The Dark Knight Saga/YMMV: Difference between revisions

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* [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]]: Rachel is one of the best examples.

* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]:

** Depending on how you interpret some of the Crane's dialogue, he could be either a [[Complete Monster]] or a strong case of [[Even Evil Has Standards]]. When Falcone says there's "an answer" to idealistic prosecutors, Crane says he doesn't want to know. Is it indignation, or just fear of the potential consequences of knowing that information? When Ducard says that Crane thought the league's plan was to hold Gotham to ransom, does this mean he wouldn't have supported genocide, or that he only got involved because he saw something in it for him?

** The CEO who takes over Wayne Enterprises after Thomas & Martha's deaths can fall victim to this. Is he a [[Jerkass]] [[Regent for Life]] for refusing to hand the company over to Bruce; or is he justified in not handing the company over to Bruce, as young Master Wayne was pronounced dead ''several years ago'' and has no experience in the business world? Is he a [[Jerkass]] for firing Lucius Fox, or is he simply cutting costs by ditching a division that's losing them money?

* [[And the Fandom Rejoiced]]: "Yeah that's a interesting line of thought Lieutenant Gordan is having with Batman...hmm okay there's been a robbery...oh, [[The Joker|that's an interesting turn of events.]]"

** Also, the idea of a Batman ''anime'' made some fans leery, until the name ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Kevin Conroy]]'' showed up.

** The series essentially started with this. After the [[Joel Schumacher]] films, another Batman film (proper origin story or not) wasn't something anyone was getting terribly excited about. Until it was announced that it would be from the same [[Christopher Nolan|director]] as ''[[Memento]]'' and starring [[American Psycho|Patrick Bateman]] that fans had any hope that it would be worth getting excited about.

** For some, the fact that the film won't be in 3D.

** The prologue. Even if we couldn't understand what Bane was saying, it was clear that Nolan was writing him as a [[Genius Bruiser]], something that Bane has had trouble with for years now.

* [[Badass Decay]]: In the span of the first movie, Scarecrow goes from [[Big Bad]], to getting taken down in a matter of seconds by Rachel Dawes. In the next movie, he is no longer working for the League of Shadows and turning mob bosses insane. Instead, he's just a glorified drug dealer who is fodder for a [[Batman Cold Open]].

** [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Crane never really comes into his own as a [[Big Bad]]. In fact, [[The Reveal]] in ''Batman Begins'' shows he was never the [[Big Bad]] at all. So why the drastic [[Badass Decay]] if he was never a badass at all? The decay happens because the viewers and Batman alike are no longer ''scared'' of him.

* [[Crazy Awesome]]: The Joker.

* [[Crosses the Line Twice]]: The Joker spends the whole movie dancing back and forth across this line while laughing maniacally, amused by the fact you think there's a line in the first place.

** Too many to name. The Joker himself is one big CMOA.

** [[Crowning Moment of Funny]]: Bruce pretending to be a playboy is always good for a few laughs, particularly when he and Harvey are competing over Rachel.

** Alfred Pennyworth of course. "[[Deadpan Snarker|If you can tell me the Russian for apply your own bloody suntan lotion]]."

* [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]: When the citizens on the boats refuse to blow each other up. Cue almost-[[Villainous Breakdown]] for The Joker and Batman smugly telling him "What were you trying to prove? That deep down everyone's as ugly as you? No. You're alone." Doubles as a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

* [[Crowning Music of Awesome]]: When your films are scored by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, what else can you expect?

** ''The Dark Knight Rises'' will be done without JNH's input due to scheduling conflicts. Only time will tell if the musical cart is upset because of this.

* [[Downer Ending]]: ''The Dark Knight''. It's got a Downer Beginning and a Downer Middle as well. There's sort of an uplifting three-quarter point, but that's after two Downer Hours.

** Johnathan Crane, thanks to being played by the handsome Cillian Murphy.

** The Joker. Yes, even with the scars.

** Bane gets this as well for being a calculating evil genius that could put even the Joker to shame at moments. His voice certainly helps his popularity as well, given how it sounds like a cross between Sean Connery and Darth Vader.

* [[Evil Is Sexy]]: Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow has tons of fangirls due to his effeminate good looks. It's worth noting that he was usually portrayed in the comics as a creepy, scrawny nerd instead of an attractive man like his actor Cillian Murphy.

* [[Fan Dumb]]/[[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]]: Fans of Heath Ledger's Joker can be a bit rabid at times. Woe to anyone who enjoys this movie and Ledger's performance but still prefers Jack Nicholson's Joker overall.

** Then there's the people who manipulated the [[IMDb]] to put the film helming the Top 250 (by giving 10 to ''The Dark Knight'' - [[Praising Shows You Don't Watch|mostly before release]] - and 1 to then-first ''[[The Godfather]]'').

** Fans have also been known to [[Troll]] movie sites, particularly IMDB, and insult people at random simply for enjoying non-Christopher Nolan Batman films. This is despite the fact that many people enjoy the Dark Knight Saga as well as other films.

* [[Fountain of Memes]]: Most of the most memorable quotes from ''The Dark Knight'' came from the Joker.

* [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]]: Hong Kong actor Edison Chen, the man you can hear asking Lucius to hand over his mobile phone in the beginning of the Hong Kong scenes. Chen had just been involved in a [[Real Life]] scandal, where the people repairing his laptop [[Sarcasm Mode|went the extra mile]] to upload his [[Porn Stash]] to the internet - including nude photos of several of his [[Production Posse]]. Bear in mind that the ending of ''The Dark Knight'' involves a city-wide breach of privacy...

** The entire saga is ''filled'' with moments of this nature.

* [[Genre Turning Point]]: ''Batman Begins'' popularized the concept of [[Continuity Reboot]] for superhero movies and [[Darker and Edgier|grittier, more realistic]] superhero storylines in general. ''The Dark Knight'' is one of the very few comic book films to break free from the ghetto and be accepted as an example of fine cinema, highly raising the overall prestige of the genre.

** Also, the sequel has Joker's "I think you and I are destined to do this forever" line.

** [[The Dark Knight Rises]] involves various destructive riots in Gotham after an era of relative stability. Keep in mind that the script and production occured before the advent of the Occupy movement.

* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: Heath Ledger hitting on [[Brokeback Mountain|Jake Gyllenhall's sister]].

** Going back further, [[Christian Bale]] was among those who auditioned for the role of Robin in ''[[Batman Forever]]''.

* [[Marty Stu]]: Subverted in the person of Harvey Dent, a handsome-as-hell, lantern-jawed, blue-eyed, blond-haired ''manly'' man's man who waltzes into the movie to steal both Bruce Wayne's girlfriend and Batman's crime-fighting thunder. He's quick-witted, fearless, and willing to continue examining a witness who's just tried to kill him in open court. The subversion kicks in (and hard) when {{spoiler|Dent incurs a traumatic loss similar to the one that created Batman. Unlike Bruce, [[Face Heel Turn|he doesn't react in the most constructive fashion]], and [[Red Right Hand|loses his Marty Stu polish accordingly]].}}

* [[Memetic Badass]]: The Bank Manager, strangely enough.

** '''LET'S PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE!'''

** Raise your hand if you want to see a [[Eye Scream|magic trick]].

** As for [[The Dark Knight]], good luck guessing which of [[Complete Monster|The Joker's]] [[Kick the Dog|numerous evil deeds]] was his [[Moral Event Horizon]], but the organized crime community as a whole arguably crossed this by {{spoiler|hiring the Joker in the first place}}, as was implied by one of Bruce Wayne's lines following {{spoiler|the deaths of Loeb and Surrillo}}, a line used in one of the earlier trailers...

{{quote|'''Bruce Wayne''': I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They've crossed a line.}}

*** {{spoiler|Actually, it's implied that he was only threatening to kill Gordon's son, and he was going to use a coin flip to decide whether or not to actually do it. Still pretty heinous though.}}

** We've only seen trailers for [[The Dark Knight Rises]], but we've already lost all sympathy for the Nolan version of Bane after that clip of Gordon in critical condition at the hospital (and it's implied that Bane was the one that put him there, since Catwoman wouldn't be so monstrous).

*** Bane's [[The Unintelligible|voi]][[What the Hell Is That Accent?|ce]] was met with a bit of mockery, though this voice was later remixed to make it sound more coherent.

*** [[Fan Dumb|In a specifically annoying case]], some comic fans were [[Unpleasable Fanbase|up in arms]] that [[Anne Hathaway]] was not hot enough and [[Bigger Is Better|did]] [[Most Common Superpower|not]] [[Big Bra to Fill|possess]] the correct assets to play [[Catwoman]]. Her acting ability was not discussed].

* [[Straw Man Has a Point]]: At one point Lucius Fox bemoans that the government didn't consider a soldier's life worth $300,000 for a high-tech bodysuit. Actually the government would have to spend $437,058,600,000. That's just for the suits, and just one of each for each member of active duty military personnel, not counting replacements and spares (of the suits) and reservists (of the personnel). And that's for a suit that Bruce apparently ''couldn't turn his head very well in'' in its original iteration. Just to be clear, that's already approaching the budget for the '''entire US military'''. Add in the additional costs of suits for reservists and everyone having at least one spare in case theirs was destroyed in combat, and the suits would cost almost four times the entire military's budget, just for ground troop body armor.

* [[True Art Is Angsty]]: ''The Dark Knight'' is easily the darkest film adaptation of Batman ever made. It's also the most critically-acclaimed. The Dark Knight Rises is about the same, maybe even moreso.

* [[Villain Decay]]: Scarecrow. He starts off as the [[Big Bad]] of [[Batman Begins]], or so we think. Ra's Al Ghul returns, revealing that Scarecrow is just [[The Dragon]]. It gets worse when he is taken down in the end by Rachel Dawes and a stun gun. He shows up at the beginning of the [[Dark Knight]] as a lowly drug dealer and is quickly apprehended by the end of the scene.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?]]: ''The Dark Knight'' is rated PG-13, and many think the MPAA was too lenient with the rating. It is definitely ''not'' a children's movie.

** Though, to be fair, Nolan went out of his way to avoid sex, visible blood, and swearing, the [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|MPAA's]] only real standards for R ratings. Sort of a [[Genre Savvy]] for filmmaking on his part. If the MPAA was really about determining what children should see, their standards would be much different, and Dark Knight would not have been PG-13. For that reason, and that reason ''only'', may it also fall under [[What Do You Mean It's for Kids?]].

** The disturbingly realistic style in which exploding buildings and subsequent wreckage were shot can't help but evoke 9/11 somewhat. There's a reason people referred to Joker as a terrorist in the film.

** The use of {{spoiler|unwitting Gotham residents' cell phones as a kind of sonar}} absolutely ''reeks'' of current political battles over the legality of wiretapping calls overseas. It seems to come out vaguely in favor of its use in extremely limited situations, but also recognizes that those uses must be accounted for {{spoiler|as Lucius and Bruce destroy the surveillance device once the Joker is apprehended}}.

* [[The Woobie]]: Poor Bruce Wayne, and poor [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Harvey Dent.]]

** Also Rachel Dawes in the second movie. Of course, [[Maggie Gyllenhaal|the actress]] is good at playing the woobie, so it probably isn't deliberate.

** And with ''Rises'', Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane.

 

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