Not disappointed, but not fully satisfied either

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2012)

As everyone, I walked into the movie theater with high expectations, and judging by the average IDMB-rating, it was likely that I would not be disappointed. After walking out the theater again, I wasn't. The movie has a pretty good storyline, the acting is decent and it strikes a pretty good balance between storytelling and action. Tom Harding does a decent job as the antagonist, though it's a pretty poisoned gift to succeed Heath Ledger's Joker. His voice was fearsome and at the point in the movie where he starts to take over, I felt the same genuine terror I felt during the Jokers takeover in the previous movie.
*SPOILERS
However, to say that I walked out fully satisfied would be an overstatement too. The story has too much holes and lacks character depth. These are 2 big flaws which, while watching, are almost sufficiently camouflaged to be forgotten, but leave you hanging too much when you watch the credits roll. Why Blake recognizes Wayne as Batman, why Catwoman and Miranda are who they are, how come Blake has a protective side that is completely smothered by its dark side, and numerous others smaller and bigger character things are never explored throughout the movie. The lack of answers for these questions makes DKR lacking in depth. In general, the characters do their thing but their motivations and moral ambiguities, are severely underplayed. I guess there are too many characters necessary to keep this story going, which in turn explains the lack of time for character exploration.
Furthermore the story has a few holes. How cops can come out of a couple of closed tunnels with no facial hair, perfect clothing and a good appearance after weeks of prisoning, even though they received supplies, is kind of strange. Characters come out of nowhere at the right time to have a conversation that stirs the story forward (and I'm not talking solely about the superheroes, which would still be "explainable" but also the "regular" ones). Because of one scene in the beginning where Alfred gives Bruce a lecture which seems unnatural and unnecessary at the moment, it gives away the ending 2 hours beforehand. How Wayne manages to end up like that is a complete mystery, but not in the intriguing kind of way. It's more in a "too unrealistic even for a superhero-movie" manner that gives DKR an ending it doesn't deserve. I'm not a fan of killing superheroes, but in this case it would've been much more realistic, and would've given an unexpected emotional twist instead of the cliché ending we got now. In general, there are too few epic scenes like the one in the stadium, and too much merely entertaining ones that string along the story and keep you captivated, but ultimately don't make this movie stand out as much as its predecessor. On a side note, Marion Cotillards death scene was pretty bad acting.
Because a lot of people are so lyrical about this movie and oblivious to the negative points, I felt compelled to point out the latter. While good, this movie is overrated and it should never have an average rating of 9+. I would still give it an 8/10 because Nolan manages to camouflage these negative points just enough to not be bothered with them at the moment of watching it. I would've given 7.5 but that's not possible and 7/10 is doing the movie a slight injustice. It's entertaining and I will definitely watch it again someday, just not too soon and probably when I'm a bit bored.