Expectations were met!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2012)

It's funny how high my expectations were before watching this movie. It was easily the movie I had anticipated most eagerly, ever! That being said, I left the movie with a strange feeling. The movie was as great as I had thought, but it took some turns that I felt was quite unexpected. For one... any comparisons to The Dark Knight are misplaced. TDK was a genius crime saga with an intelligent moral twist. The Dark Knight Rises is more of an epic movie. It's a war epic, in a sense. At the same time, however, it focuses extremely much on character building. It becomes very clear in TDKR that Bruce Wayne can't be understood separate from Batman, and visa versa (also, SMALL SPOILER: Expect a vast representation of characters from the Batman universe - it is truly an amazing combination of all kinds of character stories).
Few would argue that the major focus point is the choice of Bane as a villain. And let me say: All comparisons between TDK and TDKR, and hereby also between The Joker and Bane, are completely futile. Bane is the pen-ultimate choice for TDKR, as The Joker were for TDK. And actually, though The Joker arguably was a more interesting character psychologically speaking, Bane is much more of a frightening villain. I've read a lot of reviews stating that Heath, as expected, was a greater villain. But I disagree. No doubt that the Joker was a psychopath, but you were just waiting for Batman to deal with him, really (no hard feelings, I love TDK)... but Bane is intimidating, completely scary, and you'll find yourself questioning Batman in the fight against this physically superior opponent. Although Bane is not in any way unpredictable, the sheer evilness of his character is completely frightening. It's genius (and the accent and postures, they're just awesome).
Yes, there are some questionable plot holes and corny scenes, but that's Nolan for you. Deal with it. Fact is, you will never see greater blockbuster movies than that of Nolan. TDKR is no exception, and it concludes the trilogy in amazing fashion - with equal portions action and depth!
Maybe, I have to let it sink in, but my hunch is telling me that this might be my favourite of the three. And again, the last 30 minutes will blow you away!