This film sorely lacks the depth that The Dark Knight had, but why? Is it because Heath Ledge is no longer in the mix? Maybe. But Nolan seems to have changed the style from its predecessor considerably. It's still dark and gritty, but it has a much greater comic book feel to it than the previous film did.

I'm not bashing comic book movies as they can be entertaining, but the fact that Chris Nolan set out to have a Batman revival that stood apart from other comic book movies, only to have many comic book aspects in his final film detracted from the experience.

The directing is really good, but not Nolan's best, despite some fantastic shots here and there. The acting remains at good as it needs to be, with a pleasant surprise from the charming Anne Hathaway.

What really held this film back for me was how unrealistic and flashy it became. There were too many plot holes to count, with characters seemingly acting without much motivation, some arcs that were less than satisfying, and reveals that could have been handled much better. There's one "big" plot twist near the end that, while interesting, did not hold up as well as it should have.

All in all, a good action film in its own right, but one that feels like a let down after the fantastic predecessor.