to my hype

[@FabianEllis]

This is great, never seen Kermode so passionate about super-hero movies- this is why cape flicks should be made by great artists who have an understanding of creating compelling, epic visuals (as that's what the comics are full of). The Spider-man trilogy, Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Aquaman are also well made super-hero by auteurs with vision and an understanding of the source material. As much as the MCU is a great interconnected series- it needs more experienced and skilled filmmakers capable of creating true spectacle and not just messy green screens to truly be worthy of the size of the cinema screen.

[@OttoServe]

Great review! Really excited to see it tonight

[@claudes.whitacre1241]

Bane was the best part, I thought...God, that voice...a real villain voice.

[@harrymail7]

Americans always use English accents as the villain. Sounds scarier for some reason

[@harrymail7]

@@lydhavet-music yes I know. That is why I am saying Americans use British actors woth Brotish accents to play the villains. It always sounds better to them.

[@harrymail7]

@@lydhavet-music Yeah I know Nolan is British aswell. It's a common thing for a villain in films aimed towards the US to have a Brotish accent. It sounds more exotic and intimidating to them.

[@keretaman]

@@lydhavet-music yea but compared with this, Bale is british and does an american accent.

[@Matthew-ve7uv]

Jesus Harry you keep changing what you say and acting as if you aren't. Have some shame, man.

[@TheMonkeyKey]

"They're good gadgets, they do the stuff."

[@barbaricdestroyer]

mark kermode is spot on with this review great to see someone who understands the film so well and understands nolan

[@braggyreyes]

tdkr was awesome, those who havent seen it, see it for urselves, its great, you be the judge, i give 10 of 10 stars!

[@eddah123]

The amount of gesticulation in this video is amazing.

[@badtracking]

Bafflingly, none of the performances are talked about. Tom Hardy is not even mentioned.

[@razkable]

anne joseph caine bale and hardy are amazing in rises...they blew me away

[@RuhBuhJuh1]

Superb review, agree with every word. I don't think it's the best film of the three (TDK > TDKR > Begins), but the fact that this trilogy which at its heart is a kids comic book story can be so challenging and groundbreaking is a testament to the talent of Christopher Nolan. Mind blowing.

[@PantheonLincoln]

I've just started watching this video, having just come back from seeing The Dark Knight rIses, and I agree with Kermode's comments on the Burton Batmans being a bit panto. I found the 1989 Batman flick VERY overrated. Nolan's trilogy pulls a weird trick of seeming radically different to the original comics, yet they're closer than you think when you dig deeper.

[@magisterguidice]

I saw this in 35mm and am seeing it again in Imax. I was stunned and tolerated gripped while watching it. Mark Kermode thanks for reviewing the film and at the same time giving a unique critical appraisal of The Dark Knight Rises in terms of Nolan's other works. I eagerly await his next film . The only thing going against Inception was that Shutter Island came out around the same time and was thematically similar-both films revolve around the lead character's experience of grief and loss.

[@enigma19833]

I LOVED the film, but the ending wasn't "open to interpretation" in the slightest! It was completely clear and spelled-out and totally unambiguous. Unless you want to go the "Alfred was hallucinating/daydreaming/imagining Bruce and Selena in Italy at the end" route, of course. But it's a pretty big stretch and not really supported by anything else in the film.

[@LoneCloudHopper]

I felt the same as Kermode. This was the Batman film that I've ALWAYS wanted to see. I'm not saying that it's perfect, or as good as The Dark Knight, but I enjoyed this one more and I can't wait to get it on DVD. For me, Nolan came through! :)

[@blennerville2]

Better paced film compared to Dark Knight. I enjoyed it more and had more fun.

[@cheevo99]

so glad mark kermode gave this a raving review,as it deserves.i always agreed with his views on many films before.i think the reason people didnt like rises,is because they didnt get it.they didnt understand what nolan was trying to achieve.the ones who didnt like it,were maybe expecting more of a super hero extravaganza,like the avengers.they didnt see how in depth it was to show the complexity of the characters or understand how the end was what everyones own interpretation of it would be.

[@RobAyling]

Just went and saw The Dark Knight Rises at the BFI IMAX - I thought it was incredible! Just an amazing way to finish an amazing trilogy. Nolan - You have done us Bat-Fans proud :)

[@JasonVoorhees6661]

I loved begins, because it was the resurrection of Batman, he took Batman back to his origins, and give us a gritty Batman. I always say this about Begins, its the first ever live action batman film that is all about Bruce/batman and his family, we have never got a film where Bruce and his family interact with each other, and it sees us see Bruce transform into the batman, learning his crafts, knowing how he faces his fears, and becoming TDK we all wanted to see. Not just putting on the suit

[@Gokulio]

Great review by Mark. Nolan's Dark Knight triolgy, imo, is the greatest trilogy of all time.

[@nicoladavies1848]

Yep my fave too

[@allofthepoints9636]

The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy

[@IvanKroloCroGeek0424]

Yeah I can totally understand that, also with every Nolan film from Begins to Rises (including Inception), you have to watch them all multiple times to get everything out of it and to completely understand it all.

[@connormcleod9595]

Superb film and superb ending to a great triology

[@spoonlamp]

I found the initial plane sequence to be a little disappointing. I wondered if the effect had been done deliberately to sort of, re-ground you, get your expectation in the right place in order to proceed, building itself internally from that let down. And it really does build. Very enjoyable. Better than 1, not as good as 2.

[@Kallesanus]

Mark is awesome

[@joshyposhesq7893]

Kermode Rules, he told Spielberg about seeing Jaws in Turnpike lane, I remember that cinema, love your reviews, top dog critic!!!

[@Fondrom]

An intelligent review, its clear he knows his stuff whereas other reviewers, especially the American ones make little lame jokes with someone laughing along on their video, complain about 'plotholes' when they're easily justified

[@iMini92]

SPOILERS It depends on how you want to look at everything. Does Blake go on to become Batman? Nightwing? Does he continue to be "Robin"? What about Bruce? Is he dead? Was the Florence scene in Alfreds mind? My personal belief is that Blake takes on Bruce's mantle and becomes The Batman (so much evidence for this, the message that anyone can be batman, Bruce leaving Blake all of his bat-based equipment). And Bruce is alive, Alfred never really met Selina Kyle and she's there.

[@themadmathematician3]

Kermode is clearly wrong about the ending being ambigous, right? Spoiler warning. We are both shown that Fox discovers that the autopilot was fixed and that the pearl necklace, Selina was wearing, had gone missing. Did Caine imagine these things as well? Also in the entire trilogy we have not been shown unreliable images other than when characters were clearly medicated. And questioning what is real or not is not a central theme of the movie.

[@rross46]

Great review. Gave nothing away. Glad to see someone championing Begins, I think it was very underrated. I think The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises surpass it in terms of story telling and spectacle, but I think people don't always watch Begins in context - this is the opening act of Nolan's trilogy, he is setting the scene and I think it does this job fantastically. Rises however blew me away. As the closing act to the trilogy...if you haven't seen it, go see it. In iMAX.

[@keithspringston9283]

I also liked this more than the dark knight. It was more exciting to watch I thought. I thought bane was scarier than the joker.

[@Obenn1]

LOVE Mark Kemode's reviews

[@mrbrandonmartin388]

It blows my mind that people are willing to look over the major, and i mean MAJOR problems with DKR but they are so whinny over the reboot of Spider-man. While i do love DRK, The Amazing Spider-man was a great movie and so enjoyable.

[@justinhughes619]

Excellent review! As an American I like to see the British perspective

[@blennerville2]

The review of this and the Dark Knight are among just the very few of Marks reviews i think are good.

[@REAL_Infamous]

Can't say I really agree with that. Outside of the rubber Batman suit, both Burton and Nolan's inspiration came from the comics of the time. Miller's Year One & DKR, Killing Joke and so forth, and while the visions are different, they are both born out of the comics. And I do agree with Mark about the tone of Burton's films. While visually dark, gothic and grotesque, there's quite a bit of camp that's at odds with the dark tone. They're films that really can't stay serious for too long.

[@SuperLaney81]

Best of the 3. Period.

[@guybaxendale]

Hoping to go on Sunday night. Not been looking forward to a film this much for ages

[@marcusmalone]

Almost agree: the 'drone' of the second film is counterbalances by Ledger's Joker; the third film lacks such counterbalance.

[@coreyristic9234]

I enjoyed The Dark Knight more. I thought Heath Ledger’s Joker was a better villain than Bane. Rises is a good film but isn’t in the same league as Dark Knight.

[@4thlord51]

Nolan's movies are meant to be viewed several times. He crafts all of his movies like puzzles. Many of these "flaws", or unseen exposition, were purposely done because too much exposition kills momentum, which this film is driven by. Example, how does bane know where the nuclear reactor is or Wayne's armory is located? Knowing that Talia is feeding Bane information, her presence is unseen but felt throughout the movie. You can only understand what I mean if you watch it a second time.

[@paulflint6254]

TDKR is the best film out of the trilogy

[@alansmith4655]

DOCTORWHO ISGR8 Nah.

[@codyrw8397]

@ARYAN KAUSHIK D MB11589 NO

[@codyrw8397]

@ARYAN KAUSHIK D MB11589 Fair enough 😊

[@cartmanfan4life1]

I do think that this is at the very least a good movie, that's extremely well made and entertaining. But I don't know, for something that was so eagerly awaited and for something that was concluding such a good series, I felt that while it defiantly delivered, it could have done so a lot more then it did.

[@Totes1829]

That was an intelligent review! enjoyed it plus the movie is Amazing!

[@DanielMorgan1]

I have become a huge Chris Nolan fan over the past few years. I struggle to recall any of his films that were below 8/10. Memento, the prestige, inception and the dark knight trilogy are some of my all-time favourites. I agree with doctor K with regard to his sense of satisfaction from seeing it, especially due to the fact that the other 2 has set such a high bench mark. This one did seem slightly detached from the others in my opinion but still overwhelmingly a success for me! Awesome!!!

[@supersatanic]

It was quite nice. It had more substance than the avengers.

[@sohaibjamil5950]

He spends like two-four sentences on other films, most of the time he is talking about this movie and Nolan's achievement. And he was being in order to not give anything away. Which I really appreciate.

[@Survivethejive]

inception was lame

[@smittenthekitteninmittens2679]

+Survive the Jive........what a well thought out and articulate critique!!......you should do it as a job!

[@redz0791]

i agree with mark that "what you give is what you get back". i like the fact that not everybody sees eye to eye on this film (or the series for that matter) because it is what you make of it and trying to decipher the messages that is trting to convey. nolan's not a director whose objective is to deliver flawless entertainment but to challenge the audience to do the puzzle solving and that in turn is a much more rewarding experience than seeing spiderman punch a bland cgi reptile for an hour.

[@theanmolsharma4094]

greatest superhero film EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[@playthatfunkymusicrobot]

It twists my melon that this was potentially rated NC-17 because of one alleged scene.

[@kermodeandmayo]

Isn't the French for toilet 'toilette'?

[@elspoko]

I think the crowd fights were showing that these superheroes are having these big fights amongst us. We are at the mercy of these fights. We are very involved in these fights. It's not like Transphormers, or even The Avengers, where these big, city-destroying fights happen, but no one is really hurt or in the way.

[@JapanJohnny2012]

i found it bloated and convoluted, a nolan hallmark.

[@burtha3]

The end was fantastic, but the set up (everything before hand) needed to be a lot more succinct. There’s a lot going on all the time which is definitely a good thing but when there are points where there are 3 or even 4 different plots to follow, and you can’t understand what’s being said, and you’ve been sitting in an uncomfortable seat for too long, it’s hard not to switch off.

[@RareBirdGames]

It's very mediocre, watching the second time was incredibly boring.

[@farneyblakeley]

What I didn't like about this film and the series in general is that the only people who have any fun, have any joy about themselves are the villains. It's a very depressing view of society. The city streets are reduced to an arena for combat with little thought given to noncombatants by either side. I could say more along those lines but will hold off. I did tear up at the end but still felt I had been put through a very long relentlessly dreary experience for that payoff.

[@Hoscitt]

Easily the weakest of the trilogy

[@youngsandwichgaming9071]

Nah, definitely a better film than begins

[@isasooner5]

I think in time the TDKR will be more acclaimed and even more respected. you have to understand for a lot of movies it takes years to get the respect it actually deserves and recognition. TDKR is like inception in a way that it is very intelligent unexpectedly though and its going to take multiple viewings for people to fully grasp the greatness and complexity of TDKR. Like inception it has multiple story lines and is somewhat controversial.

[@Satan97458]

The Dark Knight Rises = Best Movie Ever

[@jkready111]

Agree with him about Inception. A very unusual movie to be made with that much budget, and exceptionally executed.

[@Misiulo]

Okay, okay. We got it. everything Nolan is the bestest ever.

[@es80es]

Amazing movie! Going to see it for the second time tonight in NYC at midnight, in IMAX!

[@mrawesome669]

Batman Begins 9/10 The Dark Knight 10/10 The Dark Knight Rises 7/10

[@gamerguy8476]

Dark Knight rises underrated af

[@SB992REBORN]

NOW THIS IS WHY I LOVE THE BRITISH!!!! US AMERICANS, WE TAKE EVERYTHING FOR GRANTED AND IT'S STUPID!!! BUT BRITISH PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT A FILM, BIG OR SMALL, AND RECOGNIZE WHAT A MASTERPIECE IT REALLY IS LIKE WE ALL SHOULD BE DOING RIGHT NOW!!! FILM IS NOT JUST A PIECE OF ENTERTAINMENT OR A MERE ENJOYMENT TO BE HAD OR A GIMIC, IT IS AN ART.... A CREATIVE ART THAT MORE PEOPLE SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT IT WAS EVEN MADE! IF YOU CAN'T APPRECIATE MOVIES LIKE THIS, THEN YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF....

[@bobbyladd]

Saw it on IMAX yesterday and thought it was superb. The only downside was Bane's voice. I could understand about 90%, but no one should have to strain their ears to try and understand someone in a major film. There was no excuse not to re-mix his voice track or even re-record - which would be very easy to re-sync when there's no lips to match. I just hope all of his speech can be heard when its eventually mixed down to a stereo track for TV and hopefully for Blu-ray.

[@DariushUFC1985]

will in 2 days. i can't wait! was the first fight between batman and bane as good as they say?

[@holmbjerg]

The movie is based on three different comoc books. The Dark Knight Returns, No Mans Land and Knightfall. The story structure is an homage to Charles Dickens and A Tale of Two Cities.

[@blokey8]

I was expecting it to be "dead amaze" on the evidence of The Dark Knight. Luckily, it also had the "totes emosh" element which that film lacked to an extent and which certainly weren't present in The Avengers for me. There are one or two flaws, but I really don't care because I loved the rest so much- favourite film of 2012.

[@cheevo99]

thats a fair point but you have to question,where did he bail out,how did he not drown when he did and how do we know he was safely outside the blast radius?thats the way i looked at it.

[@BowDownTwoBaccos]

People say it's overrated because they compare it to the dark knight which you have to obviously but it's hard to follow one of the best movies ever made but if you just take it as is without knowledge of the previous movies, it was incredible despite certain minor flaws. Compared to other movies that have come out recently there is no comparison to the storytelling, depth, and overall aesthetic of the picture and it seems as though there's more to come. maybe just maybe

[@frenchkids]

Whether you like this film or not, I think we're all very lucky to have witnessed three action films of this calibre. Considering where the franchise was prior to Nolan, could anyone legitimately do a better job? The big question is who has the imagination and skill to craft a new Batman narrative? What's left to explore, and with whom?

[@onepiecefan74]

Thank you so much for this great review. Don't mean to spoil but I thought I was the only one who thought the ending was kind of inception like. Nice to see someone so smart agrees with that.