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The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final installment in Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, and the sequel to The Dark Knight (2008). The film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the revolutionary Bane forces Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction.
Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a third film, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land". Filming took place from May to November 2011 in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign, developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot.
The Dark Knight Rises premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012. The film received positive reviews, with praise being directed toward the performances, action sequences, screenplay, direction, musical score, and emotional depth, with many critics deeming it a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The consensus at Rotten Tomatoes calls it "ambitious, thoughtful, and potent". The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the second film in the Batman film series to earn $1 billion. In addition to being Nolan's highest-grossing film, it became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2012.
Plot[]
A Russian professor named Dr. Pavel is bundled onto a plane along with two of Bane's mercenaries with bags on their heads. A CIA agent interrogates the mercenaries about the whereabouts of Bane, until one speaks: revealing himself as Bane. He tells the agent it was his plan to get caught to gain access to the scientist, and at that moment men jump down from another plane and kill the guards. They rip off the CIA plane's tail and Bane gets out with the kidnapped scientist. He orders one of his mercenaries to stay behind in order to provide a body, fooling the world into thinking Pavel was killed.
James Gordon addresses a crowd outside of Wayne Manor, speaking of the life of Harvey Dent and his legacy, the Dent Act. Two police officers talk about how Bruce Wayne has not been seen for 8 years, and how the mayor is going to dump Gordon in the spring. A maid, Selina Kyle, then is ordered by Alfred Pennyworth to take some food to Wayne's room. She leaves the food and investigates, and is shocked when Wayne fires an arrow past her head. He notices that she has stolen his mother's pearls from the safe, and she kicks him in his injured leg and leaves. He then notices that she has been dusting the safe to obtain his fingerprints.
Kyle pulls off her maid costume and gets into a car with a councillor and goes back to his place. At the Major Crimes Unit, a young officer named John Blake tells Gordon that the councillor is missing. At Wayne Manor, Bruce has traced the cat burglar's fingerprints back to her identity Selina Kyle. Alfred tells him that he needs to regain a life and stop living as a recluse.He says he used to holiday in Florence and hoped to see Wayne happily married, because there was nothing for him in Gotham.
Selina Kyle meets with a man in a bar in Gotham and gives him the fingerprints. He refuse to give her what he agreed, instead holding her at gunpoint and demanding all of the prints. She texts her accomplice who brings in the thumbprint, and then realizes the men will not let her go. She reveals that the man she arrived with is the missing city councillor, and the phone she used to text was his phone. The police arrive and Kyle subdues the men around her, and pretends to be scared of the gunfight. The men escape into the sewers, pursued by James Gordon. Bane's men then set off an explosive and kidnap Gordon, bringing him to Bane. Bane kills his henchmen and steals Gordon's speech before Gordon escapes by rolling into sewer flowing drain, where he is washed up at an outlet and rescued by John Blake.
Blake then comes to see Bruce Wayne, revealing that he knows he is the Batman as he once saw him at the orphanage where Blake grew up. He tells Wayne that Batman has to come back, and that the orphanage no longer receives funding from the Wayne foundation. Batman asks Alfred why, and finds out that Wayne Enterprises is no longer turning a profit. He borrows a car and checks into the hospital where Gordon is being treated. He puts on a balaclava and enters Gordon's room, where Gordon tells him Batman must return. Wayne then visits Lucius Fox, who tells him the money they put into a new fusion reactor lost them money, and the new investor Miranda Tate was interested in clean energy investment. He then takes Bruce to applied sciences and shows him The Bat. Later, Wayne follows Selina Kyle from her apartment to a party held by Tate, and talks to the investor about the clean energy proposals. He then dances with Kyle and takes back his mother's pearls. Bruce then learns that Bane was working for his business rival, John Dagget, a corrupt businessman who plans on taking over Wayne Enterprises. Bruce also learns that Bane was formerly a member of the League of Shadows, the group of mercenary's led by the deceased Ra's Al Ghul, before the latter was excommunicated.
At the Gotham Stock Exchange, men enter and take the building hostage. Bane and his men plug in a computer which starts a process in the stock exchange's computers. The police surround the building, and Blake tells a concrete truck to stop blocking the way. Bane and his men ride out of the building on bikes with hostages strapped to them, and as the police give chase they notice the lights blacking out. Batman then appears on the Batpod and chases Bane, but the police decide to try to catch him rather than Bane. He is cornered on a road picks up the computer that was connected to the stock exchange, then escapes from the police by driving up a car carrier. Batman then takes the Bat and flies off into the night.
Meanwhile Selina Kyle is breaking into the Dagget's safe. She finds his safe empty, so she confronts Daggett and he tells her the item he promised her, a way to erase her criminal record, doesn't actually exist. She then escapes holding him hostage, but Bane's mercenaries appear and prepare to kill her. Batman appears and helps her fight them off, and he escapes in The Bat. He tells her he saved her life and in return she has to take him to Bane.
Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred tells Bruce that he no longer wants Wayne to be Batman, and he will leave. . He tells Bruce that Rachel was planning to marry Harvey Dent before she died. The next day, Fox arrives to tell Wayne that his fingerprint was used to play the stock markets and lose all of his fortune. He makes Miranda Tate head of the company and shows her the fusion reactor. Dagget, furious that he isn't head of Wayne's company, furiously confronts Bane, but Bane betrays and kills Daggett, stating that he is "Gotham's Reckoning", and that he only used Daggett. Then he visits Selina Kyle and tells her that Batman wants to meet with her. That night Wayne invites Tate back to Wayne Manor and the two spend the night together.
Batman then meets with Kyle and she takes him to Bane, but locks him in a cage with him. Bane then reveals that he knows Batman's identity and the two fight but Bane brutally and very violently dominates Batman in the resulting duel. As Batman tries to use tactics in the battle, Bane mocks them, stating that he has learned them already. He then ruthlessly beats Batman's face until the cowl cracks and blows a whole in the bottom of Applied Sciences in order to steal Wayne's arsenal. He then picks Batman up and breaks his back over his knee before taking The Dark Knight's broken cowl as a trophy to demonstrate his superiority. Bruce awakens in foreign country, where Bane tells him he will destroy Gotham and make Bruce watch from the Pit, the prison where Bane grew up. Hoping to tranish the Dark Knight's reputation and everything he worked for, Bane vows that once the city is destroyed, Bruce had his permission to die.
Back in Gotham, Bane is at a Wayne Enterprises board meeting and makes Fox, Tate and Douglas Fredericks take him to the reactor. They do, and he gets Dr. Pavel to convert it into a nuclear bomb and force him to pull the core out of the reactor which renders the fusion core dangerously unstable and is set to go off in 5 months. Meanwhile the police decide to march into the sewers to find and kill Bane and his men. Blake finds the concrete truck that blocked the police outside the stock exchange, and kills two of Bane's men who were at the truck. He then notices that the concrete truck was loaded with explosives, and realises Bane has put explosives all round the city. Mayor Anthony Garcia attends a football game by the Gotham Rogues, but Bane detonates his explosives which destroy the stadium, trap all the police underground and destroy the bridges in and out of Gotham. The mayor is also killed by an explosive blast. Bane marches out and informs Gotham that he is holding the city hostage with the nuclear bomb and a citizen has the trigger who will detonate the device at the first sight of civil rebellion. Blake goes to the hospital to rescue James Gordon. The National Guard and U.S. Army attempt to intervene in Bane's plans, but are impeded at the first chance they get.
In the prison, Bruce tries to heal himself and a doctor helps with his back. He trains himself to become strong enough to climb out of the pit, learning of the young child who was born in the prison and managed to escape. In Gotham, Bane reads Gordon's speech exposing Dent for the true fraud he was and releases all of the prisoners from Blackgate Prison including Selina Kyle who was caught by John Blake. Bane then starts a social revolution and starts a series of riots led by the prisoners, Bane's army, and the revolutionary working class members of Gotham, who begin torturing the rich by raiding and forcing them out of their homes and making the government helplessly watch as they set up a kangaroo court presided by Jonathan Crane, where the "convicted" are killed no matter what the sentence. The city is plunged into near anarchy over the next 5 months, which forces Gordon, Blake, and the police to form a resistance and attempt to track the three trucks which transport the bomb around the city. The Special Forces try to help, but Bane and his men arrive, killing them and having their bodies hung from the Gotham Bridge. Bruce learns that the child who escaped the pit was the child of Ra's al Ghul, now finishing their father's work by destroying Gotham. Bruce then believes that the child was Bane. Once recovered, Bruce trains his body rigorously and tries to escape, but fails at his first 2 attempts. After Bruce fails, he wonders how a child could escape but not him. The blind doctor in the cell next to him points out that Bruce's body is strong, but his soul is weak, and that if he truly doesn't fear death, it should be no problem for him to escape the way the child did: without the use of the safety rope. With the help of a special chant that means Rise, Bruce tries the climb once more without a safety rope, and escapes the prison.
Bruce returns to Gotham and gives Selina the Clean Slate, asking her to get him to Lucius Fox for his equipment. He is successful, and they manage to find Bruce's backup Batsuit.
In Gotham the police officers are taken before the Scarecrow to be judged. He sentences them to exile by walking over the thin ice of Gotham's river. As the police start the treacherous journey, Batman appears and knocks out Bane's men. He gives Gordon a flare which lights up a large bat symbol on the bridge. With only 24 hours left until the nuclear bomb detonates, Batman and the police attempt to find the bomb. Tate is held hostage by Bane, and Batman gets Selina Kyle to use the Batpod to free the police officers from their underground prison. She does so and the police engage Bane's army, while Batman fights Bane on the steps of City Hall. It is clear that Bane is still the superior fighter, but as the fight progresses, Batman uses his knowledge of Bane's weakness and targets Bane's mask, destroying it and rendering Bane completely helpless. Batman then manages to defeat Bane in combat and knocks him into the courthouses before interrogating him for the trigger. However Tate then stabs Batman in the back and reveals herself as Talia al Ghul, the child who escaped from the prison who was protected by Bane. She tries to detonate the bomb, but Gordon has already got to it and disabled the trigger. She leaves to make sure the bomb doesn't get put back in the reactor so it detonates, while Bane is left with Batman. Just as Bane is about to kill him Selina Kyle appears and shoots Bane with the Batpod. The two then track down Talia and the bomb, leading to chase in the streets of Gotham which ends up in the Tumbler's being destroyed. Batman then uses the Bat to crash the truck and retrieve the bomb, but Talia floods the reactor chamber making it impossible to stop before her death. Batman reveals his identity to Gordon and takes the bomb out into the bay with The Bat, and it detonates, apparently killing Batman.
There is a funeral for Bruce Wayne and Alfred expresses his regret for his actions. Fox asks why The Bat didn't have an autopilot, but is told that it actually did. Blake, whose full name is Robin, is left the co-ordinates of the Bat Cave, and Alfred goes to Florence where he sees Bruce and Selina Kyle having dinner together. He smiles, and leaves.
Cast[]
- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Tom Hardy as Bane
- Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle
- Michael Caine as Alfred J. Pennyworth
- Gary Oldman as James Gordon
- Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake
- Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
- Matthew Modine as Peter Foley
- Ben Mendelsohn as John Daggett
- Burn Gorman as Phillip Stryver
- Alon Aboutboul as Dr. Pavel
- Juno Temple as Jen
- Daniel Sunjata as Captain Jones
- Tom Conti as Prisoner in the Pit
- Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Garcia
- Brett Cullen as Congressman
- Aidan Gillen as CIA Op
- John Nolan as Fredericks
- Josh Stewart as Barsad
- William Devane as the President of the United States
- Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul
- Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow
- India Wadsworth as Warlord's Daughter
- Josh Pence as Young Ra's al Ghul
- Harry Coles as Young Talia al Ghul
- Joey King as Young Talia al Ghul
Production[]
Development[]
Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov had hoped a third film would be released in 2011 or 2012. Nolan wanted the story for the third installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?" Nolan only agreed to a third film on the basis of finding a worthwhile story, fearing that he would become bored halfway through production if he discovered the film to be unnecessary. By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception. Later in December, Alan F. Horn confirmed that while discussions with Nolan about a third film were ongoing, no casting had been done, and Horn denied all such rumors. Before Nolan confirmed his involvement, Gary Oldman had said he was confident Nolan would return. It was not until February 9, 2010 that it was announced that Nolan had "cracked" the story of a sequel to The Dark Knight and was committed to return to the project. Shortly afterward, it was announced David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan were working on a screenplay. Goyer would leave the project during pre-production to begin work on Man of Steel; Jonathan continued writing the script based on the story by his brother Chris and Goyer. The film's storyline takes influence from the story arcs in the Batman comics like The Dark Knight Returns, Knightfall and No Man’s Land.
Nolan confirmed the Joker would not return in the third film, and dismissed rumors that he considered using unused footage of Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight Rises will reunite Nolan with many of his past collaborators, including Cinematographer Wally Pfister, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Lee Smith, costume designer Lindy Hemming, special effects supervisors Paul Franklin and Chris Corbould, and composer Hans Zimmer.
Filming[]
The film has an estimated budget of $250 million. Nolan has elected not to film in 3-D, but has instead stated that he intends to focus on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format. The Dark Knight Rises will feature more scenes shot in IMAX than The Dark Knight; Nolan's wife and co-producer Emma Thomas stated that the film will have between forty and fifty minutes of footage shot in IMAX (by comparison, The Dark Knight contained thirty minutes), depending on the editing process. Nolan has had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues. Wally Pfister had expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX, but because of the considerable noise made by IMAX cameras, 35mm and 70mm cameras had to be used for shooting the film's dialogue scenes, as dialogue had to be dubbed when shot with IMAX cameras.
Two working titles were used for the film: Magnus Rex and Fox Hills Green, the latter particularly for some casting. Filming was scheduled to start in May and conclude in November 2011. Principal photography commenced on May 6, 2011, in Jodhpur, India at the Mehrangarh Fort before moving to Pittsburgh. Shooting locations within the city included Heinz Field, the site of an American football game, with members of the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Gotham Rogues football team. Filming in Pittsburgh also took place at the Mellon Institute and Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. A letter sent out to residents and business owners detailing road closures revealed that the streets of the city would be featured "as the start of [the] film". 9-1-1 operators were told to expect an increase in calls related to gun shots and explosions in the film's production. The Pittsburgh leg of production wrapped after three weeks on August 21, 2011, before moving on to Los Angeles and New York. In November 2011, shooting shifted to Newark, New Jersey. Newark City Hall and Military Park were among the locations used for filming. Other shooting locations include London and Glasgow, the latter of which was used for "additional exterior filming". Principal photography concluded on November 14, 2011.
Production photos from filming in Pittsburgh showed a second Tumbler chassis after the first was destroyed in The Dark Knight. Further set photos revealed a "new vehicle" being transported to Wabash Tunnel, prompting speculation as to its nature. In June 2011, Autoblog confirmed the presence of the new Lamborghini Aventador on the film set.
Several accidents occurred during the production of the film. While filming at Wollaton Hall, a tractor-trailer crashed into the main entrance, though no one was injured. A stuntman parachutist later crashed through the roof of a home in Cairngorm Gliding Club, Feshiebridge in Scotland, and became wedged there after a failed landing during a skydiving stunt; he was not seriously injured. While filming scenes in Pittsburgh, Hathaway's stunt double crashed into an IMAX camera while filming a sequence that required her to ride a Batpod down a flight of stairs during a riot. There were no injuries, but the camera was destroyed. A second accident took place in Pittsburgh when the truck carrying the new, unidentified vehicle went off-course and crashed into a lighting array, damaging the model of the aircraft. Production was delayed while the model was repaired.
Music[]
- Main article: The Dark Knight Rises (soundtrack)
Release[]
On July 6, 2012, Warner Bros. held a special IMAX screening of The Dark Knight Rises for more than one hundred reporters and critics. However, technical issues with the computer device synchronizing the sound and picture forced the studio to postpone the screening by a day. The film later premiered on July 16 at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City, New York, followed by a European premiere on July 18 at Leicester Square in London, England. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19, and was later released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20.
Colorado shooting[]
On July 20, 2012, during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 cinema in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire inside the theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Police responding to the shooting apprehended a suspect later identified as 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes shortly after arriving on the scene. Initial reports stated that Holmes identified himself as "the Joker" at the time of his arrest though this has been debunked.
Warner Bros. cancelled the Paris, Mexico, and Japan premieres of The Dark Knight Rises, and suspended the film's marketing campaign in Finland. Several broadcast networks also suspended television ads for the film in the United States. The trailer for Gangster Squad, another Warner Bros. movie included in the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, was removed as it contains a scene which shows gangsters shooting submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen, similar to the shooting in Aurora.
Director Christopher Nolan released a public statement calling the shooting "unbearably savage". Other stars of the film released statements expressing their condolences, with star Christian Bale paying a personal visit to the survivors and the memorial in Aurora.
Home media[]
The Dark Knight Rises was released on November 28, 2012 in Hong Kong and New Zealand. On December 3, it was released in the United Kingdom, and on December 4, it was released in the United States. It is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and as a digital download. Coinciding with the release of this film, a box set of The Dark Knight Trilogy was released. The Dark Knight Rises was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on December 19, 2017.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Critical response[]
Analysis[]
Accolades[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Dark Knight Rises received a PG-13 rating for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language by the MPAA. The film is rated 12 by the BBFC for moderate violence.
- In respect of Heath Ledger's memory, the Joker isn't seen or mentioned.
- John Daggett is based on Roland Daggett, a powerful businessman of Batman: The Animated Series, who in turn is based on Max Shreck from Batman Returns. The masquerade ball Bruce and Selina appear at is also homaged in Rises.
- The Gotham Rogues mascot bears a strong resemblance to The Shadow, one of the most major influences on the the creation of Batman in 1939. The color of the scarf is changed from red to yellow.
- Anne Hathaway, who portrayed the Cat, was previously selected to play Black Cat in the Sony cancelled 2011 film Spider-Man 4. Curiously, Black Cat and Catwoman are very similar characters.
- Despite the fact that Selina Kyle appears in costume throughout the film, the name "Catwoman" is never mentioned in the film, she is credited as Selina Kyle only. Despite their best efforts, she is referred to as Catwoman by WB marketing in a few rare instances.
- This movie shares most of its cast members with Inception, which Christopher Nolan also directed, although there are some actors and actresses which acted in this movie but not in Inception or vice versa.
References[]
External Links[]
- Official website (Warner Bros.)
- Official website (DC Comics)
The Dark Knight Rises at the Internet Movie Database
- Template:Isfdb title
- The Dark Knight Rises at the TCM Movie Database
- The Dark Knight Rises at AllMovie
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page The Dark Knight Rises. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |
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