In the year 2012, we will receive the next and final installment of Nolan’s spine-tingling Batman Triology. The above fan-made image surfaced on the internet this week. The image really got me thinking. It is one thing to look at the story of a movie. It is another thing to observe the story that stretches over all three movies. I believe the whole story can be summed up in one word: Redemption.
My goal for this article is to go movie-by-movie and witness the grand scheme of the redemption of Batman and Gotham in the Batman movies that corresponds with the redemption of man by Jesus Christ. First, we will look at Batman Begins.
Begins: Batman Begins
In Batman Begins, we see the origins of how Bruce Wayne becomes the Batman. He realizes his role of what he needs to do and he does it. Just like the creation of Adam, harmony is established between the man and his role.
Falls: Dark Knight
The harmony between the man and his role is severed. Destruction overcomes the hero. In the case of Adam, for example, he becomes guilty of sin. As for Batman, it seems that he retires. His love is killed, and he takes the blame of Gotham’s hero, Harvey Dent. At the end of “Batman: The Dark Knight,” the Bat Signal is broken and the city losses the love that it had for the hero. They don’t need him according to Gordon. At the beginning of the movie, people were in love with him. They even dressed like him, and many tried to be him. By the end, Gotham turned; Batman is running from the law like a fugitive (though Gordon knows the truth).
Rises: Dark Knight Rises
Granted, at the time that this article is being written, it is about a year before the last movie is released. I don’t claim to know anything special about the movie, except for what I can conclude logically. As the title would suggest, Gotham isn’t done with Batman. As the above image would suggest, Gotham City is being tormented once again by evil. Though the Bat Signal is broken, it is as if the city itself is crying out for help. It is crying for a hero. It is safe to assume that Batman will answer that call and good will prevail. Batman will be redeemed and many will be saved.
Gotham will be redeemed by Batman.
- Thanks, Dictionary!
Redemption
Why else does this pattern of “Begins, Falls, & Rises” sound familiar?
This all can be a means to look to Christ because He pioneered the way for redemption in Himself.
Begins: Though Christ had no beginning (John 17), He began his ministry at the age of 33. He gained his followers and His fame went everywhere. He entered in Jerusalem as a king, but was hated and took on much scorn soon after.
Falls: He died on the Cross for our sins. Even more than Batman, He took the blame of others upon Himself; He took the sins of those that would believe onto Himself. He bore the wrath of God for our sins. Christ alone made peace with God for those that believe.
Rises: He did not stay dead. Instead, he rose again that He may save all who will believe on Him. Now, all who believe on Him can join in the redemption that He had won because Jesus Christ paved the only way to eternal redemption. Praise God that we have Jesus Christ to save us!
Colossians 1:13-14
13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(ESV)
One is the hero (Mt. 21:9), one receives the blame (2 Co. 5:21; Gl. 3:13), one rises again (Mt. 28:7; Rm. 4:25). Well, this is sure one way to see it. I don’t think this was intentional at all, but considering the concept of “intentional fallacy” (as discussed here), I think it’s natural for a christian to recognize this pattern; in the same way I did when I’ve seen the movie Dogville: people explained to me that it was criticism on american politics/society, ok, but I couldn’t refrain myself of thinking about the abuse of God’s grace, and deserved punishment because of it.
I must confess that I was a little bit troubled with Batman The Dark Knight: of course it is a great movie, maybe the best of the super-hero genre, but the final message of “sometimes a lie is better than a true” I don’t like at all. But, thank God, Rev. James Halerman from Mars Hill made a great review on this movie, which clarified some things of it for me. You can check it here.
Maybe the overall message of the third movie is: we don’t need Batman as the villain, we need the true, we need him as our hero again.
Cristiano! I love your feedback. Thank you so much.
I agree, I don’t think it was intentional. Regardless, the story of redemption is told over and over. I checked out the link you gave to “The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Superhero.” It looks like an interesting book.
As for your concern on “The Dark Knight,” I agree. In a sense he took the blame, but it was all built on a lie. I’ll check out the video from Halerman later this week. I love his work.
As for your idea for the theme of the last movie, I love it.
Great article Brady. The correlations are well thought out. I am getting more excited about this movie every day. And yes, “praise God that we have Jesus Christ to save us!”
Thanks, Max. I’ve been keeping up with your articles on the news of the movie. I love the look of everything they’ve put out so far.
And thanks for the shout-out on your post!