NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA DARK KNIIIIGHT!

First things first, this post is going to be a) INCREDIBLY SPOILERIFIC, and b) PRETTY NERDERIFIC. But mostly the first one, so if you haven't seen the film (shame on you!), then avoid the second half of this review.

I'll start with the non-spoilery bits. As a film, The Dark Knight Rises is, of course, amazing. As amazing as The Dark Knight? No, but then again, that was the pinnacle of what the superhero film can be. As amazing as The Avengers was a couple of months ago? Absolutely, but in a different way. While The Avengers was a masterclass of wry humour and CGI fight scenes with weird alien thingys, The Dark Knight Rises is a Nolan film. Nolan films can be characterised by several things - aerial shots of buildings at twilight, sudden changes between loud doses of Hans Zimmer and silence, and a general lack of humour throughout. TDKR contains all of these things, and in fact might even be the most Nolan-y of the Dark Knight trilogy. It certainly looks beautiful, the director's penchant for IMAX definitely paying off in that respect. The soundtrack (again from Mr Zimmer, who seems to score every other film these days) is slightly more subtle than the one in TDK, though far less memorable. Christian Bale, while not given much to do as Batman, gives his best performance as Bruce Wayne so far, perfectly balancing the tortured recluse and the charming playboy. Tom Hardy (one of the coolest guys ever), as the villainous mercenary Bane, also does a bang-up job, considering that he has a weird sort of gimp mask on for 99% of the film. The eyes are the window to the soul, people! For me, he has been the first antagonist in the series that inspires true fear. Sure, Heath Ledger's Joker was the second best ever (after Mark Hamill, duh!), and kinda scary in a "what is he going to do before Batman inevitably defeats him?" way, but as a physical presence, Bane is pretty darn terrifying. Ann Hathaway's Catwoman/Selina Kyle, however, steals the show (geddit!? Cos she's a burglar). Where Michelle Pfeiffer was vampy and over-the-top, Hathaway is just the right amount of sexy yet ambiguous. You never quite know who's side she's on, yet when she's onscreen, you don't really care.

                                                              For obvious reasons.

Props also to the other players in the film, of whom there are many. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman play the father figures of Alfred the butler and Lucius Fox, with a surprisingly small amount of screen time considering the length of the film. The best of the rest has to be the mini buddy-cop film within a film, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon.

SPOILER TIME! DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THE FILM!

Now it's time for some good old-fashioned nerding! This biggest thing, for me, going into this film, was the villain Bane. Any Bat-fan worth their salt will know exactly what happens when Bane and Batman meet. The scene in TDKR where they fight in the sewers and Batman gets the Bat-shit kicked out of him gave me the shivers, but mostly because it reminded me of this from the Knightfall saga:

The point is that most Batman fans would have been well aware of what the story would entail as soon as they heard that Bane was going to be the antagonist. This isn't a criticism, more an unavoidable consequence of adapting from previously existing material. Knightfall isn't the only comic storyline that Nolan and company borrow from. No Man's Land, where Gotham City is cut off from the rest of world by an earthquake, is heavily plundered, as is Hush, where Batman and Catwoman start a tenuous romantic relationship.
Admittedly, there are some problems with the film, the largest and most sickening being the ending. Early in the film, Alfred the butler tells Bruce that during Master Wayne's previous disappearance from Gotham, Alfred's one hope was that he would settle down and find happiness somewhere else. He recounts a story about a cafe in Florence, and hoping to see Bruce there. At the very end of the film, after the day has been saved and Alfred is sitting in the cafe yet again, there is the perfect opportunity to suggest that Bruce Wayne survives, without saying it outright as the film actually does. The 'happy' ending stinks of studio interference, and it feels very unlike Nolan to include something so sappy. An Inception style ending would have been a lot more satisying, suggestive and ambiguous rather than flat out cheesy.
The inclusion of Robin is, in my mind, quite controversial. He's not the Boy Wonder as such, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character Blake is intended to fill that niche. The character would have been just as satisfying had he just been a regular policeman. It is also implied that he becomes the next Batman, a suggestion that I rather enjoyed, as it completes the theme of 'anyone can be Batman'.
As for sequels, spin-offs and reboots, the latter is by far the most likely. Chris Nolan and Christian Bale have both said that this will be their last Batman film, and it seems unlikely that either will return. A sequel with Gordon-Levitt as Batman? Unlikely as well, as it would risk the ire of fanboys who would loath the idea of a Batman that isn't Bruce Wayne. Vulture has suggested that Hathaway may star in a Catwoman spinoff, but that doesn't seem realistic either. What's probably going to happen is that Batman will be rebooted in 2015 with a new cast, and just in time for the inevitably rubbish Justice League monster-mash.
Ah well, we'll always have the Dark Knight Trilogy. Viva Nolan! Viva Bale! Viva Batman!