Retaining its trademark urgency and apprehension, this climactic episode of the Batman series is at least as conscience-probing than any of its predecessors. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, "Public Enemies") has been in self-imposed hiding for eight years within the remote, electronically guarded Wayne Manor, both a great mansion and a lair of many levels for the weaponry and assets that provide much of his alter ego's power.

After taking the blame for the death of secretly corrupt D.A. Harvey Dent and engaging in a cover-up for the good of the citizens and commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), he has become a fugitive on the lam from the police. This has caused him to sink into a funk that's affecting everything, including his leaderless Wayne Enterprises. The company is further threatened with collapse after partnering with wealthy philanthropist Miranda Tate in a project to employ nuclear fusion to emit clean air. It's a device that's designed to eliminate smog and global warming. But Fox (Morgan Freeman, "The Bucket List"), the engineer in charge of the project, hasn't gotten it to work yet.

Bankruptcy, however, doesn't bother him so much as the fear that he's become worthless in the eyes of the city. We find him groveling in questions about Batman's waning importance to the city. His sounding board is old faithful Alfred Pennyworth, aide, enabler, guide to his ward's conscience and psychological impulses and friend-in-chief. But neither of the two gentlemen domiciled in the manor are prepared for intrusion of Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway, "Get Smart"), a svelte, professional cat burglar who can penetrate any building and shoot it out with anyone, anywhere, anytime. But for this incredibly audacious character, who is no doubt Catwoman, though she's never identified as such, "The Dark Knight Rises" would have had to go without this rich vein of humor and excitement.

Wayne is stunned to find her in his quarters. But what's worse is the fact that she's wearing the pearl necklace that he values so highly that he's had it locked in a safe. So, not only has a person penetrated the lair -- she's opened the safe! This may be a problem of logic and/or tradition, but it does move the story in a certain direction.

Accordingly, she makes off with it around her neck. But it doesn't take Wayne long to figure out that the really valuable thing she came for wasn't the pearls. Discovering fingerprint dust on the safe's dial, he realizes that her prize was his fingerprints, which in these times of robbed identity puts him very ill at ease.

It's time he comes out of his shell and show himself in the public arena. His sudden appearance at a high-level meeting sets off the gossip mills, awakening the lions to the smell of fresh meat. This presages the evil that's been lurking all this time in the monstrous form of Bane (Tom Hardy, "Inception"), a physically powerful brute who's face is hidden behind a breathing apparatus that seems surgically implanted on his face. His voice is hard and filtered, an insult to the ears. His intentions are far worse, the destruction of Batman and Gotham itself. And, aided by a platoon of pschopaths trained in the League of Shadows as Wayne was, he has the horrifying means, strength and know-how to do it.

Bane illustrates what he is capable of when he all but destroys the New York Stock Exchange with the successful intention to bring Wayne Enterprises to its knees. This, of course, is overkill, but it makes for a scene of destruction with a lot of implications, only one of which is to allow John Daggett (Ben Mendelsohn, terrifying in "Animal Kingdom"), Wayne's arch business rival, to take over the remains of the company.

It also obliges Wayne to put on his suit. Batman is back.

But, soon, Batman may wish he wasn't. He runs into Selina at a fete for the elite and, with untypical lack of bravado, she agrees to escort him to Bane. But, she's done him no favor. Batman is confident and bristling with anger as he launches into his nemesis thinking his fists will do his talking. But we have a little surprise for our hero. He's nothing compared to Bane power and invincibility under a barrage of Wayne's best shots. Wayne winds up barely holding on to his life in a prison only one boy but no man has ever escaped from.

It's just as well because Wayne needs time to heal -- time when Bane and his lot are wreaking havoc. Wayne is so wrecked that the question arises, will he ever be Batman again? Inevitably, he will face Bane again, but will he avoid a repeat? How this is answered is fine for the comic strips, but it's one of my chief carps about the movie).

At this point, we haven't even seen the best Bane can do, nor the full explosiveness of destruction that director Nolan can pull off for our entertainment. As any action fan knows, it's not so much the harm done to people and the infrasructure as it is the conceptual design of the set pieces, where a clever idea is the mark of originality and the items that get talked about. Nolan satisfies our expectations for nearly three hours of blunting our senses -- every minute of which is legendary fantasy that calls for a cast of hundreds and a reasonably creative furtherance of the Batman legend.

It is loud, which is fine, and composer Hans Zimmer goes wild. He produces in his scoresheet the sense of urgency and the driving force that underlies all the action. But the subtlety of his cinematic essential to raise the pace in the early going grows and, as it does, it is ultimately elevated above the rise of the Dark Knight himself. In the climactic moments his score is a steam engine that can't be stopped, or ignored.

On all technical fronts, the work is fine to astounding with much praise going to cinematographer Wally Pfister. We might think editor Lee Smith wore out his snipping tools if not his fingertips, but we know, of course, he didn't. And, again on the technical side, we have Nolan to thanks for the decision not to go with 3D, giving the color scale the kind of punch missing from most of the 3D-glasses-required versions of comics made into movies.

Nolan might also be the person who decided not to show any blood. At least I don't remember there being any -- not even in the most brutal and damaging scenes of violence. Thinking back, this might be a trademark of the Batman series. If i'm wrong on this, please correct me in the Opinion Section below. While you're at it, if this comes as a surprise to you, let me know that, too. Thanks.

Own it today! Click on the link below for this and other versions) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo+UltraViolet Digital Copy) The Soundtrack

No one was busier for any picture than casting directors John Papsider and Toby Whale. Among the casting selections, perhaps the most interesting and new to the lore) was Gordon-Levitt ("Inception") as Blake, the deep thinking cop -- one of Commissioner Gordon's boys who has figured out that Wayne is Batman. The role is written chiefly by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan) as a major one, in which he goes from street cop to detective and proves to be one of the Dark Knight's major supporters. Watch for this character in the sequel.

Nolan and Bale have indicated that they'll be having no further visitations in the batcave, but that doesn't mean the franchise is over. There's a clue in this movie that suggests an element of the next sequel. It's only a guess on my part, but it'd be a spoiler to mention it here. So, only those who have already seen "The Dark Knight Rises," should use the spoiler button below.

                                      ~~  Jules Brenner