This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Rating: 5/10 (25 July 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises. The most anticipated film of the decade so far, and the finisher to an epic trilogy. Only perfection will do, it seems.
Unfortunately, perfection is something that has arguably never been achieved in film, so asking that of Nolan may be a bit much. What should be asked of Nolan, however, is cohesion. And it is this which drags the film from an intelligent and deep thriller down to an average summer blockbuster.
The lack of cohesion manifests itself in each element of the film, as sporadic directing hampers an ambitious story. When dealing with a story of this scale, intimacy is the key balance that must be applied; but intimacy is hard to find. We are given stacks of characters with their own branching stories, but none of them feel particularly fulfilled. Bane's history is lightly explored, and a dire lack of information is regards to Selina Kyle brings down what is otherwise a respectable performance from Anne Hathaway.
Our titular hero is also handled bizarrely, being followed religiously by the story at the beginning of the film, only to be lost in a sea of scenarios by the second half.
The reason the Dark Knight was so compelling was that it was focused - The Joker and Batman were polar opposites, and flowed seamlessly along the story line. But with Rises, the lines are blurred; as characters swap sides and back-stab with seemingly no reason or motive. Such flippant and fickle disregard can only be tolerated by the audience for so long.
Overall, the film is a mixed bag of jarring ideas and contrived messages; but when stripped to it's core, it's an exciting and menacing spectacle. It's just a shame that its predecessor's integrity wasn't kept intact.