Chapter 867: The Final Message

Inside the Hollywood Chinese Theater, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as the credits rolled. While this installment wasn't quite as mind-blowing as The Dark Knight, it was still an absolute classic. Compared to the hero's awakening in Batman Begins and his burden of endurance in The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises was clearly a moving final chapter—the story of Batman plummeting to rock bottom and rising up to fight back.

Looking at the strength of the opposing forces, Bane's destructive capabilities in The Dark Knight Rises rivaled the Joker's in the previous film, but his overwhelming physical power also put Batman at a severe disadvantage in one-on-one combat.

Because of this, the story carried an immense sense of oppression and immersion right from the opening scene. Throughout the film, Batman faced not only formidable external foes but also a mole within his inner circle, making the plot's ultimate direction incredibly unpredictable.

As the trilogy's final chapter, The Dark Knight Rises inherited its predecessors' complex narrative structure—multiple parallel storylines advancing and intersecting at once. The shifting balance of power and the constant exchange of offense and defense between good and evil played out through the rapid progression of these overlapping threads. From the very first minute, the movie maintained an insanely tense, suffocating rhythm. The 135-minute runtime seemed to pass in a flash.

Even more notably, many of the twists and turning points in The Dark Knight Rises drew directly on plots and characters from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, making the trilogy feel incredibly cohesive.

At the end of The Dark Knight Rises, Fox prepared to repair the Batwing's autopilot function, only to discover that Bruce Wayne had already fixed it six months prior.

So Bruce Wayne hadn't died. The Nuclear Bomb detonated alongside the autopilot-flown Batwing.

Alfred encountering Bruce Wayne on his vacation later confirmed this. The two exchanged knowing smiles as a silent greeting, and the silhouette of Catwoman beside Wayne was clearly visible.

Naturally, the power Batman represented hadn't vanished either. John Blake resigned from his police post and, seemingly guided by Bruce Wayne, found the Batcave. The film then ended with Robin slowly rising into view.

It was easy to imagine that Robin had become Batman's successor.

At this point, Bruce Wayne had successfully completed his mission and retired. He flew far away with Catwoman to live a carefree life, while Gotham City gained a new power to watch over it.

It was a fantastic ending. In Sarah's eyes, Duke had fulfilled his promise to give Batman a bright conclusion—and he had done even more than that.

Batman began with Bruce Wayne. He successfully cemented Batman's image of justice in the public's hearts, inspiring the citizens of Gotham City to fear no evil and believe in righteousness. In the end, the people faced Bane head-on and overthrew his tyranny, which also meant that Batman had achieved exactly what he set out to do.

Even after taking the fall for Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, many people still believed in Batman—like the child at the orphanage, or the police officer Robin.

This widespread public devotion was exactly what Batman deserved.

On a personal emotional level, Sarah's favorite superhero was unequivocally Batman. He had no superpowers, relying entirely on his strong body and high-tech gadgets to punish evil. He possessed a profound sense of righteousness, his heart forever leaning toward good. He bore enormous burdens without complaint; he adhered to his own strict principles and understood his own limitations. That was why he championed laws and institutions over relying on a vigilante to protect Gotham City.

Most importantly, Batman brought faith to Gotham City. The public bravely stepping up to fight against tyranny was undeniably the best proof of that.

The film's greatest brilliance clearly lay in how Batman successfully resolved the people's crisis of faith.

Aside from the people aiding Batman, there was another telling detail. The camera in The Dark Knight Rises deliberately lingered twice on Batman chalk graffiti appearing on the streets, proving that, as a symbol, Batman had deeply rooted himself in the hearts of the people.

"Every hero has a journey, and every journey has an end."

Sarah's understanding was that the "hero" here referred to Bruce Wayne rather than Batman. As a hero, Bruce Wayne's journey had ended with his retirement, but as a symbol, Batman would live forever.

Bruce Wayne said he wanted Batman to become a symbol, and he had done just that.

In this The Dark Knight Rises, Bane read Gordon's hidden speech on live television, revealing the truth to the world: Batman had been taking the fall for Harvey Dent all along.

In a way, this actually helped Batman, allowing the public to believe in him once more.

The recurring Batman chalk graffiti and the statue the citizens erected for Batman were proof enough. Time and time again, Batman proved to the citizens of Gotham City that evil and corruption did not belong in Gotham City.

Bruce Wayne's mentor, the Ninja Master, had once told him to become a legend. And Bruce Wayne had achieved exactly that.

At the end of this The Dark Knight Rises, with the Nuclear Bomb crisis averted, people embraced each other, brimming with hope. What Sarah saw was a beautiful city and its outstanding people, rising from the darkness...

Batman, as a legend, had become immortal in the hearts of the people!

Amidst a thunderous round of applause, Sarah stood up and left the theater. Subordinate reporters would naturally attend the subsequent press conference, so she planned to head straight back to the newspaper office to rush out her draft.

The press conference dragged on for a long time. Even though Duke cleverly deflected the media's attention toward actors like Christian Bale, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot, he was still besieged by reporters. By the time the Premiere fully wrapped up and he and Scarlett Johansson returned to the estate in Malibu, it was nearly midnight.

Just as Duke and Scarlett Johansson were getting ready to rest, Jessica Ghawi from Canada arrived at the Santa Monica Commercial Square, found the theater where she had booked her tickets, and walked right in.

Jessica Ghawi was a sports journalist visiting Los Angeles to cover the NFL draft. She was also a massive Batman fan and had booked her ticket for the midnight screening well in advance.

Walking into the theater, Jessica Ghawi noticed an incredibly large crowd. The lobby was packed tight, rivaling a prime-time weekend slot. She couldn't help but feel thankful she had pre-ordered her ticket, or she might not have been able to get a ticket for The Dark Knight Rises.

Because of that, she always considered herself quite lucky. Some time ago, there had been a shooting in Toronto, Canada, and Jessica Ghawi had been right at the scene. Not only had she dodged the stray bullets, but she had also documented the situation at the time through Instant Sharing.

Retrieving her reserved ticket, she found a relatively quiet place and observed the people waiting in the hall. There were moviegoers dressed in all sorts of eccentric costumes—quite a few Jokers and Batmans were engaged in passionate conversations, for instance.

'If the movie is good, maybe I should dress up as Catwoman the next time I watch it?'

With these thoughts swirling in her head, Jessica Ghawi pulled out her Mobile Phone. It had been a while since the Premiere, so she wanted to check out the related reviews.

Just as she expected, the online editions of major media outlets had already released some of the latest news on The Dark Knight Rises.

"The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most successful Hollywood films. As Hollywood's youngest and most promising director, Duke Rosenberg's masterful control over the final chapter of the Batman Series makes other films in the genre look utterly foolish and childish—extremely weak by comparison! The film's interwoven, multi-threaded plot lines and its gripping, tense rhythm make this arguably the most spectacular piece in Duke's directorial career."

— Hollywood Reporter.

"Absolutely stunning and thrilling, The Dark Knight Rises is the most must-see movie out of all the summer blockbusters!"

— Rolling Stone.

"The Dark Knight Rises is a soul-stirring ultimate spectacle, but it is no simple summer popcorn flick. While the film is also packed with action, stunts, car chases, and props usually reserved for war movies, and the actors' costumes are flashy enough for Comic-Con, Duke's worldview injects the original Batman hero with far more dark elements. Its reflections on mortal death and its dissection of a hero's weaknesses elevate it beyond a standard action movie. Despite being adapted from a popular comic book, the Batman Series has proven that it can serve as a modern version of Greek mythology. The Dark Knight Rises is indeed a sharp, massive production—ambitious, and destined to be recognized as a great, epic masterpiece."

— Entertainment Weekly.

"Powerful, convincing, and intoxicating, The Dark Knight Rises has utterly conquered us. Directed by Duke Rosenberg, this concluding chapter is more than just a superhero movie; from every angle, it is an outstanding masterpiece. It is so captivating that, after its 135-minute runtime, you'll immediately want to watch it all over again."

"The massive success of The Dark Knight Rises brings us the pleasant surprise and shock of realizing that we can still see truly good movies. We find it incredibly gratifying that, despite this being an era overflowing with trash films, the brilliant director Nolan has, with his sheer capability and focus, consistently delivered such a successful commercial film to us."

— Los Angeles Times.

"Like a true fanboy, I was completely conquered by Duke Rosenberg's The Dark Knight Rises. This is also the first superhero movie to win me over in a very long time. The film's pacing is tight and orderly, the dialogue is clear and authentic, the sequences shot with IMAX Cameras are breathtaking, and the sound effects are phenomenal. That wonderful sense of euphoria that follows appreciating a good movie swelled up inside me. Duke won; I've completely surrendered."

— Yahoo Entertainment.

Ordinary fans were also flooding Instant Sharing with praise for the film: "Even though the movie runs for 135 minutes, I still couldn't get enough by the time the cast and crew credits started rolling. Only a great director like Duke Rosenberg could successfully pull this off!"

Checking the time on her Mobile Phone, Jessica Ghawi looked up and walked into the theater. After finding her seat, she casually posted her final Instant Sharing message—"It's been 20 minutes, and the movie still hasn't started..."