The Dark Knight Rises

It has been four years since The Dark Knight hit cinemas, but in The Dark Knight Rises (writer/director Christopher Nolan's third entry in his Batman saga) it's eight years from where we left the last film. Batman is retired (having taken the blame for Harvey Dent's death), Bruce Wayne has become a crippled recluse (he has no cartilage in his knees and needs a cane to hobble), and all is fine and dandy in a well-policed Gotham. That is until a masked criminal named Bane pops up and causes enough havoc to prompt Gotham's favourite billionaire into donning the cape again.
For the most part, this film does exactly what it says on the tin, and that is mainly because Nolan follows similar paths how he set up the two previous Batman films. That's a blessing and a curse, because while it's in keeping with what went before, it does tend to give the feeling that this is overdone territory. Bane's villain who is so clever that he's figured out everything everyone else will do before they've done it is the same as The Joker, so when things "don't go to plan" ... then if you've seen that film then you know what's going on probably is pre-designed, so it makes things more predictable. This goes hand in hand with the basic arc and reveal of the driving force behind everything being alarmingly similar to Batman Begins. Whereas in The Dark Knight it was the repeated screenwriting tricks within that film that weakened the film, here it's repeated tricks from Nolan/Batman films past.

There is plenty more on that front as there are plot holes (literally, where you have to fill in the gaps in the plot because Nolan has no intention of doing so), inconsistencies (e.g. Batman gets knifed at one point, yet in Batman Begins it's said the bat-suit will stop a knife), and plotting lazily explained after the fact in an offhand line, or hinted at because explanation would take too long. This does Nolan's attempted intellectual approach a disservice because it relies on you *not* thinking about it and just rolling with it all.
That said though, it has a fair bit going for it; the action scenes are entertaining, there's the odd funny line, and the pacing isn't bad considering the film's length. The acting from the usual suspects is fine, but unspectacular, aside from Tom Hardy who gives a risibly poor performance as Bane. Half of the problem is his ridiculous vocal performance which completely undercuts any gravitas, intimidation or seriousness of the character, the other half is the one genuine complaint of the film: you can barely even hear what he's saying. The sound design in this film is woeful, with the music being far too loud, dialogue far too quiet and it's muffled to boot. It's amazing a film with a budget this high would sound like it was mixed by people who were high at the time.
Overall, this is a solid enough, decent enough way to end a trilogy, with an ending that works on a couple of levels as it can either be closure, or left open for potential further sequels. The over-familiarity with Nolan's writing may prevent the film being as surprising, or vital as it could have been, but nevertheless it's perfectly acceptable, even if some of it may strain the suspension of disbelief or be unconvincing. A step backwards, but as long as you're not expecting a cinematic masterpiece, the sound aside, it's worth the price of admission.