Bale wasn't a great Batman but he was a great Bruce Wayne.

ledger and hardy were amazing

i like how you say you dont know why its held in high regard and then give two reasons why it was amazing.
Bale for me was a good batman, not the best but not the worst by any means.
the stories of all three were equally well done.
the villains were memorable...i mean which superhero movie before did you actually feel like "damn, this dude actually could beat the hero if he keeps this up."

the action wasn't awful, it was just filmed in a way that could've been done much better.

but yeah, it was a good refresh to a franchise. not to mention, it had a more serious tone for a comic book movie which wasn't done in any comic book movie before. As far as batman movies go, it can only be compared to burtons batman movies and those still had a less serious tone to it without being too over kid-like like batman & robin.