Did I watch the same film?

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2012)

As a long-time Batfan, and having thoroughly enjoyed the other two parts of the trilogy, I was willing to meet this more than 90% of the way. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but seriously, there are so many holes in the plot it's almost insulting. Bruce Wayne fine without leg brace, Bane's cronies witnessing their first fight knowing also that Bruce Wayne is Batman, no consequences to a knife wound... the list goes on.
Plenty of scenes also come across as half-baked - Batman taking a few moments to ambiguously explain his identity to Gordon while the clock ticks on a nuclear device, Liam Neeson embarrassingly thrown in, the TV in the prison designed to torment Bruce Wayne easily broken by a lobbed projectile. And then there's Bane abruptly getting shot by 'Catwoman' on the bike; even the cast looked a bit taken aback after that. As soon as Bane ceased to be the baddie, the film had to deliver something exceptional to conclude, and it simply didn't.
This is in my opinion a bit of a selfish film on the part of the director. The conclusion was the beginning, all Nolan wanted to do was to pack the punch of the 'death' of Bruce Wayne. Which I'm up for. Just do it in a more coherent and competent fashion.