There was a lot I really liked about this movie but a lot that really dissapointed me, that felt confused and ill judged. I could give a list but the thing that really bugs me is the whole opening set-up with Bruce Wayne, that he would just give up being Batman right after Dark Knight and turn into Howard Hughes. As a stand alone movie it's a great concept but as a continuation of The Dark Knight it makes no sense - the Joker throws everything he has at Batman to break his spirit but he still finds a way to overcome, keep on fighting for what he believes in because the people of Gotham need him to, and as Gordon says "because he can take it," because he's the only one who can take that burden on his shoulders. The premise of Dark Knight Rises says that no, Batman couldn't take it, gave up and hid as soon as he was done fleeing the cops after the end credits - in ten minutes it throws everything the previous movie was about out the window!

What of the magical Harvey Dent act you might say, didn't that allow Batman to retire? No, cos the Harvey Dent act stamped out organised crime, not all crime. Bruce Waynes parents weren't killed by organised crime, they were killed by a random street hoodlum in a botched mugging, and things like that are still going to be going on. Bruce Waynes reason, his motivation for being Batman is still there, there will still be victims of robberies, muggings, murders and rape in the streets of Gotham despite the magical Harvey Dent Act - to say there is no longer any significant crime in a city like Gotham cos the mob is no longer in town is ludicrous, imagine trying to apply the same logic to a city like New York or Chicago, it doesn't work. So why all this street crime is going on we're expected to believe Batman the saviour of Gotham is content to spend 8 years in his pajamas wallowing in self pity cos his girlfriend got blown up and his leg hurts. Batman is better than that, Bruce Wayne's will is stronger than that.

Also, why is his leg still fucked up after a fall he was able to walk away from eight years ago? Are they saying a billionare who could have access to the best medical treatment and the best doctors in the world wouldn't be able to get that fixed? He was able to unbreak his own back with nothing more than a length of rope for gods sake!

Anyway, that is my main problem with the film and though that is a lot of muck I just flung at Dark Knight Rises I do not think it's a bad film - I loved Bane, I loved Catwoman, and I enjoyed watching Bruce Wayne's journey even if I felt the starting off point betrayed the continuety of the saga. Gotta say though I wish they'd taken out the reference to JGL being Robin, it left to much ambiguity for him as in "well is he gonna become the new Batman or is he gonna become Robin?" it would've been better to leave that line out - in the screening I went to it was the one moment where most of the audience groaned in derision.