The Dark Knight Rises as the best Batman movie thus far

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2012)

The movie did totally exceed my expectations. There is a lot of hype surrounding this movie and because of that I didn't expect that TDKR would be as good as it is.
I want to give this a perfect score but I can't. Certain parts dragged and others they rushed. There are a few scenes that could (or should) have been left on the cutting room floor. At one point I thought to myself that the movie must have been going for two hours or so but I was wrong. I was only an hour into it. The movie does pick up steam as goes though.
Christian Bale is an actor who I have always been a fan of however I was a little disappointed in his portrayal of Batman in the first two movies. In this movie he really did sink into the role. And his Bat-voice is not so over the top as it used to be. I always preferred Michael Keaton as Batman before I saw this movie. After seeing TDKR though I like Bale's performance just as much as Keaton's.
Bane's voice wasn't hard for me to understand (though I think there was one line I couldn't follow). Is Hardy's performance better than Heath Ledger's? I would say that they are equal. But the character of Bane was much more compelling than The Joker in my opinion.
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was great as well.
Bravo Christopher Nolan and team.