Liverpool Arts: FILM REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises is brilliant and brutal

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (12A) Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson Director: Christopher Nolan Duration: 164 mins.

DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan completes his dark and brooding trilogy based on the DC Comics crime-fighter in suitably grandiose fashion, delivering not only the longest film in the series but also the most brutal, violent and satisfying.

Replete with more than an hour of footage shot on IMAX cameras to enhance picture quality and truly immerse the audience in the pulse-quickening action, The Dark Knight Rises ends Nolan’s tenure on a giddy high.

It’s to the London-born film-maker’s credit that he resisted the urge to jump on the 3D bandwagon for the caped crusader’s swansong.

Certainly, the breathlessly orchestrated action sequences, including the spectacular opening aboard a huge C-130 Hercules transport plane, would draw bigger gasps in the eye-popping format.

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.

The script is a little too cute in places, inadvertently giving away one major plot point well in advance, but it certainly doesn’t hurt our enjoyment to be two steps ahead of the good guys.

Christian Bale brings typical intensity to the title role and the tender bond with Sir Michael Caine’s lackey continues to tug heartstrings.

Thankfully, 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.

It is eight years since Batman falsely assumed responsibility for the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in order to bring the anti-crime legislation into effect and crush Gotham’s criminal fraternity.

The caped crusader is a fading memory and crippled billionaire Bruce Wayne (Bale) has become a virtual recluse, holed up in his manor with trusty butler Alfred (Caine).