Pooled reviews: The Dark Knight Rises

MANILA, Philippines – Sequels aren’t always better than the original, in many cases they don’t live up to the hype, but there are some gems that keep the franchise going and leave viewers wanting more. So how does the third Dark Knight movie fare against the original? We reached our community for our third Pooled Reviews initiative and here is is what our readers have to say. 

Jess Lauchengco (MBA student from Ateneo Graduate School of Business)

A Batman movie will always be awesome. Characters fit well with the cast. Joseph Gordon Levitt did it again! There will never be a boring movie with him in it.

Carlo Saavedra (Business Administration student, De La Salle University)

A must watch movie of our time. With a very promising set of actors and actresses, this movie didn’t disappoint at all. It has an inspiring storyline that makes us aware that every human life is worth saving. Watching this movie will definitely make you leave the cinema hall in awe and amazement of how Christopher Nolan has portrayed the story of the Dark Knight that is Batman. An amazing, deep movie that is not just worth watching once, but is worth watching again and again be it alone or with friends and families.

Kim Areno

The Dark Knight Rises was indeed a very ambitious and well-thought out film. For a storyline that intense, you will need actors who can really portray such passionate figures. Gone are the days of the ‘kablam!’, ‘kapow!’ and the smiling eyes of George Clooney for Batman was really meant to be dark.

Julienne Angela del Rosario (Speech Pathologist)

The Dark Knight Rises probably won’t make as much as The Avengers did, but for me, it’s the best superhero movie to come out this year. Sure, it lacks the humor that made The Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman appealing. Also, the superhero image (which always wins public approval) was not made very distinct – if any, it was dimmed. But it is in these areas that it stands out as your not-so-typical superhero movie. The film is a combination of outstanding visuals, superb acting from an excellent cast, and a simply fantastic job in directing and screenwriting. Definitely a 5 out of 5 rating.

Joshua Pielago (Philosophy, HR Manager)

Flawed, plodding, but ultimately, glorious. It is a different beast than The Dark Knight Returns. While Returns thrived on the Jokers manic machinations and Harvey Dent’s zealous charge, Rises clings on Batman’s ‘odyssey’ and the various tribulations characters around him experience due to his absence.  

The Dark Knight Rises makes up for its numerous plot holes and shoddy fight scenes with its slow and deliberate epic storytelling and the masterful ending of the trilogy.

Lawrence San Diego

Nolan closes one of the celebrated trilogies of our time with a very satisfying finale, though I find the psychopathic second film more superior. The slight predictability and worn-out plot devices were a letdown, but I love the character surprises, including Nolan’s interpretation of Catwoman. 

Jose Ma. Imperial (L2 supervisor for MSN, Stream Global Services)

The Dark Knight Rises is one of the greatest Batman storytelling put to film. Christopher Nolan has made Batman his own and made it uniquely outstanding. I hope it will give you goosebumps in the end as it gave me.

Rusty Gonzaga

Holy batman! It was more of an emotional ride of stunning depth. Christopher Nolan proved he did not lose the craft again and succeeded with this epic closure. I commend Michael Caines’ acting: superb! The perfect Gary Oldman! These veteran actors were in their best performances and they deserve recognition. Tom Hardy, Bane’s character was a dream come true. Tom Hardy needs to be in more starring roles!

This is without a doubt my favorite superhero now.

Oliver Floralde

The thing with movies and life in general is once you’ve been exposed to something better, you build some sort of expectation, especially with all the hype and positive reviews. The third installment did not live up to that expectation.
As a comic superhero fan, I thought there’s a lot of improbable things in the movie (e.g., Batman fighting Bane hand-to-hand in broad daylight, Bane portrayed so uncharacteristically, etc). The main premise itself did not come off as too believable, it’s ambitious but not too plausible (Manhattan with all its millions of inhabitants completely subdued, police force running towards a gunfight with a pistol in a formation reminiscent of medieval wars), and there’s also that much touted superb acting performance of the cast. I thought it was cold and bland. Overall, I don’t think its bad but it pales in comparison to the first two movies of the (trilogy) franchise.

Cocoy Dayao

“The Dark Knight Rises” in a nutshell is epic in scope and brilliant in execution. What Christopher Nolan has done isn’t a superhero movie, it is simply awesome storytelling.  Like its main protagonist, “The Dark Knight Rises” is layered, and masks as a movie about a superhero, but is actually a crime movie, and an essay about society and people. The characters are similarly layered – the actors that play them vanish into their respective roles and we see pure genius from each of them, no matter how small a role they played. That said, the simplest take away from the movie is Christopher Nolan’s answer to the question: “Is Bruce Wayne the mask, or is he Batman?” 

Flipland

The Dark Knight is awesome! Bale is great. Hathaway holds her own. You will just want to hug Caine. Hardy is the bane of the world! 

Ute Joe Lopez (Quality Analyst)

Dark Knight Rises is a classic Christopher Nolan film. The mastery of his ingenious showing of irony and complicated story lines will take you into a roller coaster ride, not knowing where the story leads you. Casting and acting is superb. Even if it runs for 3 full hours, this movie will keep you craving for more! 

If you haven’t seen The Dark Knight Rises yet, here’s the trailer:

Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises ? We’d love to hear what you think about the film. Send us your bite-size movie reviews, no more than 5 sentences long by  emailing them to desk@rappler.com; use the subject heading POOLED REVIEWS – THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Let’s review movies together! – Rappler.com