The Dark Knight Rises to expectations... but does it exceed them?

Preamble:
I don't think anybody out there expected Christopher Nolan and Co. to deliver a movie that was better than 2008's The Dark Knight.  Well, I don't know if they did or not, because it was that close.  I will say that I thought TDK was more enjoyable, but as a co-worker of mine likes to point out, that's probably due in LARGE part to Heath Ledger's earth-shattering portrayal of The Joker.

Now, onto the critique...



Opening scene:
First of all, very cool.  Well done and enjoyable.  Loved Nolan's use of Bane's opening line to be a slight at the movie industry and some of it's gratuitous violence ("perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane").  It wasn't clear what the flight was for or who the plane's occupants were, but that became vastly secondary.

The big negative for me was the sound quality of Bane's voice when we first hear him.  It was too crisp and clear.  a) he was off camera, so it should have been less clear; b) his head was under a sack, so it should have been muffled - at least a little.  Throughout the rest of the film, Bane's voice only bothered me when it sounded fake - like it was coming from off camera, in post-production.  (Which it was.)  And it sounded too much like Sean Connery, which was distracting.  But the dialog Nolan wrote for Bane was incredible.  Poignant and important.  The rhetoric was enjoyable, and I didn't mind that you had to pay close attention to make out some of his sentences.  It added to the intensity and importance of the character.

(My interpretation of a scene in the following paragraph is contended by friends, and I'd be curious to hear what your thoughts are, dear readers...)
When Bane's crony is about to reattach his harness and Bane tells him, "No, they expect one of us in the wreckage, brother" I thought it was unnecessary and that he eventually sent them all down with the plane when he pushes the button (the camera pans out to show only his rope with him and Dr. Pavel).  The conflicting theory is that the rest of the crew already ascended back to the plane.  I will more closely review this point next time I see the movie.  The editing of the shot with the plane falling conveniently has Bane/Pavel blocking the view of the inside of the plane.  This scene, and a couple others, made Bane seem very similar in tone and style to that of The Joker, which I viewed as both an homage and as lazy, a disappointment.  I'm sure it wasn't intentional in a lazy way, but that's one thing I thought.

Casting:
First of all, Tom Hardy's Bane was great.  I know the final product was a post-production re-dubbing of his audio track and therefore the acting part of his line delivery was a little disjointed.  His his facial expressions (subtle, all of them), his stature, his gestures - all spot on.  And the fact that it never looked like Tom Hardy was a fantastic reality.

I didn't think I'd like Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised.  She nailed it.

I didn't like Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate.  I just never found her believable.  And when she turned, it didn't stir any emotion in me.  I was like, "Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense."  I did predict early on that she was behind it all, though I did not predict her announced familial relationship.

Joseph.  Gordon.  Levitt.  As John Blake (an unknown in the Gothamverse), JGL was excellent.  His story arc was superb.  Nolan paints the perfect picture of someone who gets Batman: who gets Bruce's decision, his emotions, his drive.  Someone who relates to Bruce on almost every level.  Someone who is interested, willing, and capable of taking over the mantle of the Batman symbol.  The caveat?  I hated, HATED, that they say his real name is Robin.  That just doesn't make sense to, nor sit well with, me.  He was his own character the entire film, and then for no reason he's given an inconsistent pseudonym.  This is my biggest complaint about the entire movie from a plot standpoint.

Technology:
From the previews, I wasn't impressed with or looking forward to The Bat - aka the "Batplane."  It was better in the film than I expected, BUT it seemed inconsistent in the takeoff and flight abilities it seemed to have.  Most notable was the final scene when Batman is picking up the bomb and The Bat seems to have trouble taking off or flying smoothly.  In contrast to when the war started and he swings in and stops on a dime to zap the Tumblers with the anti-electronic wave, the final flight seems bumpy.

The Batpod is back and as useful as ever - but I don't understand why/how the wheels spin opposite their intended direction - as in on the Y-axis instead of the X-axis.  I am willing to suspend belief for things, but other than a cool looking effect, this is silly and impractical.

Misc. inconsistencies (in no particular order):
When Selina is browsing Wayne Manor, Bruce interrupts her with a perfectly placed arrow in his target.  Under normal circumstances this would be fine.  But it is clear, based on the placement of the other two arrows in the target, that Bruce has not been firing accurately of late.  The well-placed arrow to surprise Ms. Kyle lines up very closely with the other two arrows which were about eight inches off the bullseye.  There's no way he would have been so accurate with this random shot.

The police cars all say "POLICE - GPD" on them.  But Blake's uniform says G.C.P.D.  This stands for Gotham City Police Department.  My assumption is that the GPD cars were borrowed from a real GPD, but the sloppiness to not repaint or CGI "GCPD" onto them saddens me.

When Bruce is in the prison cell and the man tasked with keeping him alive ties up a rope to suspend Bruce while he rehabilitates, the man plucks the rope and it ISN'T TIGHT, meaning Bruce would not be held in suspension.

Miranda clearly states that the bomb will have a six mile blast radius (meaning 12 miles across, with the bomb at the center), yet when Batman takes it offshore, there is no way he makes it six miles.

What is a "DWP guy" that Foley calls for and insists on waiting for when the sewer first gets blown when Gordon gets captured?  I didn't feel like that was answered, and if so I totally missed it twice.  (A Google search has informed me that DWP is "Department of Water and Power" which must be common in areas of the country other than where I reside, since this was definitely a new term to me.)

When Miranda enters the Tumbler and her driver is shooting everyone up, a) he pauses before shooting Foley and Tate has to give a second order to shoot everyone, b) there are no - count 'em, none - bullet holes in Foley's uniform or body.

When the cops arrived at the Stock Exchange, they set up barricades - but they all angle away from the building, making Bane and co.'s escape too convenient.  This does not seem like practical police protocol.  Also, NOBODY FIRES EVEN ONE SHOT AT BANE OR HIS CRONIES AS THEY LEAVE, EVEN AFTER DITCHING THEIR HOSTAGES.  This is unacceptable.

When Bruce leaves the benefit, he tells the valet attendant that he seems to have lost his ticket.  He never received a ticket.  I know the implication is that Selina picked his pocket to acquire his ticket, but the reality is that he never received a ticket upon arriving to the party.

Football... :)  http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/7807/the-dark-knight-rises-ignores-real-football

(Another needing further review.)
The power goes out in Wayne Manor, and presumably this would affect the Batcave.  I will have to reexamine the sequence surrounding when this occurs and if Bruce transforms into Batman at this time.

My favorite moment of brilliant writing:
When Fox shows Bruce the new warehouse of his consolidated arsenal, he references making sure the contents of that room don't "fall into the wrong hands."  Nolan turns this cliché  into screenwriting mastery when Bane blows the ceiling and the Tumbler drops down.  Brilliant.

So, now that the nitpicking is over... you should know, this movie was amazing.  It's immediately considered a contender for my Top Ten, and though I just watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in preparation for TDKR, it's made me need to re-watch them to determine where it fits in the hierarchy.