The Dark Knight Rises

[Professor S]

To each their own, I guess. Personally, I thought DKR was thematically terrifying and the first "important" comic book movie, as it was a metaphor for very real and modern concerns. Also, the way it was filmed was unique for a comic book movie to that point. It was filmed like a crime thriller, with realistic settings (Chicago). This made for a far more engaging story, IMO, because it felt real and not like a fantasy.

Juxtapose that with the original movie that felt like pure fantasy. I still think the original is a good movie, but it's striking how different two versions of the same universe can be, and how both versions can be extremely successful.