'A storm is coming', we were promised - and this film delivers. Though the running time clocks in at a colossal two hours and 45 minutes, it is more efficiently utilised than in The Dark Knight and the plot never lets up, leaving the Caped Crusader with a lot to contend with.

Picking up eight years on from the events of its predecessor, The Dark Knight Rises finds Gotham in 'peace time', all organised crime crushed by the police force and Bruce Wayne a recluse, unable to find a new life for himself beyond Batman and his late love Rachel.

Yet the police are coping fine, for, as the Mayor states in an early scene, the Harvey Dent Act has given them teeth. Why would Gotham need Batman, especially when he’s still widely believed to have been Dent’s murderer?

The answer comes with the arrival of Bane. Tom Hardy adopts an accent that takes a bit of getting used to but not much. He quickly establishes himself as a ruthless enforcer, an attack on the Stock Exchange all part of a larger scheme. Like the Joker, he places the public in an impossible situation and here we see the riotous, anarchic Gotham that previous entries in the saga have come close to delivering but had swerved away from.

Gotham truly crumbles when Batman meets his match against this ferocious foe. Their initial encounter echoes the infamous first meeting from the comic books, down to the “I will break you” line. But don’t be fooled: Bane is as much of a cunning leader as he is a vicious force of nature, a balance that Hardy nails to a tee.

Bruce Wayne is really put through the wringer in this film, his company on the verge of collapse and his body not exactly primed for combat as an amusing visit to the doctor reveals. He couldn’t have been caught unawares at a worse time in his life and in some ways he has to relearn a few painful lessons from the first film to be the saviour that a decaying Gotham needs. The sequence where he rises (in a literal sense) is a rousing one.

Michael Caine doesn’t feature as prominently as some would like but his reduced role barely registers due to the star turns of Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Officer Blake respectively.

Selina’s character never ceases to be alluring with her assertions that she’s fighting her own perception of injustice in the form of the wealthy, corrupt Gothamites. Her hard as nails, survival instinct driven attitude makes her the complex character that she should be as Catwoman and lends to some of her interaction with Batman a humorous edge.

Blake, meanwhile, makes for a good point of contrast to Batman and Commissioner Gordon, as the young and astute rookie whose level of identification with the Caped Crusader should prove surprising for all concerned.

Established characters are far from forgotten though, with Caine’s Alfred involved in a very poignant scene where he resolves that the truth must “have its day”.

And while on that subject, those who haven’t seen the first two films for some time might want to refresh their memories because the legacies of a handful of Batman’s former foes are addressed, one of which proves integral.

The film does not stand on its own as well as the first two, though this continuity is very much in service of the plot. Rest assured that this tale of a society pushed to breaking point carries the desired emotional weight for a fitting finale.