The Batman is now upon us I thought I’d revisit the film that’s not only held up as the benchmark movie for the character but also the genre as a whole. Released almost 15 years ago, The Dark Knight completely revolutionised the genre and it influenced so many films for the next ten years that it’s difficult to discredit it.
I absolutely love The Dark Knight and upon leaving the cinema I remember feeling completely overwhelmed on several levels. Not only was it a great achievement in terms of storytelling but there was also a lot of sadness around the passing of Heath Ledger who completely knocked it out of the park with his Oscar-winning performance. He’s someone who’s been immortalised because of this movie and to this day his performance is still something I’m blown away by.
He is the perfect opposite of Batman throughout the film and whereas he brings chaos, Batman tries to restore everything to order.
This is a motif that massively plays into the ending and why Bruce makes the choices that he does.
Throughout this post, I really wanna analyse that final scene, the build-up to it and all the elements at play that make it a masterpiece.
The Psychology of Batman
To understand why the ending works so well, we have to analyse the psychology of Batman and his overall goals.
When Bruce was very young his parents were murdered in front of him and since then he’s spent every day trying to make sure that this never happens to anyone else. The death of The Waynes was a chance encounter and though this has been recontextualised in recent properties like Joker and The Telltale Games, whether you think they were good or bad, Bruce was very much a victim in this too.
Chaos ripped the best things in his life from him and since then he’s honed his body to bring order to Gotham, the city that destroyed his life.
Similarities to Batman Begins
Now Batman Begins ends with him saving the City from the clutches of Ra’s Al Ghul. However, the ending of Begins is very much the opposite of The Dark Knight but they in many ways mirror one another.
Begins ends with Batman meeting Gordon and the latter shows that he’s somewhat been accepted by the city due to the creation of The Bat-signal. This will shine over Gotham and let criminals know that there is a force within Gotham to be reckoned with that won’t allow them to prey on the good people any longer.
However, what this does is it also causes escalation and issues for the future.
Batman Inspires Criminals
Because Batman acts anonymously and in a mask, it inspires criminals to do the same thing too. Much in the same way that Batman strikes fear into people because he’s very much a Jungan archetype, the villains will now do so too. Whether he likes it or not, Batman creates the Joker because of this and it very much leads the City into an even more terrifying situation for the sequel.
Throughout we watch as The Dark Knight and The Joker battle it out in Gotham as they constantly try to one-up the other. Batman puts a tight grip on the finances of the mob and because of this, they turn to the clown prince of crime to take him down.
However, he realises that things have changed and there’s now no going back.
Harvey Dent
Rather than killing Batman, he’d rather keep him alive so that the two can battle it out as they fight for the soul of Gotham.
Now, this is very much represented by Harvey Dent.
Early on Bruce encounters copycats in hockey pads which I swear wasn’t intentionally a rhyme but we’ll keep it.
He realises that they are somewhat just as chaotic as the things that he’s trying to prevent and therefore Gotham needs a face it can shine in the light, a White Knight who does things by the books.
This comes in the form of Harvey who is very much an idealist. Happy to face the mob face to face to face two face, he’s very much what Bruce sees for the future of Gotham.
Rather than having people who operate in the dark like he does he needs someone who will stand in the firing line and say Not On My Watch.
Now Joker realises this too and he starts to formulate a plan that will destroy not only Harvey but also Batman.
Joker kills Rachel Dawes, Harvey’s fiance and the woman that Batman loves after figuring out they have a connection.
Now whilst this puts Harvey on a darker path, Bruce shows that he’s the best of them because he doesn’t succumb to her death turning him into a monster.
We’ll talk about this later on but Rachel’s death is very much an attempt at Joker getting two birds with one stone and I think come to the end of the movie he realises that Batman is incorruptible.
This is why Harvey is very much his ace in the hole, throughout the movie he’s been propped up as the shining white light of the city. He’s stood in courtrooms and taken guns being pointed at him, announced he was Batman to draw the Joker out and throughout been happy to put his face forward.
Joker is unable to beat Batman and thus he instead destroys his plan of propping up citizens as those who can take down corruption. Bruce says in Begins he wants to create a symbol to shake people out of apathy and Dent will very much be an example of what they can be if they strive to improve things.
Not to do a coin pun but they’re very much opposite sides of the same one and whereas Batman does work on many levels, Bruce knows he can’t completely work because he can’t put himself forward as a person that people can see themselves truly becoming.
Because of this, I think that The Joker’s plan is genius but on the flip side, Batman’s retaliation is as equally clever.
Showdown with the Joker
Now I absolutely love how The Dark Knight has two climaxes.
Firstly we get the amazing showdown in the building with the Joker in which he flips the script and makes his forces dress up as hostages and vice versa. He also sets up the prisoner and civilian boat situation that shows from a ground level how the villain has the potential to corrupt even the most boring and bland day-to-day businessman…almost…yeah, I know you weren’t gonna do it.
He sets the dogs on Batman almost goes out laughing whilst falling to his death and delivers a monologue that gives me goosebumps every time.
Joker hanging upside down shows he is very much the opposite of Batman and it’s the perfect way to close out their arc together.
But it isn’t the end and across town, we watch as Harvey holds Gordon’s family at gunpoint whilst he menacingly flips a coin.
Batman arrives and though he defeats Dent it seems like everything they’ve been fighting for is at a loss.
Like Gordon says they bet it all on him and people will lose hope.
However, Batman instead decides to take the fall because he’s the hero that the city deserves but not the one it needs.
The people need to believe that they can be like Dent and thus Batman takes the blame.
My Favourite Scene
Now I dunno if it’s Hans Zimmer’s score, the incredible editing by Nolan, or just the gravitas in the scene but I pretty much can feel all the hairs on my arms and neck standing up whenever I watch this moment.
They could reveal the truth that Harvey was corrupted by like Batman says, sometimes the truth isn’t good enough and people deserve more.
Thus the pair prop up the lie that it was Batman who killed those people and the Gotham Police Department chase him into the night.
At this point, Gary Oldman drops one of the best monologues to close out a movie ever.
“..he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. The Dark Knight.”
The Perfect Close
Now at this point, as he rides off we see Bruce riding up a ramp into the light showing the ascension that the character has become. Batman is now fully a symbol that can take the blame for things to restore Gotham to the height of prevalence that it needs to be. Not only does this beat the Joker but it also gives Gotham a martyr to rally behind that will allow the good people to band together to fight evil.
It’s the perfect way to close out the film and it shows the true sacrifice of what it means to be a hero. Batman is something that can be destroyed and taken down because it will help prop others up and inspire those in Gotham to do right when it’s much easier to do wrong.
Though this would’ve been a difficult choice for anyone else, Bruce puts himself in the firing line because he can take it and though he’ll be hounded, others will be able to have a better life because of it. All he has ever wanted to do is inspire the city to save itself and by saving the image of their white knight he’s made it so that people can rally together and life Gotham out of the dirt.
It’s an incredible way to end the movie that shows the strength of Batman on several levels. He can be the hero but he can also be something more, a silent guardian that much like those Romans appointed to protect the city, looks over it as a watchful protector.
I absolutely love the way that the movie closes out and it perfectly builds on the themes and plot points of this film and begins to deliver a home run as Bruce…runs home.
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