[itvnetop]

I guess I'll be the resident whipping boy here. I thought TDKR is Nolan's worst movie, by far... even moreso than Insomnia. But considering his overall body of work, his worst is still better than the majority of blockbusters out there.

(Major spoilers!!!)

A few WTF moments (I'm so glad ramps are everywhere to save the day), atypically awful Nolan dialogue ("I came back to stop you!") and very uninspired/disjointed editing (bay bomb scene would have been enhanced with quick cuts between Batman's face, Rachel, his parents and Alfred right before the explosion). The score was less effective than TDK's... I think Zimmer's coasting on blaring tones since Inception. I'm sorry, but I was highly disappointed in Bane's death (even though fanboys are arguing whether he died or not)... I'm a big Tom Hardy fan and he was actually a decent villain- but like the final act, his character became derivative and his death was anti-climactic. I've heard the arguments that since this was PG-13, you really can't see Bane getting blown to pieces... whatever, it was a let down.

The Batwing just looked clunky to me... Still enjoyed the Batcycle tons. The one misgiving I had before the movie (Anne Hathaway as Catwoman) actually turned out to be a positive... She had a damn good interpretation, even though I felt her character was fairly unnecessary to the script (beyond saving our hero at the end). Liked the kangaroo court scenes, led by Scarecrow (big Cillian Murphy fan, too). Speaking of great actors, I was happy to see Ben Mendohlson cast as Daggett... too bad the writers didn't take full advantage of his abilities (watch the Aussie flick "Animal Kingdom"). The themes of poverty vs. greed are interesting, especially in these widening times... but the ideas remained undeveloped.

Maybe my expectations were too high and some may say I should take the movie for what it is. But this isn't the series where you "take it for what it is." I did that for Avengers and actually enjoyed it... BB was a game changer for the genre. TDK was a great first watch experience (I started liking it less with subsequent viewings). I'm probably going to watch TDKR once more when it comes out on blu-ray just to see if I was being too critical. But my initial impression? The execution fell flat for what many consider the darkest part of the story line.