The Dark Knight Rises - The Ending

If you haven't already, read my first post about this film (spoils a few plot details). This post will simply continue that train of thought, but with explicit discussion of the final act of the film.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW - WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST!

Ok, let's start with some small things.

Alfred leaves Batman. Apparently this is some kind of heresy in Batman lore; Alfred should be loyal to the very end. For this trilogy though... I don't know, I kinda liked it. It was the most emotional scene for me - I felt literally heartbroken as it unfolded; as the consequences of Alfreds well-intentioned lie began to dawn on him. "Let the truth have its day" he says. It resonates well, on a larger scale, with Gordons deception about Harvey Dent exposed to the city. The peace they had tried to establish was founded on untruth, and ultimately usurps them.

So thematically it was consistent, and Micheal Caines acting can seemingly never be faulted... But I guess I just wanted more of Alfred. He says he's leaving, and in the next scene he's gone - just a shot of him getting into a car would be nice. But worse, he never appears again until after the day is saved. I feel like maybe he should have been waiting outside the prison when Batman rises, or contributed to the final fight in some way or other. Again, I want more, though it might have hindered the pace of the film even further.

The Dark Knight Rises

Fantastically executed, emotionally affecting, thematically weighty and rich in spectacle - Rises isn't as tight as The Dark Knight, but it caps off this amazing trilogy in grand style. This series will be talked about for years.

Christopher Nolan has done a bold thing. First by creating this iteration of Batman - in all his brooding darkness and gritty realism - then by following it up with the best superhero film ever made, and now by concluding the story as a trilogy... Anything he served up would appease the studios desire for a big opening weekend, but this series has become more than just a popcorn flick; The Dark Knight proved that super heroes can have legitimately good, artful, well-acted, powerful films, tackling real issues despite their fantastic premise.

I read a poem describing the job of poets: to create "Imaginary gardens with real toads in them"(Marianne Moore), and I think this can be applied equally well to film, and especially well to such films as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; a fantasy world the draws us in and delights us with its spectacle and inventiveness, while still grappling with the 'toads' of reality - those things that plague us still in real life.

The hype surrounding this film has been incredible - with phrases like 'masterpiece' and 'perfect film' being thrown around to describe its predecessor, can Nolan follow up his success with an equal - or even greater - film?