The Dark Knight Rises Anyone else not like the 8 year exile plot?

Especially since after TDK, it didn't seem like he'd be hanging up the cowl.

I thought the whole point of taking the blame was so that he can, to criminals, seem scarier. I thought Bruce would be further lost in the persona of Batman and have to have Alfred pull him back out.

Because, if Bruce is going to quit, why is he just sitting inside his house with a busted knee for 8 years? It seems totally out of character. He was going to stop because Dent was becoming the White Knight. But when that all went to hell, he should have realized that Batman is needed more than ever, but maybe not in a "hero" capacity. As more of a legend and threat to the criminal underworld than ever before...as a man without allies, without Gordon, etc.

 

I loved it. I liked the idea of Bruce becoming a hermit for 8 years. My disappointment was that he shaved the beard so soon lol

I think the injuries were really getting to him. Remember, the doc said he had no cartilage in his kneecaps.

 

I dont think this is what Bruce wanted, he just saw it as the only way to save Gotham....in TDK Bruce talked a lot about not being Batman anymore but no matter what opportunity arose, it never happened. The only thing that stopped Batman was Gotham's crime-rate.

 

If it's because it's not focused upon and developed enough, don't sweat it; nothing in the movie really is.

 

I loved it. Makes everything we saw in BB TDK and TDKR much more significant.

 

If you count Batman: Gotham Knight, Nolan's Batman has taken out more than just the villains you listed.

But, to get back on the topic, I was fine with Batman being gone for those eight years. For one, he took the fall from Dent and mixing that with the emotional trauma Bruce still obviously had over Rachel's death, it made sense that Bruce just gave it all up.

I mean, I would've been totally fine if it was a little less than eight years like four or five, but it was eight so I'm perfectly fine with that decision.

 

I agree that Bruce becoming a hermit made it to obvious he's Batman. In Batman Begins, when Bruce returns after 7 years missing, suddenly Batman appears. And now, Batman disappears and so does Bruce Wayne. It makes things WAY too obvious.

To me, it would have been better if Bruce had stayed active as Wayne Enterprises CEO. And, Miranda Tate, the environmental activist who he collaborates with on a new energy device, could have been his girlfriend or fiance for the past 8 years. That way, when the truth is revealed, it would have been more powerful.

 

I feel that Bruce being a hermit was just because of how the Joker utterly broke him. He broke Batman being a symbol of hope, which was why Bruce became Batman at all. If he couldn't inspire people as a wanted criminal, there was no point in him being Batman. He only became Batman again to inspire the city to fight a great evil.

As for him being a hermit, that's because the Joker took everything away from him. He had trouble trusting people thanks to Harvey going nuts, he had nothing to live for thanks to Rachel dying, and he had nothing to feel passionate about since Batman was gone. It makes the Joker even more of an influence on the plot because of how much he ruined Batman.

 

It was mainly the way they handle it. It's been 8 year with no Batman, yet Bruce goes and rebuilds Wayne Manor and improves the Bat Cave? They also totally copped out with the leg injury. He get's a brace and he's cured, he can even climb walls with no personal effect even though he has no carteledge in his knees. That whole part of the movie was just sloppy and lots of unessesary bits.

Again, it was a good movie, just sloppy and not nearly as well executed than the first two.

 

Having seen the film, the eight-year retirement was excessive. It could have been, say, five years and been just as effective. And they should have ditched the whole "knee cartilage" thing altogether.

 

Bruce would fight crime in other ways.. do espionage, eavesdrop in alleyways in disguises, use other stealth tactics, hack computers, have contact with Gordon through untraceable means, aide him in other ways when possible, provide information...etc

He would never give up on "fighting crime".

 

Isn't this how it was in The Dark Knight Returns?

 

I somewhat agree, but his limp was accentuated by his mental state and not being in great shape as well. It's not totally ridiculous to think that, when properly motivated, he could come back from it.

 

It doesn't matter because Harvey Dent became a symbol. Which is what Bruce wanted anyway. Joker's only real effects was killing Rachel. And I don't understand how that would cause him to become a hermit. He took one look at Selina Kyle and suddenly, after 8 years, he doesn't care anymore. And like the next day he's having sex with Miranda Tate. It's quite obvious that Nolan over-played the Rachel card for the whole 8 year thing, but ultimately, it didn't really matter. The film would have made more sense had it taken place 1 or 2 years later. 8 was pushing it.

 

Totally agree!

 

I think you're minimizing the impact of what the Joker did to Bruce. It went quite a bit beyond him just killing his girl. The entire foundation of Gotham's happiness is built on a lie and he's one of two people in the world that knows it. That's a HUGE burden for a good person like Bruce.

 

The only thing that is weird about the whole situation, is TDK takes place only about a year after Batman Begins..that means Batman only did his Batman thing for like a year [unless you think large sequences of time were speant during Batman Begins].

The Joker has a line in TDK about "a year ago everything was swell, I know it's the Bat Man" blah blah blah.

So Batman only beat up bad guys in the Nolan Universe for like about a year, lol.

The real Batman was like a crime fighter for at least a decade, maybe two..I imagine it was intended in the comics.

 

My main gripe is this...

In Batman Begins, Ra's wants to purge Gotham because it is rotting. All throughout the film this is illustrated through corrupt cops, Carmine Falcone & organized crime, horrible living conditions in the narrows. So his motivation makes sense, to purge a city that is dirty.

Nolan has stated that for Batman's sacrifice to be worth something, for his sacrifice to have impact, there's has to be a substantial change in Gotham's status. In the film it's even said that it is now "peace time."

Now, if conditions in Gotham have gotten better and the Batman isn't even required, why does Gotham have to be purged? Because the cause of peace was built on a lie? Purge a city that is already clean? Or is this daddy's little girl just wanting revenge? That doesn't sound like the function of the League of Shadows.

 

If it were a burden on Bruce, he would have brought it up, but he didn't. Only Jim Gordon was bothered by it and he kept on as Commissioner. The whole hermit sub-plot was caused because of Rachel and Bruce not having a life beyond Batman. But, after 8 years, it just seems silly. Alfred would never have taken so long to motivate Bruce to get out there and continue to find happiness. As I said, 1 or 2 years should have been the gap. Not 8.

 

That's all it was. Revenge.

 

Rachel's death was at the center of his problems and was the easiest issue to address for Alfred at that time. I don't think there's any reason to assume all the other deaths the Joker caused as well as the mental toll he took on him didn't have any effect on Bruce.

 

Seeing as it's completely forgotten about during the third act I would say it was utterly useless.

 

Let's say, for argument's sake, that Rachel never died and Bruce had a life beyond Batman. Nothing that Joker caused would have affected him. So, why, would it affect him now? Rachel is the sole reason Bruce became a hermit.