A spectacle in many ways. Just a few flaws.

Rating: 8/10 (21 March 2016)

I remember this movie being one of the biggest pop culture events of the year, not to mention the Aurora shooting that brought it attention from more groups of people. When school started up again, I remember about half of my class saying that they'd seen it at some point, and the majority of them were not big superhero fans. It's really great that a movie of this genre that used to attract such a limited audience and was not treated seriously as a source of quality movies until maybe ten years ago is now capable of being a cultural landmark. From my perspective, Batman Begins was the first truly respectable superhero movie, and I honestly believe that much of the Marvel franchise's success has roots in the work that Chris and Jonathan Nolan have done on this trilogy. They don't let the classic hero/villain face offs limit their story to that of a standard action flick, and instead use it to comment on how society reacts to tragedy and intimidation.
This works well in a few ways with Bane's plot to destroy Gotham, and justifies some of the apparent stupidity in his plan. A lot of people say it's dumb and clichéd to allow Gotham a matter of months to stop Bane, but Bane refrains from setting it off because he is thinking big picture. If he just pulls the trigger, that's a terrorist attack. But by making a spectacle of the bomb and the "liberation" of Gotham, he is breaking the will of humanity because the bomb has been *allowed* to go off. He is proving to the world that it is ill- managed, corruptable and already filled with corruption. Once the people's heroes, Batman and Harvey Dent, are robbed from them, the people have nobody to protect them. This raises two unspoken questions: can people collectively overcome the power of evil, and can a man have great influence without losing his humanity as Alfred fears. The answer that is given to both is "yes, but with great difficulty because of the way things are".
There are several new characters. Our new villain is a sharp change of tone from the Joker. Rather than mess with people's heads, Bane accomplishes his ends by playing off emotions, particularly fear. Selina Kyle is a very different character with her own agenda, something that the franchise hasn't seen before. John Blake, one of my favorites, is the guy who exemplifies the spirit that Batman originally intended to inspire. John Dagget is a new face, but is really nothing more than the replacement for Falcone and Maroney even though there is no mob that he runs. Officer Foley represents the mood of the people of Gotham throughout. Finally, Miranda Tate plays into Bruce's life in multiple ways, though she is one of the more poorly written characters of the series. Batman/Bruce Wayne's development is continued, but now he is a broken character. Were this an unnecessary reboot with a much too old Bruce Wayne, this would feel sloppy, but it fits perfectly with how The Dark Knight ends.
The plot is good in the sense that viewers can be entertained by the more action driven issues without being bored by the more "boring" aspects of the story. The main problem with the movie is that it is very hard to completely grasp the whole story the first time around because of how involved it is. The same can be said of most of Nolan's films, but it's a well thought out story once you can grasp it. The dialogue is a little dramatic at times, particularly from Bane, but it feels at least somewhat called for.
Due to the budget, it's a technical masterpiece with huge set pieces and stylized action. There are periodic action scenes in the first two hours, enough to keep pacing, but not enough that it can be called a strict action film. It has a very serious feel to it, more like Jason Bourne movies than Spiderman. The acting is pretty solid all around, particularly from Anne Hathaway. Hans Zimmer brings his old score to new regions with the more chaotic sounds of the chanting prisoners, and continues to let the music and the sound of the movie blend together.
There's a different feel here than in the Dark Knight, and it isn't quite as respectable of a story, but it couldn't have been easy to match the quality of TDK. There are more holes to poke in this story, though I believe them to have purpose. Bane might be disappointing after having the Joker. But the slight decline in quality is not a reason to not see it or not enjoy it. If you rent this, make sure you have time to watch all of it and can afford to view it in separate sittings. If you only like the superhero action, it will satisfy, but there is much more to it than that. Overall Rating: 8.7/10.