My absolute favorite of the Dark Knight Trilogy, and one of my favorite movies of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2014)

I know it's not the best. I know it has some plot holes, some inconsistencies, some of the characterization is a bit awkward and short-lived, and of course, the differences from the Batman comic books (to be fair, though, The Dark Knight had only some parallels which were similar to the comic books, e.g. Joker trapping Harvey and Rachel near bombs, inspired by 'A Death in the Family'. Most of that movie was made up. And do I even need to mention Batman Begins, which NEEDED more original content because of no/ambiguous origin stories of Batman in the comics?)
When Christopher Nolan made Batman Begins in 2005, he changed superhero movies forever, stapling them as movies that can and should be taken seriously. He surpassed that when he wowed even the general audience with 2008's The Dark Knight. With Heath Ledger's immortal performance of the Joker, and with its riveting and truly brilliant drama, The Dark Knight became the movie that most defined Batman.
He was placed with the near-impossible task of topping both those films. And with the untimely and highly unfortunate death of Ledger, that meant the trilogy had lost its greatest villain, the Clown Prince of Crime. So when it was announced that Bane would be in the movie as the main villain, I was at odds with Nolan's decision. I never really liked Bane that much in the comic books, barring 'Knightfall' (which I wonder why isn't adapted into an animated feature yet). In the Arkham Asylum game, Bane just came off as a dumb brute with huge muscles and not much else.
He didn't have much of a character in the comics either. Granted, he did have the backstory regarding the Peña Duro prison and his stuffed bear, but seriously, having nightmares of bats and then one day deciding that yeah, yeah, I hate bats so I wanna break Batman? Ba- bum. What the heck?!
I honestly don't understand the hate towards Bane in this movie. He's not that hard to understand, and very easy to take seriously. The Dark Knight Rises gives Bane a suitable, if not too similar to the comics, backstory. Overall, Tom Hardy's well-played Bane is a towering, Darth Vader-like villain, boasting memorable quotes, and compelling speeches.
Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne in this movie, and is even better as the troubled, and now somewhat depressed, billionaire. All the other performances truly shine. Marion Cottilard is brilliant as the mysterious Miranda Tate, and Anne Hathaway makes for a perfect Catwoman. Michael Caine's performance was simply astounding as well, just like the other two movies.
The 'Tale of Two Cities' angle that Nolan took with this movie is surreal. The film is about three hours long, but has so much going on you never get bored, even if there is a somewhat slow pace at the start. Nolan set similar but distinct tones for each film of the trilogy. He is great at doing this, and in this movie, he sets up, and builds up, a tone of dread, with a bright undertone of hope.
One of the greatest scenes I have ever witnessed in cinema is *spoilers* Bruce Wayne making the jump to climb out of Bane's prison. In my opinion, it is THIS scene that MOST defines Batman, even if he's not in his cape and cowl. It is the fear of death that most motivates him. And whenever he does fall, he knows to pick himself up. It's an incredibly motivational scene, and in my opinion, it is Nolan's greatest work.
Though the film is unique in a lot of ways, there is so much that brings it full circle with both The Dark Knight as well as Batman Begins. Hans Zimmer's score has stayed consistently great throughout the trilogy, and as it builds up intensely towards the end, it only gets better. It's very clear that this is Zimmer at his best.
There are so many reasons as to why this is my favorite Dark Knight film, as well as one of my favorite comic-book movies, more like favorite MOVIES in general. See it to believe it.