A notch below the Dark Knight

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2012)

I went into this film with HUGE expectations. The last time I had huge expectations for a film was The Dark Knight, which exceeded my expectations. The Dark Knight Rises didn't exceed my expectations but certainly met them. So I'm rating this 8 out of ten so you can hopefully get the idea that it is a good film, but it might be more enjoyable if you're not expecting it to be a GREAT film.
PLOT - I don't want to spoil anything here, so suffice it to say that it takes a lot of story threads from Batman Begins and expands upon those ideas in some pretty cool ways... so it might not be a bad idea to re-watch Batman Begins as a refresher. I should also mention that the tone is not as dark as The Dark Knight, so it's more "family friendly" in my eyes.
BATMAN - Bale's raspy voice was far less obnoxious in this film than the previous ones. I'm not sure if he toned it down a bit or if there was just less dialogue but either way, it was an improvement on the previous films. In this movie they show Batman/Bruce Wayne as a superhero who is past his prime, and in many ways broken down, which I found to be an interesting approach.
BANE - Once again the villain steals the show. As with The Dark Knight, not a lot of back-story is provided; just enough to whet your appetite.
CATWOMAN - I always find myself questioning Nolan's casting choices, but then after seeing the film I realize how right he was in his decisions. This was again the case with Anne Hathaway. To be honest I'm not usually a fan of butt-kicking women because it usually feels really fake, but they pulled it off well here.
ALFRED - I've always liked Michael Caine, but not so much in this film. I found his accent was a little different at times, he was always weepy and whinging, and in some ways seemed to be saying things completely opposite to his views in the previous films. This might have been to show an old man's reflection on his past mistakes, but at points I'll admit I thought maybe he was just losing his marbles.
The Dark Knight Rises concludes the Batman series quite nicely but also leaves open the possibility for spin-offs. To be honest, I'd rather they just left it alone, the only way my mind might be changed is if Christopher Nolan were to direct any such films, but I have a feeling that won't happen.
My overall feeling is that it is just a notch below The Dark Knight, which is still very good! It is a little bit long and even a little slow at certain points, but that is just Nolan lulling you into a sense of security before awing you with some intense action.