Dark Knight Rises it takes place entirely in the day and Gotham just looks like Manhattan or Chicago. Its boring to look at and by the end of the movie you start to feel like you're not watching Batman you're watching a die hard sequel.
As much as I like
Rises, Gotham does look the most boring there. The same thing can be said for
The Dark Knight. Though it was intentional on Nolan's part in the third movie to show that Gotham will have a brighter tomorrow. Thematically, it works, but Nolan got lazy with the look of the city.
I think thats why the ending partially disappointing me, that they ended on a kind of Nolan tone that he needs to be a symbol of hope.
It makes sense and I will defend that moment, because it leads to bittersweet yet heartwarming ending.
When Batman is guiding the citizens out of the rubble with the flare. Awesome moment and shot. It shows that Batman has to be more than fear and "I AM VENGEANCE!", because that is not enough. Worst of all, it inspired the wrong type of people to do more damage or cause unnecessary harm. This is a Bruce that is still shaky and struggling, but will do and be better. I love the message there.
I hope whatever they do they keep going with the horror theme. I really think you don't need to explain what Gotham or Batman is like during the day.
I am sure they will, but it does not be overly dark 24/7. In this movie, whenever it does go to day time, Gotham is still dark. There is always an overcast or looks like it's a few seconds away from raining. So even in the day, it the city is creepy. The sequel will probably have a slightly lighter tone, but not by much given Reeves commentary, and WB/DC letting him do what he wants.
I hope they dig into Tales from the Crypt or other EC comics for inspiration on the sequel.
I am sure they will keep the horror inspirations. Gotham's looks actually reminded me of
The Crow (1994).
Crow takes place in Detroit, but what I loves is that movie never makes it obvious. You get clues through dialogue, dialect, and certain terms you would have to know, if you're from Detroit or live in Michigan. All the more ironic as
The Crow was heavily inspired by
Batman '89, yet
TDK and
The Batman take more inspirations from
The Crow.