Plot
The plot of TDKR is about the hardships of being a superhero and the consequences of a large cover-up. We see this through the portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman who has become physically impaired thanks to his continuous physical harm he has been put through under the Batman persona. He has also been mentally damaged, becoming reclusive and refusing to partake in social interactions. We can see the consequences of a large cover-up through the Harvey Dent conspiracy which has been revealed to the public causing mass hysteria among the Gotham populace. But another plot theme (which is in the title) is the concept of rising, seen through the revival of Batman, Bruce Wayne climbing out of the supposed inescapable prison, and the rise of the working-class against the upper class when the Gotham prisoners are released.
Characters
Even though the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise does a more realistic and gritty approach to the Batman mythos, it still has the two most essential archetypes that make a super hero fiction; a hero and a villain. Our hero, of course, is the titular Batman/Dark Knight who is played by Christian Bale. The hero is usually our moral compass when watching these movies but Christopher Nolan tries to do something different by questioning Batman's morality such as posing the question of "If he doesn't kill, is he actually doing more harm letting villains live?" and sometimes questioning his sanity as a person through the tearful departure of his Butler, Alfred, who departs because he feels that he failed to keep him from harm. Our main villain is Bane who is strong, intelligent and merciless who will do anything to achieve his goal. This makes him a good villain because he matches Batman physical skills and even brutally beats him in combat and breaks his spine which incapacitates him for most of the movie.
Mise en Scene
Since not much is known about Bane's past in TDKR in the beginning of the movie, they need to introduce the character through his appearance and they do this through his costume. Bane's mask is supposed to reflect his physical impairment and shows he has weaknesses but its appearance reflects his beastly and wild behavior by looking like a beasts mouth with sharp teeth. His coat reflects his military training because it commands authority and is quite intimidating but its rough handling and making reflects his survivor aspect of his personality and his class among his fellow man. They use a similar technique with Catwoman who has a sleek body suit to show she likes to show off but is also stealthy with her approach to certain situations. Her goggles/ear-piece shows her technical prowess but also pays homage to the original character.
Camera
The heavy use of medium shots of people when they giving speeches to a large crowd reflects their state of power in the current situation. This is used in the opening where we get a shot of Commissioner Gordon giving a speech about Harvey Dent, which lies about his involvement in police murders, this shows his current authority but also foreshadows a downfall since we know that the new Dent act is a conspiracy against crime. We also get another speech later on from Bane about people's freedom but ironically he has just trapped the city with no means of escape. This shows that there has been a shift in power where the lower-class have rised above the upper-class and actually reflects the first speech made in the opening because its two people in power lying to the Gotham populace.
Editing
Super-imposing is heavily used in TDKR to tell character back-stories and to recap on events in the earlier films. This is used in the opening where we see Commissioner Gordon making a speech about Harvey Dent and how great he is but then he pauses for a second and we get a flashback to the previous movie where we see Dent threatening his son by gunpoint and Batman tackling him. We also see it used in the reveal of Talia al ghul where we see her as a child escaping from the prison and how Bane came to wearing the mask. Narration is used to describe the images presented but the clips themselves are mostly silent to show that its just her describing the events back to the characters.
Sound
Music is important in superhero movies since most of the pieces are used for characters and are used to introduce and reveal characters when they enter and exit a scene. Batman has his own theme which is played when he appears in scenes or when hes doing something heroic. The theme itself has a main melody which is big, epic but also action-packed and tense to show both his presence and his handling of situations. Bane also has his own theme where it consists of booming drums to show his raw power and ruthlessness but also has violins to keep up tension and to show his intelligence. Catwoman also has her own theme where hers a lot more quiet and unsuspecting to show her stealthiness but also has a classical style which shows her sophistication ans wealth.
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