By Zanub Saeed
The third installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, "The Dark Knight Rises," is arguably the most anticipated film of 2012, and early reviews are almost all positive for the feature, which is expected to break box office records when it releases this Friday.
"The Dark Knight Rises" has been screened for critics across the world so far, and according to top film review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, the third "Batman" movie so far has a 95 percent positive, or "Fresh," rating, with 19 out of 20 reviews from critics globally hailing the feature.
Top critic Variety noted that "The Dark Knight Rises" "Retains the moral urgency and serious-minded pulp instincts that have made the Warners franchise a beacon of integrity in an increasingly comicbook-driven Hollywood universe," said critic Justin Chang.
U.K. publications like the Daily Telegraph and Guardian called it a "satisfying" end to the trilogy.
"After a breathless, bravura final act, a nuclear payload of catharsis brings The Dark Knight Rises, and Nolan's trilogy, to a ferociously satisfying close" Robbie Collin of the Daily Telegraph said.
"The dark knight duly rises for the bruising final stanza in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, a satisfying saga of revolution and redemption that ends the tale on a note of thunder," said the Guardian's Xan Brooks.
Other reviews commented along the same vein.
"The Dark Knight Rises" is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant and critically important for America itself - as a mirror of both sober reflection and resilient hope," said The Playlist's Todd Gilchrist.
"Whoever Warner Bros hires to reboot the 'Batman' films a few years from now, I wish you luck. The bar is as high as it could possibly be," Drew McWeeny, of HitFix, said.
As of Monday, only one bad review was recorded on RottenTomatoes, that from outlet Hollywood and Fine.
"At times, the action is so massive and thunderously clunky that I might as well have been watching one of the Transformers movies," said Hollywood and Fine's Marshall Fine.
"The Dark Knight Rises" is expected to overall receive glowing reviews, following its Oscar-winning predecessor, 2008's "The Dark Knight."
"The Dark Knight Rises" stars Christian Bale as the titular Batman, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, and Marion Cotillard, and will be out in theatres and IMAX worldwide on July 20.
