A flawed conclusion to a great trilogy.

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises was without a doubt my most anticipated film of the year. For a few years actually as I'd been anticipating it since the credits rolled on The Dark Knight back in 2008.
So how is the movie? Well it'd be a blatant lie for me to say it held up realism wise to its predecessors throughout this film we are treated to several situations that grow in there unbelievability as the film progresses. To say the movie has some plot inconsistencies is a vast understatement the film has enough plot problems to make Rookie Screenwriters look fondly upon their own work and comfort themselves with the thought "at least its not as bad as The Dark Knight Rises". I wont go into significant detail but trust me there are probably three or four situations that'll have you rolling your eyes and thinking "Really? That's how it is?" sad for a film that could've been, and I was fully expecting to be the best film of the year. The film also contains a truly terrible last fifteen minutes. Even if the rest of the film wasn't up to snuff I was hoping Nolan would pull out an epic finale well if your definition of "Epic Finale" consists of basically a car chase and a way overused plot device(a plot device which I might add is strikingly similar to another Blockbuster film that came out this year) then you'll be satisfied. As soon as the credits rolled I felt cheated that is the best way to describe it. The trailer for this film is actually better than the film itself.
But enough doom and gloom now for the positives. The film contains the fantastic performance of Tom Hardy as Bane who I daresay is the franchises best Villain even outshining Ledger's Joker. Bane is literally the perfect Villain(until the last fifteen minutes anyways) couldn't have asked for more. The film also contains some well done action sequences which offer a nice spectacle if nothing else. It also has Anne Hathaway in a catsuit which will never be a bad thing.
Basically the biggest problem with this film is its appearance to adhere to its predecessors "Dark gritty and hyper realistic style" which admittedly there were parts in the other two that strained credibility but they don't come even close to the blatantly awkward problems in this film, at times you almost begin to wonder if this is the same Nolan that worked on the other two. It trades its realism for Blockbuster escapades, and its complicated themes for an ending that is such an unbelievable cop out that back stabs all the people like me who see Batman as a tortured soul who would always defend Gotham even unto the bitter end.
So in summary "The Dark Knight Rises" is not an awful film. But a disappointing final entry in a trilogy that looked like it was truly going somewhere. At its worst its a mediocre,messy,menagerie, of magnetic morons, at its best its a Batman film with Batman stuff.