6. Michael Caine As Alfred - The Dark Knight Trilogy
Michael Caine was immediately received as a perfect choice for the role of Alfred Pennyworth when he was cast in Batman Begins. Over the course of three films, Caine exceeded the audience's lofty expectations. He was everything fans ever hoped Alfred would be- warm, witty, opinionated, fatherly, tough, and more. It certainly helped that Caine got to play scenes with Bruce Wayne at every stage of his life shown in The Dark Knight Trilogy from the boy who fell, to the man who picked himself up, to The Dark Knight who rose. By Caine, the audience was spoiled. His outstanding effort is best exemplified by a scene in each film. In Batman Begins, Alfred literally saves Bruce from a burning, collapsing Wayne Manor. He lifts Bruce up and puts him back on his newly found path to saving Gotham. In The Dark Knight, Alfred is the one who educates Bruce on the inevitability of casualties and provides the necessary emotional lift to get Batman back into the fight against The Joker. In The Dark Knight Rises, Caine successfully pulls off a rather tricky scene in which his character, for the first time, takes a hard stance against Bruce being Batman. It's not because Alfred has given up on Bruce. Caine shows us that from Alfred's perspective, it is Bruce who's given up on himself and Alfred's only choice was to refuse to be an enabler any longer. Emotionally, it is a gut-wrenching scene that is worth enduring when Alfred's dream for Bruce is finally realized in the closing moments of the trilogy.
