Sightlines · reception
How The Dark Knight Rises was received
2012 · Christopher Nolan · The Dark Knight Rises on Sightlines
The arc
Landed in 2012 to strong-but-not-rapturous reviews and instant 'weakest of the trilogy' chatter after The Dark Knight's impossible act to follow; a decade on, that ranking has hardened, but it's been partly reclaimed as the last true blockbuster of its scale-obsessed, practical-effects kind.
What’s debated
The eternal fan fight: do the plot holes (and that Bane voice) sink it, or is nitpicking logistics missing the operatic point?
Its footprint
Bane conquered the internet more than Gotham — 'you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it' and the endlessly-memed plane prologue ('Baneposting') gave it a second life as pure meme currency.
Where it stands
The divisive capstone of the definitive superhero trilogy — mandatory viewing, perpetually re-litigated in trilogy-ranking discourse.
Did you know? Anticipation ran so hot that Rotten Tomatoes suspended user comments for the first time in its history after early negative reviews drew abuse and threats against critics; Tom Hardy, meanwhile, has said he based Bane's unforgettable voice on Bartley Gorman, the Irish Traveller bare-knuckle boxing champion.