Re: Batman/Dark Knight 3rd Film
Just posted this in another thread, sorry if you're reading this twice.
Here's a basic proposal.
The Riddler, in disguise as a honest do-good civil attorny or activist blames Wayne corporation for heavily polluting the nearby water sources. (Of course, this is really the Riddler's work). Wayne obviously knows he is being hustled but the Edward Nygma is such a seemingly honest man that Wayne doesn't associate him with the actual crime.
Trying to clear his own name, Bruce Wayne brazenly puts the Batman alter ego at risk. Of course, Gotham is still weary of the Bat since the events leading to Dent's death and something goes wrong where it looks more like a cover up by Batman and now both Bruce Wayne and Batman are now public enemies #1 and 1A in Gotham.
To fix the situation, Bruce Wayne must use not only brawn but also guile and investigative skills (finally bringing to the big screen the DETECTIVE label the Batman character earned over the years in comics and cartoons).
Thats pretty much all I got. Add another baddie to either add sexual tension (Catwoman) or fight scenes (Bane, Clay Face, Killer Croc, etc). Finally wrap up the ending where Batman and Bruce both earn redemption in Gotham.
Edit: This film would have a definate noir "Chinatown" type feel to it.
I think this proposal is intriguing. I think the detective route is an interesting one to take, especially if the viewer is also left in the dark. For instance, what if Edward Nygma wasn't a lawyer but a college professor. His analysis seems unbiased as well as competent. The waste in the water becomes increasing important to the public as it is rumored that a "lizard man" has been born out of the contamination and is taking victims from the poorer parts of the city. Public sentiment grows worse and worse towards Wayne industries as the murders come closer and closer to the "nice" areas of town, with more and more prominent people getting killed. However, we never see the "lizard man" and are left to wonder if it is real or if something is wrong in the minds of those who claim to have seen him. Meanwhile, Bruce gets closer and closer to the truth: that the college professor has been plotting not only his corporation's downfall, but also that of Batman as well (because he knows Batman's identity). However, Bruce can't figure out why a source, "the Riddler," keeps leaving him clues that draw him closer and closer towards Edward Nygma. Meanwhile, Bruce becomes closer and closer to a female graduate student of Nygma's. As things come falling apart for Wayne industries, things get even worse when someone close to Bruce dies--it could be Fox, Gordon, or perhaps the young female graduate student. Forced into action, Batman moves to apprehend Nygma before all the evidence is in. It turns out that Nygma isn't in his right mind, and he has only had information fed to him. As Batman apprehends Nygma, he is attacked and subdued by a creature in the shadows (again, the "lizard man" isn't seen, if there even is one). Instead, now captured, Batman learns that Nygma has only been fed information by the female graduate student (who is not dead), the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, transferred in to finish her father's business of destroying Gotham. She knows that the only way to destroy Gotham completely is to simultaneously kill both the economic powerhouse of Wayne industries and the force of justice that is Batman. The only reason she didn't kill Batman right away was because she thought she loved Bruce. The "lizard man" is revealed to just have been illusions all along...perhaps courtesy of Doctor Crane (if it makes sense to bring him back--otherwise, the girl would already know how to concoct hallucinogens via her father's training). Faced with the death of himself and Gotham, Bruce/Batman breaks free but must destroy the last of Ra's al Ghul's soldiers before he can chase down the now escaped daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Meanwhile, she goes straight to Alfred, who knows her only as a friend to Bruce. Alfred becomes her hostage. Batman follows them to a work site on a new water plant that uses magnetics to purify water. The daughter of Ra's al Ghul holds Alfred hostage as she attempts to sabotage the water supply via explosives releasing toxins. She reveals that even if she should die, the bomb will still go off because of a transmitter on the chest of her suit that monitors her heartbeat. Trying to reason with her to spare Gotham and Alfred, Batman shows that he is just an honest force of good by stripping away his armor. He stands and pleads to let the good people of Gotham live. Then, when Ra's al Ghul's daughter refuses to relent and with Alfred and Bruce facing her, Bruce throws his hidden "batarang" which hits the control of the magnet right behind her. Simultaneously, Batman's suit's metal pieces fly toward the magnet, as does Alfred's belt (which is ripped from his belt loops). The detonator on the front of Ra's al Ghul's daughter's chest pulls her backwards against the magnet, where she is battered with metal objects drawn to the magnet, which simultaneously disrupts the frequencies that the detonator is putting out. Even her last few manual attempts to push the "detonate" button fail because of the magnetics jamming the signal. Meanwhile, Batman, dodging the metal pieces flying, jumps to disarm the bomb, which is mounted against the floor but is beginning to move. Unable to disarm it, he instead shifts the water into a continuous filter so it doesn't enter into the outflow. Batman and Alfred run from the building, which will explode once the magnet overloads the power grid and allows the detonator's signal to send to the bomb. They escape, and Alfred jokes that the magnet pulled out one of his fillings. A week later, Bruce receives a letter from the daughter of Ra's, which was sent before he apprehended Nygma. The letter is from the opposite side of Ra's' daughter's brain and reveals that she had multiple personalities. She confesses to Bruce that she knew something evil was being formulated against Bruce and worried that it might be her. That was why she had a detonator that she was going to use to blow up herself in what would look like a car accident...then Bruce would be left to think of her as the good person part of her was. What is ambiguous is whether the detonator would have actually triggered the bomb in the water plant or if it was just an isolated explosion to kill her...and which of her personalities knew what of the other's actions. In the end of her letter, she compares her identities to those of Bruce and tells him that his share a common good, while hers were divided. Divided, she could not go on.
Just an idea. Hope I didn't offend your idea my tagging mine onto it. As with anything I write, I know I'll hate what I just wrote five minutes from now. But, I'll post anyways.
