Artistically crafted as usual for Nolan, but the story gets lost in the malaise of events.

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2012)

"Batman Begins" is my favorite superhero movie ever. "The Dark Knight Rises" is clearly a huge hit, and I really wanted to like it- but it left me with indigestion.
Nolan is a master craftsman, the imagery, the (very loud) sounds, the performances are all top notch (opening scene is awesome). The problem I have is that often there's just too much going on and not all of it manages to make sense. I think there's enough in this film for two regular movies- and having it all squeezed into two and a half hours is almost like watching a movie in fast forward mode- where you can pick up bits and pieces of what's going on, but rarely dwell long enough on one thing to allow the story to feel real and sink in. "Batman Begins" also had a lot going on, yet it all seemed to fit and come together, with the Dark Knight Rises some of the plot twists and goings on simply don't pan out and work in a congruent way.
I remember reading an interview with Nolan where he described his wish with "Batman Begins" as wanting to create a story where you could actually believe the main character could truly do the things he's doing in the real world environment- to bring superhero fantasy down to real world believability (and with his first Batman movie, he did it with flying colors). But with this third installment all that went out the window for me, simple stuff like (spoiler alert) when the police force is left underground for weeks- yet when they emerge they look as fresh and well fed as when they first arrived, or how Catwoman manages to master the bat cycle instantaneously, or how commissioner Gordon is hunted at first, only to be left free to roam the city for weeks afterwards (plus I never bought into how Bruce was willing to push Alfred away so easily during their argument). The fight scenes between Batman and Bane are admirable, but border on cartoonish compared to the fight scenes in "Batman Begins".
Am I nitpicking? Yes. "The Dark Knight Rises" is a good superhero movie and worth seeing (wear earplugs if you go to the Imax showing, I couldn't hear for two hours afterwards). But when you challenge an audience to keep up with such fast paced sequences, you take on a responsibility to make it worth their while. Coming from Nolan's earlier works, he set a standard that IMHO this film didn't meet.
Nolan is a master chef, but this latest soup wasn't cooked long enough and has too many ingredients that don't sit together well in the stomach.