A great movie, just not quite the same power as "The Dark Knight"

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

The technical aspects of the movie were sensational and some of the acting was remarkable but when I left I felt it was more like "Batman Begins" which I have rated an 8 than "The Dark Knight" that rates an unequivocal 10 in my book. One other problem is the need to know what had happened before in both movies, but in particular "Batman Begins" means this movie would be hard to follow without seeing these other movies. That is not at all true with "The Dark Knight" that can stand on its own.
Acting kudos to Christian Bale who had more "Bruce time" to show his skill. More Bruce time means of course less "Batman time" which is one other complaint I have that I will discuss later on. I read several reviews discussing Bale and how he "acted with his eyes" but Nolan did him a disservice in my opinion. We have two menacing film bad guys who wore helmets/or masks over their head, Darth Vadar and Hannibal Lector. Bale's Bain had neither of these character's foreboding flare. It wasn't that he was bad, he was fine but he was not a "Top 10" bad guy either and Ledger's Joker certainly was! The returnees were all top notch - Freeman, Caine and Oldman all delivered typically great performances! I know I am supposed to like and admire Marion Cotillard but I just find her annoying. She was less annoying than her role in "Inception" but hey, it is just my opinion! Now the two best along with Bale were Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway. First Levitt - he has a great deal of screen time and it is all enjoyable and interesting, really a nice job. Then there was Hathaway's Selina Kyle who you wish was in the movie continuously! She was complex, sexy, beautiful, interesting, intelligent, disappointing and extremely likable all in the same role. She should win an Oscar for this (maybe Bale too).
OK, the other complaint is a lack of "Batman" time. At the end of the day, this is still a Batman movie and we should not leave the theater complaining about a lack of his screen time. I understand it from a plot standpoint but there could have been a bit more of him earlier on and I think should have. I also felt surprisingly indifferent for some of the major "jaw-dropping" effects. I am pretty sure that goes back to the villain issues I have so I suppose I felt less engaged by them.
Still at the end of the day - the movie was sensational. When you compare it to something like Avatar (I still think is Junk) or "The Avengers" it is reaching for something more. There is a political message that was obvious in "The Dark Knight" and I think even more direct in "Rises." Nolan has points to make and in many ways his points fly in the face of the Hollywood elite. This is by FAR the best movie of the year although The Dark Knight was the best movie of 2008 and didn't even get nominated. I suspect this will but won't win because of the points being made here. I will see it again and maybe even again. He is the best film maker of our day without question.
Finishing a trilogy is always hard. Of all the trilogies I have seen (Original Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings to name a few) this is the best concluding movie of the bunch. Once again this movie finished strong and I felt in a very satisfying way.
I rated this a 9, but if I could it would be a 9.5 - I just felt it wasn't quite a 10!
Thanks Mr. Nolan for a sensational set of films that raised the bar for comic book movies specifically and film making in general!