Mediocre

Rating: 3/10 (11 December 2012)

First, as a comic book fan, I will try not to bring that too much into play in my review. Overall, I left the movie theater disappointed. I looked at my watch around an hour in and realized that there had been all of ONE batman scene. As it moved along, I kept thinking, wow, I didn't know this was going to be "Bruce Wayne Rises"
In earlier movies, I loved things like the interactions between Batman and Two Face or The Joker. In this one...it's Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle. I guess I like my superhero movies to actually feature a superhero.
Secondly, the whole pit scene came off as contrived. I knew what to expect, and I was just waiting for the "Rocky Training Montage" to happen. I just was disappointed there wasn't 'Hearts on Fire' playing in the background during the scene.
Next off, and this is where I bring in a little bit of comic book reference, but an important one. Batman was originally featured in "Detective Comics"...and there was no mystery to solve here. This was a tried and true war movie. No hint of detective work is needed, other than the "twist" at the end (which from a comic book perspective made no sense, but that's OK). It was Army vs Army, with Batman FINALLY making an appearance to ride in and save the day.
Which was my last problem with the movie. After all the buildup during the entire movie, the final fight between Batman and Bane was over HOW quickly? I figured there would at least be a fight scene spilling over from one place to the next, while a war raged around them. Instead, we get...a fast predictable outcome that is over in the blink of an eye.
Overall, I found the movie more of a war movie, with a man (not superhero) making his own introspective journey of growth, and a flashy ending that is over way too quickly with a 'twist' that I guess was supposed to wow the audience from how unexpected it was due to neglecting any good foreshadowing.