Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2012

Eight years after The Dark Knight, Batman (Christian Bale), has altruistically shouldered the blame for the death of crime-busting politician (but secret villain) Harvey Dent, and Bruce Wayne has gone all Howard Hughesy. But the emergence of a fascistic bad guy called Bane (Tom Hardy) forces him to reluctantly once again dig out cowl and cape. As with the first two Christopher Nolan Batmovies, this more closely resembles Greek myth, or maybe Hamlet, than it does a superhero movie. There’s food for the brain along with the dazzle. Alongside this The Avengers is childish fluff. Popcorn flick? You’ll forget you bought it. The suspension of disbelief is high but somehow effortless, and the use of Batplanes, Batcars and Batcycles, while spectacular, is judicious. The genius here is how the movie unnervingly taps into our every post-9/11 fear and fantasy. The cast is too numerous to list, but newcomers include Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Brilliantly, it’s NOT offered in 3D. Yay! It’s not a stand-alone, but instead integrates the events of the first two movies into a potent and persuasive payoff that’s both dramatically and emotionally satisfying. You don’t watch this movie; you live through it.