If you're reading this, you already have an opinion about Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated end film to his Batman trilogy. Heck, you've probably already seen the movie at one of the myriad midnight screenings held overnight.

But, if you haven't, you should know two things: First, I won't include any spoilers here, because I'm feeling generous; second, "The Dark Knight Rises" was the final Batman film audiences both needed and deserved.

There's been much ado about the crucial final film of Nolan's third installment. It's been put on a pedestal ever since Nolan decided first to abandon creating a third, then relented and returned with a hyped script and even buzzier teasers. Plus, following the late Heath Ledger's deliciously maniacal (and Oscar-winning) turn as The Joker, fans were on the edges of their seats to see how new nemeses Bane and Selina Kyle/Catwoman stack up.

Naturally, expectations are riding high for "TDKR." And, yes, the movie lives up to them – to an extent.

The last of Nolan's Batman trilogy picks up eight years after "The Dark Knight." Batman is a Gotham pariah and a secret martyr for Harvey Dent's good name. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the anonymous man behind the mask, has hidden himself away in the isolation of Wayne Manor. After Wayne discovers some unscrupulous dealings being carried out under the auspices of Wayne Enterprises and enforced by formidable mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy), he takes up the mask and cape yet again to protect Gotham's new-found peace. He does not, however, account for the full menace of Bane and his master plan.

Much like Nolan resurrected The Joker for "The Dark Knight," "TDKR" also sees the return of Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman. Batman's vixen of an anti-heroine, originally brought to the big screen by Michelle Pfeiffer, is embodied this time around by Anne Hathaway, who – as much as I wanted to give her a chance – is kind of a Catwoman Lite. While Nolan and company opted to pull The Joker completely off his hinges, they seemed to have tamed the notorious feline for her second go-around. She's crafty, rational and quick with her retorts, but she lacks the flair and wily charms necessary to fully seduce the audience.

Bane, on the other hand, is a force to be reckoned with. He is a hardened combination of brains and brawn, and his menace is conveyed in a cold and calculating way that suggests resistance is, indeed, futile. As an entity self-described as born of shadows, Bane appropriately coalesces and gains form throughout "TDKR" in both tangibility and motivation. This becomes a bit of a problem when it comes to understanding his voice, but, like the now-infamous "Batman voice," it's frustrating at times, but doesn't seriously hinder the plot progression. Hardy, for his part, pulls his character off brilliantly, despite having nearly all of his face obscured by Bane's life-sustaining mask. With just his steely gaze and unfeeling, urbanely evil demeanor, he most certainly chills.

The sheer threat Bane and his cause present serves as the catalyst for the true core of "The Dark Knight Rises" – a raw, literal and figurative unmasking of the characters' vulnerabilities that brings true natures to light and ties up the loose ends left in Nolan's Batman universe. Viewers anticipating a rough, brawling upheaval of a film might get turned off by the unexpected depth of character development "TDKR" initiates at the outset and explores further toward the middle of the action, but it's important to understand just how much needs to get packed into this finale.

Once it's said and done, the inner turmoils that erupt and emotional wounds that get probed are intriguing, cerebral and necessary – but without knowing what's coming, they can at times feel drawn out and laggy in between fights and explosions.

Those viewers who did want an epic spectacle of firepower, however, do get what they came for. While the action lapses off for awhile following the movie's elaborate introductory stunt, the minor battles interspersed between the talking-and-thinking parts of the plot manage to hold the audience over until "TDKR" brings out the big guns. From high-tech gadgets to down-and-dirty brawls, there's plenty of violence to tide over action fans.

I don't usually gush over movie scores (and feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you're not a music nerd), but I have always been a huge fan of composer Hans Zimmer. His scores are inventive, rich and mysterious, and his efforts on "The Dark Knight Rises" are no exception. He excels for his subtlety, the finer points of which are usually things my simple mind can't pick up on.

Here, however, I distinctly heard the moment during Batman and Bane's climactic battle in which Zimmer reprised a pivotal plot point from the movie and adapted it into the music. It was a masterful accent and deserves a mention, even if only by me.

Like "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," "The Dark Knight Rises" is its own animal. There's good and not-so-good, but the scales tip heavily in favor of the former. And the former has some serious high points. It's important to realize that "TDKR" is its own installment and has its own monsters to overcome – the most foreboding, of course, is its own hype. And although it does require something from its audience, I think it does a solid job of conquering it.