Haunting his manor for the past eight years like a soul in pain, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is a shadow of his former self. He retreated from life after taking the blame for DA Harvey Dent's crimes. Gotham has been cleaned up by Commissioner Gordon: the bad guys are all in jail and the cops are mostly bored. While a soft-pawed kitty (Anne Hathaway) slips into Bruce's home and reawakens the animal within, Gotham is plunged back into chaos by a mad terrorist who uses Dent's image to take over the city. Bruce Wayne realizes it's time for Batman to come out of retirement...

Last act in the trilogy by brilliant director Christopher Nolan, after Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises retains the murkiness and intensity of its predecessors. Lovers of the comic books are treated to a superhero in a polished setting, a context clearly reminding audiences of the world's pain and suffering, with tasteful cinematic realism and a vision more imaginative than readers could have hoped for in a movie adaptation. Impressive!