Kurt Loder on The Dark Knight Rises

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.