One of the most awaited verdicts in geekdom is finally in.
We at TG figured the first reviews for The Dark Knight Rises would hit on Sunday night, right on the eve of the film’s release, and sure enough, they’re finally here. And the verdict is… (drum roll please)… Christopher Nolan is indeed three for three with his Batman trilogy. Wheeeeww! We can all exhale now!
Both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter dug it, with Variety’s review headlined “A Knight to Remember.” “Few blockbusters have borne so heavy a burden of audience expectation as ‘The Dark Knight Rises,” writes Justin Chang. “And Christopher Nolan steps up to the occasion with a cataclysmic vision of Gotham City under siege.”
The Hollywood Reporter also called it the best of the three, which is amazing considering I thought The Dark Knight was a nearly impossible benchmark to beat. Todd McCarthy writes that it’s “A truly grand finale [that] raises Christopher Nolan’s big-screen comic book adaptations.” Not to mention, “This last installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish.” Whoah! Take that Avengers!
Moviecitynews.com also agreed that, “The Dark Knight Rises is, finally, the best of the Nolan Batman films. For the first time, the 3rd act is the best act in the film.” And Indie Wire wrote, “An action opus that manages to be both viscerally and intellectually engaging, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated third Batman film comes full circle, examining both the Dark Knight and the society that produced him without sacrificing any of the sweeping thrills for which the series is known.”
If there’s anything even slightly negative of the reviews so far, it’s from another review on Indie Write, which claims “the Batman franchise comes to a thundering end with The Dark Knight Rises, a spectacular noir epic that’s equal parts murky, bloated, flashy and triumphantly cinematic…remains viscerally satisfying even when the story falters.”
And most interesting, IndieWire writes that “Once again, Nolan’s monolithic take on Batman is a jarring, fractured experience fraught with tension right through its daringly open-ended conclusion.”
Daringly open ended? Can’t wait to see how it all plays out myself when The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters this Friday.
