(Sarah Foster and Justin Gordon's viewpoint) “The Dark Knight Rises” may have the acting talent of Sir Michael Caine, but “The Avengers” has a Hulk. 
The year of 2012 has been a comic collector’s dream. In our humble opinion, “The Avengers” was not only better than “The Dark Knight Rises,” it also made a joke of it. 
“The Dark Knight Rises” possessed more flaws than qualities.“The Avengers” was basic, yet intricate and compelling. “The Dark Knight Rises,” on the other hand, tried to be too complex – throwing in so many plots that it ended up making little to no sense in the end. Question upon question appears throughout the movie; questions all with illogical explanations. 
How did Bruce Wayne get back to Gotham after Bane had blocked off the entire city, and Bruce didn’t even know what prison he was at? How did Batman get the giant bat symbol on the bridge? How did Batman survive atomic blast at sea with or without auto-pilot? How did Batman manage to eject himself from the bat and get away from the blast radius in enough time before the bomb detonated? Why did Bane make such a big deal about the wealthy in Gotham being evil in the first half of the movie and suddenly forget about it in the second half? And how could Gotham be so unaffected by the Joker? 
The more you think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. When the director himself doesn’t have a logical explanation for how his hero survived at the end, you know that ending was rushed in script writing. 
In the “Avengers,” viewers also grow to like every single member of the team. They may be unrealistic, but we can relate to each of their struggles. Thor has to join strangers to fight his own family, and Ironman simply has to deal with his ego. 
The hero in “Rises,” has a struggle that isn’t as relatable. Getting your back broken by a meat head terrorist, left in an abandoned prison, healing your back within the span of two months, and losing your billions of dollars: which one was the fantasy movie again?  
Every superhero movie needs a good villain, in this case, the terrorist Bane vs. the God of Mischief Loki. Tom Hiddleson as Loki stole the movie with his wickedness. 
Loki is not your average villain. He is scrawny and quiet on the outside, but not within. He is not a physical threat, but a magical and intellectual threat. The plans that he schemes not only confuse the Avengers, but the audience as well. His evil goodness (or badness) is one of the best elements. Because plans are enough to neutralize a group of the earth’s greatest heroes, no one sees it coming. He assembled an army under their noses. Everything he did, from bringing the people of Germany to their knees to battling The Hulk, was special. It was a Brilliant character performance backed up with excellent writing and direction. 
Bane, on the other hand, seemed great. He was genuinely intimidating and was a fitting villain for Batman until the end, where he dies an anticlimactic death that ruins all sense of dread and fear he had spent the whole movie establishing. A very rusty Batman decides to take on the supposedly resilient Bane, who injures the Batman so devastatingly that he is placed in a prison in a far off country. Bane holds the city of Gotham hostage, threatens nuclear attack, and unleashes anarchy upon the city – only to be killed by Catwoman in a poorly conceived joke.  Way to ruin a character’s intimidation factor, Nolan!
What truly makes “The Avengers” the better movie is the fact that the probability of it not working was greater than the probability of it succeeding. 
There were a lot of characters with giant backstories and a lot of plot that had to be jammed into one movie. It could have been a giant disaster. However, it wasn’t a disaster, but it also became an achievement in movie making. It a real life success story, and that’s special. 
“The Dark Knight Rises” was a disappointing end to a fantastic trilogy. It just felt thrown together at the very last minute. From the characters not being fleshed out, to the plot being one giant hole, the solution to its problems is simple. It honestly had felt like Nolan’s heart was not all there, and the movie suffered because of it. So in the end, “The Avengers” didn’t break the Bat. Christopher Nolan himself did. 

(Lane Plummers view point) “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” were worthy movies of top dollar, and no article should deface that fact. However, I do believe that “The Avengers” falls short of the platform “The Dark Knight Rises” sets.
The most prominent flaw that has been put against “Rises” is the plot holes. I’ll take the gut punch to admit it is unknown how, in the middle of “Rises,” Bruce returned from a strenuous and extensive adventure from a random deserted jail to America. 
However, plot holes like these are the kind that should be easily looked over. Showing the journey or wasting time discussing it would distract too much from the main struggle of the movie.
Another flaw is the ending of “Rises.” As much criticism as it has garnered, it is controversial because it relies on the viewer’s perspective. During the middle of the movie, Alfred mentions to Bruce in Wayne Manor that he sometimes imagines he will sit down near him at a local restaurant and envision Bruce who is sitting at a table with a wife.  In the denouement, Alfred sees just that; Bruce is sitting at a table with what can be inferred as his wife. Like Nolan’s last thriller, the ending is subjective. Is Alfred imagining this, or did Bruce truly just escape the blast radius? Audience perception is never something to overlook, which is exactly what the argument against “Rises” is doing.
Also, I would like to present the difference in character. “The Dark Knight Rises” has a gloomy, dark-toned atmosphere and the complexity that light-hearted movies cannot replicate.  A cinematic, cultural and personal triumph, “The Dark Knight Rises” is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant. To say it had nearly no emotions is ridiculous. The performances in “Rises” are more memorable. I cared for the characters and what would happen to them, thanks to its astounding predecessors. 
It’s not that I didn’t feel for the characters in “Avengers,” but I can’t say I saw the characters changing over time; they will always remain heroes who will always fight the bad guys. With the characters of Marvel’s universe, I know there will be several sequels. 
The conclusions were incredibly predictable, thus the biggest flaw I saw in “Avengers.” “Rises” was the Hamlet of modern thrillers; “Avengers” was more eye candy for comic fans.
Another conflicting issue is the stark contrast of realism between both films. It’s an area both movies change in; “Rises” aims for a more down-to-earth approach to a comic. Avengers aims to keep the more comical aspects in line from the comics themselves. 
Calling out the flaws on the realism in “Rises” calls for the bashing of the absurdity of “Avengers”. 
“The Avengers” is childish compared with the meditation on moral loss and heroic frailty that Rises presents to the audience. Rises is a masterful denouement of a trilogy that out-entertains and out-inspires any of Marvel’s series. 
“The Avengers” may stand as a great superhero movie, but “The Dark Knight Rises” stands as a monument to modern filmmaking.