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

[BH/HHH]

Yep really peeved me off, I think it ruins the end of the Dark Knight. Also I saw a fan film set in that 8 years involving the Riddler & Scarface and it was awesome. I really feel Nolan did that so they couldn't do another Bat film set in his universe during that 8 years. Shame cause we only got a glimpse of the cops chasing Batman in Rises (I know there was a cop chase in Begins too) and I'd have loved to have seen a film where Batman is on the run the whole way through.

 

[kewlmatto]

Yep really peeved me off, I think it ruins the end of the Dark Knight. Also I saw a fan film set in that 8 years involving the Riddler & Scarface and it was awesome. I really feel Nolan did that so they couldn't do another Bat film set in his universe during that 8 years. Shame cause we only got a glimpse of the cops chasing Batman in Rises (I know there was a cop chase in Begins too) and I'd have loved to have seen a film where Batman is on the run the whole way through.

It does somewhat sully the whole idea of a "watchful protector" - the man who would look out for Gotham no matter what. There was such incredible promise in Gordon's monologue at the end.

The line "So we'll hunt him...because he can take it" just promised so much for me. I would have loved to see Dicaprio as Edward Nash/Rogue FBI Agent/Riddler hunting down Batman.

I think a lot of it was just to distance themselves from Joker and the painful memory of Ledger.

But it does create the most glaring inconsistency in the entire series. The initial tone of TDKR in the first act feels very different from anything else in the series for me.

 

[BH/HHH]

It does somewhat sully the whole idea of a "watchful protector" - the man who would look out for Gotham no matter what. There was such incredible promise in Gordon's monologue at the end.

The line "So we'll hunt him...because he can take it" just promised so much for me. I would have loved to see Dicaprio as Edward Nash/Rogue FBI Agent/Riddler hunting down Batman.

I think a lot of it was just to distance themselves from Joker and the painful memory of Ledger.

But it does create the most glaring inconsistency in the entire series. The initial tone of TDKR in the first act feels very different from anything else in the series for me.

Yeah I totally agree

 

[Thundercrack85]

Most of the references in TDKR seem to imply that it was that very night that he retired though. But then again, that could just be the public's perspective, which may be very wrong.

Could there be a better reason for Batman's gammy knee?

Well that bothered me anyway. Okay, yeah it was a bad fall. But he left it like that for eight years? Considering it wasn't a permanent injury, that's just strange.

But having Batman retire that very night does make Gordon's monologue seem kind of pointless.

It also bothers me that it took the League of Shadows a decade to catch up to Bruce.

Either some intricate master plan, or people in this universe do a crazy lot in a year, and then take an almost decade-long break.

Probably my biggest issue with the whole 8 year break is that it means that Batman really was only active very briefly...

 

[BH/HHH]

Well that bothered me anyway. Okay, yeah it was a bad fall. But he left it like that for eight years? Considering it wasn't a permanent injury, that's just strange.

But having Batman retire that very night does make Gordon's monologue seem kind of pointless.

It also bothers me that it took the League of Shadows a decade to catch up to Bruce.

Either some intricate master plan, or people in this universe do a crazy lot in a year, and then take an almost decade-long break.

Probably my biggest issue with the whole 8 year break is that it means that Batman really was only active very briefly...

Totaly agree with this too

Actually i was just wondering was it actually confirmed that that nice was his last? or did they just say he hasn't been see for 8 years?

 

[CapedCrusader14]

"A silent guardian...a watchful protector".

"Yeah Gordon I'm just gonna hide for a while now so yeah"'.

"****".

I was fine with it. Gave me the chance to see an awesome The Dark Knight Returns style return. Loved it.

 

[BH/HHH]

"A silent guardian...a watchful protector".

"Yeah Gordon I'm just gonna hide for a while now so yeah"'.

"****".

I was fine with it. Gave me the chance to see an awesome The Dark Knight Returns style return. Loved it.

That was very cool but would have had the same effect had he not been bat,an for say 2-4 years instead of 8.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well, I don't remember exactly.

However, the entire nuclear power reactor subplot seems to suggest that Bruce Wayne didn't become a shut-in immediately after the end of the Dark Knight.

Now, as for him being Batman, I really wasn't sure one way or the other.

However consider this. In The Dark Knight Rises, the batcave below Wayne Manor has some new stuff. Considering it wasn't even ready in the Dark Knight, wouldn't that suggest he was Batman at some point between the movies?

 

[CapedCrusader14]

That was very cool but would have had the same effect had he not been bat,an for say 2-4 years instead of 8.

Oh well. Didn't bother me at all. That scene ended up becoming one of my favourite scenes in the trilogy, regardless of whether he was active for around 2 years.

 

[shauner111]

I'm also starting to think that there is a story to be told post-TDK. It's starting to come together now that everyones mentioning it.

Doesnt Bruce say to Talia that he could have flooded the reactor anytime in the last 5 years? So he wasnt completely out of the business side of things for the entire 8 years. The first few years he could have been doing his thing, as well as being Batman.

It might be the publics perception, they just havent seen the Batman since that night. But Batman is a damn ninja, maybe he went more low-key without getting noticed with the massive vehicles. Probably no bat-pod, no tumbler.

Then you have the knee brace, which i feel is from that night with Two-Face but it would be easy to add in a story where he doesnt go to the hospital for his leg, and some other rogue makes that knee much worse.

The Dent Act also doesnt come into play right away. And last.. Alfreds line to Bruce about him not being down in the batcave for a while. Well..that's a little weird. So obviously once the cave was ready, Bruce had all of his gear put there and set up the computers. But it sounds like Alfred could be refferring to him being in the cave before, working on the computers in Batman detective mode, and that he hasnt done that in a while. I dont know, maybe there is a story to be told about a year or two after TDK with Riddler or a final mobster.

 

[the last son]

I mean I'm no doctor but how was Bruce running full speed after the fall from TDK? I mean he was running like an Olympian. I know he probably sucked up the pain to run but I doubt that injury was that bad. Also, the movie pretty much confirmed he was done after that night. What a joke. This is what I'm talking about with Nolan believing he's above the material and property of Batman. He sacrificed a good movie just so his Batman can not be touched again, not that I'm complaining because I want a reboot after that mess.

 

[shauner111]

He was running like an olympian? Another example of somebody exxagerating just so they can feel like their point is correct.

It's called adrenaline and he was hobbling around pretty bad when he was running. It's either he screws his leg up more to get to that bat-pod or he gets arrested and his plan is destroyed. You mix that with 8 years of no medical attention to that knee plus barely any exercise to strengthen it up. Yeah it's reasonable. And for you people who don't like the knee brace Fox made, watching the animated TDKReturns last night made me remember that Bruce gets a similar arm brace that magically fixes that up.

Like i said in my above post, maybe there is another story to be told after TDK where he f's up his knee even more.

 

[Brother Jack]

You get a different movie without the retirement, however long it was. The connection between Bruce and Blake, Bruce's willingness to trust Selina Kyle, his defeat at the hands of Bane and eventually rising again all are tied to his self-imposed exile.

 

[JackWhite]

I'm also starting to think that there is a story to be told post-TDK. It's starting to come together now that everyones mentioning it.

Doesnt Bruce say to Talia that he could have flooded the reactor anytime in the last 5 years? So he wasnt completely out of the business side of things for the entire 8 years. The first few years he could have been doing his thing, as well as being Batman.

It might be the publics perception, they just havent seen the Batman since that night. But Batman is a damn ninja, maybe he went more low-key without getting noticed with the massive vehicles. Probably no bat-pod, no tumbler.

Then you have the knee brace, which i feel is from that night with Two-Face but it would be easy to add in a story where he doesnt go to the hospital for his leg, and some other rogue makes that knee much worse.

The Dent Act also doesnt come into play right away. And last.. Alfreds line to Bruce about him not being down in the batcave for a while. Well..that's a little weird. So obviously once the cave was ready, Bruce had all of his gear put there and set up the computers. But it sounds like Alfred could be refferring to him being in the cave before, working on the computers in Batman detective mode, and that he hasnt done that in a while. I dont know, maybe there is a story to be told about a year or two after TDK with Riddler or a final mobster.

I will never believe that Nolan's Batman ceased to put the cape and cowl back on after the night Dent died. Like you said, the Dent act wouldn't have taken place over night. I'd like to think over the course of a few months he stopped a few muggings sporadically or did surveillance perched on rooftops/in the cave after it was rebuilt.

I know it's not explicitly said that he did those things, but there is no way the last "confirmed" sighting of The Batman was the last time Bruce did go out as Batman.

 

[DerTommissar]

Like it.

1- Always thought TDK under represented the impact of Rachel's death on Bruce. This would be the equivalent of reliving the loss of his parents. Bruce gets one scene to grieve and TDK lurches on. TDKR fixed this for me.

2- Seeing Bruce as a Howard Hughes-ian figure was startling but credible. Complex, brilliant minds can be overwhelmed and default into withdrawl. Bruce's psyche at the entry of TDKR felt very real to me. Especially for Nolan's "grounded" approach...it gives Bruce dimension.

 

[kewlmatto]

I will never believe that Nolan's Batman ceased to put the cape and cowl back on after the night Dent died. Like you said, the Dent act wouldn't have taken place over night. I'd like to think over the course of a few months he stopped a few muggings sporadically or did surveillance perched on rooftops/in the cave after it was rebuilt.

I know it's not explicitly said that he did those things, but there is no way the last "confirmed" sighting of The Batman was the last time Bruce did go out as Batman.

Yep...he must have been very careful to never be spotted by police, but the batcave reconstruction just has to confirm he spent more time as Batman. Maybe he had one or two police on his side to help keep things under wrap - but he would have distanced himself from Gordon once the lie took its toll on the Commissioner. I like to think that Rameriz somehow tried to make up for her mistakes by helping Batman.

It really has me wondering what he could have likely been doing, who he would have stopped.

Surely there would have been a new mob boss to replace Sal Maroni.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Maybe they wanted to leave some room for an animated film, a comic or something.

But the fact that he has a limp in the Dark Knight Rises does make it seem rather odd that he was still active as Batman after the Dark Knight. But then again, the new Batcave does seem to imply that he was Batman at some point between the two movies.

Strange either way, but then that's why I didn't like the 8 year exile plot.

And the Rachel loss is an interesting theory. The fact that she was barely mentioned (was she mentioned? I'm assuming she was) didn't really suggest that though.

 

[kewlmatto]

But the fact that he has a limp in the Dark Knight Rises does make it seem rather odd that he was still active as Batman after the Dark Knight. But then again, the new Batcave does seem to imply that he was Batman at some point between the two movies.

And the Rachel loss is an interesting theory. The fact that she was barely mentioned (was she mentioned? I'm assuming she was) didn't really suggest that though.

I think, as mentioned above, it's likely he made the pre-existing knee injury from the Two-Face confrontation worse in another showdown.'

It's also possible that whatever villain he came up against somehow psychologically broke him - making him realise the reality of Rachel's death, which he had pushed away for some time.

That would make more sense to me and would explain the exile.

Riddler? Hugo Strange? Either of these villains could really torture Bruce's mind. Not unlike in Insomnia.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Maybe they put this stuff in to throw the fanfic writers a bone.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I'm surprised there aren't as many fanfics as expected.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I'm surprised Batman novels aren't a thing.

 

[shauner111]

Oh im trying to cook some up right now

But in the meantime, im really enjoying kewlmatto's fanscript for the sequel to Batman Returns Guys read that ****!

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I'm surprised Batman novels aren't a thing.

I've been thinking that a lot lately as well.

 

[Polaris23]

Wow this film has so many issues...

 

[Polaris23]

Well that bothered me anyway. Okay, yeah it was a bad fall. But he left it like that for eight years? Considering it wasn't a permanent injury, that's just strange.

But having Batman retire that very night does make Gordon's monologue seem kind of pointless.

It also bothers me that it took the League of Shadows a decade to catch up to Bruce.

Either some intricate master plan, or people in this universe do a crazy lot in a year, and then take an almost decade-long break.

Probably my biggest issue with the whole 8 year break is that it means that Batman really was only active very briefly...

All of those things really bother me too now that I look at it, it really seems like Nolan & co. didn't think everything through