You’ve been warned, this review will contain spoilers. So if you’ve seen the movie or you don’t mind the plot being revealed, then read on. If you don’t want anything spoiling… STOP NOW! (Just make sure you return when you’ve seen the film!)

Now, if you’re an old school fan of Batman, there is a lot in this movie which gives nods to classic takes on Batman and of course to some of the original comics. From Catwoman’s goggles flipping up to become her cat-ears, Alfred playing the three notes on the piano to gain access to the Bat-cave and some great classic imagery like Bane breaking Batman’s back over his knee.

Bane Breaks Batman

So let’s talk about Bane for a little while. Bane is a great character in the comics, a steroid-driven, immune to pain, unstoppable force that towers over Batman when they eventually face toe to toe. Nolan’s take on Bane is an interesting one, he doesn’t give him super or steroid-pumped powers, he isn’t that much bigger than Batman (not Hulk-like anyway) and its a simple addiction to morphine that powers him. Without feeling pain, thanks to the constant stream of morphine, Bane becomes the unstoppable brute we know and love. Yet Talia al Ghul just keeps pushing him to the friend zone.

That’s another thing that annoyed a lot of people… Bane is not Ra’s al Ghul’s son. That pissed a lot of fans off but it just grabbed my attention, I thought “Why even say that? What purpose does that serve…?” Leading to the ultimate reveal of his daughter – Which adds to another point, after all that fighting and devastation it’s a two-inch knife that eventually disables Bats? I don’t think so, but it serves a point. He’s always been susceptible to knives and even points this out when he’s getting the suit adjusted in Dark Knight.

After this, Batman saves the day in a traditional ‘run off with the bomb’ scene only to leave the audience to slowly realise this can only mean one thing… There’s no auto-pilot, this has already been pointed out to us, Wayne’s lost everything he loves and more than one person has commented on his serious lack of desire to live.

We see the explosion, we see the grave, we see Alfred shed a tear and I was almost ready to accept it. I’d be happy if Nolan had killed off Bruce Wayne, it wouldn’t necessarily mean ‘Batman’ would have died, or at least this version of him would. But in a ‘more-endings-than Return of the King’ finale, we get shown Wayne is alive and well sunning it up with Selina Kyle and we see Alfred smiling once more.

This is right. Batman doesn’t die that way, he can’t. He’s Batman.

Which leads us to Detective John Blake, the hot headed, ground shaker who figures out Batman’s true identity very early on in the film. When Wayne is confronted by this, he doesn’t seem too phased, he accepts it and welcomes Blake into his circle… Very odd indeed.

Following Batman’s death, we see Blake handed back his ID and be told “You should use your full name, I like it… Robin” I jumped in my seat and did a giddy little clap, he then visits his inheritance after the billionaire’s death, the Bat-cave. Swinging in, like a trapeze artist, Blake arrives and lifts up a torch, reminiscent of Bruce’s discovery of said cave in Batman Begins, taking the trilogy full circle ready for Blake to take over.

Look at the R at the Gotham Rogues game… Look familiar?

Whether this could be as Batman, Nightwing or even his namesake, Robin! We’ll never know and that’s the point. It’s a wink, it’s a nod and that’s it. I could have watched another two hours of JGL after that reveal and would love someone to pick up where Nolan has left off.

So I can understand why some fans were a little disappointed with DKR and I can see why some rumours said “Comic fans won’t be happy with the ending…” Although I’m not a hardcore batman fan, I have read some older comics but I was very happy with Nolan’s final chapter to his Dark Knight legacy.

As a piece of cinematic work, this trilogy joins some of the greats for me. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones this three piece fits right in as great movies in their own rights. It doesn’t matter about the comics, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises is a great piece of cinema and I love the fact he still uses film and refuses to use 3D.