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Is 'Dark Knight Rises' A Political Flick? Stars Sound Off

'As brilliant as [director] Christopher Nolan is, he doesn't have a crystal ball,' actor Gary Oldman tells MTV News.

When moviegoers finally lay eyes on the ultimate installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises," they might wonder whether the writer/director consulted a psychic hotline before penning the Caped Crusader's finale.

After all, with themes of terrorism (we're looking at you, Bane) and economic inequality, the narrative feels oddly prescient. But, should it? Are the film's themes purposefully political, or is it a matter of audiences drawing their conclusions based on current events? That's the question MTV News' Josh Horowitz posed to stars Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

"I think it's what people read into it," Oldman said. "At the time, I don't think two years ago, two-and-a-half years ago, that you can predict that. You can take the temperature of something, but you can't -- as brilliant as Christopher Nolan is, he doesn't have a crystal ball. So, it's very much culture and our consciousness, isn't it? Our subconscious, where we're at in the world right now. So, you can read in rather than read out."

Whatever the case may be, Gordon-Levitt added that he simply hopes the film opens a dialogue about the issues our society has been facing recently.

"I think it will start a lot of conversations, and that's a good thing," he said. "That's really what a movie ought to do. A movie like this shouldn't necessarily propose the solution to our economic crises, but to get people talking, that's good."

"The Dark Knight Rises," also starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard, opens Friday.

Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."

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