Batman Begins What was the reaction in your theater to the ending?

[The Joker]

Bruce: "People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?"
Alfred: "Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman. He can be the outcast. He can make the choice no one else can make. The right choice"

 

[GothamAlleys]

Sure, and all that would be fair if not his speech about why Dent cant take the blame and how important a symbol and role model is for this city. Batman was as big if not bigger hero for this city and role model who inspired others and kids loved him too. By making himself a sudden murderer he destroys that symbol and does exactly what he didnt want to do by exposing Dent's insanity

 

[The Joker]

Sure, and all that would be fair if not his speech about why Dent cant take the blame and how important a symbol and role model is for this city. Batman was as big if not bigger hero for this city and role model who inspired others and kids loved him too. By making himself a sudden murderer he destroys that symbol and does exactly what he didnt want to do by exposing Dent's insanity

How was Batman a bigger hero? He was an outlaw ever since he attacked Arkham and flipped and plowed over Cop cars. Gotham never loved him. Opinions were always mixed. His reputation only worsened when Joker started killing in his name, and Gotham wanted him to turn himself in.

Kids loved him? What all of the two kids we saw, Narrows kid and Gordon's son.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Sure, and all that would be fair if not his speech about why Dent cant take the blame and how important a symbol and role model is for this city. Batman was as big if not bigger hero for this city and role model who inspired others and kids loved him too. By making himself a sudden murderer he destroys that symbol and does exactly what he didnt want to do by exposing Dent's insanity

I don't think there's any real evidence to support that. In the same movie, Batman was being blamed for The Joker killing people, including police officers. We saw a bunch of citizens crying out for his arrest. If Batman was a symbol of anything, it was how lawless the city had become since the only guy making any real headway in the fight against crime was breaking the law himself.

In comes Harvey Dent who does Batman's work the legal way and he's the hero that's more embraceable. If the one guy brave enough to stand up against the mob openly is turned into a madman by another madman, then there is no hope in Gotham City.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Cops accepted him. He could freely take parts in the investigations and openly cooperated wth Gordon. During his first appearance there might have been mixed opinions because he was knew and people didnt know much about him, but between the movies he saved the city quite many times. We see people dressed as him fighting crime, saying that hes an inspiration, so people know hes been cleaning up the city and nobody denied that when Dent said so during the press conference. After a while people wanted him to turn in because they were scared and wanted him to take the bullet for them. Yes, we only know about Gordon;s kid but thats also the only kid we get to know. And just look at the reaction Dent is getting while getting into the SWAT car when people think that he's Batman. Batman was no menace and even in the same movie its shown that he inspires people and that they know he fights crime. While I see why they didnt want to reveal Dent's insanity (although taking the circumstances into consideration, it couldve been explained shock or brain damage after the VERY recent accident), the blame could have been put on just about any one of Joker's people in Batman's outfit, and that would save all of Gotham's symbols - both the white and the dark knight

 

[GothamAlleys]

I don't think there's any real evidence to support that. In the same movie, Batman was being blamed for The Joker killing people, including police officers.

But nobody said he killed them, they said and knew that its Joker killing them because Batman doesnt want to take off the mask so thats different

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

the blame could have been put on just about any one of Joker's people in Batman's outfit, and that would save all of Gotham's symbols - both the white and the dark knight

Maybe they could, but that just kills the ending. Batman takes on the blame simply "Because he can take it." That's really the whole point behind Batman, taking on a heavy burden for the sake of others. It's what he does and he's the best at it. Plus, Batman's not seeking any approval for what he does. He was after something different, inspiration, but that goal had to be thrown out for the sake of doing the right thing.

But nobody said he killed them, they said and knew that its Joker killing them because Batman doesnt want to take off the mask so thats different

No, but wasn't the a guy saying, "He should be locked up," accompanied by the agreement of others? The weight of the cops' deaths were being placed on Batman's shoulders.

 

[Brother Jack]

Cops accepted him. He could freely take parts in the investigations and openly cooperated wth Gordon. During his first appearance there might have been mixed opinions because he was knew and people didnt know much about him, but between the movies he saved the city quite many times.

Gordon kept his alliance with Batman kind of under-wraps because official policy was to arrest him on sight, that doesn't sound like a guy who's fully accepted to me. Initially Batman along with Gordon (and later Dent) were improving things, but that doesn't last long. As soon as Joker has his power Batman loses any good graces he has with the people.

We see people dressed as him fighting crime, saying that hes an inspiration, so people know hes been cleaning up the city and nobody denied that when Dent said so during the press conference.

Um, yes they did. They directly blamed Batman for all the deaths going on, saying that the city was worse off. They call him an outlaw, and Dent agrees. The fake Batmen were more of a nuisance than anything else, and showed how the intended inspiration Batman ushered in was being subverted.

And just look at the reaction Dent is getting while getting into the SWAT car when people think that he's Batman.

No one actually believed Harvey was Batman, arguably other than the Joker. Dent was pretty straight-forward about his plan to pose as Batman to draw out Joker so that the real Batman would take him down.

Batman was no menace and even in the same movie its shown that he inspires people and that they know he fights crime.

The only good thing Batman inspired was Harvey Dent. Literally everything else was negative, from the fake Batmen to Joker.

the blame could have been put on just about any one of Joker's people in Batman's outfit, and that would save all of Gotham's symbols - both the white and the dark knight

Batman is a dark knight precisely because of the fact that he can be whatever Gotham needs him to be, that he can not be a hero.

 

[The Joker]

Cops accepted him. He could freely take parts in the investigations and openly cooperated wth Gordon. During his first appearance there might have been mixed opinions because he was knew and people didnt know much about him, but between the movies he saved the city quite many times. We see people dressed as him fighting crime, saying that hes an inspiration, so people know hes been cleaning up the city and nobody denied that when Dent said so during the press conference. After a while people wanted him to turn in because they were scared and wanted him to take the bullet for them. Yes, we only know about Gordon;s kid but thats also the only kid we get to know. And just look at the reaction Dent is getting while getting into the SWAT car when people think that he's Batman. Batman was no menace and even in the same movie its shown that he inspires people and that they know he fights crime. While I see why they didnt want to reveal Dent's insanity (although taking the circumstances into consideration, it couldve been explained shock or brain damage after the VERY recent accident), the blame could have been put on just about any one of Joker's people in Batman's outfit, and that would save all of Gotham's symbols - both the white and the dark knight

He could only take part in investigations when Gordon was around, and had authority to allow Batman to be there. The Batman copycats were everything Batman didn't want. Stupid citizens going around shooting criminals. Look at how that looks, do Gotham's people really see him as a guy who kills people? Hmmmm....

Gordon's kid could just love Batman because he's been fed nothing but good things about Batman from Gordon. So there could be a lot of bias there with Gordon's kid. The press conference negative reactions far out weighed any positive accolades Batman got in that movie.

You keep saying 'Oh you could just blame this guy or that guy'. Who is going to buy that one of Joker's men dressed up as Batman and went around killing people? Seriously, Joker already made Batman hated in Gotham by killing people in his name.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Maybe they could, but that just kills the ending. Batman takes on the blame simply "Because he can take it." That's really the whole point behind Batman, taking on a heavy burden for the sake of others. It's what he does and he's the best at it. Plus, Batman's not seeking any approval for what he does. He was after something different, inspiration, but that goal had to be thrown out for the sake of doing the right thing.
.

And thats what I think was going on here. Like someone already mentioned in this thread, I think it was done for thematic purposes, not out of logic

Who is going to buy that one of Joker's men dressed up as Batman and went around killing people? Seriously, Joker already made Batman hated in Gotham by killing people in his name.

I think people would buy it, because people were already aware that others can and do dress up as Batman, mainly thanks to the guy on TV who got killed by Joker. I think its much easier to buy that some psycho or someone related to Joker dressed up as Batman to get close to Gordon's family and tried to kill them and killed Dent than believing that Batman, who just few minutes earlier kicked the crap out of the SWAT team to save the hostages and who just captured Joker and who just cooperated with Gordon suddenly turned into psycho who killed Dent and tried to kill Gordon. Many cops and SWAT guys would wonder why he didn't kill Gordon when he was right next to him just a short a moment ago, why he captured Joker, why he saved the hostages, how come Gordon received the phone call and left while Batman was inside the building watched by SWAT - the questions keep popping and it doesn't add up

 

[FCEEVIPER]

I remember everyone yelling in the theater, it was soo crazy and it warmed my heart. A tear...

 

[Fudgie]

Lots of whispering and murmuring.

 

[ALP]

Oh where I live they thought it was the perfect ending since this was the prequel to Batman 89.

My God...around 2006 there was an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And one of the questions was, "Which of these blockbuster films is a prequel?" The guy buzzed in Batman Begins and got it right.

I wanted to throw my tv against a wall

 

[returntovoid]

I thought it was an amazing ending, [BLACKOUT]far better than taking the blame for a psychopath with split-personality[/BLACKOUT].

[BLACKOUT]Sacrificing/lying for the public's good my ass[/BLACKOUT].

 

[El Payaso]

My God...around 2006 there was an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And one of the questions was, "Which of these blockbuster films is a prequel?" The guy buzzed in Batman Begins and got it right.

I wanted to throw my tv against a wall

Somebody actually got money out of this misconception???

 

[CrimsonDeath]

[BLACKOUT]Sacrificing/lying for the public's good my ass[/BLACKOUT].

When I think about that, I believe that Bruce was doing it more for himself than for anyone else.

He is the one who admired Dent and his quest to rid Gotham of crime without wearing a mask, inspiring hope and courage. Bruce most likely blamed the mob and the Joker for driving Harvey insane, so sparing the noble man the consequences to his reputation post-mortem, Batman sees it as a win against the Joker.

Batman is protecting his own vision of hope (what Harvey embodied) by hiding the truth that one good man can be corrupted. By taking this action, Batman further proves himself incorruptible, Dent as his proxy to the public eye, Bruce led by a delusion of hope and goodness in others that is proven real within himself.

 

[GothamAlleys]

I also heard people in theater talking about it being a prequel

 

[redfirebird2008]

My God...around 2006 there was an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And one of the questions was, "Which of these blockbuster films is a prequel?" The guy buzzed in Batman Begins and got it right.

I wanted to throw my tv against a wall

That's depressing.

During the fall of '05, my college sent out an email to all the students inviting us to see a free screening of Batman Begins. Their synopsis in the email stated that it was a prequel to the 1989 Batman film. I sent an email correcting the person who was in charge of sending out their movie information. The person responded by saying that the synopsis came straight from the movie studio. No wonder they fired their marketing department shortly after Begins and Superman both underwhelmed at the box office.

 

[I Am The Knight]

^^LOL. But how do you know he/she/it wasn't lying to cover his/her/it's arse?

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Oh where I live they thought it was the perfect ending since this was the prequel to Batman 89.

In so many ways it fits, I thought it was the official prequel with some scenes from the older movie needed through the newer movie

News of "The Dark Knight" broke that assumption

 

[El Payaso]

In so many ways it fits, I thought it was the official prequel with some scenes from the older movie needed through the newer movie

News of "The Dark Knight" broke that assumption

The Dark Knight = Batman 89 remake!

 

[GothamAlleys]

The Dark Knight = Batman 89 remake!

Well it does have some skeletal similarities. Both deal with Dent going after the city's biggest mob which eventually gets taken over by Joker, in both Joker causes havoc on the entire city and gathers them all in one place by the end, both have a Joker vs Bat climax at the top of the building, both have the "hit me" scene etc.

 

[ALP]

But that describes most of Long Halloween as well.

The Dark Knight definitely put to rest any awful ideas that BB was a prequel.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

The Dark Knight = Batman 89 remake!

It kicked ass of that assumption too, even before I have it in mind

 

[The Joker]

The Dark Knight definitely put to rest any awful ideas that BB was a prequel.

It just goes to show though how reboots often fly over the average movie goers heads. Even with the considerable gap between the old franchise and Begins.

I anticipate much confusion for the Spider-Man reboot.