“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” And the devil itself appeared in the streets of Gotham City to wreak havoc and pain to all its citizens.

Tuesday marked the DVD release of one of the biggest summer blockbuster films of all time” Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, the last movie in his Batman trilogy.

When The Dark Knight Rises begins, it has been eight years since the Batman (Christian Bale) fought the Joker (Heath Ledger) and took the blame for the death of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Bruce Wayne has since lived in isolation from the rest of Gotham, only to find out that a new form of terror looms over his city. Now Wayne must return as the Batman, who has been branded as an enemy rather than a hero, and fight the terror caused by the new villain.

The Dark Knight Rises was one of the various superhero movies that came out this year. Unlike Marvel’s The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises focuses on storytelling rather than just fight scenes (but that doesn’t mean the film doesn’t have epic fights, as well).

Some people felt the movie didn’t live up to the expectations due to the fact that the villain in this movie—Bane (Tom Hardy)—wasn’t the same as the Joker from The Dark Knight.

While Ledger’s Joker was a masterpiece, Bane is as terrifying and successful in bringing pain to the citizens of Gotham and the Batman.

What makes the character of Bane so dangerous is that he can easily influence anyone into believing in his ideals. Unlike the Joker, who used the mob to get what he wanted, Bane uses the people of Gotham to carry out all the destruction and fulfill the goals of Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson).

What I like about the film is the continuation of the story of Bruce Wayne and the Batman. Many people believe Batman and Wayne are one, but that is not the case. While Bruce Wayne wears the suit to stop crime, the Batman is a symbol of hope. Anyone can be the Batman, but not everyone can be Bruce Wayne, and that is what makes the Dark Knight one of the best superheroes ever, if not the best.

Throughout the film, we see how Wayne has to overcome various obstacles in order to protect himself before he can protect the lives of others. The fight scenes are amazing, and the dialogue is well-written; you will notice the film making fun of stockbrokers from Wall Street. Also, characters from the other Batman films, like the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), make their way into this film, which is always great to see.

The only thing I didn’t like about the film is that the backstory of Bane was never mentioned. We only know why Bane is causing havoc in Gotham, but we never get to know who Bane actually is.

For this review I picked up the Blu-ray edition of the film. In this edition you get a DVD copy, a Blu-ray copy and an UltraViolet Digital copy of the film. Some of the special features include a short documentary on the Batmobile and many behind-the-scenes looks on how the production team created the film.

Overall, I recommend everyone to watch The Dark Knight Rises. In fact, since the film does a fantastic job with continuity, I recommend watching the trilogy from the beginning. There is a combo pack that includes all three films, so you can have the epic trilogy in one set.

4/5 Stars.