If it wasn’t evident enough from the title, the subsequent
piece of writing discusses certain key plot developments in Christopher Nolan’s
most recent Batman movie. Do writers still need to constantly offer spoiler
alerts? This article is about The Dark Knight Rises. If you haven’t seen the
film yet, you probably wouldn’t click on the piece, right?
I hope that is the case because, in my humble opinion and
without further ado, Batman should have died.
After letting the movie, and specifically the ending, sink
in, it seems pretty obvious that little knuckle-curve Christopher Nolan dropped
in didn’t make a ton of sense. Batman should have died.
Some people are still of the opinion that he DID die. The
final scene in an Italian café was just esoteric enough to have it seem
plausible that it simply took place in Alfred’s mind or a dream or…something.
However, most agree Nolan decided to have Wayne
escape the bomb at the last second and live happily ever after having saved his
city. The first reason Batman should have died is strictly logistical. He, umm,
HAD to have died! It showed our neighborhood crime fighter still in his plane
with five seconds ticking on the nuclear bomb. Even if he fixed the autopilot
and even if he managed to eject from the plane without us seeing, how would he
have escaped the blast radius in time? In a movie where Hines Ward could return
a kickoff for a touchdown, I realize there are many unbelievable plot pieces
but, strictly from a common sense standpoint, come on; Batman had to have died
there.
The second reason a death was needed had nothing to do with
whether Bruce Wayne could have made it out alive. Simply speaking, Nolan’s
Batman trilogy made more sense with the death of its protagonist. From talking
of dying a hero to Batman himself telling Selena Kyle that he had not yet given
everything to Gotham , the dark knight ending
his life to save his city at the end of Dark Knight Rises would have been some
powerful symbolism. To tell you the truth, when The Bat was flying out to sea
and Robin was looking on, it got a little misty in my theater. I liked where I
thought Nolan was taking us; I really liked the movie in general, until Alfred
showed up in that restaurant again.
With supposedly no more Batman movies in the works for Nolan
and his gang, why make the ending so surprisingly cheery for such a shadowy
trilogy? As far as “tacked on endings” go, it wasn’t quite at Return of the
King levels but it’s up there.
(Image courtesy of dccomics.com)
