Okay, I'm sure some of this has been touched on but I want to put my two bits worth in as a fan. Not a fanboy. Just a fan.
Me and a friend saw DKR today. Like I said, just a fan. Just me and him and the whole theater to ourselves and no distractions. I would like to comment on a few things I heard from critics of the film. Pro or not.
There are some Spoilers if you havent seen it.
Is the Avengers better? No. I would put them equal. DKR is much weightier while Avengers was more fun. Both had equal wow moments to me. They were just different. Nuff said.
People couldn't understand Bane. Had no problem what so ever and I'm older and my hearing isn't what it was in my 20's. But then I have no problem understanding accents. Anyway, perfectly clear. Had more problems with Oldman in some scenes.
Plot holes. Some but not as many as I've heard. Many things were explained if you just paid attention. Alfred in the cafe at the end. Explained in the beginning. And like the Avengers you had to see more than one film to catch up. How Bane knew Batman was Bruce, explained. Talia, explained. How to explain Batman and Wayne death? Blake becomes Batman. The Robin thing? I thought that was neat bone to throw at the fanboys. Just that and nothing more. How Bane knew all he did. Talia and that other guy feeding him entail. Really, if you paid attention almost everything was explained. Almost. I did have a problem with Bruce getting to and from Gotham.But hell, even the deal with people trying to escape the prison was explained in one line.
Bane too small or not as good a the Joker. Bull. He looked positively huge in many scenes and was beyond cold. We laughed we he told that guy to follow Gordon, handed him the phone, then shot him. That was badass. The fight scenes? Best of the three. His single mindedness and ability to carry out his will was awesome. And I didn't see Joker cracking cartilage with his bare hands. Bane wasn't as flamboyant as the Joker but so what. I doubt people would have had the problem if Bane came before Joker but oh well. Tom Hardy did an excellent job and should be commended.
Length. Though I didn't mind the time and it actually seemed to go by fairly quickly I do believe if you trimmed off about 20 minutes it would have been near perfect. Including the scene with Miranda Tate at the mansion after Wayne went broke. That was a wasted time that did nothing to propel the story. They could have cut with him coming home to the door locked with Alfred gone and it would have resounded more.
Overall. As a CBM fan I thought DKR was a more than fitting end to the triology. And that is exactly what it was. Nolan did what he did and I'm glad cause now the door is open for more and The Batman can continue in another form. I'm kinda hoping for an Arkham Asylum feel. And no, never played the game but I sure do like the look of it.
P.S. Yes I did get misty on a few scenes. Caine was superb.