The police, after having been trapped underground for five months, still have what it takes to charge on Bane's men and take back Gotham City. Having Batman take out the enemy tanks also helps.
The line delivered by the Deputy Commissioner leading the police into the fight adds to the moment in an incredible way.
Peter Foley: There's only one police in this town.
Foley started the movie acting like a jackass and glory hound. However, for the final battle, he shows up his dress uniform and led the charge from the front. It gave the scene another level of awesomeness and completely redeemed him.
He also manages to kill Barsad, Bane's Dragon while shooting at Talia.
After Batman has been missing for eight whole years, a psychologically broken cripple hiding away in his manor, he finally returns to take down Bane's thugs and effortlessly outdodge the police. The Dark Knight Returns will most likely never have a live action adaption, but the entire Stock Exchange car chase scene captured the book's awesome He's Back moment.
They even directly quoted it with the older cop saying to the younger: "You're in for a show tonight, kid."
There is also the awesome visual of the GCPD chasing Batman: A massive fleet of cop cars chasing a lone man on a bike.
Selina Kyle playing Big Damn Heroes and taking out Bane with the Batpod's cannons before he can kill Batman with a shotgun.
And her summation of Batman's code — because, sometimes, you just need to blast a villain and be done with it.
Selina Kyle: About the whole "no guns" rule? I'm not sure I feel as strongly about it as you.
Bruce makes the leap onto the rock from the pit on his own without the rope, followed by the cheers from the other prisoners.
Followed by the music abruptly switching from Bane's Leitmotif to Batman's, available on the official soundtrack as the piece "Why do We Fall".
No matter what she grew up to be, the fact that Talia managed to climb out of that enormous pit, with no rope, as a child, is pretty damn awesome. It takes Bruce two failed attempts before he gets how it's done: fear of death propelling you on that last, damn near impossible leap from one ledge to the homestretch to freedom. Everything she manages afterwards is just icing on the cake. And considering the height of the jump and the lack of rope, it is safe to say Talia could only have gotten it on the first try.
Batman's Ironic Echo line when he beats Bane and turns his "You have my permission to die" back on him. After the brutal first beating, it was quite awesome to see the old man still had some moves.
The Bat, the Batpod and the Tumbler remain some of the best vehicles put to film.
The Bat features some amazing flying, using a Macross Missile Massacre against itself and its launcher.
The Batpod does an awesome "spinning wheels turn" trick, nearly one-upping the wall turn in The Dark Knight.
Even though they were on the bad side, the updated Tumblers were awesome, especially the one with the retractable cannons that can fire missiles.
Jim Gordon is laid up in the hospital for months, but when crap goes down, he's able to take down two armed assailants with a gun hidden under his pillow. He nearly takes down John Blake by accident too.
The plane hijacking at the start, made even more effective by actually destroying a plane to do it.
All of Bane's dialogue during his first battle with Batman in the sewers.
Bane quoting Ra's by saying "Theatricality and deception are powerful agents for the uninitiated. But we are initiated. Aren't we, Bruce?"
Near the beginning of the fight, Batman deals Bane several blows to the head. Bane barely even flinches.
Especially after Batman attempts to confuse him by cutting the lights and Bane, amused, says "Ahh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man and by then it was nothing to me but blinding!"
Before pulling him out of the darkness, slamming him on the ground and cracking his mask with his bare hands while it's still on his face.
Then Bane gets his classic catchphrase: "I will break you." Even better, it doesn't sound corny at all. On the contrary, it sounds bloody terrifying.
The subsequent back-breaking also proudly displays one of the most iconic scenes in comic-book history. Tragic and brutal, but awesome nonetheless.
And finally, taking Batman's broken helm (which he shattered with his bare fists), admiring it for a moment, and then tossing it aside while striding off in that cocky manner. 'Yes, I just did that. For I am Bane. Ra's al Ghul's true heir.'
The last shot of the series: Robin John Blake standing in the Batcave, only just beginning his career as the next Batman, spelunking, holding a cylindrical torch and being swarmed by bats just like Bruce, a nice Call Back to Batman Begins.
Bane gets one in the final battle when he punches a concrete pillar and causes it to break. This Bane apparently doesn't need Venom to be monstrously strong.
The rapid series of blows he rains on Batman while being in incredible pain from lack of painkillers is something to behold. In an era of huge explosions and over the top action scenes, that series of five or six punches is still awesome.
Bane's sheer speed is a Crowning Moment of Awesome for Tom Hardy. Watch his entrance to the stock exchange: he takes off his motorcycle helmet, then promptly uses it to viciously smack a female security guard in the nose and knock out two more guards in a matter of seconds.
Bane gets another when he kills Daggett by... doing something unpleasant to him. We imply that this was probably a Neck Snap.
He doesn't even need to do that. In the middle of Daggett's Bullying a Dragon moment, Bane shuts him up by putting two fingers on his shoulder. You can almost hear Daggett crapping his pants.
Bane: Do you feel in charge?
Even better was just Daggett ranting at Bane about the money he's poured into what Bane's doing, which.. Well, Bane doesn't like:
Bane: And this gives you... Power, over me?
Scarecrow's cameo.
Batman and Selina getting into Bane's underground lair. Especially one bit where a goon is firing an automatic assault rifle at Batman and we see from his perspective: Each muzzle flash acts like a strobe light, and you just see rapid-fire freeze frames of Batman getting significantly closer and closer. More Nightmare Fuel, but still pretty cool.
Batman and Catwoman teaming up to take on Bane's men.
It's kind of a jerkish move, but the way Bruce introduces himself to Selina... by firing an arrow into the bullseye barely inches from her head.
The ending is both this and a Heartwarming Moment. Alfred spots Bruce and Selina living together in Europe, both of them radiantly happy.
Another moment for Selina when she outsmarts Stryver and the rest of Bane's henchmen, who were planning on pulling a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on her. Not only was she expecting them to betray her - hence the "kidnapped" congressman, she then brings the entire police force down on them in a matter of seconds by tricking Stryver into using the congressman's phone and then manages to slip away by shooting two of Bane's henchmen while wrestling with Stryver before the SWAT team bursts down the door and chases the thugs into the back alley. Selina immediately starts screaming and acting like a damsel in distress to trick Blake into getting her out of there so she can slip away in the confusion. The entire episode is Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot - what starts as a simple fingerprint delivery ends with Gordon stumbling upon Bane's lair in the sewers and nearly getting killed.
The finale. The Bat, Batpod, three Tumblers and a massive armored truck screaming through the streets of Gotham.
Batman and Bane's rematch is one for Batman: After regaining his will to live, he comes for Bane, this time with an army of cops to back him up. No more shadow games and theatricality, just a battle of fists. No more rushing with no regard, fighting with his head as much as his heart. This was the return of the Batman that everyone cheered for the last two films.
The fight is almost one for Bane too. Before Bats damaged Bane's mask, it looked like it was going to be a rerun of last time with Bane dominating the fight.
It gets better on repeated viewings. While Bane still clearly has the physical advantage, Bruce's entire approach to the fight is overall more energetic and vicious. He gets kicked down by Bane again, but this time he quickly surges to his feet, takes the high ground and gives Bane a "come and get it" look. Than he blocks one of Bane's punches, rears back for a haymaker-and Bane again does a Fist Catch. Then Batman shows what he's learned from the Pit, and howling in Bane's face, physically overpowers Bane's grip on the self-same fist to land his first uppercut of the fight. If you watch Bane closely, he goes from staring Bruce down to gazing in a stupor at his arm being overpowered, as though he's thinking "How the f...?" Right before he gets hit in the face.
In preparation for the reactor, Bane takes the Wayne Enterprises board hostage, and tells Fox to choose one of the board members to accompany them. Without any hesitation, one member volunteers to go with Bane to an unknown destination for an unknown reason. This same man stays completely silent when Bane puts a gun to his head to force Fox's co-operation, even when it looks like Fox might let him die. Badass Bureaucrat indeed.
This is, in fact, Fredericks, the same board member who in previous films was the one saying things like, "Is this what Thomas Wayne would have wanted?" He's very, very subtly on Bruce's side through the whole series.
Just the fact that we finally have a solid portrayal of Bane in a major adaptation. He's been around for 20 years and has never been treated with a great deal of respect outside the comics despite being Batman's greatest physical enemy. Physically he may not have been a perfect portrayal, with the lack of a luchadore mask, venom, and being European rather than Hispanic (unavoided due to the choice to cast Tom Hardy). But even Chuck Dixon, Bane's co-creator, considers it the most accurate portrayal of the character ever because the essence is there. That essence is a remarkably intelligent individual with unbelievable strength and fighting skills and the only villain who poses a true physical threat the Caped Crusader. There's a reason why Batman and Bane's first "fight" is one of the most memorable scenes in the entire trilogy.
The entire trilogy. Nolan and co took an iconic character, who had just under a decade ago been turned into a cinematic laughing stock, and returned everything that made him memorable, delivering what many consider to be the defining portrayal. He also did what many had thought impossible and made a comic book trilogy that's consistently good in all the films.
Especially the fact two of the villains in the movie series get a nice upgrade in badassery with Joker becoming Nightmare Fuel incarnate and Bane just becoming a great Genius Bruiser when previous movies made the former villain too laughable and the latter bad guy bland Dumb Muscle who is easily forgotten. Bravo!
Watch that scene when Selina is about to escape at the airport. Just as she's walking down the jet bridge, Blake appears in front of her. Oh Crap on her face, confident smile on his. It's almost as if he stops her with his sheer presence, and the badge he flashes.
The entire ending sequence manages to be one, but above all, a single word:
John Blake: Try my legal name
Woman: You should use your full name. I like that name. Robin.
The reveal of the Batman statue. Finally, Gotham recognises him as a true hero.
Jim Gordon: Can I change your mind? About quitting the force?
John Blake: You know what you said, about structures becoming shackles? You were right, and I can't take it. The injustice. I mean, no one's ever gonna know who saved an entire city.
Jim Gordon: They know. It was the Batman.
*Que the reveal of a statue of Batman*
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