As usual, I'll take you back to Batman 1,2, and 3 by way of link.
The Dark Knight (part 3) will lead you, by links, back to the beginning
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ager/news/?a=71926
DARK VICTORY 2012
The screen flashes 2012
Batman's been around for a decade.
Batman captures another criminal. As he delivers him to Arkham Asylum, he walks into death.
The Joker has escaped yet again from the asylum, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind him.
Batman discovers that he has somehow obtained a nuclear weapon and will sell it to terrorists.
Alfred tells Bruce that enough is enough. Even though Bruce has chosen not to kill, Joker has no such morals. In a deep speech he basically tells Bruce to kill Joker before he kills again. He asks when will it be too late; when he kills a child, Selena, Alfred or Batman, himself?
Alfred reminds Bruce of his days as an MI6 agent and doing things that must be done regardless of the weight of guilt. Any guilt one can have over doing what must be done is not nearly as heavy as suffering the consequences for not acting in time.
Joker is in his hideout with a couple of goons. He is flipping out that Batman and Gordon must suffer in the same way as did he.
"I want to take away their hope; their reason for living. they think they're so high and mighty. They're no better than I was once."
He tells his goons the 'Killing Joke' history. It is shown in the same fashion as Ra's history in Shadow of the Bat.
The story ends with Joker saying "Batman and Gordon are going to have one really bad day today.".
With Gordon on duty, desperately searching for the escaped Joker, Sarah, his retired wife, is at home.
Meanwhile Catwoman returns home of a successful jewel heist. In her home is a weeping, now 23-year-old, Holly Robinson.
Holly tells Selena how she ran away all of those years ago, moving to another city, because she was afraid that Selena was going to get herself killed protecting her.
She tells Selena why she's there.
"My boyfriend, Garfield Lynns, and I, moved back to Gotham 6 months ago. One evening, he forced himself onto me and, instinctively, I grabbed a pair of scissors on the counter and stabbed him in the gut. I let go right away and started screaming. He grabbed Isis, my cat, and put the scissors right through her. All I could do was run away, screaming. Oh Selena,, I'm scared to go back. He told me that, if I did, he'd burn me alive."
Selena does not hesitate to help her. Already dressed as Catwoman, She grabs Holly and heads to the house for revenge.
When they arrive, and Holly is so scared, Selena kicks in the door, threatening Lynns.
She's jumped in a super close up image and we can't make heads or tails of the scenario.
At Gordon's home... "(as we hear the knock the knocker says "Knock knock."
Sarah walks to the door "Who's there?"
(Joker) "2 guys from the funny farm."
(Sarah) " (nervous) I have a gun."
Joker kicks the door in, a goon grabs her hair and the other takes the gun. Joker cracks her across the face with a crowbar. "You screwed your lie up. Don't you know the basic formula for a good knock-knock joke?"
Gordon, from the station, directs the GCPD, led by Bullock, in finding Joker. Batman, does the same whilst keeping in contact with Gordon.
At the Fun House. Joker's hideout, Catwoman is shackled down.
Joker tells Catwoman this is her fault.
"You put that girl's life in danger. Are you that much of an adrenaline junkie? It's bad enough you get so close to the edge that you put your own life on the line, but that night you broke 17 bones in your pimp's body on HARLEY'S behalf, you put her in danger. Whatever you were on, it knocked you out to the point in which they took her away from you, and you had no idea.
You are so self absorbed. You pretend to worry about, and help, others, but you're only in it for the rush. HARLEY has seen the darkest parts of the human sole thanks to you. You led the lamb to the lions. Fortunately, before I got locked up by The Bat last time, I ran into your little strung out sidekick. We got to talking and she and I came to an agreement. I wanted Batman to suffer and she wanted you to suffer. She scratched my back and I had a lot of angry sex with her, or something, I'm not quite sure how the saying goes.
I mean, your such a junkie for the thrill, you sleep with your worst enemy. How deranged is that? And they say I have issues.
Point is, Selena, your pain is Batman's pain, and that makes us all happy. HARLEY? Come in her please, puddin'."
"Mr J, you keep calling me Harley, but my name is..."
(he puts a knife to her throat) "don't ever correct me in front of the guests again, puddin'. I know what your name is. You'l never be her. EVER! Boys, chain her down. (his goons chain Holly)
Selena Kyle, while we wait for Batman, let's play a game. You already know the little bitch you called a friend behind blanket #1, but let's reveal the has been under blanket #2." (they bring in another victim chained, and under a blanket. They reveal who it is)
(imagine, though, he is not in costume. There is no Wildcat in this universe)
(Selena is mortified) Joker says "That's right Catnip, it's your ol' buddy Ted Grant (the tar beaten out of him). It's hard to believe this guy use to be a champion boxer. So, this guy trained you? (to Ted) In all those years, you ever get some o' that? Oh... my... god... Who 2 were... Does the Bat know? I mean, Ted, I'm proud of you but, Selena, He's all wrinkley.. Ah well."
Selena screams "What is it you want Joker? let them go."
"The more you suffer, the more batman suffers. And the more Batman suffers, the more he empathizes with me, the real victim."
He issues a choice to Catwoman. Who will she choose to let live, Ted or, the as of yet to arrive, Batman. With that he leaves the room.
Garfield blows up the police station and kidnaps Gordon.
Joker walks into Sarah and (in a way that celebrates 'A Clockwork Orange', alludes to raping her in the oncoming moments off screen)
Having taken Gordon to the run-down amusement park, he shows the film of himself relentlessly beating his wife with a crowbar, and, apparently raping her as well.
He is stripped naked and caged in the park's freak show section. Chained to one of the park's rides and forced to view giant pictures of his wounded wife in various states of undress, Joker hopes to drive Gordon insane in order to prove that the most upstanding citizen can go mad after having "one bad day."
Batman is frustrated over being 1 step behind Joker. He is looking for clues at the burned down station where firemen are furiously attempting to put out the fire. Every cop in Gotham is on the streets looking for Gordon.
A clown car screeches up to the corner
Holly is kicked out of the moving car and stands, crying. She screams to Batman who comes running over. She takes off her clown costume and reveals the bombs strapped to her. She frantically confesses her guilt, reveals the location of the Joker and says that Gordon, Essen and Catwoman are all there and that it is a trap to torment Batman. She tells him to keep his distance from her. Then she is blown up.
He arrives at the Fun House. The goons engage in warfare with Batman.
Over the loudspeaker, Joker tells him that several people are desperately waiting to be saved. There's only so much time left and the clock is ticking. (over the speaker we can hear the time bomb) "That's the sound of Sarah Gordon's life fading fast, Batman. Gordon's only 3 rooms away. He can tell you where to find her. I'll bet she regrets sleeping with him and ruining his marriage to Barbara right now. If she wasn't such a whore, Barbara would be here, not her. Oh, and, just in case that coward doesn't inform you, 1, Ms Selena Kyle is around here too, waiting to be saved by you. HahahaHAhAhaHa. Ooooh, even better, shes the rooms the other way. Now what do you do?
Batman heads to Gordon, and Selena watches the cameras, showing that she is an after thought.
Joker creeps in to Catwoman's room and mocks her. He whips her, to get her screaming. "Now it's your turn, Kyle. Who will die tonight, The Bat, or the old man?" She tries to pick the locks of the chains.
She spits in his face. He slices Grant. "Next time, you little bitch, I'll cut your tongue out and force feed it to him."
Batman starts to untie Gordon, who is so beaten he can barely movie. Catwoman's screams echo throughout. Gordon's points up to a large screen that is projecting the image of Sarah. She is unconscious and bloody, surrounded by explosives. Joker's hysterical laugh echoes throughout.
Gordon says not to worry about him and save Sarah. She's a bout a block away according to Joker. Batman says he will save Catwoman 1st as she's only rooms away.
Being that the cameras have no sound, Selena can't hear this.
Joker tells Catwoman to choose right now. She looks at Ted, who is badly suffering. He looks up and says "I love you."
Joker grabs him, from behind, around the throat, with his knife slightly puncturing Ted's throat. Pick 1 Cat, PICK 1 NOW!"
She manages to escape the chains and lunges towards him only for him to put the knife right through her.
As Batman runs out to Catwoman, Gordon yells to him, she a thief and a con. Save my wife you bastard!
Just as he says that, he watches Garfield walk into Sarah and beat her some more.
As she takes her last breathe and Ted faints from exhaustion and blood loss, dying as well, Batman enters to see her die.
The Joker tries to persuade his old foe that the world is "a black, awful joke," and thus not worth fighting for.
Batman growls " there's no one left to fight for you Joker. You're all alone now.
Joker retort's "No, we have each other and only each other, what with your lil' girlfriend dead. HAhaHaHAhA"
Batman beats the tar out of him.
Finally, Batman snaps out of it and goes after Sarah, but not before chaining Joker so that he can't escape.
Gordon watches the timer, on screen, tick down.
Batman takes Garfield down decisively.
He pulls Sarah away from the explosives just in time, not being quick enough to save Garfield, only to realize that she has died from fatal wounds already. All of this is caught on tape for a helpless Gordon to witness.
Though traumatized and angry, Gordon retains his sanity and moral code, and he insists that Batman capture the Joker "by the book" in order to "show him that our way works."
As Batman is about to break, several CIA arrive and threaten to shoot if he does not cease.
Bullock arrives and calls the cIA off Batman and let's Batman go. Batman sees the damage, hesitates, but abides by Bullock. They have an understanding.
Others untie and cover Gordon. At the request of Ralph Bundy, a CIA contact, Joker is given complete diplomatic immunity as he has orchestrated a sting operation and leads the CIA to the terrorists and gleefully hands over the nuke.
As it turns out, he was released, rather than, escaped, in order to acquire the nuke as he promised he could. The Joker intended to wreak havoc knowing he'd get away with it.
He returns to Arkham, having outsmarted everyone.
The relationship between Gordon and Batman, once stronger than any bond, is now left questionable.
THE CAST
Batman
Tahmoh Penikett
Age: 37
Battlestar Galactica
Batman, now in his 10th year, at 38 must battle with his choices. He chose to bed his enemy. He chose to wage a war with no true partner. He chose not kill, no mater who or what.
His only friends are Alfred, Gordon, and, on occasion, a 'bond' with Catwoman has formed over the years.
Jim Gordon
Michael Biehn
Age: 56
The Terminator
Playing 60 years old. This movie shows that Gordon is the strongest willed Gothamite. All the hell he endures in this movie and he still has to calm Batman down. Throw in some gray streaks. Show us he aged.
Detective Bullock
Vincent D'Onofrio
Age: 51
L&O: Criminal Intent
Playing 59. Age him pretty hard. Bullock has grown in that he and Batman share the same passion and each 1 understands that the other is very important to the vitality of Gotham.
Alfred
Ben Kingsley
68
Prince of Persia
Plying 72. Alfred is done playing around this time. He;s not the innocent guy portrayed in the past. He let's a little bit of the darkness show. It's no wonder, considering he was always oddly OK with Bruce dressing as a bat and risking his life every night. If this is the last Batman, then Alfred will show why he's a badass.
Catwoman
Rhona Mitra
36
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Playing 38. The tragic end to a woman that hates herself. I want it to be written so well that she is nominated. That's how I see this role played out.
Sarah Essen-Gordon
Téa Leoni
46
Bad Boys
Plating 50. Age her. Poor Sarah, I had this planned from the beginning. Sure, she takes the place of Barbara/Batgirl but it's all about karma no way am I saying that a mistress deserves this but it's that curse or something on Gotham that the wrong will be punished 1000 times worse. They truley do/did love each other and they have grown past that secret relationship. They have gone through so much and show thst true love can't be ignored.
Sarah does dies at the hand of Joker in the comics, but this is all Barbara here.
Holly
Imogen Poots
23
28 Weeks Later
About Holly:
Holly is definitely not what smart fans believe her to be. The twist that she works with Joker would shock many fans, if not disappoint or anger them. Even smart fans need to be kept on their toes.
An even greater twist is the moment that she shows remorse for her actions' the last prayers of at he guilty, as it were. I thought it was a nice homage to Harley and what could have been, by him referring to her as such. It just emphasizes the twisted mind of Joker. Harley was brainwashed by him into falling in love and, thus, killing herself for him. There can never be a woman who would stick around because, if there were ever a woman as nuts as him, she's kill herself.
Holly is, as Joker said, a creation of Catwoman's lust for adrenaline. She is a victim of Selena selfishness.
Why Poots:
She is 1 of the most accomplished actors between 20 and 25. She is gorgeous, tough, knows her away around action, is familiar with the genre and has experience in the macabre.
Ted Grant
Sylvester Stallone
66
Rocky
About Ted Grant:
Grant, some time ago, and for how long is unknown, trained Selena Kyle. The 2 slept together enough times to garner strong feelings for one another. He is an aging brick house. He is a former heavyweight boxing champ.
Why Sly:
Was there ever any doubt I would find a way to give a spot to a Rocky alumni, nevermind the title character. It is absolutely NOT typecasting given the boxing thing, but it fell to the last 2 contenders for the role: Tommy Lee Jones and Sly. Sly looks much more like Grant than does TLJ.
Garfield Lynns
Paul Dano
28
There Will Be Blood
About Lynns:
A bit player. He an explosives expert that enjoys his job a little too much. He dons the costume when he kidnaps Gordon.
Why Danno:
He's a very intense, younger actor who's going to make it big soon, I believe. Putting him in, yet another, strong supporting role will only push him closer to becoming a lead actor some day and break through the glass ceiling.
Joker
Barry Pepper
42
Knockaround Guys
About The Clown Prince of Crimes:
We know that he's been a thorn in Batman's side since before Batman's 5th year in the cape by the reference to the Ace of Knaves in Batman 3: The Dark Knight.
We know about his interaction with Harley Quinzel. That, however, is ALL we knew up until this movie. This is his movie. How he became, according to his unhinged story.
He is a mad man, cut and dry. There is no other way. His costume is shirtless( maybe the bloody coat depicted, for a minute) with purple pants and suspenders. He is paste-white with his hair oiled back and he carries barber blades. He is lanky and thin, with little body fat. He's the kind of guy that's cut, but too skinny.
He's a lunatic bent on proving he's the victim. He's quick to kill.
Tony Daniel's depiction is the best one I've ever seen.
Why Pepper:
I've made a point of writing how great an actor Pepper is. The short list of viable options was about 12 long. Some were really obvious and others, 2 specifically, were contracted out to Marvel movies. It boiled down to Pepper and Damian Lewis. Although Lewis was taller, he lacked the freaked out look that Pepper possess. It was a hard one, but, in the end, I went with my comfort zone.
NEXT:
I will take the DCU into the DCAU (animated) with Hawkworld The (Secret) Society and Flash aided by FlixMentallo21@ and then I will, in no certain order, finish the DCU with the silver screen adaptions of Wonder Woman '07 and onwards and Green Lantern '08 and onwards. The CW will continue to showcase DCTV with the new series Cyborg and Preacher