Shumacher's were a modern Adam West, all about fun, toys and humor. The reboot will be like a modern, more comic-accurate, serious narrative take on Burtons style. Batman on missions, in the shadows, while freakish villains are explored. Nolans didn't let me down (especially Rises overall) because it focused on the psychology of Bruce Wayne first then the human side of the villains.
Now just talking about the ending here..
It's a satisfying conclusion on many levels. For Bruce first and foremost. The ending to his journey is satisfying in the sense that if you love the character (especially in this series)....you want to see him happy. Which is something we never get in any other medium. They never give Wayne peace of mind because the "issues" have to keep comin' out. BUT at the same time, you want that symbol of Batman to live on and not be abandoned because we're all still Batman fans. We all want to see Batman never die.
I think what Nolan was trying to achieve at the end was bold but not out of line with what the comics are. And that's the point that people are missing. There's 2 things that Nolan did that comics always threaten to do but never do , simply because the comic world goes on forever, monthly. It's something that will never happen again on film mark my words, but Nolan was brave enough to try it out.
Those 2 things are Batman/Bruce Wayne retiring in peace, to find love, to move on from Gothams problems. To NEVER return in the cowl. And secondly to permanently pass the mantle off to a successor. But they can never follow through with that one. That should be the whole point behind the training of these "Robins" and Nightwing too. I understand the motivation behind Grayson, Todd or Drake starting out as the side-kick, it gives them purpose, a right path, and a balance for Bruce...but they do grow older and Dick becomes a vigilante on his own. The threats don't rise to the point where Gotham NEEDS several heroes to watch over the damn place, they're just there for the sake of it.
Logically Batman would be able to hang it up and forever hand it off to a Terry McGinnis, Dick Grayson or a John Blake. THIS is what Nolan finally gave the people. Even if a chunk of those people dont want it.
An ending like that will forever be exclusive to this trilogy....and that's a massive reason as to why TDKR did NOT let me down what so ever. They didnt repeat the typical comic book movie formula that every sequel seems to dive into.
