Not as good as its predecessor

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2012)

You sacrifice your name, your body, the love of your life to achieve one goal. You achieved it, but someone later puts those achievements at risk. What do you do? Come out of hiding or run?
Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) has abandoned the cape and mask so that Batman could never be arrested and prosecuted for the crimes committed by Harvey Dent that he took the fall for. He's been living like a recluse for eight years while Commissioner James Gordon (played by Gary Oldman) has all but extinguished violent crime in Gotham. Gordon wants to reveal the truth during a celebration honoring Harvey Dent but decides the city isn't ready for it. At that same celebration, a congressman is abducted and, while investigating the crime, Gordon is shot. The patrolman who rescues him, John Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is promoted to detective and told he's to report directly the Commissioner. Blake (Gordon-Levitt) knows Batman's true identity and pleads with Wayne to once again don the cape and mask. Commissioner Gordon echoes those sentiments when Wayne, incognito, visits him in the hospital. The kidnapper, a terrorist and mercenary intent on destroying the city, is Bane. Bane (played by Tom Hardy) was once a member of the League of Shadows before being expelled by his and Bruce Wayne's mentor, Ra's al Ghul. Bane was hired by a competitor of Wayne Enterprises, John Daggett (played by Ben Mendelsohn). We're also introduced to a master thief working with Bane, Selina Kyle (played by Anne Hathaway) who is, of course, Catwoman, though she's never addressed by that name.
I was a latecomer to Nolan's new take on the Batman story. I saw The Dark Knight in theaters, but I didn't catch Batman Begins, the first film in the series, until it began airing on cable. Once I did, I bought the DVD. I bought The Dark Knight on DVD the day of its release. Bale as Batman was amazing in the first two films and he is just as good, if not better, in the third. Hardy as Bane is nowhere near as mesmerizing as Heath Ledger's interpretation of The Joker, but he is far more intimidating. Hathaway as Catwoman is the best version of this character that I have seen to date. Of course, the other versions, portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry, were beautiful but one-dimensional. I was hoping this film would be better than its predecessor. Perhaps it's the notion that this means the story is over, but I thought The Dark Knight was the best in the series. That said, Rises is brilliant and anyone who's seen the previous films should see this latest one as soon as possible.