Director Watch Podcast Ep. 159: 'The Dark Knight Rises' (Christopher Nolan, 2012) with Special Guest Trey Flynn

On episode 159 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by Trey Flynn of The Extra Credits podcast to discuss the next film in their Christopher Nolan series, The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you've got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.

Riding high off the success of his two biggest films to date, Nolan went back to the world of Gotham City to conclude his Dark Knight trilogy with a full circle, political warfare, myth busting epic, settling one and for all his ties to the genre, while deconstructing what it means to put on the mask, and how does one carry on a legacy when faced with so much pain. After the death of actor Heath Ledger, it took a lot for Nolan to step back into his vision of Batman, but with the help of two memorable villains, and leaning into the political, social aspects found in the first film, he left the franchise on a financial high, with some questionable story choices that have aged well for some (Trey) and no so much for others (Ryan and Jay). Controversial, dated, unique, The Dark Knight Rises ends Nolan's superhero vision on his own terms, for better or for worse. The guys and their guest break down their thoughts on the film, what worked for them and what didn't, the appeal of Anne Hathaway, Nolan's use of the original characters throughout the third film, how radical or dull the film's politics are, the choices Bruce makes throughout the film, the puzzling ending, the opening plane sequence, and plenty of Bane voice impressions.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen on the AW YouTube page.

This podcast runs 2h47m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Christopher Nolan with a review of his next film, Interstellar. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let's get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and "B-3" from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).