Overall enjoyable to watch, but there were a few key areas where I felt the movie fell short.

I was not completely satisfied with the storytelling. The plot felt somewhat contrived at times, and overly complex. I could remember thinking at the end of the movie of a few scenes for which I couldn’t quite understand the point. It made the entire film feel much more convoluted, confusing, and poorly laid-out, even though there were just a handful of these scenes.

I also did not like the numerous cuts from the previous films. A good storyteller should be able to trust the intelligence of his/her audience and not have to overtly provide short flashbacks. They ruined the flow of the movie and the main story line, especially during the escape from the prison and the final flashback with the commissioner. Trust the audience; they are smart enough to connect the dots on their own, and when they make the connection on their own, the effect is far more powerful.

One of my last frustrations with the movie was that I could easily recognize the real world elements that made up Gotham City. The shots of the New York and Pittsburgh skylines and Manhattan island were too recognizable as their real world counterparts. Some of the key offenders that were especially recognizable were Wall Street, Freedom Tower (under construction), and the Brooklyn Bridge. It made me lose my grasp on Gotham as a fictional city. What made Gotham City remarkable in the previous two Dark Knight films was that it was clearly a fictional city, but had enough subtle elements that made it seem like it could fit easily in our world. During this entire film, I could not suspend the feeling that Batman was trying to guard New York City or downtown Pittsburgh.

Despite these complaints, I felt that the movie was fun to watch. Bruce Wayne’s developments were interesting to see unfold, and the entire story was interesting. It’s just that these shortcomings felt much more magnified due to their presence in a film that was otherwise mostly well done. It just felt like the film almost made it, but just missed the ledge…