I managed to catch The Dark Knight Rises last night, thanks to a couple of free tickets to the movie premiere, and yes, despite whatever preparations I made (more on that later) and the expectations that I had, the movie came away as an astounding piece of work and a fitting end to the Batman saga started by Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale (as Bruce Wayne).

Both the director and the actor have outdone themselves in the movie, and so did the supporting cast of Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle), Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon) and Michael Caine (Alfred). Tom Hardy, who previously collaborated with Christopher Nolan in Inception is no Heath Ledger in this movie, but still manages to come across as a powerful foe in Bane, one whose amazing strength is matched with his intelligence and surprisingly, verboseness.

The guy talks like a poet and delivers a beat down so powerful that he breaks Batman the first time around (that’s as much as a spoiler I would let in this review). The movie combines elements from various popular Batman comic book storylines throughout the years, namely “The Dark Knight Returns”, “No Man’s Land”, and the infamous “Knightfall”. But like I said earlier, nothing will prepare you for this movie, which my wife described as being unpredictable (in a very good way). I would say it’s one heck of a brutal ride with plenty of twists here and there.

Comic book fans of Batman will be very, very happy indeed. IMHO.

From the start, we see Gotham City 8 years after the event on The Dark Knight. The city has been cleaned up thanks to the Harvey Dent Act (which is surprisingly somewhat like the ISA act we “used” to have in Malaysia, but Jim Gordon knows that this is built upon a lie. Bruce Wayne is seen living as a recluse and suffering from the physical injuries and the emotional pain from the time he was Batman; having taken the fall for Harvey Dent’s death and suffered the death of what seems to be his last chance to a normal life.

The emergence of cat burglar Selina Kyle brings Bruce Wayne back into the limelight, and Bane brings out Batman out on the streets. The first movie, Batman Begins explored how Bruce Wayne took on the mantle of the Bat, discarding any semblance of a normal life. The second movie explored the consequences of doing so and now, the The Dark Knight Rises puts forth the idea that in all that despair brought upon his city and as his life as Batman, will Bruce Wayne be able to triumph over all that and get back the life he and EVERYONE that are closest to him have been rooting for?

The Dark Knight Rises get a 5 out of 5, and I would venture to say that this is the best superhero movie ever made. The movie is out now on cinemas, so be sure to catch it.