I have seen almost every single live-action Batman TV series/movies from the campy Adam West/Burt Ward version, I skipped Michael Keaton’s take on the Caped Crusader, came back to Batman with Val Kilmer’s/George Clooney’s version of Batman that turned him back to being very campy. It seemed that George Clooney’s version put the death nail in any future Batman films until Christopher Nolan came along and re-booted the franchise with Batman Begins.

Instead of being campy, Nolan’s and in turn Christian Bale’s Batman was dark and brooding and speaks in a incomprehensible mumble that was extremely noticeable in the second Batman movie The Dark Knight.

So The Dark Knight Rises is the final Batman film in Nolan’s planned trilogy and this film picks up 8 years after the events of the second one. If one recalls, Batman took the fall for the damage and the murders that Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) committed in The Dark Knight so Batman has not been seen since. Either has Bruce Wayne (Bale) but terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) pulls Batman out of the woodwork to battle him.

It seems Bane has a bone to pick with the elite and law enforcement and pretty much holds the city of Gotham under hostage with a nuclear bomb that was initially designed by Wayne Enterprises as a clean energy source.

Keeping Bruce and Batman on his toes is Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a cat burglar who you are not sure is a good guy or one of the baddies.

But Batman/Bruce still has allies in his trusty butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and new to the Bat team Detective Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Of course any Batman movie needs a love interest and Bruce gets one in Miranda Tate (Marion Cottilard).

If I have one complaint about The Dark Knight Rises is that the movie is very long. Too long that I was getting squirmy in my seat. There were a lot of action sequences that were either unnecessary or too long. But the fight sequences and action were fantastic and I always love the Bat toys that Batman has and that includes the Bat cycle and a new vehicle called The Bat.

If people complained about Bale mumbling his lines as Batman then they will have a problem with Hardy has Bane. He totally sounded like Darth Vader doing a Sean Connery impression. Plus Hardy was way over the top as Bane but he definitely was built like a tank so he fitted the part.

There was also a character death scene that was so poorly acted that I wanted to laugh out loud.

Anne Hathaway was awesome as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and was the perfect foil to Bale’s Batman/Bruce. I did love Gordon-Levitt as Blake. He was so earnest and brave as Blake and made for the perfect cop.

There was a twist that I didn’t see coming but if you’ve read the Batman comics then it won’t come as a surprise. And if you’ve seen the previous Nolan Batman films, there are some nods to that in this one. There was another twist that I enjoyed a lot and was very happy to see that come to fruition.

The Dark Knight Rises was an interesting end to the Batman saga. I wished I could say that I was satisfied. I wasn’t but it didn’t leave me empty. The only thing that I can’t wait for is The Man of Steel next summer to which the teaser trailer was before the movie.