Bruce Wayne’s (Christian Bale) city of Gotham has been at peace for the past eight years following the capture of the Joker (Heath Ledger) and the demise of Harvey “Two Face” Dent (Aaron Eckhart). With crime down, and the people of Gotham no longer needing Batman, “because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now,” Bruce Wayne turns into a bit of a recluse.

We are introduced to Bruce Wayne in a way that is unexpected. He is still hosting dinner parties, but there are whispers of what he has become.  We are also introduced to a precarious server named Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who seems to have a knack for stealing items. But what is most odd is that she was not after jewels or money.

Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) has spent the last eight years restoring Gotham to order, under the “Harvey Dent Act,” which ensures that criminals stay behind bars.

A Batman saga is not complete without a love interest for Bruce Wayne, in which case his sights fall on Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard). Miranda is the new partner of Wayne Enterprises and she is very interested in their clean energy project and the fusion reactor that can be produced to create clean energy. Unfortunately, the fusion reactor was initially created as a weapon and in the wrong hands can create absolute chaos.

What Gotham does not expect, is a force that no one could imagine. He has risen from the pits of hell to wreak havoc on Gotham, and to leave it in ruins and absolute chaos. The masked man is named Bane (Tom Hardy) and has had help from Selena Kyle, but she does not know what his plan is.

With Bane now in the picture, it has forced Bruce Wayne to don his cowl and mask again, to give back to his city that he loves. With the pleading of Alfred (Michael Caine) not to, Bruce Wayne has a hard decision to make: risk his life for a city he loves, or stand back from his city that is still waiting to capture him due to taking the blame for Harvey Dent’s death. Bruce Wayne  knows what he needs to do, and with that will need help from a familiar friend, Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman), to help Batman in his quest, and of course to supply him with the latest weapons and gear.

John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an up and coming officer in the Gotham police force, and due to his “hot-head” nature, has caught the eye of Gordon. Gordon recruits Blake in helping find out who Bane is and what he wants.

The Dark Knight Rises is a true testament to who Bruce Wayne and Batman really are, as a person and as a hero. The theme that Nolan used was pain and in most scenes of this movie, it is prevalent whether it is emotional or physical. Bruce Wayne is stretched more than a person should be able to, and bends more than he should be able to.

The Dark Knight Rises is arguably the weakest of the trilogy, but it still makes for a very good movie. If you liked the Batman Trilogy up until now, it is well worth it to see how Bruce Wayne deals with everything that has happened in his life up to this point, the impact others have made on him and the impact he has had on others, and what Gotham ends up finally giving back to him.

“The Dark Knight Rises” (TDKR) is the third installment in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” series. It had a release date of July 20 and currently has made over 500 million worldwide as of Aug. 3.