I Believe in Nolan

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2012)

I was not a big fan of the first movie and I loved the second movie, primarily because of Heath Ledger's performance. This movie takes all the good from both previous movies and builds on them. The toys are cooler, the surprises are genuine and the plot is thick. Bane (as played by Tom Hardy) is brilliant.
I think voices are very important in these movies. I always hated Bale's Batman voice, which is a reason I think I didn't care much for Batman Begins. I loved Ledger's maniacal Joker voice and, similarly, Hardy's Bane voice is terrifying and ominous. It helps make him a scary character, even before you see him fight and see him hijack a city.
Anne Hatheway more than holds her own as the saucy Catwoman. She's not just a clichéd grrl-power villainess. And unlike, say, Spiderman 3, it doesn't feel like the writers tried to cram another villain into the movie. She fits.
Not everything is perfect, however. The stock exchange hijack plan would never work in real life, and anyone who knows even a tiny bit about the exchange will get that. Try to ignore that bit. I was also disappointed that Bane's goal of make Gotham erupt into chaos is too similar to the goals of the villains in the previous movies. Luckily, Catwoman has much more selfish plans, making her a more realistic character.
All in all, it's a very satisfying movie with great characters, great acting, and a lot of fun action sequences.