The much anticipated final installment of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is set to debut at thousands of theaters at midnight tonight. While Batman fans everywhere are hoping the film provides a fitting end to Nolan's adaptation, there hasn't been, in my opinion, enough discussion on how we arrived at this point. With a record breaking weekend awaiting, and perhaps highest grossing film of all time title coming down the road, along with what will surely include numerous Oscar nominations, The Dark Knight Rises will serve as the pinnacle of Christopher Nolan's brilliance.
As we all wait to see how the final chapter will unfold...and what fate awaits, the journey of Bruce Wayne and Batman has a special place in film lore. As Rises will provide us with plenty of memories as well as water cooler fodder for the foreseeable future, I have found myself looking back at the previous two films, trying to identify those key moments that have helped shape this current version of Wayne and his alter ego. Here's my top ten.
10. Bruce Wayne buys back his own company and hires Lucius Fox to run it (Batman Begins). In the first film, we gain some insight into what Bruce Wayne's childhood was like. We also see (albeit briefly) what his father's vision for Gotham was. After his parents death, not much is known about Bruce. There's a whole portion of his life we don't get to see. Upon his return to Gotham, he casually interjects himself back into his father's company, only to find that the board of trustees, lead by Mr. Earl, aren't being provided with the necessary leadership. Bruce takes a job, in an effort to better understand the company, in Applied Sciences. It is there that he meets Lucius Fox, and the two spend most of their time playing with, and modifying some of the many toys stored in the basement at Wayne Enterprises. As Wayne's fondness for Fox grows, so does his passion for wanting more for his fathers' company.
In one of the more underrated acts of deception in the movie, Bruce pounces on an opportunity to seize his own company back. With the stock set to go public, Wayne arranges to purchase the majority of the shares through various organizations and charities. By doing this, he now becomes the sole owner of Wayne Enterprises, and in a twist of poetic justice, he takes the recently fired Fox and hires him to run the company, a job recently held by Earl, who in turn gets fired after firing Fox. Confused yet? This is one of the few moments in the film where fans get to see what type of savvy business man Wayne is.
9. The fascinating stories surrounding the Joker's scars (The Dark Knight). Easily the most sinister of villains Batman has faced to this point, the Joker seems to push all the right buttons with everyone, including Batman. While he is not an imposing physical presence, the Joker possesses a cerebral element which forces his foes to not take him lightly. His job is to induce panic, to make you feel as if there is no way you can defeat him, that he's thought of every scenario. While we don't know anything about the Joker's past, unlike in previous Batman films, we do know how he got the two nasty scars he has on each side of his mouth...sort of. Throughout the Dark Knight, the Joker, at the right moment, uses those scars, and the stories surrounding them to heighten the drama of each interaction. We know of two versions for sure (as told to Gambol, and Rachel Dawes), but as Batman himself is about to find out in the films final moments, he decides to write his own "scar" story by blasting "bat discs" into the face of the Joker, and throwing him off a building.
8. The Joker announces himself to Gotham (The Dark Knight). Already having strong armed the gangs of Gotham into enlisting his services, the Joker's next step is to paralyze Gotham with fear in hopes of driving Batman to unmask and surrender to him. All of this begins with a homemade torture tape featuring one of the "copy cat" Batmans. We come to find out the identity of this man, Brian Douglas, moments before the Joker kills him. Douglas is clearly terrified, and the Joker heightens the fear by "playing" with him. He asks questions like "Are you the real Batman?". Joker's full range of emotions are on display in this 1 minute tape, ending in a set of ultimatums to Batman himself after spinning the camera around and showing his face. As a consequence for each passing day that goes by without the revealing of Batman, Joker promises to kill someone. He does this by naming a city official that will be the target.
In his first wave of attacks, he comes after judge Janet Surrillo, Commissioner Loeb, and Harvey Dent. while he was successful in killing the first two (Surrillo's car exploded after opening an envelope she thought contained directions to a safe house, but was simply a piece of paper that said "Up", and Loeb was poisoned from his own liquor glass), he is unsuccessful in taking out Dent only because of the efforts of Wayne and Batman. By unbalancing the political landscape of Gotham, panic and anarchy run rampant.
7. Batman brings Mr. Lao back from Hong Kong (The Dark Knight). After nearly closing a deal with Wayne enterprises, Mr. Lao leaves Gotham in the middle of the night for the protection of his native Hong Kong. Knowing that the Chinese government will not extradite Lao back to Gotham, even if the evidence is staggering of his wrongdoing, Batman, Gordon, and Dent suddenly see their chances of bringing the Mob to justice slipping away. After meeting with Fox, Wayne has a plan for getting inside Lao's headquarters and extracting him. The plan is simple- fly to Hong Kong to meet with Lao and tell him that the business deal will be put on hold, plant a device the downloads the building's schematics, get back inside after dark, and get past Lao's security and extract him using the "Sky Hook" program. Simple, right?
In one of the more special non-Gotham scenes, the skyline of Hong Kong is breathtaking, and Batman displays some new gadgets. He base jumps off the tallest building in Hong Kong, and uses explosives to breach Lao's wing. As bullets are flying all around him, shattering glass, Batman fights off Lao's security, then drags Lao by the his foot to the extraction point. After blowing out the windows, and seemingly having nowhere to go, a large cargo plane, chartered by Wayne, extracts both men literally out of the sky, and Lao is delivered safe and sound for Dent to prosecute to the full extent. Of course, Lao cuts a deal, as expected, and Dent gets his hooks in the Mob.
6. Batman's first appearance, and subsequent defeat of Carmine Falcone (Batman Begins). I really wrestled with this one, for the simple reason that it symbolizes so much in the arc of Batman's journey. But, after lots of thought, it rests at #6 on my list. In his first mission as Batman that doesn't include gathering information, the Dark Knight sets his sights on Carmine Falcone, and stopping a shipment of stolen goods from being picked up by his men. Falcone sits at the shipyard in a limo, when he is alerted by a cop he's paid off that he "better bail". Batman uses the shipyard to provide plenty of cover for himself, all while inducing panic on Falcone's men. Forced to listen to random gunfire, combined with the screams of his men, Falcone begins to grow nervous. At one point, he whispers to himself "What the hell are you?". Moments later, his moonroof is smashed out, and he is dragged out of it by Batman. He gets his answer to his question when Wayne says "I'm Batman!", and knocks him out. The humor in the scene is provided when a homeless man is at the scene, and is noticed by Batman, who looks at him and says "Nice coat", before disappearing into the sky.
I love what this scene symbolizes. It's not the flashiest by any means. In fact, it shows just how simplistic Batman, and his attacks are to this point. He announces himself to the crime lord in Gotham, and scares the crap out of him, something no one has been able to do to this point. He straps him to a huge searchlight for the cops to find, which in turn serves as the birth of the bat signal, and the scene provides inspiration and hope that good will prevail. The look on the homeless man's face was one of shock, but optimism, and at the very end of the scene, Batman is standing on the ledge of a building, overlooking a panoramic view of Gotham, as if to say "I'm the watchful guardian of this city, and its people". The score for that scene also has undertones of hope and the breaking of a new dawn.
5. Batman and Gordon destroy the train rail, along with Wayne tower and Raz Algul (Batman Begins). As the final battle in Begins unfolds, Gotham is under the control of a weaponized hallucinogen. Led by Raz Algul, the League of Shadows has begun it's dismantling of the world's most powerful city. Armed with an antidote for the hallucinogen, Gordon and Batman have to derail a train that Raz is running, that's headed straight for Wayne Tower. Gordon's responsibility is to blow the rail system apart with rockets from the Tumbler. Wayne is aboard the train, with the thoughts of stopping Raz and foiling his plan. This confrontation is symbolic for the simple reason that Batman's compassion was seen as a weakness all throughout his training. Batman not only gains the upper hand in the fight with Raz, but he learns, for the first time, to do what is necessary to defeat an adversary. The plan was never to stop the train, but to derail it, sending Raz, and the well laid plans of the League of Shadows into the basement of Wayne Tower, left to explode into an inferno.
4. Diverting to Lower 5th (The Dark Knight). One of the more clever scenes in the first two movies gives us an orchestrated trap, laid out by Gordon, Batman, and Harvey Dent. The plan is to lure the Joker out in the open, and arrest him. A lot is going on here. Gordon is presumed to be dead, Batman is a wanted man, and Harvey Dent has turned himself over to authorities, claiming that he is the Batman. Dent is being transported in an armored S.W.A.T vehicle, when his convoy is forced to change their route due to a disabled fire engine that is in flames, blocking their path. When the message is given to "Divert to Lower 5th", one of the armed guards says to his counterpart "Lower 5th, we'll be like turkeys on Thanksgiving". Lower 5th presents danger because there are no alternate routes out of there, and it's easy to be cornered, which is exactly what happens.
The plan works perfectly. The Joker makes his move for Dent, unleashing an arsenal on the S.W.A.T vehicle. Along the way, the rest of the support vehicles (mostly police cars) are easily derailed. Batman shows up just in the knick of time, as Joker aims an RPG at Dent's vehicle. The Tumbler takes the brunt of the damage, but viewers are in for a surprise. The Tumbler transforms itself into a Bat Pod, which has some really cool features of its own. The best part of the scene is when an 18 wheeler, driven by the Joker, gets upended by the Bat Pod, resulting in both men taking some punishment. Joker closes in on Batman, and appears to be ready to take his mask off, when Gordon, disguised as a S.W.A.T team member steps in and takes Joker into custody. The bold plan lands Gordon the title of Commissioner.
This is one a many chess matches between the Joker and Batman throughout the movie. It's difficult to tell who really has the upper hand in this one. While Joker gets captured, he never really seems uncomfortable, as if he planned on getting captured, only to have a plan to get out.
3. Harvey's Transformation and Gotham General's destruction (The Dark Knight). As a reminder to all of us as to just how great the Joker is, this scene shows how much of a manipulator he can be. Badly burned on his face and grieving the loss of his girlfriend Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent is vulnerable for the first time in the film. Harvey is recovering from his injuries at Gotham General, which is being evacuated after the Joker has promised to blow up a hospital within the hour. Joker poses as a nurse (which is really more of a symbol of just how demented he is) and has a face to face with Harvey. At this point, Harvey is angry with everyone; Joker for laying out the plan that resulted in Rachel's death, and Gordon and Batman for failing to save her. Once the great hope for Gotham, Harvey is a broken man, and with a little coercing from Joker, he becomes Harvey Two-Face; a man fixed on exacting revenge...on everyone.
After completing his manipulation of Harvey, Joker exits the hospital...and detonates a bomb leveling the place. Harvey continues on his path of revenge, using his lucky coin, which has also been burned on one side, as a catalyst for which one of his personalities will decide your fate. Joker's plan was to cripple Harvey, as he represented the best that Gotham had to offer. By showing everyone what he's done to Harvey, the citizens of Gotham would experience a new level of fear.
2. Bruce Wayne's drunken tirade upon the re-emergence of Raz Algul and the League of Shadows (Batman Begins). A surprise birthday party at the mansion brings together many story lines. Wayne Enterprises has gone public, resulting in soaring stock prices. Lucius Fox has been fired, and his department has been merged with Archives. Raz Algul and his men have returned to Gotham to carry out the final phase of their plan. Rachel Dawes is recovering from her exposure to Crane's weaponized hallucinogen. At this point, Wayne realizes what the plan is, and that he's short on time to stop it. Fox has come up with an antidote to the hallucinogen and needs to produce mass amounts of it...in a hurry. As they are about to part ways, a guest stops Bruce. At this point, Raz Algul reveals himself to Bruce, and he knows his true identity. In an amusing move, Bruce grabs everyone's attention, and gives a toast. He proceeds to blast everyone, called them "phonies" and "suck ups". He kicks all the guests out of his mansion, to get them out of harms way.
As the scene unfolds, Raz reveals the League of Shadows plans for Gotham. As his men set fire to Bruce's home, Raz details how his men have destroyed powerful civilizations in an effort to restore balance. Bruce learns that Raz and his men tried a different method with his father and with Gotham. The method of economics. Thus begins the final battle between the two.
1. A journey opened with the quest for a rare blue flower (Batman Begins). Searching for the means to fight justice, Bruce Wayne's first meeting with Raz Algul in a Chinese prison sends him looking for a rare blue flower. After finding the flower, he must carry it to the top of a mountain, where he reaches a temple. This temple is the home of the League of Shadows, and to Raz Algul. It is here that the origins of Batman are found. Bruce receives training in the art of Ninjutsu from Raz. There are a number of physical exercises that we see Bruce go through, but one thing that Bruce must come to grips with are his own fears. Raz challenges him to confront the guilt he carries surrounding his parents' death, even stating that it wasn't his fault, but rather it was his father's, because he didn't possess the will to act. This is best illustrated in a hand to hand combat session between Bruce and Raz on a sheet of ice.
As Bruce prepares for his final test, and initiation into the League of Shadows, he must face his fears, while proving he can lead a group of men. Bruce passes his final test, tricking Raz in an exercise, thus gaining the upper hand to force Raz to yield. Upon completion of this part, Bruce learns his first assignment. He will lead a group of men to Gotham, and destroy the city he grew up in. He must also demonstrate his commitment to justice, as he is asked to kill a man who has broken the law in front of Raz and the League of Shadows.
It is at this point that Bruce makes the choice to stand for something of the greater good. In the eyes of the League, as well as Raz, there is only one way to handle this...kill the thief. Realizing there is no other way out, Bruce takes a stand, flipping a red hot brander into a cache of vanishing powder, triggering a set of explosions that destroys the temple. While all this is going on, Bruce is taking on the League of Shadows, destroying them from the inside. While he shows compassion and saves his teacher and mentor, Raz from certain death, a decision that almost comes back to haunt him later in the film, Bruce has chosen his path. Had he not chosen to stand for what he believed to be true justice, not the clouded version that the League of Shadows were asking him to adopt, we may have never come to know Nolan's Batman, and Gotham would still be looking for its hero.
TR
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