A good film but nowhere near as good as it's predecessor, The Dark Knight. I think I enjoyed the Joker far more as a villain because he was charismatic, he seemed real, he had reasons for the way he was, you could identify with him and I think this makes him a much stronger character than Bane. Watching this film, I felt there was not enough explained about Bane, why he wore his hi-tech muzzler and the motivations behind his actions. I felt no empathy for Bane, I didn't really care about him, he had muscles and could bash things up easily but this wasn't interesting, it didn't give his character a level of depth. Whereas in The Dark Knight there was a level of empathy towards the Joker because he seemed to carry real human qualities (and he was much more evil I think), he actually carried hatred in his heart, whereas Bane seemed more like a puppet and being the main villain I think this wasn't enough. Ultimately I think this is what made the experience of watching the previous film far more satisfying; when you give a dam about the good guy and the bad guy, and when they come together, it's like an ultimatum: the meeting of the two sides of your own personality; the good and the bad, and deciding which wins, which side has to conform to the other.
All three films also seem to carry an interesting relation to the events of 9/11 with the League of Shadows as the underground terrorist group and the guerrilla tactics adopted by each 'terrorist' to destroy the city. It also plays along similar lines to the recent protests of the Occupy movement when Bane rebels against the city and makes a speech about the social and economic inequality experienced amongst the people and essentially, calls for the destruction of capitalism for a new order. These clearly reflect the times we are in and the underlying 'unhappiness' we experience in a capitalist society. Nolan's films are almost like a wake-up call in some ways.
