[Derpy dee derp,
spoilers, derp]
It didn't disappoint, in the sense that it was what I expected it to be, meaning inferior to the previous two films. I actually have all of Nolan's films and I'd say this is the worst one he and his brother wrote. They just happen to be so damn good that I still thought this was a good movie overall. I did find myself heckling many events of the film. Bruce's recovery from Bane's assault in the span of 5 months was ludicrous. Why didn't Talia sabotage the entire police operation on the island at any one of the many chances she had? How could Bruce possibly survive the event with the bomb? Why have that stupid Robin reference at the end? And I reject Selena Kyle as I reject any character that does stealth, acrobatics, and hand-to-hand combat in high heels.
Sure, the previous two Batman films and every Christopher Nolan film has stuff that's dubious, and I think Nolan is one of the greatest salesmen of bullshit out there. He just bit off more than he could chew with this one, especially because I was asking so many whys, not just hows.
Here's the funny thing for me, though. If you did back into this forum's archives, you'll find a Dark Knight topic shortly after the film came out where everyone was speculating who would be the next villain, and I said that the only remaining character that I thought was really viable was Bane. I'm going to pat myself on the back for that one, but this film certainly didn't turn out like what I had in mind when I made that suggestion. I was thinking of a story that came closer to Bane's original comic run, and something that played more off of moral ambiguity rather than an attempt to drum up black-and-whitness even harder than The Dark Knight.
I suppose that's the broad problem I have with the film. I felt like The Dark Knight was a different meditation than Batman Begins, but I didn't feel this film was a different meditation from The Dark Knight. I felt like it just attempted the same thing but more so, which was impossible, so it ended up being too over-the-top.
Anyhow, for as long as the movie was in development, I was waiting for it to get out of the way so I could see what Nolan's next non-Batman film would be.