OK! With only three days left until the release of the much anticipated The Dark Knight Rises, it’s time to explore the possibilities of making it a successful third installment. After saving the Batman mythos in Batman Begins, and garnering critical acclaim with The Dark Knight, a feat never before seen in a comic book film, what will Christopher Nolan do to make this series one of the greatest trilogies ever?
I’ve called Batman Begins the movie of the decade. It started the trend of the dark and gritty reboot/superhero films. And then there’s The Dark Knight, not only did it garner an award for Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor, but is also a film so loved by critics and mass audiences alike that it feels like it was slighted of an Oscar nod for best picture and best director! It is easy to say that it is the greatest superhero movie of all-time!
How will Nolan be able to follow-up such big accomplishments? How will he able to move critics and fans alike just as he did in The Dark Knight? It seems impossible to make it as good if not better. Here are five reasons why I think Nolan will be able to pull off this seemingly impossible feat.
1. Bruce Wayne’s Story Arc. In the first film we saw a journey of an enraged, depressed, driven man to become the Batman we all know and love. He wanted to become a symbol who strikes fear into the hearts of those who oppress the weak. Batman Begins was certainly a movie about him. In The Dark Knight on the other hand, he already established what he is to Gotham and has showed us what he could do as that symbol and the choices he had to make. But it wasn’t a movie about him. I thought it was more of a story about the rise and fall of Harvey Dent. More so a story of three different symbols of justice in three men: Batman, Gordon and Dent. In TDKR, I think it will be back to being Bruce Wayne’s story. I think it should revolve around the consequences of the choices he had made in TDK, about what he could/should be for Gotham and about the realizations of what his journey as Batman has made him.
2. The Villain. There are a lot of good villains in Batman’s rogue gallery that could translate well in Nolan’s Batman universe; The Penguin and the Black Mask could work well but they probably would only be Mob bosses who’d replace Maroni. Killer Croc could work as a freak of nature, but he would be too dumb for Batman. The Riddler would be a poor man’s version of the Joker, but I think Nolan would make him a more interesting character. Deadshot, a hero turned assassin, would work real well too as he could replace Batman for the eight years that he’s out. Imagine the world’s greatest assassin against the world’s greatest detective. It will really bring out the detective in Batman that’s not shown much in the previous two films. But I don’t think he would be the villain for the ending of the trilogy. They chose the perfect villain, Bane! Bane is just as smart, if not smarter, than the Joker. And he’s also the physical presence that Batman has yet to face. He’s the guy who broke the bat! And they selected a great actor in Tom Hardy. I don’t think he would be as iconic as Ledger’s Joker, but he would bring a performance just as good that it could probably end up as one of the best villains ever.
There hasn’t been a prominent female character in the series so far, Rachel Dawes was never that character, but Catwoman is the perfect character to start with. She is arguably the most popular female anti-hero ever. And she could create an interesting love-hate relationship with Bruce Wayne/Batman. I don’t know who Miranda Tate really is. Rumor is she’s actually Talia Al Ghul, that would bring back the League of Shadows back into the series and answer the questions left to us from Batman Begins, which brings me to my next reason.
4. Finality of Unclosed Issues. There are a lot of issues left open for us in the past two films, and it is done wonderfully perfectly enticing us and keeping us excited for the next film. In Batman Begins, the Joker card, the question of what happened to the League of Shadows and what happened to the inmates of Arkham Asylum. Those questions where never answered except for the Joker card, and we all know how that unfolded in The Dark Knight. However it also left us with more questions like what will happen to Gotham after Dent’s reputation was saved? What were the consequences of the choices that Batman and Gordon have made? All those unclosed issues plus the issues that would arise in TDKR should be finalized by the end of the film. The legend ends here and so should all the issues.
5. Christopher Nolan. It is under his direction that Batman has been saved from humiliation. And it is under his direction that The Dark Knight put the superhero genre on a whole different level. Should we doubt him by now as he has surprised us all the time? He doesn't start making a movie until the plot is carefully and perfectly laid out. He is a storyteller by heart and filmmaker second. He knows that the heart of a good movie lies in its story. He has the chance to dethrone, in my opinion the greatest trilogy of all-time, The Lord of The Rings so why ruin the big opportunity? He has a chance to imprint a legacy and a milestone not even the great Copolla have done. Remember the legend ends here and Nolan could put us in another amazing and unpredictable ride! Will the Bat be broken? Whatever happens he will not let us down.
There you have it, the five reasons why I think The Dark Knight Rises can be a better film than The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight was the Bat-film we deserved, but not the one we needed at the time. And after waiting four years for its anticipated end to the trilogy, I think we are getting the Bat-film that we need!