Christopher Nolan or Michael Bay?

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2012)

After creating a masterpiece with The Dark Knight, in which all the characters, the plots and direction came together in perfect synchronization, it's understandable that the end to the trilogy fell short of our expectations. Sadly, in The Dark Knight Rises the Joker's presence was clearly missed. The villain of the movie, Miranda Tate, played by Marion Cotillard, lacked a genuine and plausible reason in wanting to destroy Gotham. In fact, overall, the plot felt similar to the jamming of random puzzle pieces together in hopes of making something artistic. The end result, however, was a film with good bits here and there but with completely arbitrary moments and without a sense of direction.
The movie opened eight years later at a commemoration service in honor of Harvey Dent's death. Here we learned of Dent's uncontrollable rage as he sought revenge on all those involved with Rachel's death. Being the unsung hero, Batman who had no choice but to killed Dent, fabricated a lie. A lie he felt would be essential in saving Gotham from decadence, apathy and corruption. Dent's symbol as a vanguard against injustice and crime took precedence, and Batman went into hiatus as a murderer. This event galvanized the people of Gotham, in which the Dent Act gave the police greater powers, leading to the arrest of hundreds of criminals. The question that arises was the cost of such a lie: if one small fib could get hundred of criminals off the street, was it then justified? The moral predicament of the story went unanswered throughout the film.
Though unknown for the most part, the villain throughout the film turned out to be Miranda Tate, a philanthropist who was set on saving the world through clean energy. As Batman began uncovering more about Bane, he was lead to believe that Bane was Ra's Al Ghul's child. In the last section of the film, despite Bane's vast amount of screen time, Miranda Tate turned out to be the offspring. After being estranged from her father because of her love for Bane, she decides to finish her father's work, destroy Gotham, while seeking revenge against Batman and his beloved city.
Despite having A list actors, the movie could not quite get where it needed to go. Tate's character lacked that foil needed in a arch-enemy and her desire to plot revenge was lacking on several respects. As opposed to the Joker character, who "just wanted to watch the world burn" or even Harvey Dent who felt injustice with the way justice in Gotham worked, Tate just didn't have it. For an ultimate battle, one that serves to showcases Batman's final victory over evil and eventual peace with Gotham, Tate just felt like another rinky-dink bad guy.
Overall, the film and its action-packed moments masked the superficial plot.