The Dark Knight returns in Christopher Nolan's amazingly done Batman series.  This latest installment, The Dark Knight Rises, is every bit as good as the prior two.

Eight years have elapsed since Harvey Dent died and Batman took the blame and disappeared.  Bruce Wayne has become a recluse in his mansion that no one has seen in about the same amount of time.  While Batman has been reviled, Dent has been made into a saint, and with the enactment of a law bearing his name, crime has been whittled down to nothing.  However, Bane has been working on plans to change all this.

With strategically placed explosives, and plenty of patients, he steals a energy device from Wayne Enterprises, in which he converts into a nuclear bomb.  Holding the city hostage, Bane creates anarchy in the streets.  This forces Batman out of retirement, but the seasoned Bane might prove too much for the dark knight.

Nolan's Batman series has become the new standard of how superhero movies are made and judged.  This one is no different.  It is a very strong companion to its two predecessors.   It stays very true to the spirit of the characters from the comics and graphic novels which are set in the more 'real' Nolan universe.

My only gripe is that in some scenes the score drowns out the dialog.  Hopefully that will be fixed on the blu ray.  But that aside, this was another outstanding Batman film, and strong ending for his last act.  I do hope though this is not his final one.  It ends in a way so the story can continue and really does leave you wanting more. 

~The Captain