WARNING! This does contain spoilers and detailed comments on the movie.
I absolutely love Batman. I love him as a character and as a hero. After I watched Batman Begins I came to the conclusion that Batman's real super power is his compassion. As a the son and heir to a vast fortune of his father's business he has any weapon, technology, or skill at the tip of his fingers. He had the ability to terrorize Gotham city. But he doesn't. The reason for this goes all of the way back to his childhood. I would love to comment more about the intellectual aspect of batman as a character but this is only about Dark Knight Rises. I would suggest that you go and watch the movie. It does explain Batman's journey to his end.
Dark Knight Rises begins with Gotham city in relative peace. Batman no longer saves the city after the city believes Batman killed Harvey Dent, the beloved district attorney, and took blame for the murders Dent committed. If you have not seen the batman movies then you may not know that (according to the movies) half of Dent's body is burned after he is held hostage in a building set to blow up. The oil for the explosion soaks half of his body. After that be became insane with rage over the death of his girlfriend who died in the explosion Batman saved Dent from. Dent seeks revenge and is encouraged by The Joker. Dent picks Jim Gordon and Batman as victims of his rage. Long story short. Dent tries to kill Gordon's son by pushing Two-face over a ledge, sending him to his death. After this Batman takes the blame for all of the murders Two-face committed. This kept Harvey Dent's name in tact.
Dark Knight Rises begins with Gotham city in relative peace. Batman no longer saves the city after the city believes Batman killed Harvey Dent, the beloved district attorney, and took blame for the murders Dent committed. If you have not seen the batman movies then you may not know that (according to the movies) half of Dent's body is burned after he is held hostage in a building set to blow up. The oil for the explosion soaks half of his body. After that be became insane with rage over the death of his girlfriend who died in the explosion Batman saved Dent from. Dent seeks revenge and is encouraged by The Joker. Dent picks Jim Gordon and Batman as victims of his rage. Long story short. Dent tries to kill Gordon's son by pushing Two-face over a ledge, sending him to his death. After this Batman takes the blame for all of the murders Two-face committed. This kept Harvey Dent's name in tact.
"The Batman didn't murder Harvey Dent, he saved my boy then took the blame for Harvey's appalling crimes so that I could, to my shame, build a lie around this fallen idol. I praised the mad man who tried to murder my own child but I can no longer live with my lie. It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth and it is time for me to resign." - Jim Gordon
After building this inflated lie Batman no longer helps the city. And Bruce Wayne is a cripple who stays in doors. But, in Catwoman's words "A storm is coming Mr. Wayne". Is Gotham ready? No, not quite. And batman isn't either.
Many people have been incredibly critical of the movie because the story line was weaker than Dark Knight. That there was no character development. I fully disagree. There is something about this trilogy that is different then all the rest. I love that each movie is unique in the story line. I love that the cinematography is purposefully different. I love that in each one there are personal challenges that Batman faces. It isn't an Ironman movie. These challenges have deep historical significants in his life. He has to deal with his parents death in the first one. In the second he deals with his role as batman. In Dark Night Rises he has to deal with his role as the ultimate savior of Gotham city. Each movie's story-line builds on the others. Each one is inseparable from the others. And if you exclude the last five minutes of DKR, it is the most incredible ending to one of the best superhero movies series.
Many people have been incredibly critical of the movie because the story line was weaker than Dark Knight. That there was no character development. I fully disagree. There is something about this trilogy that is different then all the rest. I love that each movie is unique in the story line. I love that the cinematography is purposefully different. I love that in each one there are personal challenges that Batman faces. It isn't an Ironman movie. These challenges have deep historical significants in his life. He has to deal with his parents death in the first one. In the second he deals with his role as batman. In Dark Night Rises he has to deal with his role as the ultimate savior of Gotham city. Each movie's story-line builds on the others. Each one is inseparable from the others. And if you exclude the last five minutes of DKR, it is the most incredible ending to one of the best superhero movies series.
"A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended." - Batman
"Suffering builds character" - Miranda Tate
Now is a great time to talk about the significant implications of certain scenes and the impact they have in the movie. Like I said before, Batman's super power is his compassion. The quote above is a key example of this. Batman's journey was meant to build character. And the actions of the certain people in his life shaped who he was. In earlier movies Jim Gordon doesn't seem like anything more than a supporting character. But he is so much more than that. Jim Gordon's presence in Bruce Wayne's life is absolutely necessary to Batman's story. And in DKR he becomes one of the lead characters. There is this interesting bond between them. But the biggest thought presented in their story in DKR is that Anyone is a hero if they impact a life in a large inspiring way. DKR isn't just a movie about Batman's journey, it is a story about the transformation of the people of Gotham city. Batman is their motivation in banding together and rising up. Batman is the example that gives them hope. He gives them courage.
Three times in DKR Batman is told that he shouldn't give up everything to save Gotham city. He is told that by three people closest to him. Alfred, Miranda and Catwoman. Thank goodness Batman is a bigger man. Thank goodness he understands (to an extent) his role in the story. He understands that Batman is the only thing that can save Gotham city. He is the only thing that the people actually accept.
Three times in DKR Batman is told that he shouldn't give up everything to save Gotham city. He is told that by three people closest to him. Alfred, Miranda and Catwoman. Thank goodness Batman is a bigger man. Thank goodness he understands (to an extent) his role in the story. He understands that Batman is the only thing that can save Gotham city. He is the only thing that the people actually accept.
Bruce Wayne: If this man is everything that you say he is, then this city needs me.
Alfred: This city needs Bruce Wayne, your resources, your knowledge. It doesn't need your body, or your life. That time has passed.
Bruce Wayne: You're afraid that if I go back out there I'll fail.
Alfred: No. I'm afraid that you want to.
"We could leave, tonight. Take my plane. Go anywhere we wanted." - Miranda Tate
"Someday, perhaps. Not tonight." - Bruce Wayne
Catwoman: Come with me. Save yourself. You don't owe these people any more. You've given them everything.
Bruce Wayne: This city needs me.
Half way through the movie Batman seems to be brutally defeated by Bane. He is sent to the same prison where Bane and Talia lived. The prison where Talia's hard heart grew and her hatred toward her captors made her insanely motivated to enact "justice". Was it Bane's thought to slowly kill Batman through this hard life in the worst prison imaginable? Or did he relish the hope of making Batman into the same hatred driven villain like all the rest? No, Batman was sent there to break his spirit. But Batman is motivated by redemption. The truth of what happened in DK is what motivated him to come out in the first place. He is motivated by the people of Gotham city. And Bane sent him to the wrong place to killing his soul. He sent him to the one place where Bruce Wayne would again recognize just how important he is in the story. Bane says that the hope will kill Batman and Gotham city. But hope is merely an illusion to someone who knows what true despair feels like. Bruce Wayne, as a child, felt that intense despair. This empowers him to overcome the ultimate test at the end of the movie. This is a challenge only Batman can conquer. Yet another reason why his history is so vital in who he became.
Bruce Wayne: Why didn't you just... kill me?
Bane: You don't fear death... You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.
Bruce Wayne: Torture?
Bane: Yes. But not of your body... Of your soul. Bruce Wayne: Where am I?
Bane: Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... And like shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny... We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die
So Bane hopes to terrorize Gotham with hope. This is such an interesting choice of terrorism. How illusive hope is. The prison that Batman is captive in is a deep hole and the only escape is an impossible climb to the top. And only one person has ever made it out. When Bruce Wayne/Batman builds up the strength to climb the wall out of the prison he attempts it many times. He climbs and falls. He believes it is just more fearlessness that he needs. He is just not tough enough yet. But this is my favorite part! He doesn't need strength.
Blind Prisoner: You do not fear death. You think this makes you strong. It makes you weak.
Bruce Wayne: Why?
Blind Prisoner: How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death.
Bruce Wayne: I do fear death. I fear dying in here, while my city burns, and there's no one there to save it.
Blind Prisoner: Then make the climb.
Bruce Wayne: How?
Blind Prisoner: As the child did. Without the rope. Then fear will find you again.
He needs fear. How can he fully understand the power of hope if he doesn't understand the main motivation of hope in the first place. Hope stems from fear. There is no feeling of hope without the bases for why hope is needed.So he got rid of the rope. He stepped out in fear and was pushed to his limits. He feared so that he could understand true hope. This is something Bane and Talia could never understand. They escaped through a motivation of hatred. It wasn't because there was something greater that needed saving. It wasn't because of hope. They saw hope as a weakness. They saw fear as a weakness. But in the end. The lack of both would be their undoing. Hatred doesn't give you something worth dying for. It merely gives you something to fight about.
Deshi basara! Deshi basara!
The Dark Knight Rises, not only to the top of the prison, but as the victor. He grows so that he can face the ultimate test. He fears death now. He fears pain. He finally works through the pain of his past. A heart hardened by hatred and pain cannot untderstand what it means to live. Bane and Talia left their hurt and what they call weakness in that prison. They blocked it out. But Bruce Wayne faces all of it. His compassion is whole. His compassion, fear and hope equip him for the ending. He is stronger than Bane because he has a purpose. Bane has hatred. Batman has hope founded in the ultimate strength. The fear of loss.
Batman returns to defeat Bane. I could probably write a whole lot more about the fight portion of the movie. But I want to focus on the ending. After defeating Bane and Talia Batman still has to save the city. There is a nuclear reactor about the blow up. The only solution is for Batman to heroically save the city by pulling the reactor by a rope from his batplane. Obviously he has to fly it. After two hours of character development and incredible story-lines we see Batman give it all up. He is the ultimate savior. And you see him as he flies out to the ocean, you see the reactor blow up and you believe there was no escape. Batman payed the ultimate price for a cause worthy of the pain and fear required.
Now if only the movie had ended there. I can't believe that the writer would actually save him. It was beyond annoying to see the perfect ending ruined by an uncharacteristic story-line. Not to mention that Catwoman is bad! She isn't redeemable.
I can't talk more about this now but I have to do more productive things. I'll be back to talk about the characters themselves. And maybe more notes about the movie.
Now if only the movie had ended there. I can't believe that the writer would actually save him. It was beyond annoying to see the perfect ending ruined by an uncharacteristic story-line. Not to mention that Catwoman is bad! She isn't redeemable.
I can't talk more about this now but I have to do more productive things. I'll be back to talk about the characters themselves. And maybe more notes about the movie.