My TDKR Review (Spoilers)

Yeah, I know that many of you will say post this in the 500 page long thread, but I don't really give a shite since it looks like that thread's finally dying down. I'll try to make this more of an analysis and try to put in some of my initial feelings on it. I won't be able to do a second screening for a good month or so, unless I do some rip off Russian video cam, but then Bane would be pretty much impossible to understand. So here's my initial analysis, by first analyzing the characters and their decisions:

1) Batman/Bruce Wayne: I'm not sure how I feel at this point about Batman's survival. Thought he was dead for sure with the bomb blast. My gut tells me his survival is a cop-out, but my heart tells me that he deserved happiness in the end and live to see his vision of his symbol living on fulfilled. Really conflicted about that, and I think a second viewing would do wonders with that. Either way, Batman's redemption was well handled in my mind regardless of what I settle on. Also really liked the fate of Wayne Manor at the end.

2) Selina Kyle/Catwoman: Absolute slam dunk here. Everything was done pretty perfectly with her character and they truly understood her. Hathaway's performance was really great and maybe hopefully have some sort of nomination (although I doubt she'll deserve the win). My major problem going into it with Catwoman was how the hell do you get a cat burgler involved with the Batman and Universe Nolan has created (not to mention a war movie). It seemed to me that he probably wouldn't give two shits about her, but the fingerprint theft was a clever way to get Batman interested in her. I'm still not completely sure why Catwoman had any actual face-to-face contact with Bane in the first place, but I may have just missed it in the first viewing. Nolan proved me wrong majorly in this regard.

3) Bane: While I've been bitching about Catwoman for months, I've always been adamant in saying that Bane was a great choice of primary antagonist to replace the Joker. Bane was definitely a huge beast of a soldier and very uneasy. Hardy's perfomance is great and he's definitely able to show tons of emotion with merely his glaze (not award nominee worthy though). He definitely reminded me of a more ripped a brutal version of Darth Vader. He was hard for mne to understand though, although I'm sure I'll understand him more after a second viewing. His fights with Batman were great and I liked what they did with his origin. He went basically how I expected and wanted him to go, with no real surprises really. This isn't a complaint, he just didn't blow me away in the same way Ledger's Joker did, but being pleasantly surprised in Hathaway made up for it. He met expectations and that's about it.

4) Alfred- I think Alfred may have been one of my favorite parts of the film. My most major complaint with "Batman Begins" deals with how Alfred was handled and how he pretty much just goes with it. Not this time though. He acts like the true father to Bruce Wayne would act. Everything about their relationship is done just perfectly in this film and makes up for all my problems with "Batman Begins". Caine actually does deserve the nominee for best supporting actor and puts across an incredible performance. Wish they could have somehow incorporated him into the middle of the film though.

5) John Blake: This character was an absolute welcome to this film. Finally Robin (or Nightwing) done right and non-corny. I definitely found myself rooting for him as much as any of the other older characters. Sure his end was predictable, but it wasn't bad and was certainly very well done. No complaints or nitpicks here.

6) Commissioner Gordon: Doing what Gordon does really. Liked his confliction over the Dent mess and the lies he told and definitely back to his badass ways stopping the bomb. Par for the course for Oldman with BB and TDK.

7) Talia al Ghul- From the moment Marion Cotillard was cast, it was pretty obvious she was to be Talia (probably be my second choice behind Eva Greene). Liked the twist at the end how she instead was the child who was raised in the prison and escaped on her own (didn't see that coming, although I certainly saw her betrayal coming). Kinda wish they could have done more with her in the first half of the film and make her and Bruce closer than they were. She was well cast and well done, but nothing particularly amazing like Hathaway or Caine.

8) Lucius Fox: Kinda like Oldman, more par for the course for Freeman and his character. Not much to say, slthough I was pretty confident he was going to die and think he probably should have died. That might be a major qualm with this film I had since no major good guy is killed. Freeman's character could have easily served this purpose.

Plot: While the beginning was a little long to go through, it was still entirely entertaining. Think they could have used Talia more in the first half. The war was well done, with Gotham descending into absolute chaos. Definitely feels like a much larger and grander film than its predecessors. I liked the themes of economic warfare between the classes, although I would have appreciated them showing the impoverished near the beginning of the film like in say "Batman Begins". This I think will be a definitive film when historians go back and look at the mindset of the population during Obama's administration, and it definitely shows and is morally ambiguous (aside from the bomb and Bane needing to be stopped).

Summary: In closing aside from some nitpicks (at least at first glance), I think this film was excellently done. Sure the villains didn't blow my socks of like Ledger's Joker did, but the film managed to in many other ways, particularly in the final 30 minutes of the film. TDK was all about the villain and his methods really. This was a more personal story and it completely succeeds as such. We will always wonder if what this film could have been if Ledger had survived, but I don't think they could have done it much better without his pressence. Big props to Nolan and all those involved. Nolan has succeeded in making the third perfect trilogy

4 Stars out of 4

As for my rankings of all the Batman films, I'm not sure yet if I like this more than TDK or not, but I'm sure I like it more than Begins, so for now it will be in second place, with a possibilty of it going to first once it settles.

1) The Dark Knight
2) The Dark Knight Rises
3) Batman Begins
4) Mask of the Phantasm
5) Year One
6) Under the Red Hood
7) Return of the Joker
8) Batman
9) Batman Returns
10) Batman (1966)
11) Batman Forever
12) Batman and Robin

Also in before TL;DR.