InCap(lan)able Reporter - Part Three

Except for Chateau Wayne,

I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.

…where butler Alfred (Michael Caine) resides, Christopher (Memento) Nolan’s Gotham is dark in word and deed - a teeming murk run by mob boss Falcone (Tom Wilkinson, terrific) and wacko psychiatrist Dr Crane (Cillian Murphy).

Tom Wilkinson was not terrific. He was “good” – another error by wacko writer (Nina Caplan).

But the atmosphere evaporates when this intelligent, tortured young man initiates do-goodery by rigging up a cave full of masks and baddie-battering gadgets.

Where to start? Any reader with a non-zero IQ can’t read this without being embarrassed for the writer and its family. No reason is volunteered for the loss of mood. As the film is about a “superhero”, which I hope to God Caplan knew before she saw it, then the atmosphere is generated by the transformation from individual man to incorruptible idea – a symbol that people can believe in. Infact, Bruce wants to make the Bat-symbol mean to the citizens of Gotham what a Police Badge should – trust and faith in the integrity of those who stand behind it and their ability to protect and punish.

To become a vigilante, and to deliver the justice that the corrupt system can’t Bruce adopts an identity which he feels will assist him.

He needs a base of operations, so uses his cave hidden beneath Wayne Manor – which is practical and convenient.

His “baddie-battering gadgets” are to him what a gun and baton are to the police. His costume has been developed for military use and should be issued to the Police, but the system does not value the lives of its agents. He will not use a gun, so fashions shurikens in the shape of the Bat for added effect. He requires a method of getting around the city commensurate with him modus operandi and to develop his mysterious persona, so he “wears” a glider, which double serves as a cape and aids the impression he creates.

This all seems sensible to me.

Alfred excepted, one good cop (Gary Oldman) is his only ally – he doesn’t even get a Robin.

The point of the “Year One” setting for the movie is to examine Batman’s origins. Of course he wouldn’t have a Robin. What possible reason would he have to co-opt a child into his dark world so early in his career. How would Robin have been introduced within the context and atmosphere of this film? By not providing an answer to these question, Caplan loses the right to a fair trail and should be tried as a War Criminal the next time she is caught dropping litter and letter.