Astonishing!

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

I would've posted this review sooner, but it's taken me a while to get over how brilliant it is, so I can judge it on it's own merits. There's a lot to like about this film, and I've been racking my brains for a while thinking about what's not to like, but I've came to the conclusion that there's hardly anything. The film is brilliant, and it's probably the strongest entry of the trilogy.
Everything in this movie is near perfect, from the cinematography, to the pacing (Which puts it leagues above The Dark Knight straight away), to the genuinely heartbreaking scenes involving Bruce Wayne and his faithful butler Alfred. I can honestly say that I've never cried so much in a film in my entire life. Every scene involving Michael Caine is just heart wrenching, and the last half of the film is beyond excellent.
Christian Bale puts in a brilliant performance as Bruce Wayne, which in my opinion in his strongest to date. The thing I liked about this film most though, is the fact that it hasn't followed in the footsteps of 'The Dark Knight', and went down more of a 'Batman Begins' route. This is Bruce Wayne and Gotham central, which in itself is a perfect way to wrap up the series. Then we have the fact that this is not a superhero movie, far from it. This is probably the most real and down to earth Batman film you'll see and what the film manages to do, is maintain such a strong and personal connection to the characters and at the same time and give it such a massive scope. The thing that struck me the most though. is that this is not a conventional Batman film, and more like an extremely character driven art house film. It deals mostly with Gotham without a hero, and I think thats where the most successful aspect lies. I also love that this is Bruce Wayne central. Batman is hardly ever featured, and I really do feel that this was a very risky, but wise move. It was very important that it focused on the Bruce Wayne character, because that's where the true heart and emotion lives.
As mentioned before, I found it really difficult to find flaws in this film. It does have a few plot holes but you know what? It really doesn't matter. The film is so strong in it's own right that I can gladly overlook it's flaws. I found Bane a tad underused, but I think the fact that The Dark Knight Rises focuses more on loss, and the people of Gotham adjusting to a world without Batman, then It makes sense for him to be confined to the background.
I can't really make up my mind whether or not I prefer this to Batman Begins, but it's definitely on par, and I've never once been thus emotional connected to a film, so I have a feeling that this could very well be my favourite chapter in the trilogy. I'm not going to say that I've loved The Dark Knight Trilogy over the years. I've only just recently rediscovered Batman Begins, I really didn't think much of it the first time, but soon entered my top 10 film list. While I really enjoy The Dark Knight, I still think it's very flawed, but now that the series has concluded. I am feeling an overwhelming sense of loss. So thank you Christopher Nolan, for restoring my faith in cinema, and taking the time to deliver and intelligent and exciting range of films.