I actually like The Dark Knight Rises but I do think Bane was overused. Nolan should have let the women run the show. Focus on both the dynamic between Bruce and Selina as well as go into way more detail on the business side with Miranda. No one who ever read a Batman comic expected Miranda to NOT reveal herself as Talia, so we should have seen more of her professional and personal relationships with Bruce (they could even bond over their lingering grief over their dead fathers), to make her betrayal more devastating for him. That would contrast Bruce's relationship with Selina, the fact that she got the better of him more than once (which is always my favorite part of their interactions in the comics), and the fact that he's attracted to, and genuinely likes, her in spite of himself.
Bane should have been the threat in the shadows. His opening scene, the stock market manipulation, breaking Bats' back*, cutting Gotham off from the rest of the world, and his role in the final battle are fine but that should have been it. No speeches, no participating in Crane's "trials", nothing that put him front and center as the face of the anarchy. He shows up, causes destruction, and retreats until Talia needs him again. Then we aren't being asked to see him as the Big Bad until time for the twist. We'd assume that, because he was the one we were seeing cause destruction, but not in any actual leadership role. I didn't hate the reveal that he's devoted to Talia, but I wouldn't have done that emotional scene between them when he died. I'd have Bane get killed instantly in front of her, she gets super pissed, and flips the switch on the Exterminate Gotham bombs (which would not be nuclear by the way). I'd give Gordon the win with this one, letting him discover and deactivate all of them while Bats and Selina were battling Bane and Talia.
How any of this would work with Bruce faking his death I don't know, unless there's a simple "Here are the dead" announcement and memorial following the battle and Gordon makes sure to add his name so that he can leave. Then Alfred could be let in on the faking but not know his whereabouts until that scene at the restaurant with Selina.
If anyone is going to be making speeches in the wake of Gotham being taken hostage, it really should have been Crane. Murphy just has too much fun with that role and he ended up serving as judge and jury anyway, so let him go all out.
*I am so in love with that scene. That was such an epic moment in the comics and I actually cheered in the theater when it happened.