The Dark Knight Rises not only celebrates a caped Übermensch but is itself, as a commercial enterprise, something beyond good and evil.

The Dark Knight Rises is the taut and satisfying finale to a beastly franchise that not only proposed new interpretations of a beloved tale, but it also re-engineered what we imagine a superhero movie to be.

Nolan somehow never loses control - this is an accomplished and tremendously confident filmmaker, both in the execution of his thrilling chases and action beats, and in his manipulation of the complicated, multi-faceted narrative.

A strong, exceptional film that deserves to be looked at with similar awe and reverence as the other two entries in the Dark Knight trilogy.