Saw it a couple hours ago. I thought it was brilliant, and works as the concluding chapter of the trilogy. I rewatched Batman Begins last night and The Dark Knight this afternoon in the lead up to Rises, and so I can appreciate it more based on the continuation and conclusion of the various story elements the other two films brought up.
I quite liked it, it's at least on par with TDK, which having rewatched that this afternoon blew me away again, especially with the performances of the late Heath Ledger and the underrated Aaron Eckhart. TDKR has a lot going for it, Tom Hardy brings a kind of controlled intensity to Bane that I liked, and he's brutal in all the fights he's in. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle was not as stupid or as silly as I was dreading, leaving this character a pleasant surprise. Gary Oldman is good, but really he's good in basically anything he's in so I was expecting it. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman as well.
The real surprise is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I don't want to spoil it but I figured out pretty quickly into the film what they were going to do with him, and I quite liked it.
While the Batman/Bruce Wayne story is more or less finished, I can easily see the possibility of another set of movies being made in the same fashion but with another character in the Batman mythos. And really, if you can't tell who I'm talking about, you need to hand in your nerd card :P
Then there's Marion Cotillard, but that was less of a surprise.
I remember reading initial rumours that she was Ras'Alghoul's daughter Talia way back when the film was being produced, and either that was a carefully released 'rumour' which was then discounted by disinformation from marketing, or it was a true fuck up of a leak - but either way, I kinda figured she would become the femme fatale in the film. Hell, I would have expected that anyway after she appeared in Inception as one, and she plays it so well. Having said that, if you're not expecting it I think it comes as a genuine twist, and despite myself I found the execution to be appropriately handled.
So yeah, hope you guys see it soon.
