Excellent conclusion to an astounding trilogy

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2012)

Having successfully avoided all hype behind this film, not seeing any trailers or reading any articles, I saw The Dark Knight Rises the day I returned from my month-long trip. The film was great. That's no surprise. How great though? Well...
I believe this film to be the weakest of the 3 Nolan Batman films, which is nothing to be ashamed of: it's like being the worst Lord of the Rings film, and I liked this significantly more than The Two Towers. All the Bale films deserve my 9s. But where Batman Begins had character and heart and The Dark Knight transcended the superhero sub-genre with the Joker, Dark Knight Rises is just an epic comic book story that wraps up the arcs and themes established by the trilogy while providing a villain who completely establishes a mood of hopelessness.
Nolan seems to have wanted to go out with a physical bang, and so the epic scale of this film increased. You may like this change to a bigger stage, but personally I didn't. The small hand to hand fights that were so captivating in Batman Begins and the set pieces of The Dark Knight seem small compared to some of the explosive events that occur in Dark Knight Rises, but this makes the smaller scenes in DKR less significant. It also seems that there's less actual Batman in the film: he takes a very long time to show up, then takes an extended break in the middle. This leads to much more support screen time: the new characters make the first 20 minutes tough to understand as many banker characters and police officers are indistinguishable. The new cast members also reduce scenes with favourites like Alfred and Commissioner Gordon. However, some may welcome the change of lead characters.
The story is strong, a complete package. There are slow segments, but the film is very satisfying, especially in its conclusion. As I've mentioned before, there is a relatively low percentage of Batman screen time. I hope you like Joseph Gordon- Levitt, as he has lots to do. The film also has a neat twist, though it doesn't really change much. There are small faults and unexplained actions, but nothing crucial. I'll say it again: the conclusion to the trilogy is remarkable in how it wraps up Bruce's story, while letting the audience make up in their minds what happens next for Gotham.
The acting is excellent. There's no Joker to tentpole performances, (and no one could possibly hope to follow up the Joker) but everyone pulls their weight, especially Bale in his best turn as Batman and Hathaway as Catwoman (though she's never called that). Even more than when I saw it, I'm really liking Bane's treatment, especially his curious voice and menacing mask.
The action and technical work, visual and audio, are supreme. The cinematography is masterful. Nothing else needs to be said about that.
According to Nolan, pain, both physical and mental, is the main idea of the film. I found there to also be a positive message of hope in one fitting word, "rise". I like the positive end to such a dark series, one of the greatest trilogies of all time, the best comic book films of all time developed by one of the greatest movie-making teams of all time.
8.7/10