The Legacy OF
By Cassandra Surmacz
“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy. As a man, I’m flesh and
blood. I can be ignored. I can be destroyed. But as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be
everlasting.” Just like the Batman himself, The Dark Knight Trilogy, stands as an example and
symbol for comic book movies, characters, and filmmaking itself. The trilogy began with it’s first
installment in 2005 and ended with it’s third in 2012. The films have left behind a legacy not
only to me, but to critics, and all of the film industry since their debuts and continue to path the
way for movies in the future.
Batman Begins premiered in theaters on June 15, 2005 and rejuvenized a broken
cinematic franchise. The previous batman movie installment, Batman & Robin, received a sad
3.7/10 on IMDB and an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. Batman & Robin hit theaters in 1997 as the
fourth installment of the franchise at the time. Batman Begins introduced a new actor to play
Bruce Wayne/Batman, and something that was rarely attempted, an origin story. Most comic
book fans and especially all Batman fans know that Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered in
Crime Alley, and that’s what pushed him to become the bat vigilante in the future. But that is as
far as it goes. Batman Begins was the first Batman film to explore his origin beyond his parents
death. It was a movie about Bruce Wayne more than Batman. The movie traveled through
events as early as his childhood, his college years, and his training with the League of
Shadows. After ten years of Batman in the dark, Batman Begins was released with an 8.1/10
on IMDB and an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. It changed audience’s view on both Batman and
superheroes and their movies. Batman Begins made the characters, world, and situations
darker and more realistic. Batman Begins was successful. Multiple superhero origin stories
were presented, franchises were rebooted, and were pushed for realisticness. Iron man,
Captain America, and Thor were introduced into the cinematic world with origin stories, the
Spiderman and Superman franchises were rebooted into a darker world, and a lot of them
including, Spiderman, Iron man, and Captain America were all set in a realistic world. After the
premiere of the film, superhero movies began to pour out constantly, and they still do to this
day. Marvel’s first film incorporated in the MCU wasn’t released until 2008, so Marvel cannot be
credited with revolutionizing the superhero genre. Batman Begins left audiences wanting more
and therefore ultimately lead to at least 40 more popular superhero movies the past decade
(2005-2015) including the Batman Begins sequel.
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