Batman finale premieres in London

Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Anne Hathaway have joined British director Christopher Nolan at a double premiere for The Dark Knight Rises in London.

The film, which sees Christian Bale playing Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne for the third time, has won praise from many critics.

"He has incredible dedication and focus, just like Bruce Wayne," said Nolan of his leading man.

"It lets him present a really credible portrait of a self-created superhero."

Speaking to reporters earlier in the week, the Oscar-winning Bale said Nolan's blockbuster trilogy had "changed my life and changed my career".

The premieres took place on Wednesday at the Odeon Leicester Square and the BFI Imax in Waterloo, with Prince Harry attending the latter.

Tom Hardy, who plays masked villain Bane, also attended, as did co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Batman regulars Freeman and Cillian Murphy.

"It's an incredible thrill to make something on this scale, to watch the technical finish come together over the many months we've worked on it," said Nolan.

The director's final instalment sees Hathaway take on the role of Selina Kyle, better known to comic book fans as Catwoman.

The actress, who will be seen later this year in the film version of the musical Les Miserables, said it was "such an honour" to be part of Nolan's film.

"It took so much training," she told reporters. "If you're familiar with my other works, you'll see that I'm not a natural bad-ass, so it took a lot of work to get there."

The Dark Knight Rises opens in cinemas on Friday.