A Satisfying End to the operatic Trilogy!

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2012)

A satisfying end to the operatic and dark 'Batman Trilogy' (or 'The Dark Knight Trilogy'). The movie forms an epic finale to the Dark Superhero Trilogy and makes it land among best superhero series and great trilogies of all time. 'The Dark Knight Rises' rises high enough, but not as high as its predecessor. Despite many of its flaws, TKDR (with its sensational climax and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Cat Burglar) couldn't have given Batman fans a better closure than this. Nolan, with his remarkable story-telling technique, maintains the plot and twists well enough to keep us interested. The 72 mins. of IMAX footage surely adds to the movie's grandeur.
With a well-paced and tightly-bound story in 'The Dark Knight', Nolan goes back to the pace he followed in 'Batman Begins'. The movie takes its time to take off. A lot of new characters are introduced, but there's no character development (except for Blake's).
Anne Hathaway as 'Selina Kyle/Catwoman' was the Show-stealer, with her expressive eyes, clever one-liners and the amazing intro (the heist scene at Wayne Manor). And Christopher Nolan, clever as he is, doesn't taint the movie by carefully abstaining from using the 'C' Word ('Catwoman') in the entire movie.
Christian Bale as 'Bruce Wayne/Batman' was as good as he was expected to be, but his character lacked emotion.
Tom Hardy as 'Bane' was menacing enough with a grim & hoarse voice which sets the tone for the whole movie, but lacked the brutality and gruesomeness which Heath Ledger's 'Joker' brought to us. Thus, he ended up being just another comic villain.
Michael Cane's 'Alfred' gave us some of the most emotionally intense scenes of the movie while he was interacting with Bruce. He was incredible, both in his presence and his absence.
Joseph Gordon Levitt's 'Blake' was the only character who was developed well in the movie. And the twist revealed about his character was really amazing.
Marion Cotillard's 'Miranda Tate' character is also less explored and expanded, but as the movie progresses, it can be understood why.
There are scenes and dialogues which truly stand out - the heist scene at Wayne Manor, When Selina Kyle whispers into Bruce's ear '... how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us', Alfred's interactions with Bruce, when Bruce tells Gordon 'A hero can be as simple as a man putting his coat around a little boy's shoulders and reassuring him the world hadn't ended yet', and the nothing-less-than-exceptional Climax.
Deh-Shay, Deh Shay, Bah Sah Rah, Bah Sah Rah...