Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 10 - The Dark Knight Rises

Following on nicely from our Blockbusters episode, this special Bat-episode of Shot/Reverse Shot finds me and Joe discussing The Dark Knight Rises, the final instalment in Christopher Nolan's Batman series. Along the way we discuss how the film works as a conclusion to a trilogy (pretty well), as a film in its own right (perhaps not as well) and we offer our thoughts on Nolan's work in general. However, since this wouldn't be an episode of Shot/Reverse Shot without a little bit of off-topic waffle, we also talk about The Big Sleep, point out in what way Batman Returns is better than The Bible, and fail to get Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name right.

We go into a fair deal of detail about the plot, so you positively should not listen to this podcast until after watching the film itself.

You can stream the episode below or subscribe to the podcast using iTunes. If you choose the latter, please listen, rate and review.

Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Ever since he revitalised the franchise with Batman Begins in 2005, Christopher Nolan has used the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne and the setting of Gotham City as a prism through which to view the fears and tensions of contemporary America. This was especially explicit in the second film, The Dark Knight, which posited Heath Ledger's Joker as a chaotic, unstoppable force of destruction with nothing to lose. In short, he was a nervous and unhinged personification of the spectre of terrorism, complete with recorded messages of violence, political assassinations, and destruction on a massive scale.