The Dark Knight Rises
164min
Action
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy concludes with this Warner Brothers release that finds The Dark Knight pitted against Bane... Read More
(311)
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Not that we condone betting, but there's no safer prediction at this weekend's box office. In case you've been living in a bat cave for the last year, "The Dark Knight Rises" is hitting theaters this Friday, and everyone -- even competing movies -- knows it's going to demolish anything in its wake.

So, seeing as nothing is going up against Christopher Nolan's moody behemoth, Moviefone's weekly Weekend Movie Preview is somewhat needless. But, that doesn't mean that you can't be an informed movie-goer.

Take a look at what everyone's been saying about "The Dark Knight Rises" in our review roundup below.

PHOTOS:

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  • Rafer Guzman (Newsday)

    An epic and then-some send-off to a character, and a franchise, <a href="http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/dark-knight-rises-review-batman-gets-epic-sendoff-1.3844382" target="_hplink">that made it safe for superheroes to get serious</a>.

  • Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)

    The film begins slowly with a murky plot and too many new characters, <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120717/REVIEWS/120719981" target="_hplink">but builds to a sensational climax</a>.

  • Lou Lumenick (New York Post)

    Christopher Nolan's dramatically and emotionally satisfying wrap-up to the Dark Knight trilogy <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/best_knight_of_your_life_tTNNWAwFogzdgLz5HDeRBN?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Movies" target="_hplink">adroitly avoids clichés and gleefully subverts your expectations at every turn</a>.

  • Michael Phillips (Chicago Tribune)

    What worked beautifully in "The Dark Knight" <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-dark-knight-rises-movie-review-20120717,0,3676879.column" target="_hplink">seems overworked and almost ridiculously grim</a> in "The Dark Knight Rises."

  • Katey Rich (CinemaBlend)

    It's sprawling but undeniably engaging, not quite the blast of clever mayhem The Dark Knight was, <a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-5923.html" target="_hplink">but no slouch either</a>.

  • James Verniere (Boston Herald)

    The worst offender here is composer Hans Zimmer, who might as well show up at every showing of this film and <a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/view/20220718why_so_serious_this_knight_might_be_too_dark_for_its_own_good/srvc=home&position=7" target="_hplink">bang everyone in the audience over the head with his drum set</a>.

  • Ann Hornaday (Washington Post)

    [Nolan] has made a completely satisfying movie with The Dark Knight Rises, one steeped enough in self-contained mythology to reward hard-core fans while giving less invested viewers a rousing, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/the-dark-knight-rises,1208568/critic-review.html" target="_hplink">adroitly executed piece of popcorn entertainment</a>.

  • Joe Morgenstern (Wall Street Journal)

    It's spectacular, to be sure, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303754904577530792153262270.html" target="_hplink">but also remarkable for its all-encompassing gloom</a>.

  • Christy Lemire (Associated Press)

    This is the problem when you're an exceptional, visionary filmmaker. When you give people something extraordinary, they expect it every time. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/16/review-batman-series-ends-as-epic-letdown/" target="_hplink">Anything short of that feels like a letdown.</a>

  • Marshall Fine (Hollywood & Fine)

    At times, the action is so massive and thunderously clunky that I might <a href="http://hollywoodandfine.com/reviews/the-dark-knight-rises-grandiose-not-grand/" target="_hplink">as well have been watching one of the Transformers movies</a>.

  • Richard Corliss (TIME Magazine)

    For once a melodrama with pulp origins convinces viewers that it can be the modern equivalent to Greek myths or a Jonathan Swift satire. TDKR is that big, that bitter -- <a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2012/07/16/times-review-of-the-dark-knight-rises-to-the-depths-to-the-heights/" target="_hplink">a film of grand ambitions and epic achievement</a>.

  • Peter Travers (Rolling Stone)

    Potent and provocative, The Dark Knight Rises <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-dark-knight-rises-20120716" target="_hplink">is the King Daddy of summer movie epics</a>.

  • Eric Kohn (indieWIRE)

    ...a spectacular noir epic that's equal parts murky, bloated, <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/article/review-the-dark-knight-rises-brings-chrisopher-nolans-batman-trilogy-to-a-thundering-mostly-satisfying-conclusion#comments" target="_hplink">flashy and triumphantly cinematic</a>.

  • Todd McCarthy (Hollywood Reporter)

    Big-time Hollywood filmmaking at its most massively accomplished, this last installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/dark-knight-rises-movie-review-batman-349354" target="_hplink">makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish</a>.

  • Justin Chang (Variety)

    Retains the moral urgency and serious-minded pulp instincts that have made the Warners franchise <a href="http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117947904/" target="_hplink">a beacon of integrity in an increasingly comicbook-driven Hollywood universe</a>.