The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Full Plot Spoilers & Detailed Summary: The epic conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy sees a broken Bruce Wayne return from exile to save Gotham from Bane, a brutal mercenary intent on destroying the city with a nuclear threat.
Synopsis
Eight years after vanishing into the night as a fugitive, Batman has not been seen since he took the blame for the death of Harvey Dent. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, his body broken and his spirit crushed, while Gotham City enjoys a time of peace based on a lie. However, tranquility is shattered by the arrival of a cunning cat burglar named Selina Kyle and the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist with a ruthless plan to sever Gotham from the rest of the world. Forced out of retirement, the Dark Knight must face an adversary who matches him in strength and intellect to save the city that branded him an enemy.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States United Kingdom |
Premiere date |
July 20, 2012 |
Running time |
164 minutes |
Genre |
Action Crime Drama Thriller |
Budget |
$250,000,000 |
Box Office |
$1,081,169,825 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Christopher Nolan |
Produced by |
Emma Thomas Christopher Nolan Charles Roven |
Written by |
Jonathan Nolan Christopher Nolan |
Music by |
Hans Zimmer |
Cinematography |
Wally Pfister |
Edited by |
Lee Smith |
Production Co. |
Warner Bros. Legendary Pictures Syncopy |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in The Dark Knight Collection
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The Plot
The Hijacking Over Uzbekistan
High above the mountains of Uzbekistan, the CIA initiates a covert extraction operation to secure Leonid Pavel, a rogue nuclear physicist. The agency's plane collects Pavel along with three hooded prisoners, allegedly local militia, turned over by mercenaries. During the flight, the CIA agent interrogates the prisoners, threatening to throw them from the plane if they do not reveal information about the masked terrorist known as Bane. To the agent's shock, one of the hooded men reveals himself to be Bane. Having intentionally been captured to retrieve Pavel, Bane and his men swiftly subdue the agents and take control of the aircraft.
A larger transport plane appears above them, tethering the CIA aircraft and hoisting it vertically, causing the wings to shear off. In the chaos, Bane performs a blood transfusion between Pavel and a cadaver to stage the physicist's death in the upcoming crash. Before dropping the fuselage from the sky, Bane leaves one of his followers behind to die in the wreckage, ensuring the official narrative of a tragic accident remains intact. Bane and Pavel escape via a skyhook line, disappearing into the clouds.
A City Built on Lies
Eight years have passed since the death of Harvey Dent. Gotham City is enjoying a prolonged era of peace, with organized crime nearly eradicated under the "Dent Act," legislation that gave the police sweeping powers based on Dent's martyrdom. However, the foundation of this peace is crumbling. Commissioner James Gordon feels the heavy burden of guilt for covering up Dent's crimes as "Two-Face." He prepares a resignation speech revealing the truth but, concluding that the city is not ready for such a revelation, tucks the speech away in his coat during a gala at Wayne Manor.
Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, locking himself inside the rebuilt Wayne Manor. His body is broken from years of vigilantism, and Wayne Enterprises is nearing bankruptcy. Bruce had invested heavily in a fusion energy project designed by Miranda Tate but mothballed the reactor upon realizing the core could be weaponized into a neutron bomb. During the gala, a cat burglar named Selina Kyle poses as a maid to steal Bruce's mother's pearl necklace and, more importantly, lift Bruce's fingerprints from a safe.
The Return of the Batman
Gordon investigates a lead regarding a kidnapped congressman, which takes him into the city's sewers. There, he is ambushed by Bane's militia. Gordon escapes but is severely wounded, and Bane's men recover the resignation speech from his jacket. While hospitalized, Gordon promotes the idealistic patrol officer John Blake to detective. Blake, who deduced Batman's identity from a chance encounter with Bruce years ago, visits Wayne Manor. He confronts Bruce with his past, imploring him to return as the Batman to face the rising threat.
Despite the protests of his loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth—who eventually resigns in a desperate attempt to stop Bruce from getting himself killed—Bruce dons the cape and cowl once more. Bane stages a brazen daylight attack on the Gotham Stock Exchange. Using Bruce's stolen fingerprints, he executes a series of fraudulent trades that bankrupt Bruce Wayne, stripping him of his resources and control over his company. Suspecting that his business rival John Daggett hired Bane to facilitate a hostile takeover, Bruce entrusts the entirety of his company and the fusion reactor to Miranda Tate to keep it out of Daggett's hands.
Broken
Following a trail left by Selina Kyle, Batman is led into a trap beneath the city. He confronts Bane in the villain's sewer lair, surrounded by mercenaries. Bane reveals he intends to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny to destroy Gotham. He taunts Batman, revealing that he has already seized Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, stealing the "Tumbler" vehicles and weaponry. The fight is brutal and one-sided; Bane, in his physical prime, overpowers the aging Batman.
With a terrifying display of strength, Bane lifts Batman high and brings him down across his knee, snapping Bruce's vertebrae. Bane does not kill him; instead, he strips him of his mask and imprisons him in "The Pit," an ancient, subterranean dungeon on the other side of the world. Prisoners tell Bruce the legend of the only person to ever escape the Pit: a child born in the prison's darkness, who climbed to freedom through sheer will. Bruce watches helplessly via a television feed as Bane begins his true assault on Gotham.
The Occupation of Gotham
Back in Gotham, Bane lures the majority of the police force underground into the sewers and detonates a series of strategically placed explosives, collapsing the tunnels and trapping the officers. Simultaneously, he destroys the bridges connecting Gotham to the mainland, isolating the city. At a crowded football stadium, Bane executes Mayor Garcia and Dr. Pavel in front of thousands. He reveals the fusion core, now converted into a decaying neutron bomb, and threatens that any attempt to leave the city or intervene by outsiders will result in its detonation.
Bane reads Gordon's stolen speech to the public, exposing the truth about Harvey Dent and shattering the city's morale. He releases the prisoners incarcerated under the Dent Act, initiating a state of martial law and anarchy. The rich and powerful are dragged from their homes to face a kangaroo court presided over by Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow), where the sentence is always death or "exile" across the freezing river. For months, Gotham exists as a failed state, with Gordon and a small resistance force fighting a guerrilla war against Bane's army.
The Climb
In the Pit, Bruce Wayne spends five agonizing months recovering from his broken back. An inmate doctor helps reset his spine, and Bruce begins a rigorous training regimen to rebuild his body. He attempts to climb the prison's precipice while roped for safety but fails repeatedly. The prison's blind doctor advises him that the fear of death is a powerful motivator; to escape, he must climb without the rope.
Embracing his fear, Bruce makes the climb without safety gear. As the prisoners chant "Deshi Basara" (Rise), Bruce successfully makes the impossible jump and ascends to freedom. He makes his way back to the United States and smuggles himself into the locked-down Gotham City. He locates Selina Kyle, convincing her to help him under the promise of the "Clean Slate" software that can erase her criminal record. He also reunites with Gordon, Blake, and Lucius Fox to formulate a plan to disable the bomb.
War for the City
On the final day before the bomb's core degrades to the point of explosion, Batman frees the trapped police force from the underground. A massive street war erupts between the Gotham City Police Department and Bane's mercenaries. In the chaos, Batman confronts Bane amidst the melee on the steps of City Hall. This time, Batman targets Bane's breathing mask, damaging the tubes that supply him with analgesic gas, rendering the villain vulnerable.
Batman subdues Bane and demands the location of the bomb's detonator. Suddenly, Miranda Tate stabs Batman in the side. She reveals herself to be Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul. It was she, as a child, who escaped the Pit with the help of her protector, Bane. Talia repairs Bane's mask and leaves to activate the bomb, intending to die with the city to complete her father's work. Gordon, however, successfully manages to block the remote signal to the bomb. Realizing the remote won't work, Talia leaves to command the convoy carrying the bomb. Bane prepares to execute Batman, but Selina Kyle arrives on the Bat-pod and blasts Bane with the cannons, killing him instantly.
The Fire Rises
Batman, ignoring his stab wound, pursues the convoy in his aircraft, "The Bat," hoping to force the truck carrying the bomb back to the reactor chamber where it can be stabilized. After a high-speed chase through the streets, the truck crashes. Talia, mortally wounded, floods the reactor chamber remotely before dying, ensuring the bomb cannot be stabilized. With no other way to save the city, Batman attaches the bomb to The Bat.
He shares a final, knowing glance with Gordon—hinting at his identity by recalling the act of kindness Gordon showed him as a child—and kisses Selina goodbye. Batman pilots The Bat out over the bay, hauling the unstable nuclear core far away from the populace. As the citizens watch, the bomb detonates in a massive mushroom cloud over the ocean, presumably killing the Batman.
A New Beginning
In the aftermath, Gotham honors Batman as a hero with a statue in the city center. Bruce Wayne is declared dead, a casualty of the riots, and Wayne Manor becomes an orphanage as per his will. The remaining estate is divided, and Alfred weeps at the Wayne family plot, apologizing to Thomas and Martha Wayne for failing to protect their son.
However, while inspecting The Bat's wreckage logs, Lucius Fox discovers that Bruce had secretly fixed the autopilot solely six months prior. Later, while on his annual holiday in Florence, Italy, Alfred sits at a café and looks across the terrace. He sees Bruce Wayne, alive and well, dining with Selina Kyle. They exchange a silent nod, confirming that Bruce has finally moved on from his trauma. Meanwhile, John Blake resigns from the police force and follows instructions left for him in Bruce's will. He locates the hidden Batcave, rising on a platform amidst the waterfalls and swarming bats, ready to take up the mantle.
