The Knight rises and shines

Christopher Nolan’s gritty and more realistic take on DC Comics’ quintessentially human superhero ends with “The Dark Knight Rises,” the part that aptly concludes the trilogy—and its darker mythology—with a bang.

The Nolan films re-established a more serious Batman, accompanied by more reality-based trappings, and familiar concepts with more plausible backstories. After the first two acclaimed films, the caped crusader returns for a final time, the character’s more “mature” handling offering more audacious ideas that have yet to be seen in the source comic books.

Two iconic villains from the comics debut in fantastic fashion. The elusive cat burglar Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) makes her presence known to Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), who is now reclusive and has long retired his Batman identity.

The other antagonist is Bane, a mysterious masked warrior who violently introduces himself to Gotham City. Bane’s scheme is a grand, circuitous plot to flush out the outlawed Batman, humiliate him, and conquer Gotham. Like in the comics, he breaks the Bat’s body and spirit. He’s also vicious and merciless, but unlike in the book, he’s not a Venom junkie in this movie. Oh, and he’s far from the blubbery mess that appeared in Joel Schumacher’s “Batman and Robin.”

Bane, self-proclaimed “Gotham’s reckoning,” and Catwoman, thief extraordinaire, are prominently featured, both unanticipated elements that affect Batman staggeringly. The resultant chaos ultimately impacts Wayne’s secret weaponeer Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), rookie cop John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), businesswoman Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), and thousands of helpless Gothamites.

“The Dark Knight Rises” has a grandiosity to its design that mostly translates to excellent character dynamics, while profoundly analyzing the purpose of Batman and the other characters, whether friend or foe. There are iffily executed situations, however, but they don’t mar the storytelling too much.

The siege and liberation of Gotham effectively translate into an astounding epic, while Bruce Wayne’s deeper reassessment of his quest for justice and recovery take place concurrently. It’s a glorious ending to this particular series of films; it still disturbs as much as it awes, and there’s a real, satisfying finality to the dark superhero’s saga.