I saw it Saturday. I was going to post this then but I thought given the tragedy in Colorado I'd wait a bit. Now i think enough time has past to post something so I am.
This is the second move this year that has lived up to the hype. Avengers being the first. This one is better that the first 2 in my opinion and every bit as good as Avengers but for different reasons. Whereas Avengers tries to be a fantastical as can be the Batman moves of late try to stay grounded in reality. This one is no different.
I want to talk about Bane first. Bane has always been a sub par B-grade villain in the Batman mythos. The movie raised him up to an A-grade villain that is going to contend with the greatest villains ever. Sure you can complain about the voice and that is valid. But his words and actions are so good it makes you forget that he sounds like a transformer. As good as Heath Ledger's Joker was, he was all about mind games. Bane has mind games and a fist to beat you with. So I enjoyed the confrontations with him a lot better.
Catwoman rivals and may even exceed any other version. She was more than just eye candy. Her character had a surprising level of depth and relevance.
The Miranda character is the only one I thought was unnecessary. She just made the plot a little too complex.
Then there's the "Detective" who has a very big role for what at the surface is just a street cop. There's a reveal at the end that if you pay attention to the foreshadowing shouldn't be that surprising.
Commission Gordon is what you expect. Nothing to complain about and nothing to harp about.
Michael Caine's Alfred has some surprisingly emotional and powerful scenes.
Morgan Freeman's Fox character is also what you would expect. Nothing out of character there.
Batman/Bruce Wayne aren't as over the top this time. Christian Bale toned down his Batman voice a lot. He was trying way too hard in the 2nd movie. His character is the most believable it has been in this trilogy.
The story itself is mostly believable aside from a scene where Bruce must recover from an injury in an unrealistic way.
Overall I give this movie as much praise as I can give. Definitely worth seeing in the theater.