It seems that lately, Hollywood and the American public have been in a symbiotic relationship. Hollywood makes an assembly-line of superhero movies, and the public dutifully gobbles them up. In the last two years alone, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Thor,” “The Avengers” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” all dominated the box-office with classic (read: predictable) story-lines, big-name stars, and more action than the average American should ever be able to stomach in two years.

On one hand, I was never a huge fan of the Batman series, so some of the predictability and clichés of the previous superhero movies is what I expected from “The Dark Knight Rises.” I walked into the theater with low expectations…

…and walked out wide-eyed and speechless. The third installment of Batman was daring, powerful and moving. It was, above all, unpredictable until the very end. It made me tear up, laugh and connect to the characters in a way that other blockbusters didn’t.

“The Dark Knight Rises” explored the relationships and past of Bane, the antagonist, and therefore avoided the trap of a thoroughly one-dimensional arch-enemy. It also portrayed the flaws of Bruce Wayne alongside his achievements, making him a multi-faceted character with his own hardships, not a perfect hero who was good at everything and won every battle. No matter what, things did not come easily to the Batman in the two-and-a-half-hour movie.

My fellow movie-goers complained that the third installment did not stay true to the original spirit of Batman, making him more of a public hero than a savior-in-the-shadows. As a person who watched the movie with no preconceived notions of how the third installment should play out, I had no trouble adopting Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman.

Overall, the combination of an engaging, human storyline and amazing actors (Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to name a few) made the movie spectacular in a way that Batman’s comic book fellows just couldn’t achieve.