I'm a Batman fan, admittedly since The Dark Knight came out four years ago. I liked Batman Begins initially but didn't see the inherent value in it until after The Dark Knight came out and I was able to see that Begins was nothing but setup to the unique and explosive second film. Since then I've read as many of the novels as I could get my hands on, played the different Rocksteady Batman games in recent years, watched all the incarnations of him on television (live action or otherwise) and have come to love the characters in this universe more than most others. I walked into TDKR with some very high expectations, and I'm very happy to say that while it wasn't a perfect film, it was a perfect Batman story for me. Yes there are plot holes and mistakes, but even The Godfather had some of the worst fight scenes ever committed to film, yet no one ever mentions those when speaking about the legacy of Coppola's masterpiece. There will always be trolls and there will always be people who vehemently believe that Nolan is a golden god that does no wrong. Me, I'm just a fan of the universe, and I never expected to be so moved by a film based on Batman. Nothing in this world is perfect, but I believe that you see what you want to in art. Nolan wanted to tell the story of a man...[more]...

By now everyone should know where this flick is coming from and understand who it was made for. You're with MacFarlane or against him, myself being part of the former camp. Ted gives you a lot of Boston lore/references, some crude one-note jokes all the way through, and a lot of by the numbers plot devices. For me, this was everything I wanted and more. Going into Ted expecting to laugh once or twice, I was surprised at how many times the film had me doubling over in my seat. An argument could be made that this film is nothing more than R-rated Family Guy jokes, and I'd agree with that, but judging by the quality of the laughs in the theater I was in, I'd say this is a good thing. The movie tends to drag in a few spots when Ted isn't on screen, but much like Joker in The Dark Knight, that makes his screen time that much funnier and enjoyable for me. At the end of the day, Ted made me laugh, hard, and that's all I could ever want from a movie like this.

Instead of giving you a well-written, concise yet logical paragraph or two about my thoughts on the film, I'll just give you the bullet points of my initial reaction...[more]...