Batman’s back for his final battle

THE FINAL installment in Nolan’s Batman trilogy sees ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ return to Gotham City eight years after the events of the previous film, with the city enjoying a peaceful era that is brought to an abrupt halt by the arrival of Tom Hardy’s powerful and vicious villan, Bane.

Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne but rather than the philantrhopist millionaire of the previous films, Wayne has become a recluse, crippled by injuries from previous battles.

Struggling to come to terms with the grief of the loss of his childhood sweetheart at the hands of the Joker.

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Director Christopher Nolan ups the ante in this thrilling conclusion to his Batman trilogy, including the spectacular opening aboard a huge C-130 Hercules transport plane, which looks amzing on Ireland’s biggest screen, Antrim’s OmniMAXX screen.

However, Nolan has always focused on the characters and their twisted psychologies, and he puts all of them and us through the emotional wringer in this final chapter, co-written by his brother Jonathan.

Tom Hardy’s electronic vocals have been improved since the early trailers for the film so his masked villain is largely intelligible and Anne Hathaway slinks away from Michelle Pfeiffer’s memorable portrayal of Catwoman but still purrs some choice one-liners.

Action sequences are adrenaline-pumping from the bruising fist fights, which fully warrant the film’s 12A certificate, to high-speed chases aboard the nifty two-wheeled Bat-Pod and the introduction of a state-of-the-art stealth aircraft nicknamed The Bat.

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A dastardly plot unfolds but Bruce is physically and mentally unable to stop gangs of gun-toting mercenaries from overwhelming Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the Gotham police force, including idealistic officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

As Bane’s uprising gathers momentum, Bruce turns to technical genius Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and loyal board member Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) to protect his beloved Wayne Enterprises.

Alas, money can only go so far and Bruce must don his cowl one final time, putting his life on the line to save the residents of Gotham.

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