Reviewing a film like The Dark Knight Rises isn’t really necessary. If you liked Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, you should see this movie in the theater. If you haven’t see the other films, you should watch the first two at home and then go see this one on the big screen. So instead of a review, I thought I’d share some spoiler-free thoughts on the film.
- Christian Bale is finally more interesting to watch as Bruce Wayne in this film than he is as Batman
- Anne Hathaway sidestepped many pitfalls and made Selina Kyle a fresh version of a potentially cliched character
- The guilt portrayed by various characters in this film was gut-wrenching
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the absolute perfect actor for the role he played
- Tom Hardy as Bane should get a Best Supporting Actor nomination
- Christopher Nolan inserted humor at all the right times to keep this film from becoming too self-serious
- The sound mix included some fresh and interesting choices, such as the scene in which Batman meets Bane
- The color palette and cinematography made Gotham, despite being an under-siege hell hole, a place I will miss visiting now that this series has concluded
Nolan and company could’ve easily stopped making these films after The Dark Knight since it was so well done and highly regarded, but I am glad they decided to see the trilogy through to this thrilling and perfect conclusion.
The League of Dead Films 
Finally caught this myself last night. So my thoughts on your thoughts (I may do my own post if I find the time):
Anne Hathaway was amazing as Cat Woman. Great job by both her and the script in that regards.
JGL, again, great job. I want to see him in a spin-off. Actually, both him and Hathaway.
I thought Hardy was good, but not that good, though more because of the script than because of his performance.
I agree about the score and the look of Gotham. I’d still prefer to visit Tim Burton’s Gotham, but that’s more about my own fetish for Art Deco and gargoyles.
In case I don’t write my own, some stuff I dug that you didn’t mention/get to:
I love how the film drew from a bunch of different Batman stories and eras without slavishly reproducing them (which the animated Batman: Year One did and showed just how bad an idea that was).
I liked the very very end-I felt like you could take it a couple of different ways. Makes me wish Nolan was doing another one.
I disliked some of the way the bad guys schemes went down. I really feel like the authors serious contempt for the common man. It would be nice if we saw even one person in the city’s underclass doing anything but joining in on the looting. It’d be nice if we saw anyone who wasn’t either rich or a cop.
I had to laugh out loud when in the climax everyone forgot they had guns. You know the moment. Also, the cops plan of attack was quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve seen in years. Lucky for them the bad guys went and matched their idiocy.
I need to watch the other two again before I can really comment on the whole overarching themes of the trilogy, but I did feel like all three feature last acts that don’t quite come together (the strongest being in The Dark Knight, of course).