The Dark Knight Rises (Rated PG-13) 4 Stars

Where to begin? First off, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that The Dark Knight Rises (164 minutes) isn’t an entertaining film. It is. This baby is going to make millions, fulfill the expectations of many fans and sell a lot of popcorn. What I am saying is that for the final film in a groundbreaking series it wasn’t that good and I was rather underwhelmed. And I say that speaking as someone who really likes Batman. When it comes to the eternal question of whether Batman or Superman would win a mano-e-mano, I always pick Batman. But to put it frankly, I was bored.

It’s been eight years since the events depicted in The Dark Knight. Gotham is fairly peaceful, and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) is questioning his decision to hide the truth about Batman (Christian Bale) from the public. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is a recluse, and Alfred the Butler (Michael Caine) is pretty fed up with tending to him. But being a recluse doesn’t mean you can’t throw a party! And despite the common sense practice of running background checks on the people you allow within a hundred miles of your secret lair, somehow a cat burglar (Anne Hathaway) manages to make her way onto the kitchen staff. During the party she infiltrates the inner sanctum of Bruce Wayne and sets the second half of the film into motion.

Through a series of inconvenient coincidences, the details of the Batman/Harvey Dent cover-up are revealed to the main villain, Bane (Tom Hardy). He hangs out in the sewer to ponder this information whilst mumbling to himself. This leaves the burden of advancing the plot to the rest of the characters. For instance, Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) hosts a charity ball so Batman and Catwoman have a place to meet and exchange banter. Deputy Dumba … I mean, Deputy Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) draws some astonishing conclusions based on a logical leap coupled with a lucky guess, thus winning over both Commissioner Gordon and Batman.

The plot moves forward at a snail’s pace, so this is probably a good place to mention the flaws inherent in the MPAA rating system. With all the people getting shot, and the implied rapes taking place in the background, it seems a bit odd that this film would end up with a PG-13 rating. The series of comics the movie is based on was meant for a more mature audience, and while I am not advocating for censorship (the MPAA is biased in a number of ways), it seems like this is at least as disturbing as the documentary Bully — and the filmmakers behind that had to engage in some hardcore lobbying to get its rating changed from R to PG-13.

Overall, the main problem with the film was the pacing. The first half was positively sluggish, and the timeline of the last third was all kinds of screwed up. Seriously. Watch the movie and try to figure out the timeline of events. It just doesn’t make any sense without some major suspension of disbelief. The grand climax doesn’t seem scientifically accurate. Finally, if Gotham City does indeed have more than 3,000 police, why do I only see the one chick in the background police shots? I will admit that the twist is worth waiting for, and the very end of the film includes a nice emotional touchstone. The average viewer will like it — just don’t overthink it (I did. See how that worked out for me?).

Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Fair 15.