The Dark Knight Trilogy: Constructing A Perfect Hero

 

As someone who has loved superhero films for a long time, it is impossible to ignore how great Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’ is. These films have been praised endlessly for their story, acting and dark tone. By this point it feels that any more discussion about them wouldn’t bring anything new to the table. However, today I want to explore something that I feel is often overlooked about the films. How their take on Batman/ Bruce Wayne (portrayed by Christian Bale) was the perfect hero for his time.

 

Before discussing this, I think it is important to briefly explain the history of Batman films why the trilogy exists. In 1989 Tim Burton directed ‘Batman’, followed by ‘Batman Returns’ in 1992. These two films were met with a lot of praise for their dark, gothic tone and are seen as largely responsible for making Batman into a more serious character compared to his 1966 TV series counterpart. Despite this, Burton stepped down as director after ‘Batman Returns’, mainly due to Warner Bros. trying to push the franchise in a more family friendly direction to sell more merchandise. The next two instalments in the franchise, ‘Batman Forever’ (1995) and ‘Batman and Robin’ (1997) were directed by Joel Schumacher and proved to be a turn-off for audiences. These two films undid Tim Burton’s work of creating a dark, brooding character and returned the franchise to its older, camper, and pun-filled past. After the backlash of Schumacher’s duology, the Batman film franchise went on hiatus until after many failed pitches, Christopher Nolan was able to reboot the series. This culminated in the release of ‘Batman Begins’ in 2005, which was met with critical acclaim and brought the franchise back to its darker and more serious roots. This success would only continue to grow with the second and third films in the trilogy, ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012).

 

 As I’ve mentioned, ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ is heavily defined by its dark and serious tone and this is one of the ways that the series is able to construct the perfect hero for the time. By the mid-2000’s it was clear that audiences were largely growing tired of the campier superhero films that were released, with films such as Schumacher’s previously mentioned Batman duology and Fantastic Four (2005) being met with a negative reception from critics and audiences. Whilst films like the early X-Men films had experimented with a more serious tone, I believe Nolan’s trilogy truly showed the potential darker and grittier superhero films had. Batman is a character that is quite easy to place in the real world, he lacks superpowers so instead uses his wealth and intellect to create gadgets for fighting crime. Because of this the character can be easily placed into a realistic setting without losing the core of the character, resulting in a film that is accessible for both mainstream audiences and long-time comic book fans. After the success ‘Batman Begins’ had with this formula, other films attempted to follow the same route of making more serious superhero films. A media theorist called Steve Neale proposed the idea that whilst genres have set conventions, these tropes can be changed over time, which is what ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ did for comic book films. After its release several films aiming to replicate its style were released, such as ‘Daredevil’ (2006) and Watchmen (2009). Even the more light-hearted superhero films seemed to take cues from it, with 'Spider-man 3' (2007) seeing the character wear a black costume and Iron Man (2008) starting the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a much more grounded style than the subsequent films.

 

Another reason why I feel these films created such a culturally relevant character is that they reflect 2000’s society. It’s important to note that the film trilogy started only a few years after 9/11, an event that shook people’s perception of the world and what they should be afraid of. As fear is such a crucial part of Batman’s character (he uses his own phobia of bats to terrorise villains) he can be used as the perfect vehicle to confront these modern fears. As opposed to the eccentric mobsters and superpowered criminals of previous Batman media, these films pit Bruce Wayne against more realistic, and as a result more terrifying, villains. In ‘Batman Begins’, the main villain is the League of Shadows, a mysterious organisation based in Asia who are determined to create a new world order, a description that draws many parallels to terrorist organisations. Additionally in ‘The Dark Knight’, Batman faces The Joker (an iconic performance by Heath Ledger), no longer portrayed as a just a wisecracking clown but a mass terrorist with no real goal but spreading anarchy. Finally, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ sees the mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy) defeat Batman, allowing the remains of the League of Shadows to take over Gotham City, resulting in the city becoming an almost terrorist state. Yet despite all odds being against him, Batman defeats the villains, no matter the physical or mental damage he suffers. By doing this Christopher Nolan turns Batman into more than just another superhero and makes him a symbol of hope for the audience, delivering the optimistic message of triumph over modern evils.

 

With all that said, I don’t believe Christian Bale’s Batman is the perfect hero for modern times. Despite how instrumental his trilogy was in making audiences and producers take superhero films more seriously, the genre has dramatically moved on from this concept. Just looking at more recent releases we can see that films about larger-than-life heroes such as Marvel’s ‘Avengers’ series are audience’s new favourites. I believe there are two main reasons for this. One of these reasons is that much like the way audiences grew tired of the camper superhero films, they also grew tired of their darker counterparts.  This was likely not helped by the negative reception to films such as ‘Daredevil’ (2006) and some of the later ‘X-Men’ films. Another reason for this change could be due to changing social contexts. Part of what made ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ so good was how it used the Batman mythos to confront issues such as terrorism, however, as society has moved on from 9/11, the message of the films may be less impactful to a modern audience. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s clear to see that in an age where family-friendly superhero blockbusters are ever more popular, those gritty adaptations have lost their resonance with mainstream audiences.

 

In conclusion, by blending the Batman narrative with a grounded setting and real-world issues, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’ created a hero that was ideal for its time. Whilst it may seem that modern superhero films have opted for a brighter and more fantastical style, it’s clear these darker, more grown-up, films have had a lasting impact on the genre. All three films are still considered by many to be some of the best superhero films ever made, with ‘The Dark Knight’ still being the highest rated superhero film on IMDB. Furthermore, whilst less common than before, a lot of superhero media is still inspired by this trilogy, such as Netflix’s critically acclaimed ‘Daredevil’ TV series (2018). With the much-anticipated film ‘The Batman’ (2022) seemingly taking a more down-to-earth approach to the character again, I look forward to seeing a potential return to the darker style of superhero films.