We all know obviously how the plot is literally connected to the first two films, the first film in spirit and function, the second film in constant referencing of what happened in it, but seeing the movie in IMAX one last time it dawned on me how thorough the film connected to the first two thematically, and in subtle ways, one I noticed today was the role of kids.
The thing that dawned on me, that I hadn't really understood before and seemed kind of awkward at first, is the emphasis on innocence when the dr. is telling what turns out to be Talia's story. It dawned on me today how big a part of the entire trilogy the concept of a child's innocence, and by extension a whole society's innocence or naivety/belief, is. In specific, Bruce's world, his innocence is shattered when he sees his parents killed. It was this that angered him so, so he decided to become someone who would protect that innocence for his city so no child would ever have to go through that again, by defeating those who use fear/intimidation, criminals.
Bane is similar, he grew up in the pit where he never for one second had a world to believe in, his innocence was born shattered, so when an innocent child came into the pit, he wanted to protect it, as the doctor said, because that innocence is to be treasured. So like Bruce, Bane has dedicated himself to protecting that child like innocence. Of course, unlike Bruce he has deep anger towards those who outcast-ed him and does want them to feel that pain, but at the core he and the league believe in protecting that innocence just like Bruce, they just believe in combating those who take it away by balancing the world with massive destruction of empires that have become rotten with criminals.
The active development of the child-innocense theme goes back to Begins, with Jack Gleason's role. Batman restores his faith in something when he's outside listening to his parents argue, then later Rachel protects him from the decaying city, and Batman saves both of them, and he says "I told you he'd save us". That's Batman being a success in the first film, protecting a child, same age as he was, from losing his innocence, giving him something to believe in.
This same innocence is a core concept of the dark knight and Rises ongoing story-lines from TDK. The Joker wanted to destroy the facade of control and safety that people felt and show them they're lives are fragile and their decor even more so, people turning on each other quick. That innocence, naivety, was a facade to him, he wanted to liberate from the lie and promote chaos. He succeeds, by corrupting the white knight, and Bruce and Gordon know it, so they hide it so that the city can continue to believe, have faith, to protect that innocence. Oh, and the climactic moment where the Joker's plan is coming to a fruition, with a gun to a KID's head, and batman saves him, protecting his innocence and life, Children again.
In the third film that flows through still. The lie obviously eats at Bruce and Gordon, but also the concept of Bruce's failure is repeated by both Al Ghul's and Bane. They're saying that his attempt to protect it failed, he could only lie to do it, so Gotham must burn still and he and Dent must be outed, so again Gotham is exposed and then destroyed as a sacrifice. What's interesting is in both begins and this they, like the joker, set out to shatter gotham's innocence, it's false safety, and expose gotham to be full of bad people, before they destroy it. In begins it's using the toxin, so Gotham will "tear itself apart", in this one it's the false revolution, exposing how many will be violent and anarchic if allowed. But both meaning to destroy the faith in Gotham, the innocent image, of it functioning, then making it pay.
The difference of course between the League and The Joker is the League is shattering one city's image to save the rest of the world, trying to launch the world towards justice with fear of the destruction Gotham would have suffered for it's since. The Joker, by contrast, just wants and believes in that shattered image, he wants to revel in it, he's pure evil, no ultimate plan or beliefs or even endgame (dog chasing a car), just an agent to start some fires and enjoy it all burning down.
The kid Robin focuses on too plays wonderfully into this, his brother is murdered and he speaks of the appeal of the dark side essentially because there's answers down there, work and housing he says, but he doesn't want to, he wants to believe, he yearns for Batman, he draws the symbol and asks about him later, he needs batman to protect his innocence, his belief things like that won't happen again. He's in transition like Bruce and Talia were at there origin moments, and t's with the orphan bus that batman's mission to protect that innocence he lost pays off directly, those kids believe they're doomed and then watch a hero save them, directly protecting what Bruce set out to protect. For that one kid specifically, in a time of transition and growth after losing his brother, Batman restores his sense of faith, At the end they're also given the new orphanage by Bruce's will, so kids won't have to turn to crime when they're released or "checked out" I believe they said. So I never noticed how key those kids were to completing Bruce's story, the entire innocence and importance of children just dawned on me, and it flows throughout.
Another moment that fully dawned on me with this innocence thing, is when Batman and Gordon have their final moment, and Bruce says Batman can be anyone, even someone who puts a coat over a kid to show him the world hadn't ended. I always thought that line was just a subtle thank you, but he really was saying that that moment was the spirit of Batman, Gordon comforting and protecting Bruce in that moment to show him there's still good out there. That's what batman is meant to do, balance the evil and show people, especially kids, there's something to believe in, so they don't fall prey to the evils and commit to that life. So that moment is more layered then I thought, it can be said that Gordon saved bruce's soul in a way at that moment, showing him good, if he hadn't would Bruce have left that night simply angry and without faith, and thus been more like his adversaries in the end? That moment sticks with Bruce so much he immediately recruits Gordon 10 years later, so it's effect was obviously profound. He speaks of it like Gordon putting that coat on him did for him what Batman does for the main orphan in this film.
Really just incredible writing, there's more depth and continuity in the third film each time you see it. But this really made the whole series come together in a profound way. It shows how strong their vision and ideas were, and how much they built each film carefully out of them. That kind of thematic continuity is not in any other action trilogy, ever, I would put my house on it.
Any other subtle thematic concepts anyone noticed flows through all three films?
The thing that dawned on me, that I hadn't really understood before and seemed kind of awkward at first, is the emphasis on innocence when the dr. is telling what turns out to be Talia's story. It dawned on me today how big a part of the entire trilogy the concept of a child's innocence, and by extension a whole society's innocence or naivety/belief, is. In specific, Bruce's world, his innocence is shattered when he sees his parents killed. It was this that angered him so, so he decided to become someone who would protect that innocence for his city so no child would ever have to go through that again, by defeating those who use fear/intimidation, criminals.
Bane is similar, he grew up in the pit where he never for one second had a world to believe in, his innocence was born shattered, so when an innocent child came into the pit, he wanted to protect it, as the doctor said, because that innocence is to be treasured. So like Bruce, Bane has dedicated himself to protecting that child like innocence. Of course, unlike Bruce he has deep anger towards those who outcast-ed him and does want them to feel that pain, but at the core he and the league believe in protecting that innocence just like Bruce, they just believe in combating those who take it away by balancing the world with massive destruction of empires that have become rotten with criminals.
The active development of the child-innocense theme goes back to Begins, with Jack Gleason's role. Batman restores his faith in something when he's outside listening to his parents argue, then later Rachel protects him from the decaying city, and Batman saves both of them, and he says "I told you he'd save us". That's Batman being a success in the first film, protecting a child, same age as he was, from losing his innocence, giving him something to believe in.
This same innocence is a core concept of the dark knight and Rises ongoing story-lines from TDK. The Joker wanted to destroy the facade of control and safety that people felt and show them they're lives are fragile and their decor even more so, people turning on each other quick. That innocence, naivety, was a facade to him, he wanted to liberate from the lie and promote chaos. He succeeds, by corrupting the white knight, and Bruce and Gordon know it, so they hide it so that the city can continue to believe, have faith, to protect that innocence. Oh, and the climactic moment where the Joker's plan is coming to a fruition, with a gun to a KID's head, and batman saves him, protecting his innocence and life, Children again.
In the third film that flows through still. The lie obviously eats at Bruce and Gordon, but also the concept of Bruce's failure is repeated by both Al Ghul's and Bane. They're saying that his attempt to protect it failed, he could only lie to do it, so Gotham must burn still and he and Dent must be outed, so again Gotham is exposed and then destroyed as a sacrifice. What's interesting is in both begins and this they, like the joker, set out to shatter gotham's innocence, it's false safety, and expose gotham to be full of bad people, before they destroy it. In begins it's using the toxin, so Gotham will "tear itself apart", in this one it's the false revolution, exposing how many will be violent and anarchic if allowed. But both meaning to destroy the faith in Gotham, the innocent image, of it functioning, then making it pay.
The difference of course between the League and The Joker is the League is shattering one city's image to save the rest of the world, trying to launch the world towards justice with fear of the destruction Gotham would have suffered for it's since. The Joker, by contrast, just wants and believes in that shattered image, he wants to revel in it, he's pure evil, no ultimate plan or beliefs or even endgame (dog chasing a car), just an agent to start some fires and enjoy it all burning down.
The kid Robin focuses on too plays wonderfully into this, his brother is murdered and he speaks of the appeal of the dark side essentially because there's answers down there, work and housing he says, but he doesn't want to, he wants to believe, he yearns for Batman, he draws the symbol and asks about him later, he needs batman to protect his innocence, his belief things like that won't happen again. He's in transition like Bruce and Talia were at there origin moments, and t's with the orphan bus that batman's mission to protect that innocence he lost pays off directly, those kids believe they're doomed and then watch a hero save them, directly protecting what Bruce set out to protect. For that one kid specifically, in a time of transition and growth after losing his brother, Batman restores his sense of faith, At the end they're also given the new orphanage by Bruce's will, so kids won't have to turn to crime when they're released or "checked out" I believe they said. So I never noticed how key those kids were to completing Bruce's story, the entire innocence and importance of children just dawned on me, and it flows throughout.
Another moment that fully dawned on me with this innocence thing, is when Batman and Gordon have their final moment, and Bruce says Batman can be anyone, even someone who puts a coat over a kid to show him the world hadn't ended. I always thought that line was just a subtle thank you, but he really was saying that that moment was the spirit of Batman, Gordon comforting and protecting Bruce in that moment to show him there's still good out there. That's what batman is meant to do, balance the evil and show people, especially kids, there's something to believe in, so they don't fall prey to the evils and commit to that life. So that moment is more layered then I thought, it can be said that Gordon saved bruce's soul in a way at that moment, showing him good, if he hadn't would Bruce have left that night simply angry and without faith, and thus been more like his adversaries in the end? That moment sticks with Bruce so much he immediately recruits Gordon 10 years later, so it's effect was obviously profound. He speaks of it like Gordon putting that coat on him did for him what Batman does for the main orphan in this film.
Really just incredible writing, there's more depth and continuity in the third film each time you see it. But this really made the whole series come together in a profound way. It shows how strong their vision and ideas were, and how much they built each film carefully out of them. That kind of thematic continuity is not in any other action trilogy, ever, I would put my house on it.
Any other subtle thematic concepts anyone noticed flows through all three films?