I had forgotten how scattershot the third act was. It was really all over the place.
...It didn't make sense in the world that Nolan spent the first hour building up. I mean, after Bruce's parents are killed and he learns the extent of mob corruption in Gotham, Bruce secludes himself in Asia learning ninja skills, then he goes back to Gotham to take down said mob. And oh, for the finale, it turns out that the group he learned ninja skills from is now in Gotham and they have an evil plan to make everyone in the city crazy and destroy each other.
Its kind of strange to notice many fans of this film saying the third act was somehow illogical. I agree with
Lobster Charlie's response to
this complaint. Yes it was a plot to destroy the city, but with the sociological underpinnings, I definitely felt they took an old idea and remixed it into a smart usage of it.
For those who dont feel the ending makes sense, I'll just share how I see it. It IS kind of mind bending and morally questionable, so imo thats the reason many just dismissed it:
The Leagues principals are based on biblical values that the only way to root out rampant criminality and corruption is to flatten the effected area. Cities like Sodom and Gomorrah come into mind. What makes these guys so morally ambiguous is that they take it upon themselves to exact this type of lofty supreme form of justice. This is what correlates them to Osama or such.
When Ras explains the first time they attacked Gotham, he says they used economics. What he also says is he UNDERESTIMATED some citizens goodness and this is why their plan failed. This means he expected the greedy white collar criminal element to just play into this plan, suggesting they studied the economic climate long before they targeted the city. This is a big reason the city was targeted in the first place it would seem, so The league didnt just turn on the city out of the blue.
Now when Thomas Wayne ends up reversing what shouldve been a swift knockout to the entire cities economic system thus destroying it, the city became a sort of mutated version of itself that shouldve never existed in the Leagues eyes. Thus they use the backup plan decades later to finish the job (the gas).
The entire issue with a human exacting this kind of justice is that they have to use the same means that a criminal does: tap into the infrastructure. Still similar is Bruces approach, still having to break the law in order to accomplish his goals. They are more similar than many realize, their ultimate approaches to justice however put them at staunch opposition, as Bruces legacy is one of restoration of whats already there, while the League believes in tossing out the old water altogether.
"You have to become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent, you have to become an idea, a wraith".
This quote ties directly with the lofty apocalyptic ideology at the end, so I found it very narratively consistent. Not to mention Watanabe mentioned it already in the middle of the film.
Especially with Jokers anarchy tearing down progress, whats going to be interesting is to see if the League was correct ultimately in TDK: can anyone save Gotham?
). Is it crap at staying connected?
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