***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***
I think the entire thing was tainted for me, though, by the shooting that morning in Colorado. I guess the movie just seemed so . . . real. Bane and his men go into about 75 places and just start shooting people. It hit a little too close to home, I guess. Plus, a mad man holding a city hostage with a nuclear bomb doesn't exactly sound far-fetched in today's world.
I had other problems with the movie, too. For starters, I couldn't understand half of what Bane said. Maybe they should've spent a little more time and money cleaning up his dialogue. Selina Kyle/Catwoman was a little over the top, but I guess that's the point. I just wish we had gotten a little more backstory. (Although, at almost 3 hours, I'm not sure where they would have put it.)
There also wasn't a lot of Batman in the movie. I guess since he was 8 years older, it's understandable, but still. It's a Batman movie. Actually, it didn't seem like Christian Bale was in the movie very much, period. And don't get me started on Alfred; he disappeared for about 2 hours.
Wow, that was a lot more complaining than I meant to do. It wasn't all bad. A less-than-great Christopher Nolan/Batman movie is still better than a lot of other movies. The twist at the end about Ra's al Ghul's child was nice. I've never read the comic books, though, so a devotee might have seen it coming a mile away. They kind of shoe-horned Robin in at the end, but it left an opening for another movie, should they decide to go that way. (And if they decide Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be a good Batman.) Plus, it was just pretty to look at; I wish I'd seen it in IMAX. Overall, it was a nice way to end the franchise.
As for the trilogy as a whole, I'd say "The Dark Knight Rises" was good, "Batman Begins" was great, and "The Dark Knight" was ridiculously freaking amazing.
Here's one of the 70 trailers Warner Bros. released:
