Hey guys, I'm a long time lurker and first time poster. I've been following this board for a long long time, and I got to see The Dark Knight Rises with much anticipation. A couple things in terms of my reaction
1) I loved the movie. In an ideal movie world, Christopher Nolan would give us 10 of these movies and really dive into the despair and torment of Bruce Wayne after The Joker's actions in The Dark Knight, but as Nolan wanted a conclusion to the trilogy, this movies works as the perfect ending IMO.
2) I've been a life long Batman fan and I realize that a finality to Bruce Wayne being Batman is slightly controversial or negative in some fans eyes, but I believe the ending works perfectly for Nolan's take on Batman. Going as far back as Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne always intended to have Batman inspire the people of Gotham to take back their city. In The Dark Knight, because of The Joker's actions, we see Batman take the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes and ,as such, Batman is viewed as a murderer. But Bruce Wayne had always hoped that someone like a Dent could come along and be the true heroic face of Gotham. He wanted a life with Rachel and the events of The Dark Knight prevent Bruce from ever reaching that sort of peace with himself. I've always believed that the Batman persona was the culmination of Bruce's anger, despair, and anguish for his parents murder, and because Bruce is denied any sort of closure in The Dark Knight he becomes lost in the fearless Batman persona.
Because of this, The Dark Knight Rises works so perfectly. Not only does the Batman symbol rise, becoming a savior for the people of Gotham and inspiring Gotham in the true way Bruce intended, but Bruce saves his own soul. That prison sequence is brilliant. It really brought the story full circle for me. Bruce starts his journey towards Batman by falling into a cave and realizing all of his fears. He then must use this same sense of fear --- a fear that he has since been out of touch with when he's dawned the Batman persona --- to get out and rise as well. His second confrontation with fear and his ability to embrace it is uplifting and very much as powerful as the scene where he embraces the bats in the cave in begins.
At the end of this, Batman isn't some dark, mysterious figure anymore. He's a full on hero and everyone sees his heroic sacrifice. On top of that, Bruce has inspired another generation in the form of John Blake and even the other orphans who witness The Bat take the nuclear device out to the ocean.
And I for one believe that Bruce Wayne might not be done being Batman forever. The Bat symbol has been repaired, and even though Blake takes over there may be a day when Bruce is needed again...but until that day, he can rest knowing that he's finally used Batman to transcend just being a crime fighter, but as a legend and inspiration to everyone.
If Bruce Wayne ever had an ending like this in a comic, I'd feel happy because at least he goes out victorious and with his soul repaired to some degree.
It really is a brilliant ending and it ties into the trilogy really well.
3) I loved Bane. He had some great dialogue and he was menacing. Yeah, he's not The Joker but that's a good thing. Bane isn't The Joker. He's a different character. Maybe not as iconic but he serves his purpose really well in this movie. The only minor complaint I have is that I would have liked to see him have a better death. He died too abruptly.
This was just a fantastic trilogy and it really lived up to my expectations as a Batman fan. Nolan showed us the rise, fall, and finality of both Bruce Wayne and Batman in a way that I couldn't have fathomed.
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