Overwhelming filmmaking.

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 2013)

Batman Begins was a comic book movie set in a real world. The Dark Knight took that one step further and turned the classic Batman-vs-Joker storyline into an epic crime caper, tightly edited and propulsive in its narrative.
The Dark Knight Rises is a mix of both. It brings back more of the comic book elements that TDK abandoned (without any spoilers, let's say it ventures to the roots of 'Begins' a bit for its characters' backstories) while maintaining the hard-edged realism of its immediate predecessor. It also has a sort of overwhelming, sprawling style of narrative that is best compared to the old Hollywood studio system. This is simply grand storytelling, on a large scale with tangible crowds full of extras and without an over-reliance on CGI.
Much has been said about the film since its release, with some crawling out of the woodwork to complain about it being disappointing. I would say it is a very satisfying ending to Nolan's trilogy, but not without its flaws. Bane is a great villain, and Tom Hardy plays him perfectly; but there was no way he could ever live up to the charismatic menace of the Joker. He's not as iconic and quite simply he's not as fun. But he's just as terrifying in his own way, and Nolan wisely chose Hardy based on the intensity he can translate through his eyes alone.
Bale, et al are all predictably solid (he's still the best Batman despite the jokes about his voice) but Michael Caine really steps his game up in his limited scenes as Alfred, who in an odd way almost becomes the emotional centerpiece of this particular film and has an emotionally stirring payoff.
The last sequence of the film is one of the best endings I've ever seen, even if there are some plot holes. Overall, this is an emotionally resonant and intense finale to one of the best trilogies ever made. It feels like the only film that could have been made to close this story.