Disappointed

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2012)

This isn't really i review but more of a rant but before i start i didn't hate it but i was left unsatisfied. As a big fan of the first two i was hoping Nolan would build on what has gone before and give the audiences what they were hoping for. Instead what we got was nearly three hours of unfulfilled potential and a terrible story.
heres a list of what I felt was wrong with this movie. 1)Bane is ONCE AGAIN relegated to being a henchman! 2)'Breaking the bats back'. What we got was a poor fight scene shot in close up ending with a back breaker with all the power of a WWE rookie. This leads to.. 3)The prison scenes. Completely tacked on scenes about Bruces recovery. The back breaking story arc is reduced to a slipped disk and 5 months recovery doing press ups. Also during the climbing scenes, if bruce fell that distance with a loose rope tied around him he probably would have broke his back again on each attempt. These whole scenes felt tacked on to me, they didn't reveal anything or drive the plot, their only purpose was to drop massive hints about what the 'plot twist' at the end. I feel that Bruces recovery could have been better explained if he used a variation on the device that he used on his knees to help him walk again. 4)Why on earth did we have to be treated to another story about Ra's al Goul. Couldn't we have a story with Bane having his own agenda. This felt lack of imagination on behalf of the writers. i understand they probably felt they were bringing things full circle but for me it just felt like a cop out. 5)'The autopilot debate' all through the movies they have talked about batman being a symbol and can be anyone. So Mr. Nolan why didn't you have the courage to kill off Bruce when you have set up the means to do so through out the film. Blake could have took the role of Batman during bruces recovery for example. Also Batman says he hasn't given his all, surely sacrificing himself to save Gotham is doing just that! Batman doesn't get to have a happy ending..
I could go on with other issues with this movie but i wont. There were some things i liked, Catwoman was handled better than i thought it would be. The special effects and the cinematography was superb as usual and Gotham has never looked better, especially as we got to see it during the day. Nolans Batman movies have always had great performances from its cast and this was no exception and Micheal Caine was the real heart of the piece, giving a strong but short performance. I understand i am in the minority in my views but they are just that. I wrote this little piece for my own benefit really, just to get my thoughts down as i was so frustrated. The Avengers/Amazing Spiderman had me smiling as i left the cinema, TDKR left we sad inside.
Thanks for reading and take care!