BAT TALK!!!***SPOILERS****

[SirTJ]

-Who was the girl with Bruce at the table...and how'd he find her so fast?

Nevermind. I read that it was Selina Kyle. I didn't get a real good look at her.

[SirTJ]

Okay, reading some fan commentary, and I'm still a bit puzzled. Was Bruce actually alive at the end? Or was Alfred dreaming again? One person stated that Selina always wears black, but in the final scene, she was wearing a blue get-up. And if Alfred thought Bruce was dead, did Bruce trail him to that particular cafe in order to 'appear' before him? Seems a bit complicated.

And, also...was Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character supposed to be Robin? Or was that just a throw-off? 

[Arkhams Finest]

Okay, reading some fan commentary, and I'm still a bit puzzled. Was Bruce actually alive at the end? Or was Alfred dreaming again? One person stated that Selina always wears black, but in the final scene, she was wearing a blue get-up. And if Alfred thought Bruce was dead, did Bruce trail him to that particular cafe in order to 'appear' before him? Seems a bit complicated.

And, also...was Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character supposed to be Robin? Or was that just a throw-off?

He was alive.  They didn't pull a 'Lost' on us.   

Batman is the greatest detective in the world.  I don't think arranging that encounter would be too hard for him.

[SirTJ]

He was alive.  They didn't pull a 'Lost' on us.   

Batman is the greatest detective in the world.  I don't think arranging that encounter would be too hard for him.

But think about it...Alfred was all torn up at Bruce's grave...so now he sees Bruce is actually alive and it's just a 2 second glance with a smirk? Your best friend who you think is dead reappears and that's the response? We know it was meant to tie in with Alfred's "vision" from earlier, but come on...that's just a bit too unrealistic. Not to mention Alfred was in another country, adding to the complexity of Bruce supposedly tracking him.

I guess some things we just have to chalk up to him "being Batman"...including how the heck he got from the prison (wasn't it somewhere in the Middle East?) all the way back to Gotham.

I think the ending was intentionally ambiguous, not only to leave room for possible subsequent works, but also to allow fans to interpret it however they see fit. Was he alive or was it just Alfred's vision? Very Inception-like.

[csedwards2]

Foxs question about autopilot confirms Bruce lived. Why would an ablebodied-sane Batman have working autopilot and forget to use it at such an important time?

[sjonathan02]

But think about it...Alfred was all torn up at Bruce's grave...so now he sees Bruce is actually alive and it's just a 2 second glance with a smirk? Your best friend who you think is dead reappears and that's the response? We know it was meant to tie in with Alfred's "vision" from earlier, but come on...that's just a bit too unrealistic. Not to mention Alfred was in another country, adding to the complexity of Bruce supposedly tracking him.

I guess some things we just have to chalk up to him "being Batman"...including how the heck he got from the prison (wasn't it somewhere in the Middle East?) all the way back to Gotham.

I think the ending was intentionally ambiguous, not only to leave room for possible subsequent works, but also to allow fans to interpret it however they see fit. Was he alive or was it just Alfred's vision? Very Inception-like.

Let me ask this: Why would you want Batman to die?  Isn't it better to think that he'd finally 'retired' with a new love interest in Kyle?  And, different people handle grief differently.  Alfred is old school English...those cats are thugs. 

[sjonathan02]

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!

Okay...my mind is still blown, so I'm not even sure where to start.

I enjoyed Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character. Obviously we'll be seeing a Robin movie sometime soon. That whole thing about him figuring out Bruce was Batman was a bit of a stretch, though.

I also surprisingly enjoyed Catwoman. Her AND her catsuit. 

Bane was AWESOME. I literally thought Batman wasn't going to be able to beat him.

I love how Crane's crazy self pops up at some point in every movie. 

No Joker references....

The Tate girl turning on Batman surprised me, but I had a feeling she was Ra's Al Ghul's daughter. She was an intricate part of the comic storyline (wasn't she married to Bruce at some point?), so I figured they'd throw her in before the series was out.

My throat got kind of tight at the end. Once the emotion wore off, though, a few questions arose:

-Did Alfred truly think Bruce Wayne was dead?
-Who was the girl with Bruce at the table...and how'd he find her so fast?
-If they buried Bruce Wayne, won't people recognize him when he's walking around still alive?
-How the heck did he survive the bomb? I'm thinking maybe the armor of that Bat-plane was tough enough to withstand the explosion?
-Also, did Bruce get his money back?

Re: No Joker references:  Nolan thought it would do a disservice to Heath's memory to make any references to the Joker (read his interview in 'Entertainment Weekly'.

I've answered your first question.
You received the answer to your second question.
If the ceremony was broadcast, or even mentioned.  There's no way a man of Wayne's stature would have only three people there.
Wayne fixes the autopilot, and escapes prior to detonation.
A broke Bruce Wayne? Never. 

[sjonathan02]

And, concerning Bruce getting back into Gotham...

The movie was long enough with stuff we wanted to see.  Do you really want to watch him speaking to folks in the Middle East as he hitches a ride back home?

[CalKel2]

If the ceremony was broadcast, or even mentioned.  There's no way a man of Wayne's stature would have only three people there.

The only people who were at the funeral were the people who knew Bruce was Batman. It's public knowledge that Batman died in the explosion, and I assume they were trying to protect his identity by keeping Bruce's death private.

[sjonathan02]

The only people who were at the funeral were the people who knew Bruce was Batman. It's public knowledge that Batman died in the explosion, and I assume they were trying to protect his identity by keeping Bruce's death private.

Right.

[Arkhams Finest]

When Bruce goes to see Lucius, he's shown "The Bat" (aircraft).

Lucius says "Works fine, except for the autopilot. It takes a better mind to fix it" and insinuates to Bruce that he is the one who could fix it.

At the end the guy says it was fixed six months earlier by Bruce Wayne.  The point of this scene was to show you that Alfred DID see Bruce at the end.  He fixed the autopilot and was out of "The Bat" before the bomb detonated.

Bruce wanted everyone to believe he was dead so that he could leave it all behind.

[CalKel2]

Bruce wanted everyone to believe he was dead so that he could leave it all behind.

Exactly. So now only Alfred knows for sure about Bruce's vacation and Fox just thinks he's suicidal.

[Arkhams Finest]

Exactly. So now only Alfred knows for sure about Bruce's vacation and Fox just thinks he's suicidal.

No he doesn't.  Fox knows that Bruce fixed the autopilot.

[sjonathan02]

No he doesn't.  Fox knows that Bruce fixed the autopilot.

This.

[CalKel2]

Understood. It was just a bad attempt at humor.

[SirTJ]

Still not buying it, for one simple reason: we are clearly shown Bruce still in cockpit with 5 seconds left before the bomb explodes...remember this is a NUCLEAR bomb that was stated to have a blast radius of 6 miles. Even if he escaped the plane, how does he escape the nuke's blast in under 5 seconds AND swim back?

I loved the film...t'was really my favorite to watch out of the series...but I have to admit the ending was sloppy. For a man like Christopher Nolan who prides his work on realism, there were a lot of stretches (Jim Gordon automatically recalling a 35-year-old memory of placing a coat around young Bruce Wayne based off an ambiguous suggestion?) And the cafe scene still has that cartoonish don't-question-the-logic-just-accept-it feel.

As for the Joker, he never really "ended" in TDKR, so I thought maybe they'd allude to what happened with him. Did he die? Is he in Arkham (or wherever they keep the lunatics)? Did he just disappear?

[CalKel2]

Honestly, I had a problem with a live bomb being armed for 5 months that's only a concern 12 hours before detonation.

[SirTJ]

I also found it funny how the whole city is about to be blown to smithereens, but a returning Batman somehow finds time to create a flaming bat signal at the top of a building. He's quite the artist. 

[THE WOLFMAN]

Still not buying it, for one simple reason: we are clearly shown Bruce still in cockpit with 5 seconds left before the bomb explodes...remember this is a NUCLEAR bomb that was stated to have a blast radius of 6 miles. Even if he escaped the plane, how does he escape the nuke's blast in under 5 seconds AND swim back?

 

easy answer.

He's the goshdarned Batman.

[SirTJ]

easy answer.

He's the goshdarned Batman.

Seems to be the universal answer. 

But at least it'll make it easier for whoever takes on the Bat next. "If he's eaten by a shark, how are we going to explain his survival?"   "He's Batman."