For me the most ridiculous moment was the whole "Star Spangled Banner" scene, it was shamelessly manipulative on a level even Oliver Stone would never attempt.

I think the point of having it look different is to show how the city is improving over time. I mean, Vienna, right after the end of WW2 doesn't look anything like Vienna today. Then of course, filming in difference cities allow them to do something different with the action scenes and not feel like you're seeing the same thing which is a minor problem with the first two films. You could really see how they were reusing certain parts of the city.

You're absolutely right. It was a terrible scene. Calling it ham-fisted is an understatement.

Yet another plot point that got me thinking: the orphans.

I liked it. I did not like it as much as I had hoped, or as much as I wanted to. I found it easily the weak link of the trilogy, but still a fitting conclusion to the story. It's not that Nolan does anything wrong in the movie that he hasn't done before, it's more that there isn't anything like, say, the insane energy and momentum of Heath Ledger's performance to carry the movie over some of the more frustrating bits.

Probably my biggest disappointment was with the first act. With Dark Knight, some felt the first act was too disjointed or took a while to get going, but I thought it was nearly perfect in efficiently setting up the main conflict. With TDKR... I understand those who thought the first act was a little wobbly. It was structured fairly well, it's just boy oh boy was there some clunky dialog and awkward exposition. Awkward in a way I don't remember either of the other two movies being.

It definitely had more problematic bits than the other two movies, but some pretty awesome moments, too. Time for a brain dump:

Problem Bits:

• Blake's “you had that look in your eye” scene was almost eye-rolling. Alfred’s
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  resignation
  scene should have been amazing, and the actual moment was intense, but the way the scene started was so awkward. Some of the dialog was just… bad. Robbed it of some power. Lots of little problems like that at the beginning. Conversations starting in ways that felt really unnatural and way too plot-focused.
  
• While I liked that Bane was a bruiser, I didn’t enjoy how stupid Batman was in their first fight.
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  It shouldn’t take him long to figure Bane out, run away a bit, maybe throw some bat-things at his pain-control mask. I guess that's covered with Alfred's "I'm afraid you want to fail" quote, but... the movie didn't do enough to make me buy that.
  
  
• So Bane flew all the way to India or wherever just to tuck Wayne into bed and give him an evil speech for 30 seconds? That seemed… unnecessary.
  
• [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Bruce Wayne has no fortune, no resources, and no one knows where he is. So of course when he gets out of the prison, he can just make his way into a completely isolated, beseiged city and emerge out of the mist. Huh.
  
  
• All the set up in the beginning about the Harvey Dent lie, how it's weighing on Gordon, and how the whole welfare of the city is based on it, and it gets resolved
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  by Bane reading a speech on TV. Does everyone just believe him, easy as that? Does it actually have an effect on the citizens, making them more willing to accept Bane's fascist rule? Does Gordon face any ramifications other than that one quick scene with Blake? We don't know, because the movie immediately drops that story thread.
  This might have been my biggest problem with the movie.
  
• I wish more had been done with Batman’s rule to never kill.
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  He even said it: War. Well, in war the soldiers have to kill. Is Batman not going to let himself become a soldier in this war? Just a General? But don’t Generals have to order people to kill? I thought he got off too easy with Catwoman taking out Bane for him. Would have liked to see that be the big moral choice for Batman, with maybe him making the ultimate decision to kill, then that decision forcing him to retire Batman, since he could never uncross that line.
  It actually felt a bit like Hunger Games, how
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Katniss never had to face the impossible decision of whether she could kill someone like Rue or Foxface. She gets the "good" people taken out for her so she only has to kill bad people.
  That Nolan would give Batman a similar break felt like a letdown.

Awesome Bits:

• The
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Occupation of Gotham
  was badass. I only wish it had come a bit sooner and lasted longer.
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  I just loved the idea that the city was occupied for five months. You never see that in a movie like this. Usually it’d be more like Dark Knight, where the hero stops the villian from doing that sort of thing a day or two into it. I loved seeing the underground cop resistance, the kangaroo court, etc. Would have loved to see it fleshed out, with Batman back in time to be a functioning General in the resistance.
  
  
• Catwoman was badass.
  
• [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Scarecrow
  had a great cameo.
  
• Holy crap, Michael Caine. I know he won't get one, but that was deserving of an Oscar nod. I only wish he'd been given better dialog to work with in some places. What he was given, he completely knocked out of the park.
  
• Loved the way
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Ra’s Al Ghul, and the nod to him being immortal,
  was worked in.
  
• I loved how the ending dealt with
  [Reveal] Spoiler:

  Wayne Manor being left to the orphans and to Blake to carry on the Batman’s work. Reminded me in a very good way of the ending of The Dark Knight Returns. I could definitely see a future movie about Blake where Wayne (even with another actor) is a Batman Beyond-type mentor.

I don't quite get reviews that call this the bleakest, or darkest, or most humorless of the three Nolan Batmen. There were plenty of jokes and light moments. And unlike Dark Knight, I didn't leave this one wondering how in the world it got a PG-13. I would say Nolan's trilogy follows the standard arc that makes the second film the darkest.

IMO TDK trilogy's biggest 'flaw' is that the Joker is not around for the finale like he originally would have been. Joker is 'the' definitive batman villain and obviously the first two movies are building up for a final showdown between the two. But instead its just like he never existed. I'm in the minority but I strongly feel Joker should have been recast.

Of course TDKR would have to be completely rewritten...it would never work with just a cameo. I would have enjoyed an exploration of how the Joker and a resurgent League of Shadows would interact with Batman having to deal with both at the same time.

Yup, in a way you might say this Bruce Wayne is smarter because he realizes that doing good is not just being a good Batman but also being a good Bruce Wayne to loved ones as well as to the greater public.

One of Nolan's revolutions was a Batman that not only saves Gotham but finally finds personal happiness coming to terms with his past, hanging up the cape, and making a real life with Selina.

Contrast this with the more 'faithful' comic and animated continuities where a decrepit bitter Batman ends up virtually alone and forsaken still fighting a neverending war with little more to show other than a still standing Gotham. This sort of depressing might work for some but I always figured a guy as smart as batman would be a little more clever than this.

Nolan's ending was very satisfying.

There are of course leaps of faith needed in this film. Bones mentions how a broke Batman got back to Gotham from his prison in India. But on the British news this morning there is some panic about how a young boy sneaked on a plane from Manchester to Rome without a passport, ticket or boarding pass. And he wasn't even a trained Ninja!!!

Of course there will be leaps of faith in a comic adaptation. No-one seriously believes a New York type city could be occupied for months without the Army or Nato being moved in. It would be a serious international incident akin to hundreds of 9/11s. It's fantasy, an alternative Universe. Let's not judge it by the standards of a Mike Leigh film.

Ok, saw it last night (with 1 & 2 in a great triple feature) and, while I liked it, was mildly disappointed. Seeing it directly after TDK, may have been a mistake. Unlike most reviewers, I actually felt it ran out of steam in the end. It just didn't engage me like I expected.

I think Batman begins is still probably my favorite film (it's just so much FUN), TDK is the best movie, and Rises is a good finish, but left me somewhat deflated.

For me, the end would have been much better if

But that's just me.

I have a few questions:

The Dark Knight Trilogy trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T__uN5xmC0

They partially address this with Bane's 'there can only be true despair with hope' speech but yeah, its another overly complicated plan doomed to failure. The LoS are the ultimate 'schemers' as the Joker would say.

I don't understand this.

The Star Spangled Banner bit just sort of reminded me how the scenario was verging on being a bit like a miniature Civil War (nowhere near as complex however).

Maybe in the states it just reminds you of having to take a bumming in front of the flag symbolically of course!

Well he sort of didn't, really. Also I think the fact he said that made the surprise all the better

I would say he didn't at all. Also, I think the And he certainly didn't do that.

Blake could never be the new Batman. For a start he isn't a highly trained Ninja.

Bones,

Thank you for inserting this comment. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see the movie based on my fear that it would be too bleak, much like I thought TDK was. I went ahead and saw it this afternoon with some hope that it wouldn't be, and much to my surprise I liked this one much better than TDK. I'd give it 8/10.