Writing out my Batman!feels because I have too many of them. TDKR was, just, such an awesome movie.

It was like the flip-side of the Avengers, where Avengers was light and vibrant and varied, TDKR and dark and deep and focused. There was so, so much packed into the movie, so many themes and nods to the fans of the comics, and beautiful literary devices stretching across all three films. First up: Officer/Detective (Robin) John Blake. I think most people, myself included, believed that he would be a stand-in character for Robin, because Chris Nolan was so adamant against having an actual Robin (which was a good choice, an underage superhero would not fly well in Nolanverse). And holycowyes, Blake was above and beyond what Robin is. He wasn't Batman's sidekick, not really, but he was the... human side. He was what Bruce used to be, used to believe in at the start of his mission. He takes Batman's drive, his knowledge, and furthers his legacy. Really, that's what the Robins are; Batman's legacy, and they do it so brilliantly. Blake is an interesting blend of the three major Robins - Dick, Jason, and Tim. He's a cop, like Dick became in his later years as Nightwing, with Dicks lighter spirit. Like Tim, he figured out who Batman was on his own, and grows as a detective and a leader in Batmans absence. Like Jason, his mother died early, and his father was a smalltime crook-character who was killed by his superiors. But unlike Jason, instead of losing himself to the anger, he learned how to take it and fuel himself. And that's how he figured out who Batman was, which is Nolan's own beautiful, beautiful doing. Speaking of anger, "I'm not afraid, I'm angry." When Bruce Wayne first trains under Ra's al Ghul, with the goal that he's going to go back to Gotham and clean it of its corruption, that's what he tells Henri Ducard/Ra's. When's he trapped in Santa Prisca, building himself back up so that he can save his city from torture, that's what he says again. It's at that point that Batman is truly born again, instead of the scarred shell that had been fighting until then. There's definitely the phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes motif going on. In fact, the movie is pinned together with flashbacks to Batman Begins, bringing the story full circle. When Bruce first has his spine reset (ignoring the fact that that's not how spinal injuries work) and he's hanging in the rope harness, he flashes back to his father being lowered down by a rope to pick him up when he first fell into the well of bats. That's what spurs him on, even though we don't hear the "Why do we fall, so that we learn to pick ourselves up again" line verbally. It's there, in every line of the actors' movement and expressions, as Bruce rolls his feet forward and stands. There's of course, also when Bruce reveals his identity Jim Gordon, by referring to when the policeman covered him with his jacket to remind him that the world wasn't over after his father's death. It's an interesting side note, that whenever Bruce reveals his identity willingly, he never outright says, "My name is Bruce Wayne." He just refers to some statement, some event that ties him and the other together. It's only when other deduce his identity that they are so blunt as to call him Bruce Wayne and Batman. Perhaps on Bruce's part it's his flair for theatrics, and on others' it's used as a weapon, a power play. Power plays - Talia al Ghul. I'd actually read someone's post on tumblr about Talia and Ra's, but I dismissed it out of hand, because Ra's was dead, beyond dead, in Nolanverse. There wasn't any place for him in an adaptation of Knightfall. And Selina was supposed to be the love interest, if any. Except there was, and Nolan did it because he is beyond our mortal ken. The fusion of Talia and Bane's stories was so well done, I couldn't even be disappointed and purist. I just, I couldn't. The idea that Ra's was the warlord, and Talia was the child, with Bane as her protector - beautiful. And the revenge motif, of Talia using Bane

as a weapon, does actually make more sense for Bane's vengeance against Batman than the comics' Bane-grew-up-dreaming-he-was-going-to-kill-a-Bat backstory. And, to be fair, the backstory isn't what Bane's about, he's about the present, raw power, the challenge Batman cannot win, the Man Who Breaks the Bat. Anyway, back to Talia - Nolan did a very good job with casting. Marion Cotillard has sharp features, something deadly about her, so even when she's just Miranda Tate, there's something unsettling about her. The fact that she was Bruce's lover, the fact that she got him to let go, and wanted him to come away with her was a great nod to Bruce and Talia's romance in the comics. Their relationship in the comics was obviously a lot more intense, but again, thats just the purist in me speaking. Talia and her save the world agenda as Miranda Tate was also perfectly handled, since a) the al Ghuls were all about the greater good and b) she masquerades as a philanthropist when not leading the League of Assassins in the comics. Looking to the other female lead in the film I take my hat off to Anne Hathaway. I honestly didnt think she could pull off Catwoman. But, she did. I loved the girl Selina hung around with, because in the comics she looked out for prostitutes, and there were several allusions to the blondes activities. She was never named, but really, she didnt need a name. I definitely like the version of Catwoman that Nolan chose to work with, even if there werent any cat motifs running around like there are in the comics. Honestly, I was all set to hate Catwoman for the first part of the film, and its a mark of good writing and acting that I was won over to Selina at the end. I wasnt an ardent fan, Im not a big fan of Catwoman to begin with, more neutral, but I was content. It didnt make me grimace at the end of the film when Alfred saw Bruce and Selina eating at the Florence caf. Which, of course, brings us to Alfred. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne family butler, who in each of the previous movies, was asked Havent given up on me yet, Alfred? and replied Never, sir. Except, this time, this time, he did. Alfred left. Alfred left, and Gotham went under siege for five months, and Bruce was kidnapped and trapped in Santa Prisca, and then he died I had no idea how to feel about this. Still dont. Because I love Alfred, and his pain is heartbreaking, as he watches his son waste away. And when Bruce finally looks like he can breathe again, its only to throw himself back into the nightmare of Gothams underbelly, back into all the pain and hurt that left his body and soul so damaged. And all because Bruce didnt move on, couldnt move on, probably didnt even know how, really, from Rachels death. Eight years later, and the consequence of Alfreds choice to give Bruce something better than the truth leaves only one path open, the one path Alfred cannot watch Bruce travel down: to death. And Alfred cant watch that, never could watch that, and as much as well love him, he is only human, and he leaves. He leaves, and Bruce sleeps with Talia half as a rebound, because hes finally actually breaking up with Rachel, and then, and then How painful it must have been for him, those five months. Not knowing whether Bruce was in Gotham, still fighting. What must he have thought, when there was no word, that Bruce was alive, but choosing to cut him out of his life? That Bruce was dead? Oh, Alfred. Im so angry that he left, but so hurt for him, too. And isnt that just what Gotham does? The city whose soul is a blackened and disfigured she-demon? The city that Bruce loves, and lets face it, love hurts. Gordon still loves this city, but hes so wearied now, by the secret he kept, by the loss of his family, by his own failing body. I think it was really fitting that Gordon was so grievously injured right off the bat in the movie, another phoenix motif.

Gordon brings me back to Blake, and the mentor-mentee relationship they had going. Blakes too much of a hothead for the police force that has gotten used to the peace and quiet in the face of the Dent Act. Blake knows that even if Batman is Bruce Wayne, and even if he was responsible for Harvey Dents death, hes also something more, something that Gotham City truly needed, and still needs. I think Blake idolized either Bruce Wayne, Batman, or both just a little, and I wonder how much of his rage that Gordon lied about Dent and let Batman take the fall for eight years was out of sympathetic betrayal for his idol. There was an interesting little motif in the big climatic battle at the end, with the Police Chief Peter Foley in his dress blues and white, clean gloves, too. And Blake, at the end, in Gordons position of realizing that their structure is more of a shackle, and he cant live like that he doesnt have a friend like Batman beside him, who can get his hands dirty. He cant stay on the way Gordon did. But oh, oh, Blakes ending. The Thomas and Martha Wayne Home for Boys that Bruce decided he wanted to create probably the night he met Blake for the first time. The coordinates, maybe his own, maybe left for him, to the Batcave, and the scene where he walks in with a torch, ducking down as bats swarm over him, and then standing up again in their midst, just as his predecessor before him. I have so many feelings about the beauty of that scene, I started crying all over again. Because if anyone anyone got to walk in Batmans footsteps, it would be Robin. All of the endings, in fact, starting from Blackgate even if that was more the middle of the movie. Theres always been a duality between Bruce and Gotham Alfred burns Rachels letter for Bruce, and Bruce preserves Harveys memory for Gotham. So after eight years, Bruces world is shaken by the truth about Rachel, and Gotham is shaken by the truth about Harvey Dent. And in the form of skewed duality, Bruce is told by someone he loves, and Gotham by a monster in the words of someone they love. Surprisingly, I dont have any feelings about the use of Blackgate over Arkham, it serves the same purpose perfectly well. Though, the return of Dr. Crane as judge about killed me. It really did. It was so completely unexpected, Nolan was playing us all so beautifully right from the trailers. TDKR ended with so much more hope, I thought my heart would burst. After the funeral, after the dust settles, the home for boys is founded, using one of the old Wayne properties. Jim Gordon finds the Bat symbol on the rooftop searchlight fixed. Lucius Fox finds the software he never installed, the one thing that could have saved his almost-son from death, patched in for him, long before he finally takes a look at it himself. And Alfred. Alfred sees the one thing he wanted, he sees Bruce out of Gotham, sitting at a little caf in Florence, happy and smiling with a woman. Hes out. Hes free. Everyone gets what they want. What they need. I read somewhere on tumblr, that the scene with Alfred was him either hallucinating, or wishful thinking that Bruce is in a happier place, now that hes dead. My personal headcanon is that Bruce is actually in Europe rebuilding his fortune and starting Batman Incorporated, while Selina does whatever Selina does. Clean slate, she makes a different living, maybe as a freelance security consultant. That would probably suit her. Bruce has been dead before. It didnt take so well. He could come back again. How? Who knows. Thats not really the point, is it. It doesnt really matter how Blake determined the truth, exactly, or how Bruce survived the nuclear blast. TDKR isnt The Dark Knight Risen or Rose. Its Rises. Its about the present. About the road to the future. Its about the symbol of Batman, about the hope of Gotham. And, as the last in a trilogy, its about legacy.