5. Gotham Actually Being Gotham
While The Dark Knight Trilogy did have an acceptable view of Gotham, it was just that ...acceptable. The only real grimy Gothic atmosphere we got in those films was shown in Batman Begins. The 'narrows' as it is mentioned is shown to be a setting hidden beneath the more presentable streets of Gotham, while this was fine for the realistic approach, this never quite sat well with some. We want to see the eerie, dark, terrifying Gotham we've seen in so many types of media before. This is where Tim Burton's natural Gothic nature helped so much in creating a world where a man dressed a bat could truly claim as his city to protect. The recent 'Arkham' games, which by the way you need to play if you haven't, have most recently shown us h0w much the setting of Batman's world truly creates an even more engaging experience. It's just feels as natural to the character as the bat suit itself, the reboot really needs to address this situation. Ironically, having this type of Gotham is a more believable reason as to why all these strange villains keep popping up everywhere, rather than Nolan's very real looking modern city with rough parts here and there. Now I'm not saying the whole city has to be a complete wasteland but give us something to make us truly root for Batman to fix, a reason why he keeps going out every night to try and clean up his city, other the obvious motive of avenging his parents death. Whether this could be done with real sets or a CGI settings remains to be seen, whatever route is chosen it really does need a change of pace to the recent films. The bottom line is that we want to see a city that when we look at it we know it's Gotham, not a New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago etc. looking copycat. We know this is Batman's city to protect and we also more importantly believe the very real threats that lurk within it. This would also be heightened by the use of iconic imagery taken from the comics and put on screen. Whilst the Nolan films had the must haves of Wayne Manor, Wayne Enterprises, GCPD etc. it missed the opportunity to truly make them and others stand out landmarks. For instance, for the inevitable Joker return who wouldn't like to see ACE Chemicals show up if they go for the traditional origin route. Or more of a focus on Crime Alley and how much its affects Batman's psyche every time he returns to it, along with the infamous Arkham Asylum and many others settings. Yes Arkham was shown in Batman Begins, but again in a realistic way, it was not the true form of Arkham we know and fear. Batman having to resort to advice/interrogating imprisoned inmates could prove to be very gripping viewing. This is certainly one of the more easier areas to improve upon over Nolan's vision.