Analysis of Bane in the Batman Series

Adam Velek
9/22/12
The Bane of Movie Villians

The character that I chose is Bane from “The Batman” series, but more importantly the   Bane from Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises”. Bane Fights a purely physical fight with the Batman whilst the joker was psychological. The joker could never really defeat Batman as Batman was too mentally strong. Bane on the other hand is a pure physical force. His presence alone is terrifying. There are moments in The Dark Knight Rises where Bane appears to simply touch or rest his hand on somebody and they are paralyzed with fear. And when he is finally called into action nobody is able to stop him , not even Batman.

There is one scene above all which Rises will be remembered for. Batman is lead into the sewers by Catwoman and confronts Bane. But while most combatants would fear Batman one on one, Bane calmly awaits his adversary, allowing his henchmen to watch on from the wings. The scene results in the iconic image of Bane breaking Batman’s back over his knee. Batman is usually given a clear disadvantage to overcome and is still expected to triumph. Even heading into the confrontation, fit and healthy, there is a sense of dread. No punch can inflict damage on Bane, no armor can withstand the onslaught, and no gadgets can turn the fight to his advantage. Batman is broken and banished to the depths of Hell on Earth, Which also happens to be the place where Bane was banished too.

Not only does Bane’s physical presence dominate the film, but there is also a highly intelligent plan in place. Bane is able to manipulate and organize those around him until he takes over Gotham City as its new warlord. His stirring speech atop an abandoned taxi to the prisoners of Blackgate, or the one in front of a stadium of people both come out naturally, oozing charisma. He becomes the leader of a city and the general of an army, confident and fearless. There isn’t a moment that Bane is on screen that the viewer is not left in...