The Dark Knight Rises Clearing up the ending of TDKR (MUST READ)

[mandisab]

Batman was originally founded with a strong foundation of Zorro. Well Zorro has been many men over a very long time, so those thinking Robin would be Batman are not crazy.

I personally don;t like that, but understand their point of view.

Bruce repairing the Bat symbol tells me it was for him, and Bruce was just giving JGL a way to channel his anger and pain like he had.

Bruce is Batman, and will be there if he is ever needed.

the repairing was done for goedon to know bruce was still alive,just like the autopilot for fox.

 

[Immoral Cactus]

So just to be clear - NOBODY else thinks Bruce died at the end of the movie, and what Alfred saw at the cafe was a hallucination/visual expression of his desire to see Bruce still alive and happy?

No, other people do share that view. A minority, probably, although that doesn't make it wrong.

Personally, I don't agree, but I understand where it's coming from.

 

[M-2]

That was a brilliant right up!! Cleared up that ending for me!!

 

[cjjr72984]

That was a brilliant right up!! Cleared up that ending for me!!

Glad you liked it!

 

[knowsbleed]

But I dont want Bruce to be happy. I want him to continue on as Batman. None of this carp that ANYone can be Batman. Thats bull****. Bruce Wayne IS Batman. And he should always BE Batman. Robin 'could" be Robin or Nightwing. But he should never be Batman.
Also shouldnt the whole city figure out that Bruce was Batman considering they both died at the same time? There is NO way that Bruce Wayne dying wouldnt be in the news. Then you couple that with Batman seeming to die saving the city and I would think 80-90% of the people would figure it out. I mean a beat cop figured it out just by looking at him.
Nolan painted himself into a corner by trying to show that Bruce was all worn out and beat up so he couldnt be Batman anymore. How? Why? He was only Batman for like a year and a half at most. Trying to say he was too old and too beat up to continue and then giving him a way to be happy at the end is what left alot of people with a bad taste in their mouth. Batman does not get old. He certainly does not wear out after only 3 incidences or major villians. And he should not be happy.
Dont get me wrong. Its a good movie. But I dont like the way he tried too hard to show that Bruce was just a man. Thats why Im sooo glad Nolan is done with Batman. What a depressing way to end what could have been a Great Batman...

Hahaha... that was a truly entertaining post.

As many people have already answered, Bruce wouldn't have been the only one killed during Bane's takeover. He would have been one of the many dead.

"Batman doesn't get old"... umm... everybody gets old. Nolan was trying to create a sense of comic book realism, and in real life... people get old. "After only 3 incidences or major villains"... saving an entire city 3 times is nothing to slouch about.

In the end, the story is going to be whatever you want to interpret it to be. That's why often, directors who end their movies open to interpretation will never tell you what they themselves feel the outcome should be, as that might influence the audiences imaginations. If it makes you happier thinking that the mantle of Batman was something that Robin Blake would only don temporarily and Bruce would return one day as Batman... then think whatever makes you happy.

In the end though, Bruce IS just a man. If you can't see that that's what makes it good... then you're lost.

 

[elgaz]

edit - delete sorry

 

[Rockbottom]

Personally I've always thought that only Bruce Wayne can truly be Batman because of the pain he feels about his parents, his dedication and the amazing will power he possess. To just hand it off to some good cop who cant even fight without guns would be disrespectful.

Also for the people saying that Blake could just train is basically saying that any member of the league of shadows could have been Batman. Bruce is an exceptionally talented and driven human who stands above all other men, which is why he is so successful as Batman. Not anyone should be able to do that or it cheapens everything.

 

[zmystico]

Personally I've always thought that only Bruce Wayne can truly be Batman because of the pain he feels about his parents, his dedication and the amazing will power he possess. To just hand it off to some good cop who cant even fight without guns would be disrespectful.

Also for the people saying that Blake could just train is basically saying that any member of the league of shadows could have been Batman. Bruce is an exceptionally talented and driven human who stands above all other men, which is why he is so successful as Batman. Not anyone should be able to do that or it cheapens everything.

^ THIS!!!

Batman was Bruce's way of coping that ultimately became his curse...he rose above it. No one should come back as him, and honestly, I don't think anyone should ever try to become what he was, Alfred even said that Gotham didn't need Batman like Bruce believed they did.

The story has come full circle, yes there are some questions but the journey is complete.

 

[ViscaBarcaInter]

I find it very interesting that most people are debating whether Third Rock from the Sun Guy will become Batman 2 or Nightwing or Robin or NightRobin or whatever, and are completely alright with the vague "er....he ejected before the massive 6 mile radius blast" part of the ending.

Personally, allowing for all the randomness and inconsistencies in the film, the choice to have Batman "die" was massively courageous. And it was sad and moving and a fantastic new way to end such stories. I found the whole concept of people grieving and Alfred's heart breaking and the statue being build to be excellent stuff. Only for the last few scenes to be like "Oh wait, he's actually alright". I wouldn't be surprised if Nolan had that forced on him by WB bosses who don't want to kill off a massive cash cow.

Regardless of anything else in the story, the idea that Bruce would just put Batman AND Gotham behind him just doesn't ring true to who he is. A Batman trilogy where you must realise he actually was only properly Batman for barely a year and a half and spent most of the trilogy trying NOT to be Batman, it almost seemed like.

 

[Rapunzel]

It's totally full circle. Especially since the trilogy starts with a boy (bruce) falling into darkness then ends with another boy (blake) rising into the light.

Bats has provided a symbol of hope after the fear and panic of begins/tdk. The cycle that is beginning with blake will be different as a result.

Bats= creatures of night, theatricality and deception

Robin= creature of day, no theatricality or decpetion.

Big ass difference.

 

[jonnywhc]

The ending has nothing to do with a reboot, WB will do something totally separate next time around. Has nothing to do with that or the JLA.

Bruce has let go of the pain of his parents death and therefore Batman and Gotham.

Blake is part of the new wave of inspired people. Same with those children on the bus and the rest of Gotham.

Batman completed the mission he set out to do in BB, what he told Alfred he wanted to do on that plane back to Gotham.

 

[itchynscratchy]

why didn't batman use another emp canon to disable the nuke?

 

[jonnywhc]

It wasn't running on a timer, it was running on the fact it was decaying and becoming critical and would blow within that timelimit. An EMP would only stop the timer, not the bomb.

 

[Rapunzel]

A nuclear fusion bomb isn't like a electromagnetic pulse either, is it?

 

[coderaven24]

The ending has nothing to do with a reboot, WB will do something totally separate next time around. Has nothing to do with that or the JLA.

Bruce has let go of the pain of his parents death and therefore Batman and Gotham.

Blake is part of the new wave of inspired people. Same with those children on the bus and the rest of Gotham.

Batman completed the mission he set out to do in BB, what he told Alfred he wanted to do on that plane back to Gotham.

You have nailed it I think, sadly the selfish little boy and me doesn't want the Nolan universe to end

 

[Victarion]

The Batman copycats had the will to act and look what happened to them

They had no training at all. Blake was a cop.

 

[jonnywhc]

I think those guys went about it the wrong kind of way. Specially with guns.

Blake will go about it in the right way.

"YOU SONS OF *****ES!"

Still think Batman killed someone with the Bat tho

 

[Rapunzel]

Meh I'm just to the movies taking thosew kind of liberties Jonny. Think back on Burton's films. They were worse with the killing.

 

[nameless wander]

Hi everyone. I too believe Bruce survived the explosion, but something confuses me. We see Batman in the Bat just 5 seconds before the bomb detonates. Can someone clear that up for me? Thank you very much.

 

[zmystico]

Hi everyone. I too believe Bruce survived the explosion, but something confuses me. We see Batman in the Bat just 5 seconds before the bomb detonates. Can someone clear that up for me? Thank you very much.

Having only seen it once, I do not recall which happened first, Batman being shown for the last time or the 5 seconds on the timer. Remember that movies do not operate in Realtime. So for the sake of the argument, Batman being shown in the bat could have happened earlier (yes I know it's only a matter of seconds) and then we are just shown the 5 seconds on the timer.

Again, if it's vice versa and at 5 seconds Batman is still in the Bat (likely a split second before ejection...we don't know what the ejection system of the Bat is. The ejection could be the cockpit completely, it could also shoot Batman directionally away from the blast...we simply don't know, but the story says he ejected safely and quickly enough to avoid the blast.

 

[Bruce Malone]

There's no reason batman didn't necessarily eject almost immediately after getting into the bat. If the auto-pilot was set with coordinates likely at least 6 miles from gotham (bomb's blast radius) that was all that was needed.

The last shot of batman in the bat i believe is from where he first lifts off with the bomb.

 

[Ecuanime]

Another thing comes to mind. Even if he survived the nuclear blast, he could've still died from the stab wound, a deep stab wound. I mean think about it...

 

[kvz5]

That shot of Gordon looking at the Batsignal was a sign for him that Bruce is alive, right?

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I don't believe so. Bruce has moved on with his life, and would consequently have no reason to let Gordon know he was alive.

I will continue to say this, but the way Nolan constructs the ending of the film very heavily implies that Blake is meant to replace Bruce as Batman (hence the various references to Batman being a symbol whose actual identity isn't important, Bruce giving Gordon a new Batsignal, Blake finding the Batcave, etc.).

The scene of Alfred seeing Bruce at that cafe isn't a delusion or fantasy; it's a reality. We know this because of two things:
1) Martha Wayne's pearls being missing (Bruce gave them to Selina)
2) Alfred never saw Bruce and Selina interact with one another, and would have consequently had absolutely no idea that they were attracted to each other

 

[kvz5]

I think Bruce put it there to give him a hint that he was alive (and the whole passing the torch thing to blake). Gordon's look was like "you sob! You're alive!". Or at least that's how I want it to be.