Thrilling, epic, visually stunning and bring on Bane

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2015)

I should start by stating that I'm not a fan of the Batman movies (commence "not helpful" voting now) However I did really enjoy Dark Knight Rises. Obviously I can't get into the complexities of the trilogy or offer my opinion to the superheroes universe but this was a thrilling, visually stunning and ambitious movie.
The storyline had an epic feel to it. And I suppose (for whatever reason) part of me enjoyed seeing The Batman, Bruce Wayne brought down a notch as this opens with him a wanted vigilante, his reputation tarnished after the events of The Dark Knight. Wayne is now crippled and living a self imposed exile with only his (awesome) man servant Michael Caine to keep his head screwed on. Truthfully we see more of Bruce Wayne than Batman in this movie which I liked.
Eventually though Bruce must don the costume once again to save Gotham and its police force who are struggling to cope with the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) -a fierce villain possessed of tremendous physical and intellectual strength.
Bring on Bane, who (except for the voice) was a fantastic bad guy. I loved every scene he was in, its just too bad he had to suffer such a lame ending. For such a powerful character this was a huge letdown. Speaking of... we also get Catwoman thanks to Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as police officer Blake - I'm sure we will see more of him. The extended cast was fantastic. I also enjoyed the (tricky) ending. Now I know the answer. 9/1/15