After receiving raving reviews from fans and critics alike, The Dark Knight Rises completes Chris Nolan’s trilogy of a man who would save a city – three times. Rises leans more towards Batman Begins in its conception, but retains the twisted chaos the audience was graced with by The Dark Knight’s Joker. With eight main cast members in the final installment and generous screen time between them, the movie surprisingly did not feel crowded. Each character had a different role and purpose that ultimately fit perfectly with the themes of the story.

The following is an analysis and ranking of each character based on their importance in the plot and their effectiveness as a character – all leading up to the themes. From a person who has not read the comics, this article will take the movie for what it is: a movie. The characters in question are Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale, Bane played by Tom Hardy, Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway, John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Gordon played by Gary Oldman, and Miranda Tate played by Marion Cotillard.

Alfred Pennyworth played by Michael Caine and Lucius Fox played by Morgan Freeman are listed as main characters, but argue as you may, they were merely there to remind us that this was a Batman movie.

There’s a storm – of spoilers – coming. So don’t wonder how you all thought you could read so much and leave so angry unlike the rest of us.

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