Dark Knight Trilogy Revisited

Nolan Batman Trilogy Revisited.

Here thar be spoilers.

         The DC Cinematic Universe inexorably lumbers forward, and a new Batman is on the horizon, but lest we forget, the Christian Bale trilogy was an amazing self-contained Batman tale, worthy of the following recap. Foremost among the trilogy's strengths is that it had a beginning, middle, and end, all solid contributions to the mythos. We got a solid telling of Bruce's journey from shattered childhood to Gotham's protector.



         The characters were done right as well in this trilogy. Although some will nitpick that not everything was “source material accurate”, no one can say that the tone of the characters was too far off. The paring of the villains in each film also presented a refining concept that was interesting. For instance, the first supervillain introduced, Scarecrow, used a crude fear toxin on individuals, whereas the true villain, Ra's al Ghul, planned to use a more potent form of it to destroy the entire city. In The Dark Knight, the Joker represented pure anarchy, along with his characteristic unwillingness to simply kill Batman, preferring rather to destroy him. Harvey Two-Face meanwhile presented a less anarchic madness based on chance, and in the end was able to finish the Joker's work and actually did destroy everything Batman stood for. Bane introduced himself as the one who would fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny, breaking Batman's body in the process, while Talia was Ra's' legacy incarnate, and was able to break Bruce's heart. Each second villain represents a refined version of the first, with a surprising level of intricacy.

         The movies also held a constant overtone of sacrifice, with the first installment seeing Bruce sacrifice his family name, and home to save the city. The newspaper in one scene reads, Drunken Billionaire Burns Down Home. The Dark Knight shows his willingness to sacrifice his reputation as Batman to save the city, claiming responsibility for Harvey Dent's killing spree. The third films sacrifice is debatable, since it appeared he was willing to sacrifice his life, presented as the only thing he had left to give. In the end however what he gave up was perhaps the most difficult thing to leave behind, the mantle of the Bat, left to former detective John Blake.


         The Batman character was done justice in my opinion, since we get to see him as the multifaceted crimefighter we all know and love. He's shown fighting multiple opponents, using scare tactics, employing detective work and using gadgets. All the things the Batman should do. The films also show that Batman is malleable, and works in a wide array of different settings, including this grim and gritty realistic take on the mythos. The films tonal fidelity allows even the most skeptical to overlook such things as the blatant mispronunciation of Raʾs al-Ġūl, and Bane being Irish instead of Santa Priscan.

A great tribute to the character, and a fine self contained story of the Batman. If you haven't seen this series of films, or are missing parts of the trilogy, do yourself a favor and go check it out. If you have, break out those blu-rays and let me know your opinion of the trilogy in the comments section below.