The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
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A retired Bruce Wayne must reclaim his mantle as Batman to protect Gotham City from a looming nuclear threat.
The story
Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the story follows a retired Bruce Wayne who has become a recluse. When a terrorist named Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, leads an attack to seize control of Wayne Enterprises and threatens Gotham City with nuclear destruction, Wayne is forced to emerge from his seclusion. With the help of his allies and a determined police officer, he must resume his role as the masked vigilante known as Batman to confront the rising threat and save the city from total devastation.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, orchestrates a plot to take over Wayne Enterprises while kidnapping a nuclear physicist. Bruce Wayne, living as a recluse, is pressured by his allies to resume his role as Batman to stop Bane's plan to destroy Gotham City. During the conflict, Bruce is captured and taken to an ancient underground prison where he is severely injured. Meanwhile, Bane seizes control of the city, declaring a revolution. Five months later, a recovered Bruce returns to Gotham as Batman to join forces with the police. In the final confrontation, it is revealed that his ally Miranda Tate is actually Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul. After a desperate battle where Talia's bomb is activated, Batman uses his aerial craft to transport the explosive away from the city. He is presumed dead, but the final scenes reveal he survived and is in a relationship with Selina Kyle.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 164
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Christopher Nolan
- Writers
- Christopher Nolan · screenplay; Christopher Nolan · story; David S. Goyer · story; Jonathan Nolan · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Christian Bale · Bruce Wayne / Batman; Michael Caine · Alfred Pennyworth; Gary Oldman · James Gordon; Anne Hathaway · Selina Kyle / The Cat; Tom Hardy · Bane; Marion Cotillard · Miranda Tate / Talia al Ghul; Joseph Gordon-Levitt · John Blake; Morgan Freeman · Lucius Fox
- Genres
- superhero; action
- Themes
- sacrifice; identity
- Tone and mood
- gritty; serious
- Premise and plot tags
- superhero; action; terrorism; nuclear threat
- Source material / true-story basis
- DC Comics
- Franchise connections
- The Dark Knight trilogy
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, who deemed it a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 78 · scale: 100 · review count: 45
- Awards and nominations
- Special Visual Effects · British Academy Film Awards · 66th · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's score features a prevalent chant of 'Deshi Basara'.; The film's design was inspired by Charles Dickens's novel A Tale of Two Cities.; The film was shot using IMAX 70mm film cameras for much of the production.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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