FIRST MOVIE: Who is the Batman?
The first film in this new trilogy picks up right where The Dark Knight Rises left off. Batman and Bruce Wayne are gone. Robin John Blake is the new owner of the Batcave and all of Batman's toys. He decided to don the cape and cowl and serve as Gotham's protector. We are introduced to the Riddler. He's obviously insane and obsessed with figuring out who Batman is. He begins committing crimes to gain the attention of the Caped Crusader. At first, they're small-time robberies and little incidents in the streets. But as the Riddler becomes more and more infatuated with uncovering the hero's identity, his crimes grow more violent. The signature riddles he leaves are becoming darker and more threatening. People are dying.
Blake, who doesn't have Wayne's intellect, is slow in solving the puzzles, and grows increasingly frustrated. He doesn't think he can handle the role of the hero. He gets a pep talk from Alfred about it doesn't matter what Bruce Wayne would do, it matters what Batman would do. The theme here is that it doesn't matter who the Batman is, it matters what the Batman stands for. Batman is a symbol, he's more than just a man. Blake realizes that he has to stop thinking like himself and start thinking like Batman.
He solves the latest riddle and confronts the Riddler before his crime. Pleased that he finally sees the hero face-to-face, the Riddler begins interrogating Batman, hoping the answers will give some hint to who he is. Batman, unaware of the game, gives enough clues for the Riddler to figure it out. He threatens to reveal the secret. "Riddle me this," he says, "how do you convince a man to keep a secret when he doesn't want to?" Blake knows Batman wouldn't kill, but what other option does he have? He can't let his secret out.
Without any sort of plan, he decides to attack. The Riddler doesn't have any abilities that would give him an advantage, but he came prepared. With all sorts of traps and weapons stationed around the battle, he nearly defeats Batman. He's about to pull off the mask when he seems to pass out.
Batman stands up and finds a dart in the Riddler's neck. There's a note attached. "I couldn't let him ruin the fun. -J"
The dart contains some sort of Joker gas that knocks him out and clears his short term memory, so the Riddler has no recollection of who Batman is.
SECOND MOVIE: World's Greatest Detective
The second installment focuses mostly on Mr. Freeze. His wife is frozen to prevent her from dying, and Freeze will stop at nothing to get a cure. He rampages through Gotham, tearing apart the city. Batman knows that he can't defeat an enemy so strong and smart, so he goes into the dark part of Gotham to look for tips. His main source for information is the Penguin, who seems like a legitimate business man, but Batman knows he makes deals with criminals. He gets the full story on Freeze, about him, his wife and his desperate attempt to cure her. Batman realizes that the only way to stop Freeze is to get him what he wants.
He confronts Freeze and offers him help as long as he stops wreaking havoc. Freeze tells him that it'll be too late if they work peacefully, and that threatening people is the only way to get him answers. The two fight, and Batman is forced to flee. He begins working on a cure alone. The small fortune left by Bruce Wayne helps him assemble a team of doctors to develop the solution. When completed, he takes the medicine to Freeze, where he rejects it, claiming that it's poison and that Batman can't be trusted.
An aggravated Batman decides to just cure Freeze's wife himself. He takes the cure to her and unfreezes her. When Freeze returns home, he breaks down in happiness. Batman watches from the shadows as he contemplates what to do. He knows all this man wanted to do was save his wife, but on the other hand, he's a killer. Justice wins out, and Batman uses Freeze's weak moment to knock him out. He's dragged to Arkham and imprisoned.
The final scene is Freeze in Arkham having a conversation with two other inmates. After some time, you can make out that it's the Riddler and the Joker. They're planning an escape. A revenge.
THIRD MOVIE: The Dark Knight Returns
No, this isn't related to the comic story arc or the animated film. It's just the title I chose because titles are pretty darn difficult to come up with.
The start of the film is a big breakout of Arkham. Most of the inmates are corralled, except for four, including Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, and the Joker. They all share a common goal, to stop the Batman once and for all. No more games, no more gimmicks, no more tricks, riddles, or jokes, just straight up revenge. And they want it bad. They terrorize Gotham worse than ever before, and it becomes global news.
Somewhere on the other side of the world, Bruce Wayne, happy with his new life, is watching this news. He catches one glimpse of the Joker, and is ready to head back to Gotham. There's an argument between him and his wife, Selina Kyle, but Bruce wins in the end and packs his bags for Gotham. He sneaks all the way back to the Batcave without being noticed, and waits for Blake. The two discuss the recent events, and Blake shares information about Freeze and the Riddler while Bruce talks about the Joker.
The two heroes take on the three villains one at a time. The two are able to dodge Freeze's blasts long enough for them to find weaknesses in his suit, and it is shut down. They move on to the Riddler, who is aided by a cameo from Killer Croc. Bruce takes out the Riddler fairly easily, but Blake is struggling with the Croc. Even the two combined can't match his strength. Bruce calls in his old friend, Lucius Fox, who sends in the Batcopter (or whatever they called the flying bat-thing in this universe) loaded with plenty of weapons. Bruce knows that it's going to take something heavier than a few fists to piece Killer Croc's skin, so he hops in the Bat-Flying-Machine, and rains whatever he has down on him. Since Croc's skin is so thick, he's only stunned, not killed (because for the sake of preserving the character's reputation, we can't have him kill anyone). Finally, they move on to the Joker. He's armed with only a crowbar and a gun at his side. He beings flailing the crowbar around, hitting both heroes hard. While, they're down, he slips out his gun and fires in their direction. Blake is hit in the shoulder and becomes useless.
It comes down to one final confrontation between the Joker and Batman (Bruce Wayne). They exchange blows, with Batman maintaining a slight edge. That is, until the Joker pulls back out his crowbar. He pummels Batman to the ground. It seems to be the end, when out of nowhere Blake jumps in and uses his one good arm to give the Joker a whooping. The Joker laughs through it all. Bruce then realizes what is happening. He tells Blake to stop, but he won't. He beats the Joker until his death.
Bruce lectures Blake about what he had just done. Blake says that sometimes killing is necessary, that sometimes, it's the only option. Bruce then takes away all of his Batman gear. He does not want the symbol to be tainted. A furious Blake storms out, but still has a thirst for heroics. He develops his own hero. Nightwing.
So what do you all think? Decent? Horrible? Let me know!