Loses to its predecessors despite its undeniable quality

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2016)

Batman Begins is the origins story. How Batman came to be. The Dark Knight is him at his prime, operating at his peak level. His triumph. And that would make this film the swan song, the inevitable end. Because in Nolan's Batman verse the real life rules still apply and if you're dressing up in a costume and fighting crime every single night, eventually something's going to give. No one's immortal. Not even Batman.
And therein lies the problem why at least I personally have slight problems with the film. We don't want Batman to die or to go away. We want to believe in our heroes, we want them to be something bigger, something infallible. Still, Nolan always went for the more somber, more real, and even though it pains me to see one of my all- time favourite characters in pain and suffering, bowing to the realities of the world, I can see how that would make for an excellent story experience.
And for the most part, it does. This is a fitting conclusion to the Batman saga and the escalation is still happening, with Batman (Christian Bale) facing in Bane (Tom Hardy) the greatest enemy he's ever had. What a magnificent villain. Great, intimidating presence, both physically and mentally. The scene, where one of the Gotham crime bosses yells at Bane that he's the one in charge and Bane simply lays a hand gently on his shoulder, leans a bit closer and asks if he feels like he's in charge, is one of my favourite Nolan Batman scenes ever. He only really suffers in comparison to the Joker, who's just so out of the norm great that there's really no competing with him. Bane would be the absolute best, if not for Ledger's Joker.
The returning actors are also great, as are the technical aspects, but unfortunately the script has lost some of its edge. It's by no means bad, but it does stumble a bit more than the ones before it. The Dark Knight was a roller coaster of action, emotions and sacrifice, never stopping, never letting you breathe, but somehow it still worked. The Dark Knight Rises is equally fast-paced and relentless, but in it you notice the flaws of such filmmaking. It jumps around a lot and tries to cram an unbelievable amount of detail and action down our throats, but not so skillfully that we do not gag just a little bit.
Plus, I really think the film should have ended with Alfred raising his eyes and giving a small nod. Now it goes on for just a bit too long after that. If you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about.
Nevertheless, The Dark Knight Rises is by no means a bad film. I enjoy many of its aspects enormously. It's a flawed creation and you can definitely see that Nolan simply didn't have the needed fire and excitement for it, but I still prefer having it than not having it.