Let’s go back 15 years. On June 20th 1997 Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin opened to audiences around the world. Movie-goers entering the multiplexes will have been blissfully unaware as to what they were about to witness; the cinematic decimation of Batman. Opening to truly terrible reviews and a lukewarm box-office reception, both the director, Schumacher, and the star, Clooney, felt compelled to come out to apologise for and heavily criticise the film respectively, following its release. Incidentally, I loved the film at the time, but, given that I was 4 years of age at the time of its release and with the benefit of over 15 years of hindsight, I can now say with some conviction that Batman & Robin truly was an unadulterated shambles.
8 years on, on June 15th 2005, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, was released to rave reviews and huge commercial success. The dark universe created by Nolan and co. and the themes explored within that universe (morality, fear, social injustice etc.), not to mention the complete aesthetic revamp of the franchise, were a far cry from those explored in Schumacher’s Gotham. This truly was a new Batman in every sense. And so went the sequel, The Dark Knight which garnered even more success and acclaim than its predecessor.
With The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan bids farewell to the franchise he resurrected. As a mark of appreciation to the incredible feats of filmmaking achieved in the resurrection of the Batman, I have assembled my top 5 favourite moments from Christopher Nolan’s Batman’s films. This is an unashamedly subjective list, others may and will have their favourite moments but what follows are moments which made the hairs on my arm stand up, made my spine tingle and my jaw drop.
5. The Discovery of the Batcave.
After his return to Gotham following his training with the League of Shadows, Bruce Wayne decides to confront his fears by returning to the scene of his childhood, bat induced trauma. After descending into the well shaft, Wayne slides through a crevice in the rock and inadvertently discovers a vast underground cavern. Then… as he raises his light, thousands upon thousands of bats swarm around him. Instead of cowering under the fear which would have previously crippled him, Wayne stands calmly at the centre of a legion of bats, as Nolan cuts to a wide shot showcasing the size of the cave and the shear amount of creatures inhabiting the place. This moment is the making of the Batman.
4. The Dark Knight prologue. More a segment than a moment… The opening 15-or-so minutes of The Dark Knight establish the tone of the film perfectly, filmed in magnificent IMAX, and introduce us to us to one of the most iconic Hollywood villains of all time. We’re brought into the film on the back of a series of disconcerting cello notes courtesy of Hans Zimmer. It’s immediately apparent that there is a sense of impending villainy. Indeed, that sense is carried to fruition by a beautifully choreographed bank heist, capped off by the unmasking of the Joker himself revealing that iconic make-up and that devlish sense of humour as he places, what appears to be, a grenade in the mouth of the bank manager and takes off, as it’s revealed to be nothing more than a smoke bomb. “Whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you… stranger.”
3. The Joker’s introduction. While we’re briefly introduced to Heath Ledger’s Joker at the beginning of the film, we don’t get a full grasp of the character until we meet him next, gate-crashing (as he so often loves to do) a meeting of the kingpins of Gotham’s criminal underbelly. He enters their session… “Ah ha ha ha ha ha oh hee hee ah ooh hee ha haa. And I thought my jokes were bad.” As an audience, we see him dressed head to toe in his iconic purple-suited-attire complete with disturbing scars and make-up, and we don’t know whether to laugh or wince when he vanishes a pen into a mob-goon’s head: “Ta-daaaaa! It’s… It’s gone.” Ledger proceeds to take control of a brilliantly written scene rattling off the dialogue: “You think you can steal from us and just walk away?”, “Yeah.” The iconic scene ends with the Joker offering his trademark business card and swiftly leaving the room. We’re left with the unsettling impression that the Joker is capable of anything, while at the same time perversely hoping he gets the opportunity to carry out his capabilities, just so we can witness Ledger’s amazing embodiment of the evil, yet charismatic villain.
2. “Take this guy… Got a taste for the theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card.”
I love Batman Begins. It establishes Nolan’s dark, Batman universe perfectly and though it certainly has its faults, it definitely has to be credited for setting the scene brilliantly, a scene from which the latter two Dark Knights could flourish. It probably sounds like a cop out then, for me to say my favourite part of Begins is the ending, but as I said, this list is about the moments that made my hair stand up and my spine tingle. When Lieutenant Jim Gordon hands over the playing card at the end of Batman Begins my hair felt about 6ft tall and my spine almost shuddered out of my skeleton with excitement. I think I may have hit the roof when the foundations for The Dark Knight were laid with Batman’s words; “I’ll look into it.” In retrospect, I have no idea why I was so excited, I mean, obviously with what The Dark Knight became with Heath Ledger n’ all that but I could hardly have known that at the time. I guess I’m just psychic because I distinctly remember being overwhelmed with excitement after seeing Batman Begins at the thought of Nolan’s modern reincarnation of the Joker. Safe to say that my excitement was fulfilled, and then some, when the sequel was released.
1. The Joker’s care-free, anarchic ride through Gotham.
I’ve chosen this as my favourite moment because it is, by far and away, the most abiding memory I have from either of Nolan’s Batman films to date. The image of Heath Ledger with his head stretched out the window of a Gotham Police Department cruiser, in near silence, wagging like a caged dog that has finally been set free is, to me, one of the most iconic single shots of celluloid ever captured. The care-free expression of pure anarchic delight on the Joker’s face was made all the more evocative following Heath Ledger’s tragic death. When I see that shot now, I view it as a cinematic celebration of the level to which Ledger embodied the role which brought him his posthumous Oscar.
So, there ya go… Please feel free to disagree, though if you do disagree, I am prone to locating my detractors and fighting them to the death. This is my list, but because cinema is such an evocative and brilliant art form, it provokes a variety of different opinions and there’s no shortage of opinions when talking about Batman. I encourage you to leave your own below.
Rob McCarthy
