With The Dark Knight Rises just around the corner, Martin Deer looks forward to the closing chapter of Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy…
In four days time the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy comes to a close with the release of The Dark Knight Rises. This represents the end of something very near and dear to my heart as expressed last week in my Batman Begins and The Dark Knight retrospectives. Chris Nolan’s trilogy has told the greatest Bruce Wayne stories I have experienced and given the definitive interpretations of the characters I love, and as Friday July 20th fast approaches it appears more every day that the greatest of the trilogy is yet to come. Which, considering the immensity of its predecessor, speaks volumes.
Set 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, Rises will explore the premise: “what if Batman’s plan [to clean up and inspire Gotham] worked?”. In the aftermath of The Joker’s reign of terror and Dent’s fall from grace, it appears that after that darkest of nights Gotham rallied together against Batman – who had taken responsibility for the murders Dent had committed – and the criminals of Gotham. Enabled by the Harvey Dent Act, put in place to clean up Gotham City in the name of their White Knight, Gotham is at peace and yet trouble brews beneath the surface, which exacerbates when a new evil comes to town in the form of the formidable Bane.
Having seen the Prologue – the opening six minutes – back in December I can attest to the scope and size of the film and the enormity of the production. The opening six minutes contain the largest set piece of the trilogy and of Nolan’s career to date. It’s an incredible sequence that introduces us to the monster that is Bane: a towering beast whose strength is matched by his intellect. Bane represents Batman’s ultimate foe, equally smart and maybe far greater physically than the Dark Knight himself.
One of themes of Rises appears to be ‘pain’, with Bane suffering from a physical affliction which requires the need for constant administering of painkillers to allow him to function, hence the mask. And of course Bruce himself will be dealing with the pain of his parents’ death, along with the loss of Rachel and Harvey Dent. Nolan has stated Bruce is: “a man lost in time”, unable to move on from his grief.
There’s a great line in the prologue in which Bane states: “no one cared who I was before I put on the mask”. Which of course plays in to themes already established earlier in the franchise: Bruce adopted the symbol of a Bat to create a lasting impression on the citizens of Gotham, and The Joker wore makeup as war paint to further promote a fearsome image and create his own symbol. This leads me to believe that once Bane takes Batman’s mask from him, the mask will stay off.
The peace Gotham is prospering from stems from the lie at the end of The Dark Knight. When Batman made the decision he did to take the blame for Dent’s crimes he made the right choice in that moment. Gotham needed to believe in public officials, in heroes with faces and not in men in masks who break the law in the name of the law. Batman knew Gotham would not recover from the knowledge that Dent became a murderer and so he took on the burden of those crimes to protect it, and Bane now looks to expose it. Now the lies must stop and the truth must come out. Bruce Wayne must be the hero with a face. It could go either way, which is the genius of Chris Nolan, and Bruce can become the hero with a face without anyone ever knowing he was Batman. But I believe that Bruce will reveal himself as Batman in order to rally the citizens of Gotham behind him as they fight back against Bane and his forces. Class warfare has been revealed to be a theme throughout the movie and we hear Selina warn Bruce that those like him with their riches will pay for their greed and apathy towards the less fortune. As Gotham burns and goes to hell, imagine the impact of Bruce Wayne, the elite of the elite, the 1% of the 1% coming out and saying “I am Batman and I have fought for our city. Fight with me”. It would be powerful stuff.
Either way Bruce is done being Batman at the end of this film and him revealing himself could be how that happens. Imagine that final battle in the streets of Gotham as Bane’s mercenaries take on Batman with the cops and ordinary citizens behind him knowing that he is Bruce Wayne. A man who they believed had little interest in their well being.
If everything we have heard about Rises is true (standing ovations at press screenings etc.) then Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy will become one of cinema’s greatest and in my opinion, the greatest. And what once had a countdown of over a thousand days is now just 4 days away. The epic conclusion is almost here, the legend is almost at an end. But as with all great legends Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy will last a long time, longer than those of us who will get to see it in the cinema, standing as the definitive interpreting of Bruce Wayne and those who inhabit the world of Gotham.
I could never give enough thanks to Christopher Nolan and those who have created these stories through their writing, production or acting. All I can do is write this article and see Rises as many times as possible on the breath-taking IMAX screens it will be presented on. And I strongly encourage you to do the same, even if your nearest true IMAX screen (London BFI, London Science Museum, Manchester Odeon, Bradford Media Museum, Glasgow Science Centre) is a few hours’ drive, then get a couple friends together and make the trip, it is definitely worth it.
For Batman Begins and The Dark Knight I closed off by giving you my 5 favourite scenes. Unfortunately until roughly 13:55 on Friday I won’t know what those are and so here are five lingering questions I have…
Where does Catwoman fit in to all this?
From everything we have seen Anne Hathaway is nailing it as Selina Kyle / Catwoman. The way she walks, talks – she’s transformed in to something very special. And in true Catwoman style we have absolutely no idea whose side she is on. We’ve seen her with Bane and against Batman and also with Batman, terrified of Bane. We know she will be portrayed as a cat burglar but how she fits in to the overall scheme of things is very interesting, expect lots of twists and turns on this tale as Selina looks out for number 1 first and foremost.
What is Bane’s motivation?
I’ve been a fan of Tom Hardy for quite some time – ever since Martina Cole’s The Take aired on Sky One back in 2009 – and to see him cast in Rises was a joy. When it was announced he’d play Bane I knew we would get something special. Conceptually Bane is one of Batman’s greatest foes however in the comics after his initial appearance he hasn’t been utilised to full effect and has been used as a dumb beast in other versions. Nolan has brought the intelligence back to the character and Bane may just steal the show as he attempts to break the Bat. We know absolutely nothing about his motivations except that he comes to Gotham looking to reduce it to rubble. Speculation suggests he could be aligned with the League of Shadows (who you should remember from Batman Begins), who must have some part to play in this film if it is to be a true ending to the story.
John Blake – is he really Dick Grayson?
Jonathan Nolan had to convince Chris to include Catwoman in Rises because he said it would be “sacrilege” not to have her in the trilogy. The same can also be said about Dick Grayson. Now, I’m no Robin fan, not at all, but the character Dick Grayson and his importance to Bruce and the mythology cannot be understated. And yet, no Dick Grayson that we know of is in Rises. Unless Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character, John Blake, is actually Dick Grayson. There have been plenty of hints that this may be the case, such as his links to an orphanage, that he is Batman’s ally, that Dick Grayson is actually called Richard John Grayson. A member over at Batman on Film also pointed out that the below image of the Bat symbol graffiti which is drawn throughout Gotham is quite an odd looking Bat, isn’t it? The second image below is the symbol of Nightwing, the identity Dick Grayson took as he grew up and became a hero in his own right and left the Robin persona behind. Now I’m definitely not saying that Joseph Gordon Levitt will be dressing up as a costumed hero, but I do believe that John Blake will come to represent everything that the character Dick Grayson is and his relationship to Bruce Wayne.
The fate of Alfred
Sir Michael Caine is one my favourite actors, as I’m sure he is for many of our readers, and his turn as Alfred has been one of the most wonderful performances of the trilogy. He’s played the role of Bruce’s closest confidant wonderfully and emotively. Caine has had some terrific moments throughout the trilogy as he has comforted Bruce, chastised him and suffered his own pain seeing Bruce leading the life that he is. And just in the trailers for Rises alone we have already seen some incredibly powerful stuff from Alfred as he councils Bruce on his life opening his heart. If you haven’t seen the ‘Journey’ trailer as yet I implore you to watch it – it’s marvelous and Alfred’s words in the opening seconds will break your heart. I am genuinely worried going in to Rises that Alfred may not make it out alive, and that would be devastating.
The fate of Batman
This is a conclusion, an end, the completion of a narrative arc that started back in June 2005. We’ve all heard the talk about conclusion and seen the imagery of death, clearly we are meant to believe that Batman will die. Whether that includes Bruce Wayne remains to be seen. At the start of the year I was convinced that Bruce would die, but I just don’t see that anymore. Batman and Bruce will rise and the ending will be triumphant. At least I hope so, because there is every chance the symbol of Batman dies and even that Bruce himself could be lost. But whatever happens, Trust Nolan.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my articles on the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy, see you back here soon for my review…
Martin Deer
Holy Franchise, Batman! – Available now via Amazon.
