Somewhat Dissatisfying Film, but Not Too Bad

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2012)

WARNING! MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Christopher Nolan "Batman" movies surprise me with their immense popularity, mostly because the comic book style has been transformed from a vaguely-realistic fantasy world into a credibly-realistic world where neither heroes nor villains have superpowers, and the hero suffers very human flaws. The tone of the Nolan movies is quite serious, with almost all of the camp value and comic book flavor squeezed out in an attempt to create a serious narrative. Maybe the public craves any half-decent "Batman" movie, no matter who makes it-- -anything to wash out the bad taste of Joel Shumacker's "Batman and Robin", which was deliberately campy but so poorly executed that Nolan's films are "Casablanca" in comparison. I hate to say this as well, but Heath Ledger's untimely death at 28, coupled with his stunning good looks and credibility as an actor who did an Oscar-winning film ("Brokeback Mountain") and other critically-acclaimed movies, had a lot to do with "The Dark Knight's" popularity. Ledger's interpretation of the Joker was shocking in its realism and because of the character's wry wit and charm and anarchistic values. But it is Batman/Bruce Wayne, who is the central figure in all three films (no duh!), who deals with an identity crisis, and grapples with his role as a masked crusader for justice in a city that doesn't really appreciate what he does.
The real selling point of the final film in the Nolan Batman trilogy is Batman coming to grips with his place in the world following the death of Harvey Dent/Two Face, and his attempt to revive his career as the Caped Crusader despite his belief that Gotham City needs a more "official" kind of law enforcement symbol. The audience also gets to learn more of Bruce Wayne's struggle to cope with the death of his girlfriend, and his anger towards Alfred for covering up the truth behind her death. This film is a tale of personal struggle and reinvention, and coming to terms with one's importance and identity as a symbol and as a hero to a city sorely lacking anything hopeful. These themes alone make "The Dark Knight Rises" worth watching.
Then there are the little things, like the villains. Bane is ultimately unsatisfying as an antagonist because (BIG SPOILER HERE) he really plays the same role he had in the markedly inferior "Batman and Robin" . I had hoped Bane would have had a more prominent role---and a more satisfying demise---but alas, the end is disappointing. The villains' motives are also murky: why bother to turn Gotham City into an anarchistic hellhole, with the superficial trappings of social revolution, only to decide from the start to blow the sucker up anyway? Is it just to make Batman suffer as he is in the Pit Prison watching the chaos unfold on a plasma screen (and how does a dingy medieval- looking dungeon have the cables to hook up a plasma-screen anyway)? Does Bane see the Gothamites as little more than laboratory rats he can test and torment for his own sadistic pleasure, before killing them all, and the "social revolution" is just one way to torture them? Why? What is the villain's ultimate goal? This is never made clear, beyond some vague reason tied to the first Nolan movie. More disturbing--and seriously damaging to the film's attempts at verisimilitude--is Gotham's imposition of the "Dent Act", which steamrolls criminals through the court and appeals process. In reality, the Dent Act would never happen--it sounds, from the way the film depicts it, as a gross violation of Constitutional rights and civil liberties, and the Supreme Courts of the Fictional State in Which Gotham is Located (New York) and the United States would ultimately overturn it. Through the Dent Act, Commissioner Gordon would have his name tarnished for his unconstitutional methods of law enforcement, and, ironically enough, the name of the late Harvey Dent would be, through the execution of the posthumous and eponymous act, blackened far beyond anything he did as Two-Face in "The Dark Knight".
The film falls short because of the unsatisfying plot points, but is interesting because of Bruce Wayne/Batman's struggle to find himself as a human being. Also interesting is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the super-burglar known as "The Cat" (or Catwoman to you and me). Her light-hearted, sarcastic and fun-loving portrayal of the famous Batman villain is a delight to watch, and is a stark contrast to the stuffy, grim and overly-serious depiction of Batman in the Nolan movies. Batman and Catwoman are night and day, yin and yang; Nolan makes the dichotomy work. Contrary to what the Joker said in the previous film, it is the beautiful and daring Catwoman, rather than the sadistic Joker, who completes Batman. As in previous depictions, Catwoman is a confident, assertive and aggressive foe, who is more than capable of taking care of herself. Hathaway's depiction is wonderful, and radiates sex appeal. I also liked the little touches to Catwoman: the edges of her infrared goggles, when pulled up, resemble cat ears.
In all, a decent movie, but it is no masterpiece. I recommend it, but don't expect "Star Wars"- level quality.