Kurt Loder on The Dark Knight Rises

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Groping for shape and substance in the long shadow of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises is an unexpected disappointment, writes Kurt Loder. Nolan, a director of rare intelligence and logistical skill who's completely at home in the blockbuster idiom, stages some exciting scenes here (especially an earth-ripping attack on a packed football stadium); but most of the requisite battles and automotive chases feel recycled—we've seen them before, and better-organized, in TDK. The Dark Knight Rises is a peculiarly dispiriting film.