Although fans on the internet certainly love to argue, there seems to be a consensus that Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is among the strongest films in the DC universe. This is because the acclaimed director took Batman (as well as his world and enemies) completely seriously.
While some consider The Dark Knight to be a cursed film, due to all of the tragedy that surrounded it, the film is ultimately seen as one of the best films of the past twenty years. Batman Begins also has a strong reputation, although it is easily one of Nolan's more simple films. But simple, clean, and to-the-point is always the better choice than over-blown, convoluted, and somewhat nonsensical... Unfortunately, the closer to Nolan's trilogy is often seen as just that.
The Dark Knight Rises has been called "a pretentious mess" by critics and even gets some rather harsh critics from fans... Funnily enough, movie-goers still like this movie a lot. And there are near-endless aspects about it that are engaging, moving, intelligent, and true to the character.
But some are just baffling.
Somewhere in-between is the ending... Something, much like the ending of Inception, fans have been debating for a while. Well, Batman himself (Christian Bale) has weighed in on what he believed actually happened at the end of The Dark Knight Rises...
Bale Was Asked About It At A Press Conference
While promoting Exodus: Gods and Kings alongside director Ridley Scott and co-star Joel Edgerton, Bale was asked about what he thought actually happened at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.
For those who can't remember, Batman manages to take The League of Shadows' atomic bomb out of Gotham, allowing it to detonate in the harbor. He is pronounced dead. Distraught, Alfred flies to Italy to do what he said he would do after leaving Batman/Bruce Wayne's service. It's there where he spots Bruce (as well as Selina Kyle) there alive. They nod at each other and go their separate ways.
On one hand, Batman/Bruce could've sent the bat-plane on autopilot, jumped out, and allowed the plane to fly off with the exploding bomb. On the other hand, the final scene of the movie could've all been in Alfred's imagination as the scene is a carbon-copy of the fantasy Alfred envisioned for their lives after Bruce gave up the role of Batman.
In short, was it a dream-sequence or was Bruce really in Italy with Selina?
Director Christopher Nolan has never made this clear.
But Bale has an interpretation...
"Yes"... it was real. Not a dream sequence.
And Alfred was just content with seeing Bruce happy and in love with Selina and therefore didn't come over to the table and join them. They went their separate ways, closing the door on a troubled past, happy for one another.
"That was always the life that he wanted for him," Bale explained to a member of the audience who asked the question. "I find it very interesting. With most films, I tend to always say, 'it's what the audience thinks it is'. Ah, my personal opinion is that no, it was not a dream. Um... that it was for real. And that he [Alfred] was just delighted that finally, he had freed himself from the privilege, but ultimately the burden, of being Bruce Wayne."
Joel Edgerton then chimed in, "He's still there [in Italy]. And he's eating lots and lots of mozzarella at this point. He can't fit back in that suit."
Bale laughed then returned to the audience member and asked, "What did you want it to be?"
The audience member then said, "As long as Batman was alive, that's all that matters".
Fans Have A Variety Of Opinions
Of course, fans have a variety of different opinions about how The Dark Knight Rises' ending. Although there are a ton of behind-the-scenes facts about the making of the Dark Knight Trilogy, the defining answer to the ending of the third film isn't one of them. So, no matter what Christian Bale says, fans still have their opinions.
And so many believe that it was, in fact, a fantasy sequence just because of how perfect it all seemed. How could a series based so deeply in what a superhero would do in reality actually have an ending that wrapped everything up so nicely? For this reason, a lot of people didn't buy this ending, according to JoBlo Movie Trailers. Especially since The Dark Knight Rises came after the incredibly ambiguous finale of Inception.
At the end of the day, Christian Bale is right... it's up to what each individual fan feels.
What do you think actually happened at the end of The Dark Knight Rises?