I couldn't disagree more with this take.

I also have a qualm with this. That scene in the beginning where Alfred talks about his daydream during Bruce's 7-year vacation from Gotham, in which he imagined seeing Wayne with a family, etc.? That scene was retroactively ruined by the TWIST! in the ending montage.

So much of TDKR has moments that you think are good character moments but later you realize that the only purpose they served in the film was to swerve the audience, to set up a patented Nolan TWIST!

This 1000x this

Can you explain this to me a bit more

What was the Twist?

The fact that Bruce was with Cat Woman? The Fact that he didn't die?

Just a little confused

I really enjoyed the bane story line - I am glad he broke batman's back but I think bruce healed a bit quickly.

I had a small qualm with Bane's voice - it sounded too clear quality wise - for being muffled - it seemed dubbed over to me - does this make sense

Yeah, that. The twist was that Wayne somehow didn't die when piloting the nuke out to sea.

They went back in post-production and re-did Tom Hardy's lines, iirc. There were a couple of spots in the movie where Hardy's movements/body language/eyes didn't match up to the dubbed lines, but only a couple.

The scene where bane fought batman and broke his back was almost sad to watch. It was unbelievable to see batman practically powerless.

"The shadows betray you, because they work for me."

Awesome line and interaction.

Wait, are you talking about TDKR or Breaking Bad? :D

(Sorry, cheap shot, had to)

Seriously though, it didn't bother me one bit. I guess because I didn't see it as a twist. I knew going in there was no way they were killing off Bruce Wayne.

I'm just THRILLED we got the breaking of the Bat. That's all I really wanted. Well, that, and a competent Catwoman.

I'm satisfied on both scores.

Of course it was a cheap shot. You'd get a much better shot, one that actually makes sense, if you paid more for it. (I can see your argument as to how BB puts characters in service of the plot. But TDKR puts characters in service of plot twists. That's a different thing)

My biggest beef with the film re: thing-being-included-only-to-set-up-twists is the whole pit prison deal. It seemed to be doing 2 things: 1.) show how tough Bane was because he alone escaped, and 2.) teach Bruce that if he no longer fears death then he can save Gotham from Bane (which would reinforce the sacrificing-himself-by-flying-the-nuke-out-to-sea bit, which was somewhat undone by the cop-out reveal that he somehow lived and he and Selina got clean slates and moved to Italy.

But the twist that it was Talia that escaped, not Bane, does harm to the film, IMO. Because...why was Bane tough then? Or smart? Bane couldn't figure out -- like I'm sure many of us did very quickly into the prison scenes -- that the rope was the only thing preventing you from escaping. He didn't escape through some sheer force of will. He was rescued, in fact (albeit after contracting whatever painful plague thing he got).

So Bane goes down like the chump that he was (accidentally) revealed to be as soon as Bruce next encounters him. Bruce doesn't learn any secret to beating Bane, because that lesson about fear-of-death doesn't end up applying to anything.

It all was working for me as the film went along...until the needless twist.

I thought the lesson learned in the prison was to have a healthy fear of death. That fear of dying enabled Bruce (minus the rope) to climb out of the prison. His whole life was about suppressing and fighting fear with fear I figured he had become immune to fear, hence him becoming a recluse, aching to be Batman again. The lesson he learned in the prison enabled him to move on and live life as Bruce Wayne.

That was my take at least.

Yes.

Losing a fear of death allows him to move on from being Batman? That's a solid take. Makes sense.

I wouldn't say losing fear of death. I would say regaining his fear of death. The League of Shadows groomed him to be the perfect mercenary, to be without fear which, in turn, made him Batman. To return to humanity, as Bruce Wayne, he needed that fear re-established.