Here we go....Part 4!
Batman: Knight of Vengeance
It’s been two years since the events of the previous film- Bruce has become relentless and brutal as Batman. The death of Jason has made him bitter and determined to find the Joker by any means necessary. Although Dick, Barbara & Alfred have tried to comfort him, nothing they do can get through to him. Whenever he’s not out as Batman, he remains in the batcave on the computer analyzing every piece of information or lead pertaining to the Joker or crying in front of Jason’s Robin memorial. The villains of this movie are Ra’s Al Ghul, the Riddler & the Joker.
It is here that we are finally introduced to an orphan Tim Drake. Bruce reluctantly brings the young boy to Wayne Manor after he and Dick witness him fight for his life in an alley; Tim reveals to Batman in the Bat Cave while he’s patching him up that he knows that he’s Bruce Wayne and that Dick Grayson is Nightwing. He tells his origin to an astonished Batman & Nightwing from the night he witnessed the death of Dick’s parents while attending the circus with his mother & father. He also tells of his parents’ deaths by a common criminal as he tried to escape from the police (I figured Captain Boomerang would be a bit much) and how he’s jumped from foster home to foster home with each foster parent worse than the last. Tim realized he was better off and his own and began finding odd & end jobs to keep himself alive. He also tells of the night where he saw Batman & Nightwing face Poison Ivy; when Ivy flung one of her many plant tendrils at Nightwing, Tim witnessed him do an acrobatic maneuver he’s only seen one man in a circus act accomplish- and that was Dick Grayson. He begs Batman & Nightwing to allow him to stay, promising he’ll help in any way he can & has nowhere else to go.
The combination of intertwined/similar beginnings and the good they see in Drake, Bruce & Dick agree he can stay. The arrival of Tim in Bruce’s life slowly brings the Dark Knight back from the abyss and promises to train Drake more thoroughly to prevent what happened to Jason from ever happening again. Bruce travels to the Far East on an ‘extended vacation’, still having to keep the playboy persona of the CEO of Wayne Enterprises alive & active. Along for the trip is Tim, publicly adopted by Bruce. Wayne promises the young boy he will one day fight by the Dark Knight’s side, but first he must receive vigorous training from the very place Bruce trained to become Batman. Wayne & Drake depart with a sole promise from both Barbara & Dick that if anything relating to the Joker happens that they would inform Bruce immediately. Upon arrival, Bruce takes Tim to the temple where he trained. Bruce leaves the boy behind, knowing that Drake will be ready when he returns for him. We are also formally introduced to Talia Al Ghul (Talia Head as she introduces herself to Bruce) and the love interest between her and Bruce.
A few months pass by and we see Drake becoming strong and agile, as well as Bruce and Talia falling in love. It is here the League of Assassins finally appear and are trying to overthrow the government to plunge the nation into chaos; ultimately purging it in a cleansing fire. Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul finally meet – the Demon divulges that he has come to the Dark Knight in hopes to make Bruce the successor of his legacy to ‘cleanse the world’; revealing to him his centuries old crusade and baffling Bruce that he stands before an immortal. He figured out that Bruce IS Batman and holds him in the highest respect, always calling him ‘Detective’ out of admiration of his brilliant deducing intellect. Bruce of course is mortified of Ra’s intentions and to learn that Talia is his daughter. He refuses to help him in any way shape or form. While Batman battles Ra’s and the League of Assassins, Talia finds herself torn between her love for Bruce and her loyalty to her father.
Meanwhile back in Gotham, Nightwing & Batgirl’s love has finally come to full bloom (building up through the previous films) and they begin dating. Amid this new bond between them, the duo face a new threat of multiple and impossible robberies occurring every other day. The only thing left behind at each bank and reserve robbed are small green boxes with questions marks on them-initially Nightwing thinks this is the Joker, until he realizes this is a different criminal entirely; inside the boxes are intricate riddles pertaining to who is behind the crimes and where he is located. This is where all of Dick’s deductive reasoning he learned from Bruce is finally put to the test. This sly villain is of course Edward Nigma/the Riddler who knows the identities of Nightwing, Batgirl & Batman and revels in this knowledge. Knowing Bruce is in international waters, the Riddler decides to entertain himself with the Dark Knight’s young wards to see just how good they would be in a battle of wits.
Ultimately, Bruce defeats the Demon and in his moment of disbelief and weakness, Ra’s sets off an explosion badly wounding him and leaving the Dark Knight incapacitated. Ra’s is saved once again from fate by his daughter Talia who is told to get him to the Lazarus pits immediately and yells to Batman that this is far from over. Before she and her father depart, she carries Bruce out as well and tearfully bids farewell to her ‘Beloved’ as she tenderly kisses him upon his lips.
Although temporarily debilitated, Bruce was able to see and hear everything but was unable to move for that brief time from the impact of the blast. Bruce searches everywhere for Ra’s and Talia, but they’re nowhere to be found. Back in Gotham, Dick has finally figured out where this ‘Riddler’ is located, and is alarmed to discover that he’s at the very circus grounds where he once performed with his parents. There Barbara and Dick are flung into a Labyrinth similar to the one from the Animated Series. They finally make it through and battle the Riddler. He is ultimately defeated but reveals he knows who they really are and that he was very impressed as to Grayson’s growth as a crime-fighter and reasoner. He also promises he’ll never tell anyone who Batman and his allies really are, because that knowledge makes him more powerful than any brute they’ll ever face. Before they drop Nigma off at the gates of Arkham, the Riddler leaves them with one last riddle that makes the blood drain from Nightwing’s face- claiming the main event is about to begin; that the Joker will give Gotham and its protectors quite a show very soon. Bruce returns to Tim at the temple and finds that the young man is ready. They return to Gotham and are brought up to speed by Dick & Barbara.
Upon hearing of Bruce’s battle and Tim’s training complete, Dick gives Tim a congratulatory present- Drake opens the box to find a new Robin costume Grayson made just for him. Tim is welcomed with open arms as the new Robin. Meanwhile, we find Talia submerging her father in a Lazarus pit. As the fountain of youth begins to rejuvenate the Demon, Talia leaves her father to heal and walks into a small corridor where we see another person submerged in a pit. She raises him from the pit and informs him of her meeting the Dark Knight and how he is alive and well, and also that there has been no sight of the Joker. She promises him that she will nurse him back to health and free him from her father’s grasp so he may return to Gotham to take his revenge. As she walks away and re-submerges him in the Lazarus pit she turns around to look at him one last time and says: ‘This I swear to you, Jason.’
After the credits, we see a run-down prison called Peña Duro located in the Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca. We find in a cell a very strong built man sitting on his cot scribbling notes on a pad of paper about something called Venom. Suddenly a very beautiful young blond-haired woman appears in front of his cell and introduces herself as Harley Quinzel. When the man asks her why she’s here, uncontrollable laughter begins to echo through the halls. We see the back of a man wearing a dark purple fedora and matching overcoat walking towards the cell and over the dead prison guards lying on the floor with frozen smiles on their faces. ‘Because,’ chuckles the man as he stops in front of the cell and takes off his fedora, ‘I have a job for you.’ It is revealed with a devilish smile that the man is none other than the Joker. Cut to black.
And there ya have it! Be sure to come back tomorrow for Part 5...
Batman: Knightfall!
Till next time!
-Your UFNSM