This is a massive win for all involved, bringing Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane serious film-making clout, further confirming that Mark Wahlberg is an actual 'put butts in the seats' movie star and giving Universal something to laugh about.

Like the 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, it ultimately fails both as a film and as a fleshed-out re-imagining of a known property, rendering it irrelevant in the cinematic pantheon.

I'd argue that Sony may have won the battle with The Amazing Spider-Man (it's not a flop by any means), but they may have lost the war.

There exists at least a handful of comic book adaptations that either completely eschew or compartmentalize the origin material. Be they successful as art or not, they represent the idea that it is possible to start (or restart) a comic book series without retelling the same origin.

Despite a top-flight cast, impeccable production values, and a number of emotional beats that genuinely work, The Dark Knight Rises doesn't stand up to scrutiny and it pales in comparison to what came before.

The Dark Knight Rises' performance should be closely monitored in terms of what should be considered the top-tier potential for any and all other comic book adaptations for the near future.

The whole 'series finale' gimmick promised nothing more than the question of whether or not Batman survived this final film, a question that has surely been answered in a million blog posts by this time.