Features

The 5 Biggest Plot Holes in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

Let me begin by stating, perhaps uncontroversially, that I believe Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy to be a masterpiece of cinema. The depth of character with which he invests Christian Bale’s protagonist and the strength and breadth of the thematic arc across all three films – from the fear of setting out in Batman Begins to the chaos of act two in The Dark Knight and finally the pain of endings in The Dark Knight Rises – is virtually unrivalled. That’s without even mentioning the villains, the impetus behind any Batman film, Wally Pfister‘s cinematography, Hans Zimmer‘s soundtracks, etc., etc.

Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy has won Oscars, been interpreted as political allegory, inspired intense critical debate – all things superhero movies have otherwise singularly failed to do. So, with all the apparent genius that went into the series preparation and execution, it’s a little bewildering that these plot holes went unnoticed by the writing team of Nolan and Co. A few of them are actually pretty destructive to one’s enjoyment, so I’d like to take this moment to remind you that ignorance can, in fact, be bliss. If you’d rather face the hard truth, here are just five examples of plot holes you could pilot The Bat through.

SPOILERS!!!

 

 

5. The League of Shadow’s Plan, Batman Begins

The League of Shadows is a secret order dedicated to restoring harmony in the world by overthrowing any society that becomes too decadent and corrupt. According to Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), the League was responsible for the sacking of Rome as well as the consecutive plague and fire that devastated London in the 1600s. Though, with plans like their one for destroying modern day Gotham, its difficult to believe they could even manage a Boston tea party.

They plan to use a prototype microwave emitter stolen from Wayne Enterprises to vaporize Gotham’s water supply, thereby weaponizing the deadly fear toxin that they’ve been feeding into it for months. The only issue is ensuring that none of the water from the system ever gets the chance to become breathable vapor before their plan is put into action, you know, such  when people boil a kettle or have a hot shower.

Even if nobody in Gotham turned on a faucet during the time it took for the League to carry this off, the human body is 60% water: as soon as they turned on that machine, it should’ve been like popping the entire population of Gotham City in a microwave. Ra’s would only have succeeded in turning the entire population of The Narrows, if not all of Gotham, into human popcorn. So much for using technology as a means to encourage social justice.

 

About the author

Robert Wallis

You can also read Rob's work at www.ofallthefilmblogs.blogspot.com.