Absolutely incredible ending to a near-perfect trilogy.

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises was one most stunning films I have ever seen. One of the emotional viewing experiences I have ever been through too. That's not a bad thing at all, this movie made me feel. It did everything a movie is supposed to do, it made me laugh, it made me angry, it made me happy, it made me cry. Yes, it made me cry. The Dark Knight Rises is the best of the series, with one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen on film, and dare I say it is equal to or maybe ever a little bit better than The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight Rises exceeded all of my expectations, in terms of acting, action, dialogue, plot, etcetc Though running at almost 3 hours long, this movie never feels boring, never did I look at my watch, I was glued the screen all 164 minutes. The first hour was definitely slower than the rest of the movie, but it wasn't boring. Christopher Nolan did a fantastic job at setting up all the major plot points and introducing the new characters.
Christian Bale delivers his best performance as Batman, he is wonderful the whole series, but this time around he goes to place where we've never seen Batman go and he rocks it. Michael Caine should be up for an Oscar for his powerful performance, absolutely fantastic. Anne Hathaway was a definite surprise as the sexy Selina Kyle (never referred to as Catwoman in the movie at all! Hah!), she stole every scene she was in with her quick, dry humor. Other standouts were Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman, who all play wonderfully in their supporting parts. This brings me to Tom Hardy. His performance as Bane scared the crap out of me at times, he was terrifying. Very different from The Joker, there's no comparing the two as they are completely different villains. Extremely well done.
From a technical standpoint, this movie is gorgeous. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful, and flows beautifully. The cinematography, editing, score, and visual effects topped those all seen/heard in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Namely the soundtrack, this is Hanz Zimmer's best Batman score. Nolan's action sequences are better than ever, they are extremely brutal and very engrossing.
A few critics have criticized the film for not being "fun", well I don't know what movie they were watching because there are plenty of those witty chuckle lines throughout and the majority of the film's sense of humor comes from Catwoman.
Though this movie is without not flaws, there are minor ones including random time jumps toward the end of the movie, small logic questions, and other little knit picky things, but overall the movie flows and goes with grace that throws twists at you that will leave you floored, and then cumulates to one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen.
I wouldn't be surprised if this movie were up for quite a bit of Oscars this year; I'm thinking a few in the acting department, many in tech, and maybe even Best Picture & Best Director? We'll just have to see! The Dark Knight Rises is the movie event of year, and perhaps the best film of 2012 thus far. Go see it, and prepare to be wowed!! 10/10