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Loved the little nod about Gordon-Levitt's character being Robin.  Nolan always said Robin would not be part of this trilogy, and I'm glad because it would have been horrible.  But this was the perfect way to sneak a little nod to him in without it being at all cheesy. More seasoned Batfans might have seen it coming a mile off, but for me it was perfect.

Heh, I went with a friend that saw the movie on Sunday and loved it so he went to watch it again.

Yep, realised it about half an hour into the movie, and thought it was kind of forced in at the end "Of course, I didn't realise it was you...even though he was the only person there with that surname. (roll) At some point, I thought he was actually going to be the new Batman, as in nobody will know that Batman died. But then that whole thing story Alfred says about Florence and I figured Wayne wouldn't die. Still, yes, it's nice nod, maybe making him Nightwing would be better...though then the whole middle name would be awkward.  :grin:
There's also a shot on Thalia's back when she sleeps with Wayne where you can see she's from the League and I thought that Wayne actually realised that, but then he got screwed over anyway and the whole shot basically gave way to the "twist" that was supposed to be a surprise.

And about Bane's voice, the original trailers really had a different voice for him and I think somebody noticed the response of people so they cleared it a bit. True there were subtitles in our version of the movie, but I can't say I didn't understand him and certainly there are examples in movies where I don't understand what people are saying and they have no mask.

Oh, and I loooved that they brought Crane/Scarecrow back again, as in the Dark knight.

Yeah, it was good to see Scarecrow again, and in such cool fashion,

Regarding Bane's voice, I also had noticed some of it was different from the trailer, and it seemed like they'd tried to make it clearer, but I still struggled to understand him quite a few times.  Maybe I just need my ears checked.

I also wondered why they had made such a big point of showing Tate's scar and I didn't catch the significance of it.  But I did find it kind of suspicious that Wayne suddenly decided to trust this woman with the reactor.  I'd forgotten about it, though, by the time the 'twist' was revealed, so I fell for it, and I'm kind of glad. :)

Less spoilerings, sirs! You KNOW it's tempting to click the show button!  ;-D

Ooh! I wanna post in spoilers too!

Needless to say that though the story line was great and mimicked a Tale of Two cities, it was the characters that really made the film and so I wanted to start off with Joseph Gorden Levitt's character. While JGL is always the kid from 3rd rock from the sun, he certainly has showed how much he has grown as an actor. On many of his movies, I always felt that he was incapable of portraying himself anything else other than a teenager. However, that was not the case in this movie. I totally saw the Robin thing coming. Atleast, if not Robin, some sort of Protege for Batman. I mean, he was an orphan, much like many of Batmans sidekicks. He was a law enforcer, meaing he believed in Justice and had the courage to fight crime. Speaking of his courage... He showed more courage than most of the cops, besides Jim Gordon, in the movie. He had skill, he was not afraid and he spoke his mind without regard for the consequences. True qualities that Robin (Of any kind) had. He even had a little acrobatic skill, what with the swinging into the batcave at the end. Of course, there was also the fact that like pretty much all other Robins, he deduced the identity of Batman on his own. He had the perfect haircut. Yet, he was not an unrealistic child fighting alongside a super hero. He was a cop aiding the vigilante. To top it off, I like how he never put on a hero's costume, yet, Batman hinted that he should wear a mask. You see, its the fact that the guy didn't become a sidekick for mere idol worship of his hero that made me appreciate what he was. It was also the fact that he wasn't 9 years old fighting along side Batman. It was the fact that he was a cop, trying to do good, who established a relationship with Gordon and Batman and made a name for himself as a rookie cop that impressed me on his character. He was the sidekick throughout the movie, yet, he did not wear the yellow and green tights, but he had some of the back story for many of the Robins. The nod of his real name being Robin kind of provided closure to the Batman fans that the Nolan Trilogy did have Batman AND Robin even if not in the traditional sense that Robin was the boy wonder. It was done nicely. It was a great nod and to tell you the truth, it opens up a lot more for a spin off sequel. Maybe not as the character being Robin itself, but perhaps Nightwing, or even, following closely to how the comics had gone after the supposed death of Bruce Wayne, he can be the new Batman. Batman was just a symbol. The mask was to protect the people he loved and thats all JGL's character needs to do at this point. By quitting the police force and entering the batcave with Bruce Waynes blessing and encouragement, its shown that he will take up some mantle in the future and follow in his inspirational Hero's footsteps.

As far as Jim Gordon goes... I always love the way Gary Oldman plays the part. Jim Gordon is the ideal compassionate cop and commissioner you want to see in any law enforcement agent. I am glad he survived the trilogy as well as seeing pretty much all my favorites survive. The one thing I really liked about this movie was that finally, from any media of Batman in an official canon or universe, Jim Gordon finally found out Batmans secret identity. The even more beautiful thing is that it was done on Batmans own terms, with him being the one to tell him. To me, when the name Bruce Wayne clicked with Batman in Jim Gordons head was the best part of the entire movie. The movie could have just consisted of those 2 minutes of footage and I would have bought 35 tickets to see it. It was what should have been done a long time ago in any Batman media.

Miranda Tate was no surprise to me, mainly because of rumors that circled the internet for months. However, what sealed the deal before the twist at the end was a few things... One, Bruce Wayne slept with her. When that happened, I knew something was wrong. Since, when does Bruce Wayne get involved with women? He has no time or desire for that. I just knew it was too good to be true. Her scar was also a revealing factor, which you wouldn't even pick up on unless you went to rewatch the movie, but only after watching Batman Begins. Two, she had an accent. Three, Ras Al Ghul had a daughter in the comics, Talia. So I knew his child was not Bane. It had to be a woman. It certainly wasn't going to be Selina Kyle. There weren't many other choices in the movie for female leads and there was most certainly going to be a twist in the movie, you could just sense it. So to me, it really wasn't a surprise that Miranda Tate was Talia Al Ghul. As far as the character goes, she didn't stand out to me. She was brilliant, attractive... Yes. She was integral and very much needed to the plot. But really, to me, she was the least important or desired character. Her role in the film made lots of sense, dont get me wrong. And Cotillard did a great job in her performance. But she certainly was not the highlight of the film for me. It just goes to show how great the film really was.

Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle was just absolutely amazing! As far as character performances and character interpretation goes... She was my second favorite after Bane in this movie. Hands down, she was the best Cat Woman in history. Better than Michelle Pfeifer and most certainly far better than Halle Berry. She was a cat woman, but not The cat woman in this movie and I like that. In fact, Cat Woman of any kind would not have fit in Nolan's trilogy at all. But this version held true to all versions of the character. She was a "cat" Burglar. Her real name was Selina Kyle. She had a thing for Batman and Bruce Wayne. Though a thief, her heart was in the right place and could always be counted on as a backup hero. She went as far as sacrificing her life for Gotham. She was sneaky, sexy, smart and innovative. She was fun. Though she didn't call herself Cat Woman, she certain played with the Cat Burglar thing nicely by wearing pieces to her outfit that at times made her look like a cat, which you can tell the character playfully did on purpose, even going so far as to dress like a cat at a Ball in which Bruce told her she was Brazen for. Anne Hathaway was amazing. I really hope she wins some award for her performance as she had the best acting from anyone in the film. She made her character so interesting and so lively that one would hope they made a spin off movie with her in it, at the very least fighting along side JGL's new hero, whomever that would be. Actually, the casting for Selina Kyle was just perfect. Just like noone could do the Joker better than Heath Ledger, Noone could do CatWoman better than Anne Hathaway. It was just that good.

Bruce Wayne/Batman's interpretation in this film was interesting. It wasn't bad, thats for sure. Actually, it was quite a nice character development. Batman's return in this film along with JGL possibly taking over the role, fit well with the title of the film: The Dark Knight RISES. It showed what Batman meant to Gotham, how he was needed and still will be needed. Now, he is also very appreciated in Gotham and throughout the world. It went to show that Batman stood for something more than what was behind the mask, allowing his character to live on in some way forever. The only thing I would have wished for though was that we would have seen MORE BATMAN and less Bruce Wayne. In fact, the film hardly focused on neither of the two really. It seems that Bruce/Batman's role of importance in the film came after the following characters in order: 1) JGL 2) Bane 3) Selina Kyle 4) Jim Gordon 5)Batman. But still, with how the story went, with how they development the core of Batman and Bruce Wayne, with how it all tied in with the other films and how it was all wrapped up made this the best of the three none the less. And though it lacked screen time for Batman, it still felt like a Batman movie through out the film because of the mood and setting and because of the characters. There is more to Batman than just Batman himself. He would be nothing if it weren't for those around him and this film showed us that. After all, the character fell into a Howard Hughes state of mind for eight years because he was missing the universe around him that made him integral. What I liked about his character too was that the film showed how fragile someone can become and how easily broken he can be no matter how strong or how smart he is. But it also showed us what was at the core of Bruce Wayne, which was that when the chips are down, when he was fallen, he learned to pick himself right back up.

I really do not have much to say about Alfred or Lucious Fox. They played their roles, and did their parts. They fulfilled what was needed and thats it. In fact, that was rightly done. They got the screen time that they deserved. No too much more, not too much less. They performance and the interpretation of their characters were on par with the previous two films. Although the break out character in this was Jonathan Crane. His appearance was truly golden and perfect. Cillian Murphy is Awesome and he showed it in this movie even though there were only two scenes with him in it.

Last but not least is Bane's character. Lets face it, even though Tom Hardy is a great actor, there was more physicality involved in the role that there was pure acting. This was no Heath Ledger playing the Joker. Thats not Tom Hardy's fault and not the writers fault. It just was what the character was. Again, that doesn't diminish the character or the actor in any way. However, I will dare say it that Bane's character has been far more interesting and cooler than any other character in this whole trilogy. Watching him on screen in this interpretation was more enjoyable than watching any other character in the Nolan Trilogy. The depth of his character was truly intriguing. His genius was unparalled. His presence was far more present than any character in this trilogy and possibly more present than any character in any film. He was a match for Batman both physically and mentally. He pushed Bruce Wayne to the limits. His lines were great. Tom Hardy was great. The villain stuck very close to its comic counter-part just in a more realistic and menacing way. In fact, this Bane was much more terrifying than a venom induced comic book version of Bane. When you are the last villain to appear in a trilogy, you need to make sure that he is the one that can be matched with the hero. He needs to be the best of them all and Bane was. I liked him far more than the Joker, and I loved loved loved the Joker in TDK. It just goes to show how great Bane was. His story and Origins were not exactly what it was in the comics, but it lived up to who Bane was. Thats hard to do in itself and Nolan accomplished that wonderfully. Nolan also turned a b-list villain of Batman into an A-list Villain, forever shaping the importance of who Bane is in the Batman Universe. By far, personally, this is the most intrigueing and menacing character in this trilogy and my personal favorite.

I hate that they went with Robin, Azrael would have been such a better character and would have fit in so well, he was in the comic book story arch that this movie followed, Robin had already become Nightwing and started patrolling Bludhaven. And Robin is just lame, Azrael was amazing in the comic books. And now Warner Bros. is going to make some crappy sequel just to cash in on the money which makes me sad because Christopher Nolan never wanted his movies to be like that. GAHWAHHSGRA. Also they could have had a scene in the movie to explain Catwoman's back story some more. And everyone stop debating which is best, they all have some major flaws.

Well with Thalia, I didn't think of her till I saw the scar and I saw that Bruce gave her the codes for the power thingy, since the mythos has been changed up a bit, but I liked that the story had a bit more depth. Even though the movie is long, there wasn't that much room for another character to throw off suspicions for a second time.
Bane is no Joker and the movie didn't try to make it seem so. Bane here is basically muscle, not the brains (which is Thalia) while Joker was (and is) more of a mastermind.
The only thing I kind of missed in this movie, was scenes where you see Batman actually kick ass and be awesome etc.

Two things
- I don't know how many people would know who Azrael is, on the other hand you mention Robin to anyone and they'll know
- Azrael is a buffed up gadget freak, who ends up insane and a bad guy, that really wouldn't suit JGL's character (or stature) in this movie

I think they could have made it work by bending his story a little, I mean Bane's character isn't even close to the comics. Besides, Robin is lame and everyone knows that. ;-D

Here you have a story of global proportions, with tens of millions of people directly affected for months. It's essentially a war movie set in occupied territory, but we're still supposed to believe that only one (non-superpowered) person in the world can win it, and that the whole war ultimately comes down to two masked guys beating on each other. (Partly because the one guy has a policy against directly shooting people, even if that would be massively helpful in stopping a nuclear bomb from going off in the middle of the city. Though he does eventually come to terms with blowing up tanks.) It helped a little that the film gave as much screen time to the supporting characters as to Bruce/Batman himself, but it still felt like a stretch to fit a different kind of movie to a superhero premise. (Captain America, in contrast, did a good job setting up a plot that has Steve Rogers involved in the war but not personally punching out Hitler.)

I'd seen a spoiler that JGL was a version of Robin, so that was a fun thing keeping in mind throughout the movie. I wasn't sure how explicit they were going to get about it; the name reveal was a bit cheesy, it got some groans and some laughs in the theater. Arguing about whether he is or should be Robin, Nightwing, Azrael or the next Batman is missing the point, I think. He's a new version of the Robin character that draws on elements from all of them. He's clearly being set up to take up Batman's legacy, either wearing the cowl or under some similar costume.

I've always liked him as an actor, and it was nice to see him all steely-jawed, though I personally hope JGL doesn't go all action hero from here on out (there was a trailer for him as a young Bruce Willis before TDKR) and loses the sensitivity of his earlier roles like Mysterious Skin and Brick.

With Bane and Miranda Tate, I think I knew just little enough about the characters to get the most out of the movie. I knew in theory that Rhas had a daughter called Thalia, but had forgotten about it, so it was only when the twist was revealed that I thought "of course!" I recognized that they were doing versions of the Lazarus Pit and Bane breaking Batman's back, but only from having heard about them, not from ever having read the stories. And I did realize during the movie that they were taking some elements from Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but I didn't know the other sources they were using for story inspiration.

Hathaway was an OK Catwoman, I guess? There's not much depth to the character (you can see her character arc coming from miles away); I didn't feel she added much other than a convenient happy ending for Bruce. It was great to see Scarecrow again, though. I felt they kind of screwed over his character in the last movie (running small-time heists, really?), but as a demented, self-proclaimed judge he was brilliant.

Finally snuck out of the house to see this one today, and enjoyed it for the most part. There were a few things that bothered me, so I'll get those out of the way first:

I'm still bothered that Christian Bale has to mouth-breath as Batman. I can only assume the mask blocks his nasal passages.

There was an awful lot of "tell, don't show," going on in the draggier places of the film.

I know it was a good visual, but why would the cops march straight into a wall of machine gun fire? They had pistols, and they weren't shooting. They could have taken cover. They could have driven to City Hall and at least had some car doors to hide behind.

I still haven't quite figured out the motive behind the 90-day siege of Gotham. If the intention all along is to blow the place up, and you have a bomb, why would you even bother waiting it out? The cat n' mouse game? To prove a point about the depravity of Gotham? Because it seems as though still most of that depravity was carried out by the League and League associates, and that the situation otherwise triggered everyone to be better people.

Bane's voice was a little bothersome to me -- not because I couldn't understand him (though there were a handful of times when this was the case), but because it felt as though it didn't fit into the movie. Like literally, it sounded like a voiceover, as if someone forgot to EQ it properly or something. Knowing the background of the test screening audiences having trouble hearing him, it made me laugh when he communicated to the stadium by use of a ref mic. I can't ever understand those guys either. I imagine most of Gotham being like, "What? What did he say? I can't understand. Why is he talking into the ref mic? If you've accomplished all of this other mayhem, you can't plug into the jumbotron?"

Still better than the Bat voice, though.

Nobody in the prison pit could build a grappling hook or something? C'mon, Bruce.

My bladder is seemingly 1/8th the size it was when I was a younger man, and I was fighting pissing my pants through the last 15 minutes. This one's my fault, Nolan.

Things I liked:

Catwoman wasn't a completely well-rounded character, to be certain, but I LOVED Hathaway's portrayal of her. The personality of Selina Kyle, for me at least, did wonders for being able to leave out most of her backstory, and still make me feel like I got her.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I kind of wish he'd been Batman from the first film. I imagine John Blake was named Tim Drake (Robin III from the comics) in an earlier draft of the script. So obvious in hindsight.

What's funny about the Talia-as-prison-child story, is that I was totally tricked, because that is Bane's back story in the comics. His father was the mercenary who later became King Snake, and Bane was born in prison to pay the penance for his absent father's crimes. Later, Bane is somewhat redeemed and goes on a character-building pilgrimage (I think this took place in Gotham Knights). They were going interesting places with the character, but that was erased by Infinite Crisis, and now, I assume, the New 52.

I loved the characters who made their returns in this one, especially, as you all have mentioned, Jonathan Crane. But I also liked the ghostly cameo by Liam Neeson. Forgot that one was coming. Also, because he showed up as a ghost, I assume that he and Qui-Gonn Jinn are the same person. I also liked William Devane showing up as President.

My favorite character in the movie was the chubby, middle-aged cop who loved the hell out of Batman when he first returned. I also liked the actor whom I hope people refer to as Willem DaFaux, who was RolandJohn Daggett's turncoat assistant.

All in all, a decent trilogy, though I can't help but note that, increasingly as the films went on, I cared less and less about Batman. I wonder how much screen-time a Bat-suited Bale even had in this film. In hindsight, it doesn't seem like much.

The League of Shadows wants to 'cleanse the world of all evil' by destroying everything, they believe Gotham was the hub of the world and it needed to be taken down. Just blowing up a nuclear bomb doesn't help, they need to show the world that a city like Gotham can't stand on it's own, they needed to put people in terrible psychological distress.

I was going to avoid this, because I hate talking politics on the internet (and I really tried to look over some of these aspects to try to enjoy the film), but the politics of the scheme, and in many ways, the film, are so flawed that it still doesn't make any sense to me. It's been a while since I've seen Batman Begins, but if I remember correctly, one of the things that Ra's is against is the decadence that leads to evil. And perhaps I was taking the term incorrectly, because the scene was set in the middle of a billionaire's party, but I equated this to the self-indulgence of the rich and powerful at the expense of others.

Here, though, we get what felt like a parody of the Occupy movement, with Bane running a seeming working-class army from the sewers consisting partially of orphans, apparently, that march on attack whatever the Gotham version of Wall Street is, drag the rich into the streets, and quite literally occupy their homes while sentencing them to death via kangaroo court. But aside from Bane's army, it seemed like there was still a lot of good in Gotham.

So I'm still not sure of the point Bane/Talia, and/or Nolan and Goyer were trying to make, nor am I sure that point is still valid after eight years of what was apparently pretty good, wholesome, peaceful living in Gotham City during which The Batman was not needed. And if the mission is that important, why would the leadership of the League of Shadows essentially commit suicide while doing it? Surely there's an easier, less complicated way than driving an atom bomb around town in a truck?

Yeah, the twist is they switched Thalia's and Bane's backstory, I thought it was pretty cool to throw off even some of the fans.
And the police charging, was kind of a fail for me as well, I think Nolan kind of messed it up and the scene wasn't as epic as it should have been, but it's still pretty good.

I don't really understand what you meant with the billionare's party? I mean Bruce is holding up the party to keep up the fake playboy role by celebrating his birthday. Ra goes there because it's Bruce's house and then they burn it to the ground. THe plan was to show there really is no hope by providing a false one. Yet cops and others gathered up behind another symbol (Batman) as protector, that's why it was important for him to fight with them in the end. Once that Gotham was taken back again, and the whole city found real strength (not the false one that Dent's death provided and just prolonged things, then Batman went away with Robin standing ground to help out and start a new slate just as a protector and not a symbol.

There's no putting down of the Wall Street movement, Bane clearly states that they just offer this vision of control for a moment to keep them in control and not thinking of might happen soon. But on a similar note, when you think about really closely, did the WS movement actually do anything?

I've looked around to see if anyone else felt as I did, and found a massive, spoiler-filled review (http://www.sequart.org/magazine/13903/why-the-dark-knight-rises-fails/) that better addresses some of what I felt about the film, especially the section titled "The Politics of Rises are Repugnant." I don't agree with everything the reviewer says, and I think the politics of DKR are not as clear-cut as he insinuates. That's what I'm sort of trying to get at above -- I feel like Nolan/Goyer are trying to make a political point (or series of points), sort of needlessly, but they're not very clear on what that point is. I'd still give the film a thumbs-up, but I have to not think about it too much to do so. The other films were the opposite -- I gave thumbs up after thinking hard about them (especially the second). Maybe a second viewing would help.